1 00:00:01,568 --> 00:00:04,204 >> Chris Taylor wins by a landslide in this week's 2 00:00:04,271 --> 00:00:07,641 Supreme Court race, locking down a Liberal majority for 3 00:00:07,708 --> 00:00:10,677 years. How'd it happen and what could it mean? Plus, 4 00:00:10,744 --> 00:00:13,947 the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents fires the 5 00:00:14,014 --> 00:00:16,416 system. President and Republicans don't like it. 6 00:00:16,483 --> 00:00:19,620 This is inside Wisconsin Politic 7 00:00:21,989 --> 00:00:24,658 I'm Shawn Johnson here with my colleague Zac 8 00:00:24,725 --> 00:00:27,427 here with my colleague Zac Schultz Anya van Wagtendonk 9 00:00:27,494 --> 00:00:29,796 and Rich Kremer in Eau Claire. Hey, everyone. 10 00:00:29,863 --> 00:00:32,933 >> Hello. >> So we've kind of gotten 11 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,838 used to these big liberal blowouts. Weid use the term 12 00:00:37,905 --> 00:00:40,040 in these April elections. They have figured out how 13 00:00:40,107 --> 00:00:43,310 to win these races. It seems like Chris Taylor, 14 00:00:43,377 --> 00:00:47,314 though, took that to a new level with her race this 15 00:00:47,381 --> 00:00:51,618 time. Anya, what's I guess stuck out to you about this 16 00:00:51,685 --> 00:00:54,254 massive win by Chris Taylor? >> Yeah, I mean, I think 17 00:00:54,321 --> 00:00:56,256 we're all so used to talking about Wisconsin and 18 00:00:56,323 --> 00:00:58,258 it's so purple. And elections are frequently 19 00:00:58,325 --> 00:01:00,227 decided by less than a percentage point. And then 20 00:01:00,294 --> 00:01:02,329 we've had these spring elections that are 21 00:01:02,396 --> 00:01:04,398 determined by closer to ten points. But this time it 22 00:01:04,464 --> 00:01:07,301 was 20 points. And so that is such a significantly 23 00:01:07,367 --> 00:01:10,337 larger gulf. So we kind of saw, you know, some of the 24 00:01:10,404 --> 00:01:12,406 tea leaves leading into the race, less spending, sort 25 00:01:12,472 --> 00:01:14,675 of less excitement across the board. The stakes were 26 00:01:14,741 --> 00:01:17,010 different. But Zac and I were chatting on election 27 00:01:17,077 --> 00:01:19,346 night. We were waiting around at Chris Taylor's, 28 00:01:19,413 --> 00:01:21,882 what turned into her victory party, and we were 29 00:01:21,949 --> 00:01:24,017 saying, you know, this will be an interesting 30 00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:26,253 experiment to see with the sort of pulled punches, the 31 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:28,922 pulled financial punches, what kind of margin will we 32 00:01:28,989 --> 00:01:31,391 see? And then it turned out to be the largest margin 33 00:01:31,458 --> 00:01:33,660 I've ever seen. And from what I understand in 34 00:01:33,727 --> 00:01:36,463 decades in Wisconsin races. >> Yeah, a 20 point margin 35 00:01:36,530 --> 00:01:39,466 as opposed to the usual, you know, quote unquote ten 36 00:01:39,533 --> 00:01:41,702 in these races. Zac, how about you? What stood out? 37 00:01:41,768 --> 00:01:44,571 >> Well, just to add on to that, earlier that 38 00:01:44,638 --> 00:01:46,673 afternoon, I met up with Chris Taylor on the UW 39 00:01:46,740 --> 00:01:49,743 campus. And one of the questions I asked her was, 40 00:01:49,810 --> 00:01:51,778 are you worried because the lack of investment from the 41 00:01:51,845 --> 00:01:53,647 Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which in past 42 00:01:53,714 --> 00:01:56,016 elections has sent millions of dollars to their 43 00:01:56,083 --> 00:01:58,418 preferred candidate or from outside interest groups who 44 00:01:58,485 --> 00:02:01,021 really spent nothing, that you're leaving possible 45 00:02:01,088 --> 00:02:03,624 voters at the door who may not be aware they need to 46 00:02:03,690 --> 