Thank you.
Governor Evers making a comment
there on political fortunes
going forward.
What will those fortunes look like
in the midterm elections?
We welcome our political panelist,
Republican Bill McCaushan and
Democrat Scott Ross.
And hello. How are you?
Pretty good.
So Bill, Tom Tiffany said
Republicans got their butts kicked
Tuesday night.
How in your view did that happen?
Well, he's right about that.
If you're gonna win statewide, you
need three things. You need money,
organization, and message.
Mom, we had no money.
Didn't look like we had any
organization.
And I'm not sure what the message
was. So I think we failed on all
three of those points.
And ultimately, it wasn't
the worst Supreme Court
election in state history, but
it was pretty close.
And, you know, when...
Uh, Maria Lazar is losing
her home county of Waukesha
by 43,600.
She got 43, 600 fewer
votes than Brad Schimmel did in
her own county.
That's a rough night.
Scott, was it about the money
advantage for Chris Taylor?
No, because we've seen advantages
before where, I mean, I've been part
of ones where the Republicans had
all the money and the liberal
candidate didn't have any and we've
never, I haven't, you know, the most
I saw was like, I think seven points
back in 2013.
But the fact is, is that this is a
combination of a couple of things.
First and foremost, that the
Republican brand has broken.
The Donald Trump Republican Party
has taken us to war,
it's taken us into the poorhouse,
and it keeps doubling down.
And I would point out that, you
know, in the same interview where
Tom Tiffany said they got their
butts kicked, he also endorsed, you,
know, Trump's, you know,
announced intention to commit war
crimes and every economic
policy that he has pushed forward,
including.
Trying to overturn the results of
the 2020 election,
considering this race was about
fairness, freedom,
and rights, there's no
wonder the Republicans lost.
So, Bill, how big a factor is
Trump in these elections?
I don't think the race was
nationalized. I don't agree with
Scott on that.
It may have had something to do with
some people staying home.
I mean, the truth is they didn't
know Marie Lazar.
She raised less than a million
dollars, which is far less
than Brad Schimmel.
I mean a year ago, we had the most
expenses of a Supreme Court race in
history, $115 million.
This one combined was around
10 million.
So people didn't know who she
was. So I'm not sure that
Trump was a huge factor
in this race, but the truth is,
congrats first of all to
Justice-elect Chris Taylor, but she
won seven out of eight congressional
districts, including.
And they went up 71,
71 of the 72 counties had a
higher performance than in 2025
images.
So how does this travel into
November?
Well, I think that the trend is
irreversible in terms of the
Republican performance and Trump's
brand. And I would just, I mean,
again, I just have to disagree
because if you look at past
elections, you know, like for
instance, in 2016, where Rebecca
Bradley, I means, she lost, she won
by 94,500 votes.
You know, when there were 97,000
more Republicans who voted in the
presidential primary that year,
that's not even close to 20 percent,
it's not close to double digits in
terms of the difference between the
two. You know, Republicans have,
in the Trump era,
lost races where tons of money, the
most money ever spent, they've
lost when not a lot of money's
spent. They've lost by
double digits each time that
we've had these things.
It's just, again, the brand is
broken. They are doubling down.
The cult will continue.
Tom Tiffany, Derek Van Orton,
and whoever Republicans can finally
try and get to be leader of the
Senate and Assembly Democrats
or Republicans, you know, come
November.
It's just a disaster, but again,
Democrats have to do the work in
order to get there.
Not a great correlation between
spring elections and fall elections
in the state of Wisconsin.
If you look at 2023, Janet Protaseo
has won a Supreme Court seat by 10
points.
2024, Donald Trump wins Wisconsin
with the most votes of any statewide
candidate in history.
So it's not a perfect correlation,
but I would say it's a warning sign
for Republicans, and they ought to
take it that way.
So, Bill, what about the war in Iran
and its repercussions at home?
I think it's having an impact in
this respect.
Gas prices are up, whether it's a
buck, a buck 50, and
people feel that.
So the fundamental question that
every voter has to answer when they
go into the voting booth is what's
in it for me, if I vote for X or Y.
And right now, that's not great for
Republicans. For Republicans to have
a shot this fall, gas needs to be at
or below three bucks a gallon.
And if it's not, it's gonna be a
tough cycle.
23% gas prices have gone up since
Trump's war of choice in Iran.
So if that
somehow gets resolved,
and those gas prices come down,
and inflation comes down,
does it kind of revert to
a regular cycle then?
Because people are still losing
their health care. They're still
seeing ICE, you know,
the Gestapo in our streets, you know
killing Americans who do
nothing more than protest.
Like those things aren't going to
stop. And the cult of Trump within
the Republican Party, of elected
officials specifically, Derrick
Van Orton and Tom Tiffany, who both,
as Bill correctly pointed out,
lost the congressional district.
I mean, Derrick van Orton lost his
district.
Chris Taylor won Derrick van Orten's
district by 22 points.
Eau Claire and La Crosse were nearly
40%.
It could.
It could revert to a normal cycle.
Before the war broke out
in the Middle East, the generic
ballot was a couple points favorable
towards Democrats.
That's something that Republicans
can compete in and win
in. Now it's five or six
and in some polls it's eight points.
That's a much tougher environment
for Republicans.
So Scott, what about for Democrats
in their splintered primary for
governor with so many candidates?
I mean, that just means there's more
coverage of what Democrats are
talking about because they're not
attacking each other not going after
each other It's same thing from 2018
I mean there were hardly any even
contrast leveled in the 2018 primary
for for Democrats and what ended up
happening Tony Evers upset
Scott Walker who was trying to win
win a third term and didn't you know
I think that on top of you know,
not just that ballot but talking I'm
sorry to your question Not
just talking about the
Democrats in the in the primary
But what that's going to do for the
down ballot, the state Senate and
state assembly, I mean, we saw
things like, you know,
some of the targets, the best target
the Republicans have in the state
Senate, Jeff Smith,
Chris Taylor won his district by 30
points.
Like, you know, that's all I mean.
There's even new, there's new meat
on the table as a result of Tuesday
night. Not surprising, but a
different take. There's 123 days
until the primary.
If they do not define one
another, Francesca Hong will be the
Democratic nominee.
What's the money race gonna look
like?
It's gonna be very different this
fall.
Maria Lazar got no outside help,
including from ally groups like the
Federalist Society and WMC
who have always spent seven figures
in Supreme Court races.
This fall, the money will be there
for Tom Tiffany.
And what about the money on the
Democratic side?
Golly, yes, I think that the money
is going to be there for Democrats,
because they have been an incredible
fundraising machine for the last,
like, you know, since Wichler got
Thankfully, Wichlar's gone.
But Devin's doing a good job of
raising the money, too.
You know, again, Democrats need to
do what, in order to win these
races, it's not about out-raising
the Republicans, it is about a
consistent, relentless assault
on what Republicans stand for
and how they are hurting the people
of Wisconsin.
207 days to go.
It's time to get the war over and
get back to domestic affairs.
Bill McCaushan, Scott Ross, thanks
very much.
For more on this and other issues
facing Wisconsin, visit our website
at pbswisconsin.org
and then click on the news tab.
That's our program for tonight.
I'm Frederica Freiburg.
Have a good weekend.
Thank you.