Wisconsin Democrat gubernatorial candidates Francesca Hong, Mandela Barnes, and Kelda Roys each indicated that they would veto any anti-Sharia legislation that reached their desks as governor during a forum co-hosted by two Muslim civic organizations.
The Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance and Wisconsin Muslim Civic Foundation co-hosted a “Governor Forum,” which the event’s website described as “bringing together Wisconsin’s Muslim community and allies for an evening of civic dialogue, accountability, and engagement.”
Community members could attend the event for free and submit questions for the gubernatorial candidates.
In a video provided exclusively to Breitbart News, the event host said, “Sharia means path in Arabic and is a set principle to guide Muslims in their personal lives, such as diet, prayer, and marriage as they practice their faith. It’s very similar to Catholic canon law or halakha law in Judaism.”
The host also said such legislation “unfairly targets Muslim religious practice and violates the First Amendment” before asking whether the candidates would veto any anti-Sharia legislation that came across their desks as governor.
Hong, Barnes, and Roys all indicated that they would veto such legislation.
Republican Governors Association Communications Director Kollin Crompton told Breitbart News, “Sharia Law is an extreme ideology, and these radical Democrats are willing to put Sharia Law above Wisconsin values. Wisconsinites will fully reject them.”
The exchange comes as Hong, Barnes, Roys, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, and former Evers aide Joel Brennan compete in the Democrat primary to succeed Gov. Tony Evers, who is not seeking another term.
Hong, a state representative and democratic socialist, has pledged to veto legislation she says targets LGBT and transgender-identifying people. During a recent “Community Conversations” livestream with Brix Cider, she called hospitals “cowardly” for stopping what she described as “gender-affirming care” for minors. Hong has also supported using taxpayer funds to expand access to such treatments, including by investing in clinics. During a January appearance on the Take 2 Podcast, she called on communities to “stand up for trans rights” and “uplift trans joy” and said elected officials should not retreat from defending transgender-identifying people.
Barnes, a former Wisconsin lieutenant governor, unsuccessfully challenged Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022, with his campaign spending more than $32 million and outside groups spending more than $64 million in support. He has called the nation’s founding “awful,” said national parks “weren’t made for the enjoyment of people who weren’t white,” and backed reducing police and corrections spending, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allowing illegal aliens to receive driver’s licenses and in-state tuition, ending the Senate filibuster, establishing government-run health care, and criminalizing the sale, transport, or possession of certain expanding ammunition.
Roys, a Wisconsin state senator, has supported additional firearm restrictions, including a proposal to bar licensed concealed-carry permit holders from possessing guns on university or college property. “When people have unfettered access to firearms, we can’t live free from the fear of gun violence,” she said. After the December 2024 handgun attack at Abundant Life Christian School, Roys also advocated background checks and red-flag laws, arguing that states with such measures “see gun deaths and firearm injuries go down.”
On the Republican side, President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Tom Tiffany in January, describing him as a “Highly Respected America First Congressman” and giving him his “Complete and Total Endorsement.” Tiffany has raised more than $10 million since launching his campaign in September 2025, including more than $8 million from January 1 through June 30. He has pledged to freeze property taxes, block Chinese ownership of Wisconsin farmland, preserve sex-based distinctions in sports and state law, reduce regulations, and “clean up the bull” in Madison.
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