Matt Philibert
Stay-at-home dad
Democrat
Colgate/Germantown 
Elected Experience
None
Q&A with the Candidate
Why should voters elect you?
The working class needs and deserves help. We need affordable housing, groceries, and healthcare. Universal childcare is a must so we can help parents get back to work. Wisconsin belongs to the people, not billionaire tech companies and their data centers. Corporate greed and short-sighted policies threaten to permanently damage our state's fragile ecosystems. I will propose policies that keep our state beautiful and our summers magical. Public School teachers work way too hard for how little they are compensated. I want to push for mandatory state minimum salary for public school teachers as well as a supply stipend so they don't need to depend on parents to donate or for teachers to pay out of their own pocket for school room necessities.
What is the top issue in your district? How would you address it?
We are in an affordability crisis. After gas, groceries, housing, and insurance, families have little left. An affordable economic environment can be done through a dozen small steps that each do a little to ease the pressure. The apartment my wife and I rented in 2019 was $900/month. Today, that same apartment is $1,500/month. Rent increased $75 a year for that apartment. Wisconsin minimum wage has remained the same since 2008. We need to raise the minimum wage to $15. Childcare costs are keeping parents out of the workplace. Parents like me literally cannot afford to go back to work because they would need to make $30 an hour just to break even. Universal childcare will help parents get back into the workplace.
How should Wisconsin government operate differently than in the past?
I want to return the governorship and state attorney general to their original legal powers so we can have proper checks and balances in the state. Republicans held all 3 branches of Wisconsin government from 2011 to 2018, and in the waning days of Scott Walker's term, he and the Republican-led Assembly colluded to consolidate much of the power of the governorship and state attorney general into the Assembly instead — where the Republicans would maintain control after the election. "We have allowed far too much authority to flow to the executive," Assembly Speaker Vos (R) said. This "authority" imbalance only seemed to be an issue after seven years, when they no longer had control of the office.
What is your favorite fun Wisconsin history fact?
Instead of "Forward" the phrase "Excelsior" (Latin for "Ever upward" or "Higher") was briefly considered instead.