I'm rolling.
All right.
Let's go back a little bit.
Tell me how you got involved in Brown County politics first
before we launch into this fall.
Sure.
So looking back, I was partially activated
when Trump was elected in 2016.
Was pretty horrified that he actually got elected.
I think a lot of folks didn't really
think that that would happen.
And then when he was up for re-election,
was thinking, if he wins again, I'm
going to need to do something different with my life.
So during that time, I was an executive
with a manufacturing company.
So living my little life, things were going well,
but was really concerned about the influence
that he was having on the country.
So kind of just started percolating.
And of course, he did not win re-election,
but he did not go away by any means.
And then when Roe v. Wade was overturned,
that was not just a tipping point, but a shoving point.
And it wasn't just that Roe v. Wade was overturned.
It was the commentary by Clarence Thomas
that basically invited cases on contraception and gay marriage.
So all of that together.
And I feel naive now, but I did not
think that they would be successful in trying to overturn Roe.
So they made that happen.
And then inviting these other cases,
that was clearly the next step.
So I decided to get involved in politics.
Wasn't really sure how to do that.
My husband and my mom had been volunteering
with the Brown County Dems a lot.
So I kind of jumped in there and met a ton of great people
and learned that there was going to be an election
in December for a chair.
And I was jumping in in a lot of different places.
So it was encouraged to run for chair.
So I did.
And I won.
And I'm actually still chair now.
So I did that as kind of a first step
to see what might come next and learn more
about all the different organizations involved.
And because I did know that I would
want there to be a next step.
So then things have happened pretty quickly.
We got Janet Protisawitz elected.
The maps changed and found myself living in a district that
needed a candidate.
And so pretty clear path before me, right?
So decided to go ahead and run for office.
And yeah, so my life has changed a lot in two years.
So that would be December of 22.
Yep.
OK, just to make sure I got my timelines right there.
So as the maps, as it became apparent
that there would be new maps, even as that process
wasn't folding of what it would look like,
who would draw them, who would decide.
Were you thinking then, likely, there's
going to be an opportunity here for me?
Or was that once again, kind of having
to wait and see what materialized?
I'll be honest, I wasn't necessarily
thinking about myself in the beginning.
I was excited, of course, that we
were going to have the opportunity
to get a majority in the assembly.
But was happy to support other folks
that had been around longer and maybe had a little more
history.
And then just the way things shook out,
I said, I'll be your emergency backup.
And then ended up needing a candidate.
And I mean, I make a good candidate,
but I'm so new to the scene that I didn't want
to step on toes of folks that had been around longer.
If there had been more people interested in that seat
than you would have jumped into a crowd of primary?
No, no.
I would have happily supported, as long as it
was someone that wanted to run and was really enthused about it
and was a good candidate, had everything they needed
to be able to win, yeah, I would have happily supported them.
So as it became apparent that you were going to be the candidate,
then how quick did that switch flip?
From organizing and helping others run their campaigns
and saying, I'll support you to being the focal point.
Well, so being chair of Brown County Dems,
I was involved in a couple of campaigns, city council
and county board and school board, things like that.
So I did get a taste of, I never, two years ago,
I wouldn't have said I would run for office.
But working with actual candidates,
you find out, up close and personal,
that they're just regular people.
They're not some kind of different breed of person.
And so learn firsthand what a campaign takes now
that those are a little smaller scale,
but had a better idea of what an assembly campaign would be
like.
So when I threw my hat in the ring
as to be an option if needed, I did start thinking about it
and was warming up to the idea more and more.
I secured christyforwisconsin.com just in case
that would be needed.
So yeah, I was definitely, and I was excited
that to be able to step in.
Inside your future gubernatorial platform campaign
as well, and work every step up all the way.
Right.
Leave your options open.
So talk to me a little about the race
that you have in front of you.
You have a candidate, they're an opponent now.
He's one his primary.
What are the issues that you see as most important
in this fall?
So there's definitely recurring themes
that I hear when I'm knocking doors.
People are concerned about costs,
and there's lots of different buckets of costs,
but costs at the grocery store, housing costs,
childcare costs.
