Wisconsin. PBS Wisconsin original
>> You're watching "Here& Now" 2024 Election Coverage.
>> Students are back in school and Joe Biden is back in
Wisconsin for the first time since he tapped out of the race
against Donald Trump. Good evening. I'm Zach Schultz,
filling in for Frederica Freyberg tonight on here. And
now. Why did President Biden choose to visit a small city in
western Wisconsin and to the third Congressional district,
where Democrats and Republicans are spending big money? Students
fill classrooms once again. But what about teachers? We speak
with a school board leader on persisting challenges for public
schools. And finally, how Republicans are trying to rally
support from Black and Latino voters and Democrats can't take
a single vote for granted. It's "Here& Now" for September 6th.
>> Funding for "Here& Now" is provided by the focus Fund for
Journalism and Friends of PBS. Wisconsin.
Western Wisconsin yesterday in his first visit to the state
since dropping out of the presidential race more than a
month ago. Here and now. Reporter Aditi Debnath was ther.
>> Nestled in the heart of Wisconsin's driftless Area, the
city of Westby could be considered an unlikely place for
a visit from the president of the United States. But Westby
population, 2300, welcomed President Joe Biden to the
Vernon Electric Cooperative all the same.
>> This marks Biden's first trip to Wisconsin since dropping out
of the presidential race and endorsing Vice President Kamala
Harris for the job. >> Vice President Kamala Harris
fought like hell for all of you and for the future worthy of
your aspirations. president's efforts to highlight
his Investing in America agenda, including new investments into
rural electric cooperatives like the one that hosted him and
includes Dairyland Power $580 million to develop and
purchase solar power, wind power energy stores right here in
Wisconsin, and all across the Midwest. Just last week, former
President Donald Trump held a town hall style event in LA
Crosse, just 30 miles from Westby. He used the opportunity
to criticize the Biden administration and promote his
own campaign. the worst president.
>> Biden also took time to criticize the former president's
administration. largest annual deficit in
American history, $3 trillion. >> The dueling visits from Biden
and Trump highlight Wisconsin's status as a key battleground
state. Allison Prasch is an expert on presidential campaign
strategies. accident that Biden is the one
being deployed to a community 30 miles away from where Trump just
was. >> She says parallel campaign
visits are an old strategy, and sending Biden instead of Harris
to a rural area was a smart choice.
>> Biden can speak to that community in a way that the
actual nominee cannot in 2020. >> Nearly half of Wisconsin
voters came from small towns and rural areas, with a majority
supporting Trump. Westby is in Vernon County, which voted for
Trump in 2020, but only by a few hundred votes. Biden's choice to
visit Westby may be an attempt to narrow this gap.
>> This is becoming a tradition for me. I've come to see Joe
Biden every time he's been in town.
enthusiastic about the high profile visit, especially now
that Vice President Kamala Harris is the nominee.
>> We all would have voted for Joe if that was the choice, but
this adds more energy, enthusiasm and a new message
instead of same old, same old. >> Do you think he made a good
decision dropping out and endorsing Kamala Harris?
very concerned in the time leading up to that decision that
we were really losing a lot of ground.
their campaign efforts in Wisconsin, it's clear that in a
tight race, votes in every corner of the state matter in
November. Reporting from Westby. I'm Aditi Debnath. For "Here&
Now". Westby comes as more eyes are
drawn to western Wisconsin and its congressional race.
Republican Derek Van Orden won the open seat in a tight race in
2022. But as Election Day gets closer, an outside spending
continues to grow. Nathan Denzin reports experts predict this
year's race will be even tighte. >> Nobody is taking the third
Congressional District for granted in 2024.
>> This is a very competitive district.
runs through Wisconsin. >> Three they weren't going to
campaign for myself. Absolutely. Other local candidates?
Absolutely. most of Western and parts of
central Wisconsin, is the most purple district in a purple
state. Every vote is up for grabs. Republican Derek Van
Orden is the incumbent after winning the open seat in 2022.