00:02:06,493 get out and vote. And she said, no, I don't think so. 47 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,263 And she was absolutely right. And I think what 48 00:02:09,329 --> 00:02:11,498 this showed was that both sides knew where this 49 00:02:11,565 --> 00:02:13,634 election was going early on and decided, we're going to 50 00:02:13,700 --> 00:02:16,470 save our money for the fall. There's enough to spend it 51 00:02:16,537 --> 00:02:19,573 on there between some very tight assembly races, 52 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:21,041 obviously the governor's race and even some 53 00:02:21,108 --> 00:02:23,744 competitive Senate races that may not be fully 54 00:02:23,810 --> 00:02:25,746 decided, that may determine the margin for either party 55 00:02:25,812 --> 00:02:28,048 in that chamber that I think they all kind of 56 00:02:28,115 --> 00:02:31,051 walked away from this to the point where when you 57 00:02:31,118 --> 00:02:33,954 saw Lazar at her party, you got the sense that this was 58 00:02:34,021 --> 00:02:36,123 not a surprise to her. She wasn't shocked, maybe at 59 00:02:36,190 --> 00:02:38,225 the final margin. But even hearing from Republican 60 00:02:38,292 --> 00:02:40,260 voters afterwards, there were a lot of them saying, 61 00:02:40,327 --> 00:02:42,996 well, why weren't we trying harder? And I think that 62 00:02:43,063 --> 00:02:45,199 was the main takeaway, is that everyone had an 63 00:02:45,265 --> 00:02:47,334 expectation that this was going to be the result. 64 00:02:47,401 --> 00:02:50,170 >> Rich, as we sit here today, what kind of stands 65 00:02:50,237 --> 00:02:54,208 out to you about this race? >> Well, kind of jumping 66 00:02:54,274 --> 00:02:58,045 off of what Zac just said, there was a sense that the 67 00:02:58,111 --> 00:03:00,647 Republican Party of Wisconsin really wasn't 68 00:03:00,714 --> 00:03:04,351 trying very hard in this race. You know, they're 69 00:03:04,418 --> 00:03:07,788 nonpartisan races, but also they're not in a lot of 70 00:03:07,855 --> 00:03:11,859 ways. So the level of fundraising and money 71 00:03:11,925 --> 00:03:15,462 coming from the state party or third party groups 72 00:03:15,529 --> 00:03:20,033 aligned with conservatives just never materialized. 73 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:24,538 And you've seen a lot of conservative people on 74 00:03:24,605 --> 00:03:28,108 social media saying, what are you doing, Republican 75 00:03:28,175 --> 00:03:30,344 Party? You know, there was a lot of anger about that, 76 00:03:30,410 --> 00:03:33,180 but also people didn't really love the way that 77 00:03:33,247 --> 00:03:36,350 Lazar was campaigning. They wanted some more aggression 78 00:03:36,416 --> 00:03:39,987 out of her, some more of a Schimel type. So he's the 79 00:03:40,053 --> 00:03:43,590 conservative that ran last year, much more political 80 00:03:43,657 --> 00:03:47,327 generally than Lazar. She stuck to the experience 81 00:03:47,394 --> 00:03:51,865 kind of mantra. And so it did seem like, you know, 82 00:03:53,700 --> 00:03:56,637 all the money was lower in this race than it was in 83 00:03:56,703 --> 00:03:59,206 the past. But really, Republicans kind of stood 84 00:03:59,273 --> 00:04:02,342 down in a way. >> Rich. We were kind of 85 00:04:02,409 --> 00:04:04,478 trading messages throughout the night as you were at 86 00:04:04,545 --> 00:04:09,650 that Maria Lazar campaign election party. It strikes 87 00:04:09,716 --> 00:04:12,186 me that this was not a joyous affair. Can you kind 88 00:04:12,252 --> 00:04:15,155 of talk us through what it was like to be at this 89 00:04:15,222 --> 00:04:19,359 hotel in Pewaukee? >> Yeah, it was it. I mean, 90 00:04:21,128 --> 00:04:24,498 it was there was no celebration. In fact, there 91 00:04:24,565 --> 00:04:27,868 was no people. Generally, when I show