But Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, D-Oshkosh, said he believed lists of contacts developed directly by candidates would prove to be more fruitful, giving an advantage to lawmakers with experience on the campaign trail.

“It certainly does benefit incumbents more and creates issues for first-time candidates,” Hintz said.

Jacob Malinowski — a Democratic first-time candidate challenging Rep. Ken Skowronski, R-Franklin, for the 82nd Assembly District in the Milwaukee suburbs — is turning to technology to mitigate that edge.

Malinowski, a 22-year-old self-described “digital native,” said he saw campaigns turning to drive-thru signature initiatives but wanted to do something different.

“We said, ‘Okay, how do we replace this whole system?’And the first thing that came to mind was like a Google form,” he said in an interview with WisPolitics.com. “We went into the mindset of: if someone wants to sign this form, we just want to know who it is and we will figure it out afterward.”

Malinowski embedded the form — which includes a potential signer’s name, municipality, contact information and the best way to get a copy of the nomination papers — on his campaign website and was stunned by the results.

“We got 150 commitments in the first 24 hours and in the first two weeks, we’re already at around 350 commitments, with 150 to 160 physical signatures on the desk and across from me,” he said.

The wide range of options offered by Malinowski has put the onus on him. While some signers have come directly to his house to drop off their papers, he told WisPolitics.com he has also handdelivered forms directly to people who filled out his Google form.

“This was like our way of not trying to adapt around COVID19 but to use our strengths as a candidate and a campaign,” he said.

But according to the Wisconsin Hospitals Association, hospital operating costs are rising from being on the front lines of the pandemic.

The Capitol Report is written by editorial staff at WisPolitics.com, a nonpartisan, Madison-based news service that specializes in coverage of government and politics, and is distributed for publication by members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Copyright © WisPolitics.com