He declined multiple requests to be interviewed, both in person
and virtually for this story, but spoke to a Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel reporter at the RNC in July.
and they understand how many hours we put in to craft very
solid, very solid legislation to help out the third, then they
should be voting for me. >> His supporters point to
committee appointments, especially to the House
Committee on Agriculture, as proof he's working for residents
in the third. >> I've worked, I don't know how
many hundreds, if not thousands of hours getting through a
bipartisan farm bill that is a remarkable piece of legislation
that's going to help everybody from our smallest farmers all
the way to the larger farms. >> Derrick Van Orden is known as
this very polarizing figure. >> Anthony Chergosky is a
political scientist at UW lacrosse. He says the House
hasn't done much overall. >> Basically, Congress has just
been trying to keep the lights on. I mean, that's they've been
really accomplishing the bare minimum since January 2023.
>> Congress has passed just 43 bills.
>> The bill is passed in the previous two sessions, they
averaged about 200 bills passed. >> How much of this campaign is
going to be about the legislative record of Derrick?
Van Orden? We just don't know. >> Since his inauguration, four
bills with Van Orden as a sponsor or co-sponsor have been
passed by the House. Three are related to the armed services,
and one clarifies that federal funds can be used to buy archery
or shooting sports equipment in schools. Committees. Van Norden
is a member of have also passed legislation. The largest is a
2024 farm bill that has drawn bipartisan praise, but has still
not yet been signed into law. As legislators haggle over details
so when people say, I'm not helping our our smaller farmers
or farmers at all, that's another lie and I just don't
appreciate it. But if you ask a Democrat, Van Norden is a fringe
MAGA politician. >> Derrick Van Orden is a lot of
talk and no walk. You know, he's continued to, I think, push
radicalism and his his temperament. I think it's all
about partisan partisan game playing.
Democratic nominee for the third congressional seat.
time and time again by his outbursts. I mean, and it's kind
of like a laundry list at this point.
record, controversy has followed Van Norden since his first run
in 2020. He attended Trump Stop the Steal rally on January 6th.
Brought a loaded handgun through TSA. Yelled at a teenage
librarian over an LGBTQ+ book display. Yelled at a group of
teenage Senate pages in the US Capitol for taking pictures.
Shouted over President Biden's State of the Union address and
got into a heated altercation with a protester outside of the
RNC. embarrassed, I think, by the
actions that he takes. >> I would love them to actually
look at my voting record and not listen to the noise that's been
putting out. >> Van Norden's voting and
sponsorship record shows he's the most moderate member of
Wisconsin's congressional delegation.
many Democrat friends I have in Washington, D.C. the press won't
report it, but Dems aren't convinced.
push comes to shove, a lot of the radical things that he's
talking about consistently on social media, consistently in
the press, are going to be where he's going.
>> Cooke says that if she were elected, things would be
different. >> I think what really sets me
apart are my lived experiences. >> Experiences like growing up
on a family farm in Eau Claire, running a small business, and
waitressing three nights a week. Even during the campaign.
>> Those types of lived experiences, I think, lend
themselves well to being a legislator that really
understands what working people are looking for in their
representative and what I can deliver on in Congress.
>> Cooke says she would like to serve on the House AG Committee,
as Van Norden does, and work on the farm Bill to make sure it
protects small family farms. >> One of the things that I'm
really interested in is right to repair. So the right to repair
your own stuff. I'd love to see something like that be
incorporated into the farm bill in the future.
>> She also wants to expand access to health care in Western
Wisconsin, where the number of providers has shrunk since the
pandemic. It's not even health care
providers, but we've lost, like literal hospitals for people to
go to. >> To do that, she says, the
federal government needs to look at tangible solutions.
>> But Medicare reimbursement rates look like for hospitals in
order to be staying open and serving critical populations.
