A Democratic challenger in the recall race for governor is pointing to a federal jobs report that shows the state led the country in job losses in a recent 12-month period. Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett commented as he toured a manufacturing company in Green Bay on Wednesday. “This comes on Governor Walker’s watch, because in the year preceding the time he came into office, the state of Wisconsin actually gained jobs, and was in the top third in the nation, in terms of job production,” said Barrett. 

AUDIO: Tom Barrett :35

Figures from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics show the state lost 23,900 public and private sector jobs between last month and March of last year. Barrett said Governor Walker has to take responsibility for that record, since he campaigned to create 250,000 private sector jobs. “He asked to be judged on how many jobs would be created on his watch,” Barrett said. “I didn’t set that metric. He set that metric. And now we’re applying that metric to him. Rather than committing himself to creating 250,000 private sector jobs, he has committed himself to launching an ideological civil war in this state.”

Barrett faces former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, Secretary of State Doug La Follette and Senator Kathleen Vinehout in the May 8th Democratic primary. The winner will face Governor Walker in the June 5th recall election.

Mike Kemmeter, WHBY

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