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Mary Burke

Mary Burke

Burke is a former Trek Bicycle executive and former Wisconsin Commerce Department secretary who announced on Oct. 7, 2013 that she would seek the Democratic nomination for governor in Wisconsin in the fall 2014 election against incument Republican Gov. Scott Walker. She lost to Walker on Nov. 4, 2014. She is a school board member in Madison, Wisconsin.

Mary Burke Website

Scorecard

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Latest Fact-Checks By Mary Burke

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Mary Burke
stated on October 28, 2014 in a speech:

"The nation as a whole has created jobs at a rate that is two times the rate that we have created jobs here in Wisconsin under Gov. Walker."

Half-True

By Dave Umhoefer • October 30, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on October 24, 2014 in a speech:

Says Scott Walker "gave $6 million in tax breaks to a corporation and told them that they can keep that money even if they lay off half their workforce."

Half-True

By Tom Kertscher • October 28, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on October 21, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

Six convictions are connected to an allegation by prosecutors "that Gov. Scott Walker is at the center of a criminal scheme."

False

By Dave Umhoefer • October 23, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on October 17, 2014 in a debate:

Says Scott Walker cut funding to local governments in Wisconsin, contributing to the "second-largest increase in violent crime" in the Midwest.

Half-True

By Tom Kertscher • October 23, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on October 10, 2014 in a debate:

Under Scott Walker’s policies, "the typical Wisconsin family has actually seen their real income drop by nearly $3,000 in the last four years."

Mostly False

By Dave Umhoefer • October 17, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on October 8, 2014 in a TV ad:

Under Scott Walker's "tax plan, the average Wisconsin taxpayer got just $11 a month. But corporations got $610 million in tax cuts. Millionaires got at least $1,400 per year."

Half-True

By Tom Kertscher • October 16, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on September 29, 2014 in a radio interview:

Job creation has gotten worse each year that Scott Walker has been governor.

False

By James B. Nelson • October 8, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on September 23, 2014 in a television ad:

New jobs numbers are in, and Wisconsin has "fallen to dead last in Midwest job growth."

False

By James B. Nelson • October 3, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on September 22, 2014 in an interview:

"We have 41,000 people right now on the waitlist for financial-based assistance for our tech colleges and universities," most of them for tech schools.

Mostly True

By Dave Umhoefer • October 2, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on September 22, 2014 in an interview:

Under Scott Walker, "right now, we’re 46th in the country in terms of new businesses started."

Mostly True

By Tom Kertscher • September 29, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on September 11, 2014 in a TV ad:

Says Scott Walker cut "taxes for the wealthiest" and raised taxes "on 140,000 Wisconsin families."

Half-True

By Tom Kertscher • September 25, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on September 10, 2014 in an interview:

Says Scott Walker's jobs agency gives financial incentives that lead "Wisconsin companies to look at shipping jobs elsewhere. ... A company got $4.6 million in taxpayer money and actually reduced its jobs by 300 people."

Mostly False

By Tom Kertscher • September 19, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on July 18, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

"Wisconsin’s dead last in Midwest job growth."

True

By Dave Umhoefer, James B. Nelson • August 31, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on August 7, 2014 in an interview:

New Glarus Brewing Co.’s Spotted Cow is available only in Wisconsin.

True

By James B. Nelson • August 25, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on August 11, 2014 in a news article:

Wisconsin is "38th in the country in terms of proficiency standards" in student testing.

Mostly True

By Tom Kertscher • August 22, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on July 9, 2014 in a news release:

Says a $12.5 million incentive deal she approved for Abbott Laboratories contained "strong protections for taxpayers if job creation goals were not met."

False

By Dave Umhoefer • August 3, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on June 2, 2014 in an interview:

"Part of the increase in the cost (of higher education) has been because state support has dropped. We now spend, under Governor Walker, more on corrections than we do on higher education."

Half-True

By Devon Waugh • June 27, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on June 18, 2014 in a speech:

"The typical Wisconsin worker makes $5,000 less each year than our neighbors in Minnesota" under Gov. Scott Walker’s policies.

Mostly True

By Dave Umhoefer • June 18, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on April 18, 2014 in an interview:

"Already in Wisconsin we have seen fewer people pursuing education as a career" due to the Act 10 collective bargaining law.