>> Cooke says other priorities include codifying Roe v Wade,
taking on corporations who have been price gouging consumers,
and securing federal funding for PFAS cleanup at former President
Trump's rally in La Crosse. Van Orden said he also wants to talk
about policy here in southwestern Wisconsin.
about policy. We want to talk about issues. We really don't
want to talk about personnel. >> But Van Norden's website,
where he lays out his top policy priorities, has not been updated
since 2021. His positions include ending Covid 19
restrictions on schools, tax cuts, end quote. Leading with
integrity Van Orden social media accounts are also light on
policy, and PBS Wisconsin could not find a campaign platform or
specific policy positions elsewhere as to how all of this
will play out, it's anyone's guess.
continued to emphasize his brand as a political outsider, even
though he is now in Congress, and Ken Rebecca Cooke withstand
millions of dollars of negative campaigning.
Van Norden still has the inside track, but with money from state
and national groups pouring into the race, nothing is certain.
>> Derrick Van Orden is a favorite, but not overwhelmingly
so, and a lot can happen between now and November to either
solidify Van Orden's advantage or to undermine his advantage.
>> For "Here& Now", I'm Nathan Denzin in La Crosse.
>> Turning to education, another national figure was out
campaigning in Wisconsin and other swing states this week as
students stepped back into classrooms. U.S. Secretary of
Education Miguel Cardona kicked off a back to school bus tour by
stopping in green Bay, Oneida Milwaukee and Mazomanie,
promoting investments in public education. At a stop in the
Wisconsin Heights, School District, Secretary Cardona
chided private school voucher programs for siphoning money
away from public schools. And he highlighted a program that
mentors rural high school students who want to become
teachers. often are overlooked, and one of
the things that we're trying to do is combat that we want to
make sure that we're recognizing that in rural communities there
are unique challenges. So recruiting and retaining
educators is an area that I wanted to learn more about and
how they're solving it. The Grow program that they have here,
where they put money together, districts come together to
provide scholarships for high school students that want to
become teachers so that they can come back into the community.
That's brilliant. So we sent a team here to really highlight
it. I wanted to hear from educators and superintendents
that's a perfect example of, you know, I don't think for a second
that in D.C. we had the answers. The answers lie here. So when I
come to Wisconsin Heights and I and I listen, I find solutions
to challenges that are being felt in other parts of the
country. And then I say, hey, go talk to them over there in
Wisconsin because they get it. Public education is a great
equalizer. I wouldn't be standing as Secretary of
Education if it weren't for what the public schools offered me in
my hometown, and they're under attack in many places.
Oftentimes, you know, public education dollars are being used
to fund private schools and tuitions and vouchers for
schools that take away from already cash strapped public
schools. We had to do better. So what better way than to show up
in schools and see the great things that are happening in
your neighborhood, public went I had choice when I was in
high school. I didn't go to my traditional high school. I chose
to go to a technical school. So I'm a big fan of choice, but I'm
not a fan of is taking public education dollars, which is
already thin, and then paying private tuitions for that in
private schools that don't accept all students or don't
have accountability measures, >> How are schools doing as we
start the new year? For answers to that, we check in with Dan
Rossmiller, executive director School Boards and thanks for
joining us today. >> Thanks for inviting me. So in
recent years, coming out of the pandemic, we've seen a number of
school districts struggle with staffing, both in terms of
classroom teachers and support staff like bus drivers.
>> How are things looking this fall?
looking a little better than they have in the past. It's very
challenging. I would say that the two things that really
impact staffing are the inflation that we've experienced
in the marketplace. And I drive around the state visiting with
my members and going to regional meetings in the fall. And I
remember last fall seeing all the signs in front of Kwik Trip
and Carver, you know, starting at 17, 18, $19 an hour. And that
made it difficult for schools to compete for many of those
positions. But I seem I'm not hearing as much concern about
those positions this year as I have in the past. Not saying
that we're out of the woods, but things seem to be a little
better. >> We've seen a record number of
districts go to referenda asking voters to raise their own
property taxes. How? And especially for funding
operational referenda, not just building new buildings.
>> How dire is the situation in these districts where the voters
say no? >> Well, it can be very dire.