up to these 92 00:04:27,935 --> 00:04:31,071 things, we get there early and then, you know, you set 93 00:04:31,138 --> 00:04:33,607 up, but there's already people milling around for 94 00:04:33,674 --> 00:04:35,809 much of the night before the race was called, there 95 00:04:35,876 --> 00:04:38,912 were more reporters in the room than there were 96 00:04:38,979 --> 00:04:42,549 supporters. And that is just something that that 97 00:04:42,616 --> 00:04:45,886 and you kind of get a sense that, well, they kind of 98 00:04:45,953 --> 00:04:49,556 know this is a foregone conclusion. But even I was 99 00:04:49,623 --> 00:04:52,693 still surprised when the race was called less than 100 00:04:52,759 --> 00:04:57,030 40 minutes after the polls closed. I mean, that's 101 00:04:57,097 --> 00:05:01,068 surprising. So the mood was rough. Lazar didn't come 102 00:05:01,134 --> 00:05:05,973 out and speak until after 9 p.m. She said that she 103 00:05:06,039 --> 00:05:09,309 feels that she ran this race with purpose. There 104 00:05:09,376 --> 00:05:12,513 was still a reason for it. She said that she thinks 105 00:05:12,579 --> 00:05:15,649 that her message that Partizanship should get out 106 00:05:15,716 --> 00:05:19,319 of these judicial races kind of resonated, and that 107 00:05:19,386 --> 00:05:21,822 with candidate after candidate in the future 108 00:05:21,889 --> 00:05:25,058 sticking to that message, maybe things will change. 109 00:05:25,125 --> 00:05:28,328 Whether that squares with reality, I'm not sure. 110 00:05:28,395 --> 00:05:30,497 >> Seems like the results might send the opposite 111 00:05:30,564 --> 00:05:33,000 message there in terms of what future candidates will 112 00:05:33,066 --> 00:05:36,670 take from it. As you look at where the votes came in 113 00:05:36,737 --> 00:05:39,606 here, I know we should take them with a huge grain of 114 00:05:39,673 --> 00:05:43,143 salt because we do not have 20 point elections in 115 00:05:43,210 --> 00:05:45,946 Wisconsin. That said, they are a snapshot in time at 116 00:05:46,013 --> 00:05:50,217 this moment. Anything stick out to any of you about 117 00:05:50,284 --> 00:05:52,819 where the votes came in or how they came in. 118 00:05:52,886 --> 00:05:55,589 >> I mean, I think that the grain of salt is actually 119 00:05:55,656 --> 00:05:58,525 kind of part of the story, right? There was a lot of 120 00:05:58,592 --> 00:06:00,661 trying to claim victory and really cast this forward 121 00:06:00,727 --> 00:06:03,230 from Democrats, cast us forward into November for 122 00:06:03,297 --> 00:06:05,599 what this means, especially because Chris Taylor 123 00:06:05,666 --> 00:06:08,035 performed so well in so-called Trump counties 124 00:06:08,101 --> 00:06:10,237 and up north and things like this. But that's in 125 00:06:10,304 --> 00:06:12,739 part because liberals have the advantage in these 126 00:06:12,806 --> 00:06:14,741 spring elections. That's been true for the last 127 00:06:14,808 --> 00:06:17,711 couple of years. That was true in the sort of 128 00:06:17,778 --> 00:06:21,248 postmortem that Republicans own poor performance last 129 00:06:21,315 --> 00:06:23,383 spring, that the nature of the electorate that comes 130 00:06:23,450 --> 00:06:26,687 out in an election in the springtime without Donald 131 00:06:26,753 --> 00:06:29,156 Trump at the top of the ballot, is a really 132 00:06:29,223 --> 00:06:32,025 different electorate that comes out in a November 133 00:06:32,092 --> 00:06:34,995 election. And so I think overreading the results of 134 00:06:35,062 --> 00:06:38,799 this would be a problem for Democrats. 135 00:06:38,866 --> 00:06:41,401 >> Yeah, I think the extension of that is that 136 00:06:41,468 --> 00:06:44,104 we're not going to see the same environment in the 137 00:06:44,171 --> 00:06:47,407 fall. Republicans won't be outspent 8 to 1. 