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Well, this is why we have primaries to make sure that the strongest candidate can compete

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in the general election.

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From day one, I've been very focused on running the strongest campaign to be able to take

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on and defeat Tom Tiffany this November.

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Is this a disqualifying thing?

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How should voters weigh it when they're looking at this pool of campaigns?

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Well, look, I think that's up to her campaign to figure out, and I think it's up to voters

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to decide if that campaign will ultimately be the strongest or not if they're able to

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communicate or not.

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But that's a decision that should be left up to them.

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As we're coming down the stretch to this primary, how are you doing in terms of finances to

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be able to communicate your vessels?

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We are feeling really good.

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We are going on TV.

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I think this week, if I'm not mistaken, so happy to be on the air and we're communicating

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over TV.

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We're communicating over digital as well, and I'm proud to have the broad support that

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we continue to have that we've had since day one, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity

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to continue to build off of that for the next four weeks.

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These are critical, and for the folks that are watching, they're still time to get involved,

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get engaged, and get on board.

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The number of voters out there that maybe were undecided, maybe not paying as much attention,

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what's going to lead them down the stretch here?

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What are these critical, closing moments for the people that are just now tuning in?

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Yeah, I'm really glad you brought that up, because in the moment like this, where things

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are so incredibly difficult, people will want a leader who's going to stand up and

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fight for them, and not take no for an answer.

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And I'm proud to have the longest track record of standing up and fighting for people all

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across the state of Wisconsin, not any specific district, but the entire state.

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That's why people come to know me.

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That's why people trust me, because when those tough fights came up, I never backed away,

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and I've always shown it to make sure that we are doing everything to improve quality

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of life for every single person, regardless of their zip code.

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There's been a tendency to try and group the candidates into centrist or progressive

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lanes.

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I'm out here showing up for people, and that's what it comes down to.

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And we're leading with a bold message, we are leading with urgency, because things need

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to change right away.

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Our schools need to be funded, people need health care, we need good paying jobs, we

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need to protect the environment, we need to stand up to these industries that are making

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life difficult for people, hold data centers accountable and do everything possible to make

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sure that everybody has a shot at the American dream, because it's been denied for far too

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long.

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And we can't sit here and waste another moment, we can't waste another election cycle, and

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we need to look at this campaign for governor as one, that's not just going to change the

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course of Wisconsin, but change the course of this country.

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The work we put in this November is going to make for a much more clear path to the White

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House for a Democrat to be elected president.

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The last few months, Tom Tiffany has kind of had the field to himself on the Republican

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side, and portraying himself as this friendly, affable guy at the bar, what's going to change

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between the message that he's giving versus what the public's going to hear after the

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primary.

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I think people have a chance to see his actual record of failing Wisconsinites.

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I think people will get a chance to see his rhetoric that champion tariffs, that is destabilized

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family farms, and it's completely destabilized small businesses in Wisconsin.

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His idea that if you are at risk of losing your job to artificial intelligence, you should

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just find a new job.

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The fact that he voted to make health insurance more expensive for people across this country

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shows the abject failure that he's been as a member of Congress.

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He's already left the district he represents behind, and that's exactly what he'll do to

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Wisconsin.

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He'll cave to special interests as he is done as a state legislator, as he's done as a

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member of Congress, and that's what's most disqualifying when it comes to this race

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for governor.

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Do you have any concern that he might have had too much time to change his public image

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before the Democrats have a chance to weigh in?

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Well, the votes are the votes, and he's going to have to answer for those votes.

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He can position himself or try to change his political appearance, but the reality

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is he's taken votes that's made life harder for people, and not only is he taking votes,

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he's champion policy that has made life difficult for people.

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His denial of the 2020 election means that if you didn't vote for him or someone, he

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supports that he doesn't take your vote seriously, and ultimately he doesn't think you should

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ultimately have a right to vote based on that.

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I have a question here.

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Your theme here today works a lot about campaign finance.

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I've been a reporter for a very long time, and for at least two thirds of my career,

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I've gone back to these 30 years, people have talked about campaign finance.

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People have tried to push campaign finance reform.

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What is your very specific game plan for moving a conversation, from just being a conversation

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to actually some specific action?

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Yeah, absolutely.

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So it's going to take the legislature to make sure we get it done.

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If I become governor, I would love to have a bill on my desk that brings campaign contribution

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when it's back down.

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There's been a lot of federal decisions that sort of block those kinds of changes.

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For sure.

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And we do need, obviously, we need Congress to act, and at some point we have to overturn

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citizens of the United.

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This has made our politics so corrupt.

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It has kept people out of the process.

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The reason why people's lives have not materially changed for the better is because of the corrupting

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influence of money and politics that has given favor to large corporations and the institutions

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that contribute the most money to campaigns rather than the people that they were elected

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to serve.

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And at the beginning of the race, I think you said something like $50 million for your

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target.

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How does that, how's that different?

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Well, that's the thing.

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We can't fight one armed guy behind our back, and my campaigns have always been grassroots

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funded.

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I raise more money in this state than anybody without taking a dime of corporate PAC money.

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And we're going to continue our grassroots fundraising and get to the point of having the resources

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we need to not just be competitive, but to take on and defeat Tom Tiffany.

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I was the target of the largest super PAC in this country targeting any one Democratic

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candidate four years ago.

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So I know exactly what the impact of big money in politics means.

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But I also know that with grassroots support, we can get the job done.

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On the undecided voters that you were talking about earlier, I think in the next couple

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weeks we're going to see how many people really are undecided.

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What's your approach to reaching those people for these final weeks, especially when it

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kind of feels like things are very fluid in this race.

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Yeah.

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So we're going to continue showing up and delivering our message about improving quality of life

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for folks.

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And for undecided voters, it will be a reminder about what the resolve continues to be.

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This isn't, you know, the things I'm talking about in this campaign, they are new.

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And as I mentioned, people around the state know that I have shown up and I've taken on

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the tough fights.

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And these next few weeks will be a reminder that we're going to show up and not just

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talk about what we are planning to do throughout the course of the campaign.

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We're talking about how we are going to get to work governing right away because I am

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the candidate who is uniquely prepared for this moment based on my experience and

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legislature, based on my experience as lieutenant governor fighting right alongside

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Governor Evers in 2018, taking on and defeating the former governor Scott Walker.

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Nobody else has that level of experience in campaigning.

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And that's what will be on full display for these next four weeks.

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Hey, thank you.

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Appreciate you.

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Thank you.