So people are, there's a lot of folks
that are not in as, they're struggling
to make their wages extend as far as they used to.
So costs, for sure, is a big piece.
Here in Wisconsin, when Roe v. Wade was overturned,
we reverted to an 1849 law.
And there are a lot of women and men that are unhappy
that that's what we're operating under now.
Women didn't have the right to vote in 1849.
We didn't know what germs were.
It's just, it doesn't make sense for us
to be operating in 2024 under a law that is that old.
So that one definitely comes up,
and that's something that spans across party lines.
And yeah, those are the main issues
that come up at the doors.
When it comes to the issue of abortion and access
to that health care, is there a concern
that if the Supreme Court rules on the cases before them,
that could kind of neutralize that issue?
That people would go back to that old Roe mentality
if I go it's safe now.
I don't have to vote based on this.
I could vote based on other issues that matter to me.
Well, yeah, that's a good question.
It won't be as much of a political topic
that people on both sides use.
But I mean, it's necessary for our society.
I mean, it's a women's rights issue as well.
I mean, the folks that came up with these laws
are primarily male.
They had no idea what it's like to be pregnant and give birth,
and everything that goes along with that.
So once it is enshrined in law,
I mean, that'll be good for everybody.
So that would be a perfectly fine development,
that it would be off the table politically.
Talk to me a little bit about education,
because obviously passing the budget,
one of the most important things a legislature will do.
Public education funding has been a big topic.
There's referendums everywhere for operating,
maintenance, and all these kind of things.
So where do you and your opponent differ on that,
and what would you like to see the legislature do
when it comes to funding in the next budget?
So yes, I do some educating at the doors
about public education funding, because that
is an issue that most folks, Democrat and Republican,
independent, agree that we need well-funded public education.
And it's a pretty simple argument to lay out
that over the last 12 years, the amount the state allocates
to each district per student has barely changed
previous to that.
It would not be exactly tied to inflation,
but it would go up as appropriate
so that the districts could keep up with giving raises
and keeping up with maintenance.
But for 12 years, again, that has basically stayed flat.
And for 12 years, the legislature
has been under Republican control.
So those folks currently in power
don't think that, and at the same time,
we have a record budget surplus.
So we have the money.
We have people currently representing Wisconsin
that don't think public education is a good investment.
So when folks are willing to talk, especially if they say
that they usually lean Republican,
I like to let them know about that issue.
And that's pretty easy to connect those dots.
Where do you stand on vouchers?
So vouchers, it's interesting, because Wisconsin
is where vouchers first started.
And the intent, I think, was a good one,
but it's gotten out of control, and it's
part of what is eroding funding for public education.
The way it works now, private schools
get more money per child than public schools.
They get more special education reimbursement
than public schools.
And that all happened, again, while we
had a Republican-controlled legislature.
So read between those lines what you will,
why the folks that are currently representing us
want more money to go to private schools per child,
and essentially diverting funds from public education.
So I don't know that we need to completely
do away with vouchers, but the way
it's working today is unfair to put it nicely.
And it's a complicated issue.
So that's why it's happening, and not a lot of people
are aware of it.
There are some efforts that have been successful around the state,
and I know that other people are working on it,
so that on your property tax bill, it will break out.
Right now, it just says there's one line.
So there's efforts to break out how much are going to private
and how much are going to public.
And I think that will help a lot for people
to realize just how much money is getting
diverted to private schools that don't
have to meet the same testing requirements.
They don't have to show that they are educating the kids
to the same standards as public schools.
So today, it is not equitable, not fair, all around.
When you talk to people at the doors,
are you framing your election in a broader sense
in terms of we have new maps?
There's a chance for Democrats to retake the assembly,
like this race is no longer, and I guess
in the past few cycles it's been about
protect Evers' veto power.
That's been the message line now.
It's a message of we might actually
be able to get close to a majority if not take a majority.
Does that resonate with voters compared to other issues?
Yes, so it's kind of funny.
Sometimes I'll be knocking and I'll say, I'm Christy.