138 00:06:47,474 --> 00:06:49,142 Republicans won't be pulling their punches and 139 00:06:49,209 --> 00:06:51,845 not trying to campaign through the end. And 140 00:06:51,912 --> 00:06:54,381 nothing to diminish the campaign that Maria Lazar 141 00:06:54,448 --> 00:06:56,783 ran. But she ran it without any outside support. That 142 00:06:56,850 --> 00:06:59,520 is necessary in this modern environment for a Supreme 143 00:06:59,586 --> 00:07:02,122 Court candidate to be successful. She simply 144 00:07:02,189 --> 00:07:04,391 didn't have the party infrastructure that is now 145 00:07:04,458 --> 00:07:06,860 relied upon. If you want to win a statewide campaign 146 00:07:06,927 --> 00:07:08,662 that is a completely different game than what 147 00:07:08,729 --> 00:07:11,565 we're going to see this fall. And yes, I think 148 00:07:11,632 --> 00:07:13,433 Democrats are sending out statements trying to fire 149 00:07:13,500 --> 00:07:16,336 up their own supporters. But I saw this game a 150 00:07:16,403 --> 00:07:19,206 couple years ago, in 2023 when Janet Protasiewicz won. 151 00:07:19,273 --> 00:07:21,909 I was in Ozaukee County the next year, and Ozaukee 152 00:07:21,975 --> 00:07:24,845 County Dems were telling me, oh, we were in the mid 40s 153 00:07:24,912 --> 00:07:27,681 and Ozaukee County for Janet. We're going to win 154 00:07:27,748 --> 00:07:30,984 for fall of 24. Kamala Harris is going to win 155 00:07:31,051 --> 00:07:33,620 Ozaukee and she got blown out. Like things revert 156 00:07:33,687 --> 00:07:36,056 back to the norm when you get to the bigger elections 157 00:07:36,123 --> 00:07:39,026 where more attention is paid. And due to voter 158 00:07:39,092 --> 00:07:40,928 realignment, like you were just talking about, Anya, 159 00:07:40,994 --> 00:07:42,996 we're going to see more people that don't pay 160 00:07:43,063 --> 00:07:45,132 attention to these elections. Vote in the fall, 161 00:07:45,199 --> 00:07:48,001 not at the same level as we would in a presidential 162 00:07:48,068 --> 00:07:49,937 year, but turnout will be significantly higher right 163 00:07:50,003 --> 00:07:52,773 now with realignment. lower turnout events when 164 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,742 they can consistently get their voters to the polls, 165 00:07:55,809 --> 00:07:59,179 and Republicans aren't. So a lot of it will depend on 166 00:07:59,246 --> 00:08:01,215 the atmosphere this fall and how demoralized 167 00:08:01,281 --> 00:08:04,318 Republicans may be. >> I would be surprised, 168 00:08:04,384 --> 00:08:06,620 you know, frankly, if Republicans were able to 169 00:08:06,687 --> 00:08:09,957 win Ozaukee County in November. This is the oh, 170 00:08:10,023 --> 00:08:12,226 in the Wow counties, the vaunted Wow counties that 171 00:08:12,292 --> 00:08:14,595 were the foundation of Republican power in this 172 00:08:14,661 --> 00:08:18,432 state for years. But I have to say, Chris Taylor, 1 173 00:08:18,498 --> 00:08:20,400 Ozaukee County. And that is something that even in 174 00:08:20,467 --> 00:08:22,503 these other big Supreme Court elections, the 175 00:08:22,569 --> 00:08:26,206 Liberal candidate has not yet won Ozaukee County. She 176 00:08:26,273 --> 00:08:31,445 also got 84% in Dane County. And yeah, sure, Democrats 177 00:08:31,512 --> 00:08:35,415 win Dane County. No surprise she's from there. 178 00:08:35,482 --> 00:08:38,619 84% is unheard of. And when it is the leading vote 179 00:08:38,685 --> 00:08:41,622 getting county in the state as Dane County is in these 180 00:08:41,688 --> 00:08:43,957 races, that's a big deal. >> And she did much better 181 00:08:44,024 --> 00:08:46,627 in her home county of Dane County than Maria Lazar did 182 00:08:46,693 --> 00:08:49,263 in her home county of Waukesha County. And 183 00:08:49,329 --> 00:08:51,932 Waukesha County is also one of these that has started 184 00:08:51,999 --> 00:08:54,968 sort of moving away from being as die hard red. It's 185 00:08:55,035 --> 00:08:57,838 still deep red, but that is also a sort of suburban 186 00:08:57,905 --> 00:08:59,439 district that we've been paying attention to, as 187 00:08:59,506 --> 00:09:01,441 some of those shifts have taken place. 