Republican Kevin Nicholson talks Wisconsin education, crime and finances in one-on-one with NBC 26

MILWAUKEE (NBC 26) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Kevin Nicholson sat down one-on-one with NBC 26 at the American Serb Hall in Milwaukee.

• Republican Kevin Nicholson joins Wisconsin governor's race

Nicholson discussed his takes on Wisconsin health, crime, finances and education.

NBC 26

"I have a completely different life story and experience," he said. "I served in the Marine Corps in two wars. I've worked in the private industry since. And yes, I've run a nonprofit that my wife and I volunteer our time to."

On K through 12 education, the former losing candidate for U.S. Senate says being transparent about what's being taught in the classroom and school of choice are ways to attract more teachers and get students back on track.

"Part of the things that teachers are upset about when they talk to me is they don’t want to see children taught the intellectual poison like critical race theory," Nicholson said. "So let’s get it up online so that everybody can see it. And two things will happen. One... parents will remove children from schools that are teaching this poison. And number two, we’re gonna sue school districts that are violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964."

As far as government vaccine mandates, Nicholson says he's vaccinated with two doses, but believes the Covid vaccine should be up to the individual.

"The federal government should not be mandating that people have to have vaccines or else they're gonna get fired from their jobs," he said. "That's absurd. It doesn't help anything. And frankly, too, it just simply hardens resistance in ways that... we should be encouraging people to talk to medical professionals."

And with a rising trend of crime in some of Wisconsin's cities: "I want to take the ball away from these DAs," Nicholson said. "I want to put in mandatory minimum sentencing for a violent conviction, but mandatory minimum bail for violent charges."

While some neighboring states have legalized recreational marijuana, Nicholson says he's not for it.

"If smoking pot is the most important thing in your life, wake up," he said. "There's so much to do in life. There's so much to go out and actualize. The last thing you should be worried about right now is recreational use of additional drugs."

With a Wisconsin surplus of $2.9 billion, Nicholson wants to create a long-term restructure of state spending.

"If we want to talk seriously about what it takes to reduce our tax levy on the residents of Wisconsin, that means restructure the way you spend, make sure you cut it back for the long term," he said. "Then, we can talk about how do we maintain our roads? You're driving around the state, right? We can do a much better job of that."

Amid an investigation into Wisconsin's 2020 election, he says ballot drop boxes should be illegal.

"Paid political professionals were sent out to addresses to harvest those ballots, bring them back [and] drop them into ballot drop boxes," Nicholson said.

Nicholson says what he calls ‘political machines’ hurt Wisconsinites.

"We need to move beyond that political class... elect people that are willing to stand up and fight, and that’s why I’m running for governor," he said.

NBC 26 hopes to talk with more candidates for Wisconsin governor as we get closer to the election.