Sarah Godlewski says it was obvious on her first day as Wisconsin state treasurer that the constitutional post had become an afterthought in state government.
“When I walked into the office — I can’t make this stuff up — there were wires hanging down from the ceiling,” Godlewski tells Isthmus in a Zoom interview. “They had turned off my WiFi and they gave me a pay-as-you go flip phone as a way to talk to constituents.”
Gutted of most of its original responsibilities long ago, the treasurer’s main duty today is to promote the state’s unclaimed property program and to serve as a commissioner on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which oversees funds to support public education in Wisconsin. Godlewski says she has made the most of her limited power.
“One of my first major actions as chair was overturning a Republican gag order where we weren’t allowed to even talk about climate change as it related to our investments,” says Godlewski, “let alone invest in renewable energy projects for public schools.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and schools closed to in-person learning, the state treasurer says she heard heartbreaking stories from teachers and librarians that students without internet access at home were attending class from the parking lot at McDonald’s.
“Within a month, we had agreed to figure out a scrappy way of providing public schools with funding so they could buy hotspots and e-learning books to address the digital divide,” says Godlewski. “I was able to do things in the state treasurer’s office no one thought was possible. I want to do the exact same thing in the U.S. Senate.”
In the four-way Democratic primary contest, Godlewski says what separates her from the field is gumption.
“I’ve been underestimated my entire life. And whenever someone has told me what I can’t do, I’ve shown them what I can do. And that’s exactly what I’m gonna do in this race,” says Godlewski. “I think at the end of the day it comes down to who can actually deliver and win the state of Wisconsin and who’s going to be the practical solution candidate. That’s what I’ve been doing my entire career.”
Godlewski proudly shares she’s a fifth-generation Wisconsinite who grew up middle-class in Eau Claire. After attending college at George Mason University she worked for Pentagon consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton for eight years and went on to co-found an “impact investment firm” with husband and former Fortune 500 executive Max Duckworth. Godlewski was also the director of women’s outreach for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Wisconsin.
As first reported by Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Godlewski and her husband paid no state income taxes in 2017 or 2018. According to Bice, the couple was able to avoid taxes through large charitable contributions, state economic development credits and other things. She says “it’s crazy” she pays less in state income taxes than her parents, who are retired educators.
“One of my first major policy papers was about the wealth tax because we’ve got to do more to tax the wealthy 1 percent,” says Godlewski. “And to tax corporations.”
In her successful pursuit of the state treasurer’s office in 2018, Godlewski put in $300,000 personally to help bankroll her campaign and spent 52 times more than her Republican opponent Travis Hartwig. So far in her bid for Senate, she’s added $3 million of her own wealth to her campaign coffers.
“I’m a daughter of two public school teachers. I worked at Pizza Hut to help pay for college,” Godlewski tells Isthmus. “I have lived by those values. Those are the values of who I am.”
The three Marquette Law School polls released this year show Godlewski trailing behind Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes and Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, who is also spending millions of his money on the race. However, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — which overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion — has made reproductive rights a top issue in the midterms. Godlewski is asking Democratic voters who they want debating Republican Ron Johnson on an issue that could help change the tide of the predicted “red wave” in November. (Isthmus interviewed Godlewski after the Dobbs decision was leaked but not before the high court officially released the final ruling.)
“This is my nightmare and this is a nightmare for millions of other Wisconsinites who are at risk now of not being able to make their own healthcare decisions that’s best for them and their families,” says Godlewski. “It’s not even taking women back 50 years. We’re talking about bringing women back to before the Civil War, when my family was coming to the state.”
Godlewski says access to abortion care isn’t a “bandwagon issue” for her. She’s frustrated that Democrats at the state and federal didn’t act, when they had the power, to codify reproductive rights legislatively.
“We’ve had the White House. We’ve had the Senate and we’ve had the House. We’ve had 50 years to codify this and yet, we haven’t prioritized it,” says Godlewski. “One of the reasons why I believe it hasn’t been prioritized is we need more pro-choice Democratic women at the U.S. Senate table fighting for this stuff…. We’ve got to be creative in this moment to make sure at the end of the day, we’re doing everything we can to support women and their families in making these important healthcare decisions.”
See all of our interviews with the Democratic Senate candidates at isthmus.com/election2022.