188 00:09:01,508 --> 00:09:04,378 >> Far more people than Ozaukee. 2. So a big vote 189 00:09:04,444 --> 00:09:07,915 getter. Rich, how about you? >> Yeah, I just wanted to 190 00:09:07,981 --> 00:09:10,751 go back to the discussion of, you know, you've got 191 00:09:10,817 --> 00:09:15,088 the Wow counties, not as as deep red, but northern 192 00:09:15,155 --> 00:09:18,759 Wisconsin. So it is true that that I've seen some 193 00:09:18,825 --> 00:09:21,228 conservatives say, well, that's the new Wow counties 194 00:09:21,295 --> 00:09:23,764 essentially, you know, a strip of counties from like 195 00:09:23,830 --> 00:09:26,700 the eastern side of the northeastern part of the 196 00:09:26,767 --> 00:09:31,572 state to the Polk County on the west. And that might be 197 00:09:31,638 --> 00:09:34,842 true, but the population just isn't there. So, you 198 00:09:34,908 --> 00:09:37,678 know, that's sort of an area, even if it goes hard 199 00:09:37,744 --> 00:09:41,415 for Republicans in the fall, a Dane County kind of turn 200 00:09:41,481 --> 00:09:45,953 out like we saw could erase that pretty quickly. So 201 00:09:46,019 --> 00:09:49,690 that that was a really interesting thing to see 202 00:09:49,756 --> 00:09:51,625 Republicans say, well, this is where we need to focus 203 00:09:51,692 --> 00:09:54,695 up north. >> So we have this thing 204 00:09:55,362 --> 00:09:58,098 that we do in Wisconsin. At least I can't resist it. We 205 00:09:58,165 --> 00:10:01,001 had an election, and we have to talk about what's 206 00:10:01,068 --> 00:10:03,203 going to what's it mean for the next election. And I 207 00:10:03,270 --> 00:10:05,973 know the 2026 election is way different. But what 208 00:10:06,039 --> 00:10:08,175 does it mean? I mean, are there lessons that either 209 00:10:08,242 --> 00:10:11,612 party would look at these and say, well, that's 210 00:10:11,678 --> 00:10:13,480 that's troubling for us. You know, if you're 211 00:10:13,547 --> 00:10:16,950 Republicans or if you're Democrats, little of that 212 00:10:17,017 --> 00:10:18,685 exuberance that you were talking about, is there 213 00:10:18,752 --> 00:10:20,354 anything kind of real in there? 214 00:10:20,420 --> 00:10:23,590 >> Well, just today before we came on here, we saw two 215 00:10:23,657 --> 00:10:25,792 more Assembly Republicans announced they were not 216 00:10:25,859 --> 00:10:28,695 going to seek reelection. Now, in and of itself, that 217 00:10:28,762 --> 00:10:31,431 doesn't mean anything. But trends matter. We've seen a 218 00:10:31,498 --> 00:10:34,201 lot more Republicans decide they don't want to run. And 219 00:10:34,268 --> 00:10:36,503 we've seen that in the Senate, where it is a 220 00:10:36,570 --> 00:10:38,539 pretty good odds on chance that Democrats will flip 221 00:10:38,605 --> 00:10:41,542 that chamber and the Assembly is 50 over 50. It 222 00:10:41,608 --> 00:10:43,944 sucks to be in the minority. And we've seen that in both 223 00:10:44,011 --> 00:10:46,580 the legislature and on the Supreme Court, where we had 224 00:10:46,647 --> 00:10:49,149 now two consecutive conservative incumbent 225 00:10:49,216 --> 00:10:51,985 justices who were well within the normal age range 226 00:10:52,052 --> 00:10:54,755 to seek another ten year term, decide, I don't want 227 00:10:54,821 --> 00:10:56,990 to be in the minority on this court. I'd rather go 228 00:10:57,057 --> 00:10:59,826 somewhere else. So I think those patterns tell you a 229 00:10:59,893 --> 00:11:02,629 lot more than what any of the the press releases will. 230 00:11:02,696 --> 00:11:05,766 >> Including Annette been up for election in 231 00:11:05,832 --> 00:11:08,001 2027, and somebody who, at least in 2007, showed that 232 00:11:08,068 --> 00:11:12,139 she knew how to win these races. How about 2027? What 233 00:11:12,206 --> 00:11:15,576 does this mean for the next state Supreme Court race? 234 00:11:15,642 --> 00:11:18,378 You know who wants to go there? 