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urgently and as quickly as
we can.

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>> All right, Francesca
Hong, thanks for your time.

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>> Thank you so much.
>> Zach's next interview is

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with the most recent
entrant to the race, former

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Wisconsin Department of
Administration Secretary

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Joel Brennan Joel Brennan.
>> Thanks for coming in

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today.
>> Thanks for having me.

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>> So for the voters who
don't know you, introduce

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yourself and say why you're
running for governor.

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who's had a 30 year career
here in Wisconsin. Mine's a

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Wisconsin story, and I'm
somebody who's of and from

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here. And I can tell you
the conversations I have

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with people here, that
there is a a palpable sense

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of frustration, anger. I
think people are truly

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concerned about just making
ends meet. And then, you

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know, you add on to that
that you've got Donald

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Trump in the white House
who is chaotic, he's

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dysfunctional, who's cruel,
and it's enough to make

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everybody angry. And I'm
angry too, but I'm also

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somebody who, over the
course of a career, I've

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demonstrated for some
people, when you get angry,

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you want to get even. When
I get angry, I want to roll

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up my sleeves and get
something done. And so

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that's what I've tried to
demonstrate. And so we have

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in Wisconsin, a situation
where there are 200,000

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people who are about to
lose their health care

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benefits, tens of thousands
more who are going to see

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their premiums double or
triple. And so that's a

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reason for people to be
angry. And in some ways, we

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need to ensure that
Wisconsin values are

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protected. But thankfully
we have fair maps now. And

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with fair maps and a
Democratic governor, we

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have an opportunity to make
real, lasting change for

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Wisconsin, protect those
values, and do things that

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can put us right by
Wisconsin families. That's

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why I'm running.
>> Is there a single issue

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that drives you, or maybe a
lane within the Democratic

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Party that helps define who
you are?

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>> Well, I think if
anybody's looking around

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right now, the main issue
that anybody is dealing

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with here in Wisconsin is
affordability. You know,

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we're in a situation where
just in the last week, it

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was revealed that the first
time homebuyers now are 40

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years old. Five years ago,
they were average of 33

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years old. And we've got we
spent $10,000 a year on

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health care per person in
Wisconsin. Yet there are

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people who go without
people who can't afford

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their prescription drugs.
All of those are challenges.

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And then at the same time,
you have Donald Trump

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running around the country
saying affordability is a

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Democratic hoax. It's not a
hoax. It's an issue that's

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real for every Wisconsin
resident.

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>> How much money do you
need to raise in order to

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be competitive and win this
primary and then survive

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into the general election?
>> Yeah, well, I think.

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>> Elections are expensive,
and what I'm going to do in

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this race is I'm going to
lean into the relationships

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that I've developed and
cultivated over the course

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of the last 30 years. You
know, I grew up as the

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second youngest of 11 kids.
I had to work my way

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through college, have 4 or
5 jobs to do that

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everything I've ever had, I
have earned. And so what

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I'm going to do is go out
and communicate with people

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about the work that I've
done over the last 30 years,

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the executive experience,
the breadth that I have.

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And I'm confident that I
can generate resources as I

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listen to and talk to
people around the state.

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>> This is a very large
Democratic primary, very

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competitive one. How do you
define the difference

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between negative
campaigning versus showing

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up differences between
candidates?

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like I said, I'm the second
youngest of 11 kids. I know

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what it's like to have to
go to a crowded table and

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elbow your way in, whether
it's for attention or even

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to get a meal. And so, you
know, I'm comfortable with

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that. But but what I am
going to do in this

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campaign is really talk to
people about me and about

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my background. 30 years of
progressive executive

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experience, things like,
you know, running the

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largest science museum in
the state of Wisconsin at

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Discovery World, three
years as the top appointed

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official in Governor Evers
cabinet and the work that

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we did there. So the way
that I'm going to try to

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distinguish myself from
others is to just

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communicate with them about
the depth of relationships

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and what we have done.
>> So as voters start to

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get to know these
candidates, should they be

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looking for who's closest
to them on the issues, or

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should they be thinking
about electability?

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>> You know, I don't think
those two things are

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mutually exclusive. I think
the issues are hugely

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important to everybody here
in the state. And and I

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think that when voters look,
they have options and

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primaries are good for
establishing options. And

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so they'll have
opportunities to look at

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all the candidates and what
we stand for.

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>> Most of the Democratic
candidates have connections

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to Milwaukee or Madison.
How do you introduce

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yourself to rural Wisconsin?
The rest of the state?

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>> Yeah, well, mine's a
Wisconsin story. My dad was

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born in 1927 to a single
mom in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

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My mom was born in 1928, in
Milwaukee, grew up in

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Milwaukee and East Troy.
And so, you know, ours is a

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a Wisconsin story, just
like lots of other peoples

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here.
president a number of times.

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So what impact do you think
Donald Trump will have on

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this election?
looms large over everything

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that we do right now. You
know, and at this point,

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the most likely candidate
on the Republican side is

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Tom Tiffany. And the apple
doesn't fall far from the

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00:05:07,474 --> 00:05:09,643
tree when it comes to Tom,
Tiffany and Donald Trump.

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And so I think we need
people. We need candidates

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who are able to stand up to
that, but not only stand up,

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but be able to demonstrate
that they've been effective

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about doing things and
getting things done. And,

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you know, in my view of
this, you know, yes, Donald

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Trump is going to play a
role in the campaign. But

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ultimately, the campaign
can't be just about Donald

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Trump has to be about
Wisconsin families,

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Wisconsin values. That's
who I am. And that's what

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I'm looking forward to
I'm looking forward to