Mostly False

By Dave Umhoefer • June 13, 2014

Mary Burke
stated on May 6, 2014 in a forum:

The Wisconsin school voucher program "has no research that shows that it’s going to improve student learning."

Mostly True

By Tom Kertscher • May 28, 2014

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Latest Fact-Checks About Mary Burke

Republican Party of Wisconsin
stated on October 29, 2014 in a campaign news release:

"25,000 businesses have been created since (Scott) Walker took office."

Mostly False

By Dave Umhoefer • November 3, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on October 22, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

Says his promise of 250,000 new private sector jobs was a "big goal."

Mostly True

By Dave Umhoefer • October 30, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on October 20, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

"My opponent supported policies that increased tuition by 18 percent."

False

By Dave Umhoefer • October 27, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on September 18, 2014 in a TV ad:

Says opponent Mary Burke says she "supports Obamacare unequivocally and wants to expand it."

Half-True

By Tom Kertscher • September 23, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on September 14, 2014 in a campaign news release:

Since I took office, "Wisconsin ranks 11th in the nation in total business establishment growth compared to 47th in the years Mary Burke was Commerce secretary."

True

By Dave Umhoefer • September 17, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on September 3, 2014 in a press release:

Says Mary Burke’s Madison school district "will be the only school district left in the state" to "ignore the (Act 10) law" in the 2015-16 school year.

Mostly True

By Dave Umhoefer • September 10, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on July 27, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

Mary Burke "wasted 12.5 million dollars on a vacant lot" in a move that "could cost taxpayers nearly $25 million."

False

By Dave Umhoefer • July 31, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on July 22, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

"(Mary) Burke’s company," Trek Bicycles, "makes 99% of their bikes overseas."

Mostly True

By Dave Umhoefer • July 28, 2014

Gary George
stated on July 6, 2014 in an interview:

"I created the school choice program."

Half-True

By Dave Umhoefer • July 13, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on July 8, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

"As Jim Doyle’s Commerce secretary, Mary Burke spent $12.5 million dollars to buy a vacant lot for a company that said it had no plans to create jobs in Wisconsin" and had laid off 800 workers.

Mostly True

By Dave Umhoefer • July 10, 2014

Scott Walker
stated on June 20, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

"When Jim Doyle was governor and Mary Burke was commerce secretary," Wisconsin saw "billions in middle-class tax hikes on nursing home beds, gas, phones and garbage."

False

By Dave Umhoefer • June 26, 2014

Republican Party of Wisconsin
stated on May 30, 2014 in a statement:

Under Gov. Scott Walker, "employer confidence now stands at 95 percent," compared to "only 10 percent" at the end of the "Gov. Jim Doyle-Mary Burke administration."

Mostly False

By Tom Kertscher • June 15, 2014

Brett Hulsey
stated on May 21, 2014 in a letter:

Says opponent Mary Burke told reporters she would have "required workers to give up bargained-for healthcare and retirement benefits like Gov. Walker."

Mostly False

By Dave Umhoefer • May 29, 2014

Republican Governors Association
stated on March 17, 2014 in a campaign TV ad:

Under Mary Burke’s leadership, Commerce Department business-incentive programs had "major shortcomings" and "40 percent of jobs...didn’t materialize."

Mostly True

By Dave Umhoefer • April 3, 2014

Republican Party of Wisconsin
stated on March 13, 2014 in a website ad:

Says Mary Burke's "2007-'09 state budget had a tax hike of $1.8 billion -- costing every man, woman and child in the state an extra $310."

False

By Tom Kertscher • March 16, 2014

Republican Party of Wisconsin
stated on February 10, 2014 in a press release:

As state Commerce secretary, Mary Burke drafted, sponsored and promoted "budgets that raised taxes by billions, created high structural deficits and raided funds to finance huge spending hikes."

Mostly False

By Dave Umhoefer • February 19, 2014

Republican Party of Wisconsin
stated on February 4, 2014 in a news release:

"The only time over the last 25 years when the state’s unemployment rate exceeded the U.S. average was when (Mary) Burke was commerce secretary."

Mostly True

By Tom Kertscher • February 14, 2014

Republican Party of Wisconsin
stated on October 7, 2013 in a web post:

Says Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke "has proven on the Madison Board of Education" that she supports raising taxes and spending.

Half-True

By Tom Kertscher • October 10, 2013

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