235 00:11:18,445 --> 00:11:21,014 right? Sort of gaming out the next couple. We talked 236 00:11:21,081 --> 00:11:23,183 last week about how nobody was talking about this 237 00:11:23,250 --> 00:11:25,552 court election as the most important in a generation 238 00:11:25,619 --> 00:11:28,255 or whatever. And then enter Ben Wikler, the former 239 00:11:28,322 --> 00:11:30,424 chair of the Democratic Party. He sent out this 240 00:11:30,490 --> 00:11:32,759 email day of and he was explaining why he thought 241 00:11:32,826 --> 00:11:36,563 for Democrats and liberals, it was actually hugely 242 00:11:36,630 --> 00:11:38,866 important because essentially this guarantees 243 00:11:38,932 --> 00:11:42,803 liberal control past the point of the census. And so 244 00:11:42,870 --> 00:11:45,005 into the next redistricting cycle, everything comes 245 00:11:45,072 --> 00:11:48,175 back to redistricting, as Zack likes to say. And so 246 00:11:48,242 --> 00:11:51,745 with the next, with the 2027, with 28 and a swing, 247 00:11:51,812 --> 00:11:54,548 a swing justice potentially coming up, maybe we'll see 248 00:11:54,615 --> 00:11:56,884 primaries in the races again. Like in some ways, 249 00:11:56,950 --> 00:11:59,953 this opens the door for some very strange 250 00:12:00,020 --> 00:12:02,556 maneuverings as liberals and Democrats get to kind 251 00:12:02,623 --> 00:12:07,361 of take for granted that they have this court rich. 252 00:12:07,427 --> 00:12:10,998 >> I I'm going to be watching to see if 253 00:12:11,064 --> 00:12:13,534 Republicans or conservatives even run a 254 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,970 candidate. You know, that the inverse of that 255 00:12:17,037 --> 00:12:21,341 happened when the GOP was running the table on these 256 00:12:21,408 --> 00:12:24,845 elections. And there's been a few, you know, talk radio 257 00:12:24,912 --> 00:12:29,650 people wondering, like, who would want to run for a 258 00:12:29,716 --> 00:12:34,087 seat in the minority of the Supreme Court after someone 259 00:12:34,154 --> 00:12:38,825 just got clobbered by 20 points. So I obviously 260 00:12:38,892 --> 00:12:41,862 can't predict the future, but that seems like it 261 00:12:41,929 --> 00:12:44,665 would be a pretty bitter pill to swallow. So it will 262 00:12:44,731 --> 00:12:49,403 be interesting to see who runs for liberals and for 263 00:12:50,370 --> 00:12:52,573 conservatives, or if they just sit this one out. 264 00:12:52,639 --> 00:12:54,241 >> Yeah. >> All right, Sean, your 265 00:12:54,308 --> 00:12:56,343 turn. You don't get out of this. 266 00:12:56,410 --> 00:12:58,478 >> I mean, I've been thinking about how long 267 00:12:58,545 --> 00:13:01,215 this could go really, in terms of how long this 268 00:13:01,281 --> 00:13:04,551 liberal majority could be in place. Because, yes, we 269 00:13:04,618 --> 00:13:07,387 have said accurately the conservatives could flip it 270 00:13:07,454 --> 00:13:10,958 back in 2030. But you know, how much has to go right 271 00:13:11,024 --> 00:13:13,827 for them for that to happen. They have to win next year 272 00:13:13,894 --> 00:13:16,697 when there's an open seat and we see what the 273 00:13:16,763 --> 00:13:19,099 environment is now they have to win in 2028 when 274 00:13:19,166 --> 00:13:21,735 Rebecca Dallet is up and she knows how to run these 275 00:13:21,802 --> 00:13:24,838 races, 2029 is Bryan Hagedorn, who may face a 276 00:13:24,905 --> 00:13:28,208 challenge from the