campaign for you. >> All right. David Crowley,
thanks for your time. >> Thank you so much. Thank
you for having me. >> Another of the total of
seven Democrats running for governor, State Senator
Kelda Roys tells us about her experience and
candidacy in this interview with Zac Schultz.
>> Kelda. Roys, thanks for joining us.
Zach. elevator pitch, introduce
yourself and say, why are you running for governor?
>> I'm running for governor because Wisconsin needs
higher wages, lower costs and more freedom. We face a
huge threat from the Trump administration, and we need
a governor who is willing to stand up to the bullies
and billionaires and fight to protect Wisconsinites
same time, we also have an incredible opportunity to
actually elect a governor who is able to govern and
pass laws with a new, fairer legislature.
>> Is there a single issue that drives you, or perhaps
a lane within the Democratic Party that may
define you? >> I think it's all about
making it possible for working people to have the
freedom to thrive in this have seen their wages
stagnate or even go down. Meanwhile, the cost of
living are skyrocketing. Everything from housing to
healthcare, childcare and utilities is going up. We
have to make Wisconsin a place where people can
afford to live and have a good life.
need to raise to be competitive and win this
primary? And will that leave any room for the
general election after that? >> Yeah, I'm very confident
that we're going to have a good pot of money that's
been raised by the Democratic Party and
national partners for whomever our nominee is. I
think the primary, it depends on who all is
running, but I'm confident I'm going to have the
resources needed to run a strong campaign and prevail.
>> When it comes to a competitive primary, you're
no stranger to those. your view, between negative
campaigning against a versus defining differences
between candidates? >> Well, I think primaries
are really important opportunity for voters to
vet the candidates and see what their experience is,
see how they perform under pressure. There's going to
be a huge spotlight on Wisconsin. This is an
incredibly important high stakes race in one of the
most pivotal states in the country. And it is
essential that we have a governor who not only is
able to stand up to the Trump administration when
needed, but also capable of actually making the change
that we need in this narrow window of opportunity that
we're going to have. >> When primary voters are
looking at these candidates, should they be thinking in
terms of which issue they most closely relate to, a
candidate or simply electability?
>> Well, I think each voter is going to decide for him
or herself what matters. And I ask everyone in
Wisconsin for your vote on August 11th and November
3rd. But I really want to make the argument that
whatever the issue that you care about is, the most
important thing is having a governor who can win and
who can actually get things done. I have spent over 20
years working in and around state government in a
variety of capacities as a legislator in the Senate
and the Assembly, as the only candidate running that
served on the Joint Finance Committee, small business
owner, mom, attorney and I have been able to get
meaningful legislation passed on a whole variety
of issues through every split. Those skills are
going to be essential for our next governor. If we
want to actually make change in this state.
>> All of the Democrats running for office have
connections either to Madison or Milwaukee. What
is your job in terms of introducing yourself to the
rest of the state, especially rural Wisconsin,
that may not recognize your name?
spent my career traveling around the state and
building relationships and trying to build democratic
power. And I'm actually from Taylor County. I was
born in Marshfield, grew up in a one room schoolhouse
in rural Taylor County, north of highway 29. I'm
the only candidate that had a pet goat as a child, and
so it's been really fun for me to travel around the
state, areas where I have deep family roots or other
connections that I've built throughout my career,
reconnect with people and meet new people, and the
reception has been really strong.
impact of Donald Trump will be on this election?
>> I think that people in Wisconsin are feeling angry
and hopeless about the economic situation, the
chaos and the corruption that we are seeing by this
administration is unprecedented, and we're
also seeing him shredding our Constitution and the
and as a patriotic American, I think that what Trump is
doing is totally unacceptable, and we need
to have strong governors who are willing to stand up
and hold him accountable, you know, private
paramilitary force that he's building with ICE. We
can have secure borders without violating people's
rights and destroying the rights and destroying the