Wisconsin’s youngest candidate for governor

The field of Democratic candidates for Wisconsin governor includes former and current state officials, business leaders and county executives.

But one candidate fills a category all his own. 

Zachary Roper is the youngest candidate in the race. He’s 22 years old and a political science student at Carthage College. 

“Being young is an advantage because I’m focused on where Wisconsin needs to be, not just in this election, but in 2035 and 2040,” he told WXCO in an interview on Wednesday.

Roper said he wants to increase the age 18 to 35 population in the state. He says they’re the ones who build businesses, homes, and families.

“What I would do is bolster the education systems. We need better education systems,” he said. “My mom’s a teacher, she has been a teacher for 25 years, and she tells me the struggles of what goes on with the public education system and how we need more federal funding. Not just from the federal government, but from the state.”

He also says he wants to attract more companies to set up shop in Wisconsin, hoping they’ll bring more jobs and more young families into the state. 

Roper also took aim at the state legislature. He said he wasn’t happy with how the 2025-27 biennial budget turned out. 

“Democrats basically caved in and just allowed the Republicans to do what they want to do, and allow what they thought was the correct budget,” Roper said.

He has some ideas on what would improve the legislature, including having one Republican and one Democratic majority chamber.

“It would allow for more people to go back and forth on what the budget they want to see to be done,” he said. “Not just a strict down-the-middle Democrat budget or Republican budget.”

Roper faces a crowded field of Democrats in the August primary.