right. And then if all that goes 277 00:13:28,275 --> 00:13:31,745 right, then you get to 2030 and you presumably take on 278 00:13:31,812 --> 00:13:34,248 Jill Karofsky, another double digit winner in her 279 00:13:34,314 --> 00:13:37,217 race. If any of those things does not go their 280 00:13:37,284 --> 00:13:39,786 way, the clock gets set back three years. So this 281 00:13:39,853 --> 00:13:42,556 really does sort of open up a chance for liberals to 282 00:13:42,623 --> 00:13:46,627 look at the court with a long view. And I think 283 00:13:46,693 --> 00:13:49,530 we're kind of looking for clues on how they might 284 00:13:49,596 --> 00:13:52,766 view that. Now that this five two majority is the 285 00:13:52,833 --> 00:13:55,903 sort of new reality we know about Judge Chris Taylor, 286 00:13:55,969 --> 00:13:59,173 the candidate for Supreme Court, she gave us some 287 00:13:59,239 --> 00:14:02,776 hints on election night about how she views the law. 288 00:14:02,843 --> 00:14:06,180 Here's justice elect Chris Taylor. 289 00:14:07,214 --> 00:14:11,084 >> The law can be a tool to lift people up, to improve 290 00:14:11,151 --> 00:14:14,688 their lives, to strengthen our communities. And that's 291 00:14:14,755 --> 00:14:18,125 exciting. That drove me to law school, and I've spent 292 00:14:18,192 --> 00:14:22,429 now 30 my 30 year legal career as a lawyer in 293 00:14:22,496 --> 00:14:25,199 private practice, as a law and policy director for 294 00:14:25,265 --> 00:14:29,870 Planned Parenthood. >> And so, you know, when 295 00:14:29,937 --> 00:14:32,673 candidates for the court get up and give that speech 296 00:14:32,739 --> 00:14:34,842 on election night, they have a choice they can make. 297 00:14:34,908 --> 00:14:37,044 They can kind of withdraw from the campaign messages 298 00:14:37,110 --> 00:14:39,713 and thank their supporters and say it's time to move 299 00:14:39,780 --> 00:14:42,850 on. In this case, I think you heard Chris Taylor 300 00:14:42,916 --> 00:14:45,052 saying, hey, you know, all that stuff I said on the 301 00:14:45,118 --> 00:14:48,522 campaign trail, that's still me. This is who I am. 302 00:14:48,589 --> 00:14:51,091 So knowing that knowing the court that she is stepping 303 00:14:51,158 --> 00:14:54,628 into, what might this court take up? 304 00:14:54,695 --> 00:14:57,097 >> I mean, so one of the things that could be on the 305 00:14:57,164 --> 00:15:00,167 agenda is a challenge to act ten. And I thought that 306 00:15:00,234 --> 00:15:02,936 was really interesting. You know, I did a profile of 307 00:15:03,003 --> 00:15:05,105 Chris Taylor and she talked about on the on the trail, 308 00:15:05,172 --> 00:15:07,975 on her stump speech, she talked about how like the 309 00:15:08,041 --> 00:15:10,911 events of 2011 as part of what motivated her to run 310 00:15:10,978 --> 00:15:13,013 for the legislature, which is part of where she spent 311 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,716 her career, meaning act ten, meaning the protests 312 00:15:15,782 --> 00:15:17,584 against Scott Walker. And so it'll be really 313 00:15:17,651 --> 00:15:20,254 interesting to kind of see the tale of those events 314 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,856 and how those reshaped politics maybe potentially 315 00:15:22,923 --> 00:15:25,792 come before this court. >> Rich, any issues that 316 00:15:25,859 --> 00:15:30,097 you think could be there? >> I mean, obviously 317 00:15:30,697 --> 00:15:33,500 there's a ton of issues, but one thing that has been 318 00:15:33,567 --> 00:15:36,603 interesting to watch is the Liberal majority kind of 319 00:15:36,670 --> 00:15:40,774 dismantling Republicans, the power that they had 320 00:15:40,841 --> 00:15:43,944 built up for themselves when they had, you know, 321 00:15:44,011 --> 00:15:48,649 they still do. But during the Walker years, and