I live in East to peer, and I'm running for assembly,
and they'll say, I don't think I'm in your district.
So then not everyone is aware that how the maps changed.
So there is some education that happens there, too.
And because of the way the maps were gerrymandered,
like my people who live in DePere, Aloe Bellview,
they were represented by a Republican,
and the percentage was pretty high when the Republican
won because of the way the maps were gerrymandered.
So sometimes people are under the impression
that they are in a red area, but they're not.
It's 50-50.
And there's a phenomenon where Republicans
are much more likely to put a sign in their yard,
and Democrats are shyer about being out front with that.
So all of that together gives people the impression
that maybe there are blue dots surrounded by red.
And so I don't point out specifics,
but I'll say, I'm knocking down the street
and there's more Democrats than you might think.
I know one of the impacts of gerrymandering
over the course of 14 years that we
had uncompetitive maps was that people at local levels
who may vote blue at the top of federal or US Senate
would actually start voting for Republicans
because they didn't know them and they were there incumbent
and they were the person that they knew for so long
where they were involved in business
and they had to have a connection to Madison.
And so that was the person they'd worked with enough.
Like, oh, well, Joe's not so bad.
I've dealt with Joe a number of times.
Will that be something that Democrats in these races
have to get over?
Is that a hurdle to overcome?
There's not an incumbent in this particular race,
but that's still that incumbent mindset of,
well, I've been voting for Republicans
at the local level for a long time.
Well, I mean, so because of the way the maps were redrawn,
the majority of the assembly and Senate races
in Brown County are open seats, which kind of levels
the playing field on both sides.
But I think most folks are going to vote
and always did vote their conscience
and not necessarily for hoping for political favors
down the line.
And in Wisconsin for an assembly race,
the maximum contribution that an assembly candidate can get
is $1,000.
So no one's going to be bought off for $1,000.
When you look at Brown County as a whole,
and obviously this is you in both of your capacities here,
have we ever seen a ballot top to bottom
with so many significant and potentially close elections
all at the same time?
It's definitely been a long time.
I mean, it's been at least over a decade.
The previous two years ago, in Brown County,
there was basically only one district
that was winnable.
We did have candidates that would run even in a red district
and bless them because they did it for the greater good.
They did it to drive turnout, to help candidates up the ballot.
But this time around, when there's more
that are actually winnable, we had some really great candidates
step forward.
And we all know each other.
And we see each other at events.
And it feels like we're part of this community
and part of this.
It's an exciting time to be running, right?
We got Kamala.
Everybody loves Tammy Baldwin.
Kristen Linerley is amazing.
I mean, she is such a great candidate.
I'm so pleased that she agreed to take that race on.
And then state senate, we've got Kelly Peterson running,
Jamie Wall.
It is exciting to be with so many candidates running.
I've heard in previous years people
saying that it can be kind of isolating.
And I have not experienced that because of all this momentum
and excitement.
And so it's definitely very different.
What are you noticing?
Or what, I guess, bring me through the timeline
of between the two debates.
Because obviously, we had the first debate when Joe Biden was
still a potential nominee.
Then we saw the RNC, where the Republicans unified
around Donald Trump, Joe Biden dropped out.
Kamala was able to be the fight Democrats.
You were at the DNC.
What has that timeline felt like for you up here
in that amount of time?
It's been a lot, right?
It's been 10 political years packed into just a few months.
You know, there's definitely been
a shift in enthusiasm, which helps everybody, right?
You know, I would have campaigned for Joe Biden
to the end because, I mean, he is a great president.
He's a good man.
He's doing a great job.
And another Donald Trump presidency
will be disastrous for this country.
But the momentum with Kamala at the top of the ticket
feels, you know, the younger people are getting into it,
you know, with all these coconut memes and all this,
that we had to explain to some of our older volunteers.
That was fun.
We had a little presentation about that.
But yeah, and then considering how quickly it happened
and Democrats all around the country just,
it was pretty amazing how quickly everyone came together
and, you know, agreed, yes, we need to get behind Kamala,
that, you know, for so many reasons is the right choice.
And it was cool to see us all, you know, align that quickly.