this 322 00:15:48,715 --> 00:15:52,920 has been through kind of clipping the wings a little 323 00:15:52,986 --> 00:15:55,722 bit of these various legislative committees that 324 00:15:55,789 --> 00:16:00,127 can delay new rules for agencies, or they could 325 00:16:02,763 --> 00:16:05,065 indefinitely. And, you know, we've seen that sort of 326 00:16:05,132 --> 00:16:08,268 stuff get struck down. So I guess I'd be more 327 00:16:08,335 --> 00:16:10,037 interested to see if there's going to be other 328 00:16:10,103 --> 00:16:12,673 cases challenging the legislature's authority to 329 00:16:12,739 --> 00:16:16,543 be able to stop, you know, things that Democrats want 330 00:16:16,610 --> 00:16:20,347 to see happen. >> We we're going to run 331 00:16:20,414 --> 00:16:23,217 out of time here if we don't keep moving. I think, 332 00:16:23,283 --> 00:16:25,786 you know, use your imagination. Big issues 333 00:16:25,853 --> 00:16:30,657 could come before the court. Let's talk about another 334 00:16:30,724 --> 00:16:33,827 person in the news this week who lost their job. 335 00:16:33,894 --> 00:16:37,431 The UW Board of Regents unanimously fired the 336 00:16:37,497 --> 00:16:40,367 system. President Jay Rothman. What do we know 337 00:16:40,434 --> 00:16:44,438 about why at this point? >> Not much. We know that 338 00:16:44,505 --> 00:16:46,707 they were displeased that he serves at the pleasure 339 00:16:46,773 --> 00:16:49,376 of the board. These are appointees of Governor 340 00:16:49,443 --> 00:16:53,247 Evers. Rothman came in kind of as a whisperer for 341 00:16:53,313 --> 00:16:55,082 Republicans. When Republicans control the 342 00:16:55,148 --> 00:16:58,018 legislature and the U.A.W. needed someone to to 343 00:16:58,085 --> 00:17:00,621 negotiate between the both parties, especially when 344 00:17:00,687 --> 00:17:03,357 the UW was getting trampled in the budget constantly. 345 00:17:03,423 --> 00:17:06,426 And it may signal this idea that we don't need someone 346 00:17:06,493 --> 00:17:08,829 like that anymore, that they expect Democrats to be 347 00:17:08,896 --> 00:17:11,565 in power next year when there's a new budget and 348 00:17:11,632 --> 00:17:14,501 Rothman services, it's time for him to move on. They're 349 00:17:14,568 --> 00:17:16,236 hoping to do it quietly, but it didn't end up that 350 00:17:16,303 --> 00:17:18,505 way. >> It didn't. And 351 00:17:18,572 --> 00:17:20,474 Republicans who control the legislature are not only 352 00:17:20,541 --> 00:17:23,610 protesting, they are using the power that they have 353 00:17:23,677 --> 00:17:27,214 potentially in the state Senate. It sounds like, to 354 00:17:27,281 --> 00:17:29,082 kind of strike back in a way. 355 00:17:29,149 --> 00:17:31,718 >> Yeah. That is one of the powers that they've had 356 00:17:31,785 --> 00:17:33,487 throughout the Evers administration is to push 357 00:17:33,554 --> 00:17:36,690 back against his appointments, and they 358 00:17:36,757 --> 00:17:39,226 a message. Again, we are kind of looking towards a 359 00:17:39,293 --> 00:17:41,094 know who's going to end up in the governor's seat. And 360 00:17:41,161 --> 00:17:43,897 so therefore, we don't know who's going to end up in 361 00:17:43,964 --> 00:17:46,166 charge of the Board of Regents. And so I think 362 00:17:46,233 --> 00:17:48,202 we're going to see some of this power grabbing right 363 00:17:48,268 --> 00:17:49,269 now in order to kind of set the stage for control of 364 00:17:49,336 --> 00:17:51,138 the UW 365 00:17:51,205 --> 00:17:54,174 That's all the time we have for today. Thanks 366 00:17:54,241 --> 00:17:57,511 for joining us for this week's Inside Wisconsin 367 00:17:57,578 --> 00:17:59,980 Politics. Be sure to follow us on PBS Wisconsin.org 368 00:18:00,047 --> 00:18:01,849 wpr..org YouTube or wherever you get 369 00:18:01,915 --> 00:18:03,584 your podcasts.