And, you know, so I went to the DNC, as you mentioned,
and just thinking about the folks that organized that,
you know, I'm sure that they, you know,
they put all this time and effort into different programming,
and then they had to kind of pivot and change it up quite a bit.
And they did, I mean, you never would have known it.
It certainly didn't feel like it was, you know,
slap dashed, thrown together at the last minute.
It was great.
It was really great.
How does enthusiasm then translate into action needed
to get the votes?
Well, so with Kamala at the top of the ticket,
we definitely saw a major increase in people, you know,
filling out our volunteer form on our website,
calling into the office, stopping by.
People really want signs.
You know, the organizers that work for the state party,
you know, started to see a nice increase in people saying
they wanted to knock doors and make phone calls.
And on the doors as well, people are more excited
about voting for Democrats.
So all around, just feels really good.
And that enthusiasm at the top of the ticket
does translate all the way down through all
of these different races we're talking about as well, right?
And because, you know, if someone's only motivated
to go at the top of the ticket, if that's what gets them excited,
they can still go there and vote for everyone on that.
There is a risk that the farther down the ticket you get,
if, you know, conscientious voters,
if, even if they consider themselves
to be a strong Democrat, if they don't know about that
assembly candidate, they might hesitate to fill in the bubble.
So there is, you know, we can't just ride
VP Harris's coattails, you know.
And so we're knocking doors for ourselves, for her.
It's just, you know, it all feeds each other.
But, I mean, we know that for those, you know, races
that are a little lower down, that we do still need
to get out there and make sure people know our name
and know that we're, you know, worthy of their vote.
Have you met some of these infamous swing voters
or split ticket people at the doors?
I mean, what do they say to you when they talk about
how they make those decisions line by line in a betlet?
I have.
They are out there.
You know, I think I pay very close attention to politics
every single day.
Not everybody does that, right?
So they're kind of hearing the headlines on both sides.
They're, you know, they're checking in
with different media outlets.
And they're imagining that, you know,
the truth is probably somewhere in the middle there.
I strongly feel that, you know,
if you're looking at Fox News, for example,
for your information,
they're not a real news network
and they've said so themselves, actually.
So that can make the arguments a little bit harder
because there's a lot of misinformation
on the other side out there.
What I, how I try to break it down
for people who are undecided is that
just strip away anything going on in their personal life,
their ages, what are their values?
And most people are fully aware that Donald Trump
is a narcissist and he,
he's only interested in himself.
Anything he does is to further his own wealth,
his own, his power,
enjoying being famous.
And Democrats are the only ones that talk about,
you know, wanting to reduce healthcare costs
and, you know, all these different things
that we can do to help make the life
of the average working person easier
so that people can thrive.
Cause there are a lot of people that are, you know,
which struggling to make ends meet
and everyone deserves to be able to live their best life, right?
So try to break it down into, you know,
what are the values of the two candidates?
Who are they working for?
And I think that helps.
Do you, can you envision a scenario though
where, I mean, Kelly Baldwin's got a pretty good polling lead.
We know that the presidential race
will be very close in Wisconsin.
Is there a scenario where they win
and down ballot Democrats aren't able to pull up
these districts or do you think it's,
it's a matter of if we know that you won your seat
or Jamie Wall won his seat, then the odds just escalate
going up the line that everyone,
all the Democrats are winning?
Well,
for a race like mine in particular,
my district is 50-50,
like I'm not even exaggerating what I say that it's,
it's a toss up.
So it's going to be won by whoever knocks the most doors,
raises the most money,
makes the most phone calls,
connects with voters the most effectively.
I'm doing everything I can to make sure that, you know,
the, it tips my way,
but it is possible that in some of those closer races
that, that Kamala could win,
and the, some of the down ballot,
especially when you consider the issue of under voting
when people just skip a race
that they're not familiar with.
But that's the importance of you hitting the doors.
Right.
Anything else that you can think of
along these lines that you want to add?
I don't think so.
That was pretty thorough.
Good.
So what we're going to do now,
if you're okay with it,
we'll take the microphone off you.
Come.