Over the years, we've had revenue limits in place now for
31, 32 years. And that's two generations of kids that have
gone through school. And over time, many districts have become
increasingly dependent, probably 100 districts or more in the
state rely on referendum funding for 10% or more of their budget.
And if those referendums don't pass. Imagine cutting 10% out of
your household budget or the budget of a business that you
work with. It's significant. It creates a whole set of problems
for those districts and the students that are educated in
them in a new environment. >> We're also seeing more EMS
and cities themselves go to referendum because they feel
they need additional funds. So how does that work when a school
district is competing with ambulance services to get voters
to say yes, well we'll see. >> Last fall, Fort Atkinson
competed their school district with their municipality, and the
municipality succeeded the school district did not. So it's
a challenge. We're going to see that here in Madison. We're
going to see that in a number of communities, it's part of an
interplay. The legislature is trying to hold on property taxes
while providing sufficient funding. And I think it's an
indication that the attempt to clamp down on property taxes is
creating some problems. >> This is a long standing
pathway that got us here in terms of eight years of Scott
Walker and the Republican legislature holding down school
funding, local funding in favor of property tax relief, plus the
fiscal cliff created by the Esser funds and the Covid
pandemic money. Do you think that the public understands how
we got here, or are they just wondering, well, how did this
local school district mismanage their budget to be this far in
the hole? question. And it's a it's a
complicated one. So bear with me for a moment, since the Great
Recession in 2008 and nine and the changes that Governor Walker
made and the legislature made since then, for the first number
of years, that revenue limits were in place for schools, the
legislature made annual adjustments that tried to keep
pace with inflation, and they were pretty successful for the
most part. Districts were able to keep pace with inflation,
maybe even do a little better since 2012. The allowable
increases, the increases in resources for schools that the
legislature has allowed have been roughly half of the rate of
inflation. Chances are, in a few years, if inflation continues,
you are going to be back asking the voters if inflation
continues and your declining enrollment continues, you almost
certainly will be back asking the voters, we've had some
districts, go to the voters ten times or more. And part of the
reason for that is that. It's easier for districts to pass a
temporary exception to the revenue limit than it is for
them to pass a permanent one. So those temporary exceptions last
for two, three, four years. At the end of that time, those
districts find themselves having to come back to the voters or
having to make significant cuts in programs and services. So
that, in a nutshell, that explains why districts are
having to go back to the voters. It's because the resources
provided to them, allowed to them by state law, are not
keeping pace with inflation. But no.
different topic, we're in the middle of a very contentious
election season. >> What is your advice to how
teachers and administrators should handle politics in the
classroom, whether brought up by students or the teachers or
parents or anyone else? >> Well, that's a matter of some
delicacy, and I think it's going to vary from district to
district. I think those are important discussions that can
happen, particularly in our social studies and other
classrooms, about how our democracy functions. I think
it's a it's a balancing act for teachers not to be telling
students how they ought to vote, but educating them about the
process, educating them about the issues, what the candidates
differing views are. I think there's a place for that in our
democracy. But if you get too much on an advocacy side, one
way or the other, I think that is likely to cause problems in
the community. >> The legislature has signed
off on an audit of the Department of Public Instruction
and how it monitors public school finances, especially in
light of the Milwaukee Public Schools, you know, budget issues
recently. What do you hope to learn from that audit?
>> Well, I hope that we'll be able to learn how we can better
help school boards and school districts that have audits that
that show some red flags. Every school district is required to
have a financial audit report filed with the DPI. It's
understandable when you have 421 districts and 421 audits being
filed. And I think, you know, school finance is very
complicated. You mentioned the influx of the federal dollars.
There were differing standards and uses for those monies,
according to which of the three tranches of money the school was
dealing with. So the accounting for that was complicated. And
it's not surprising that some districts, perhaps struggled
>> All right. We'll leave it there. Dan Rossmiller from the
Wisconsin Association of School Boards, thanks for your time.
>> Black and Latino voters will play a key role in who wins the
white House. A recent report by PBS NewsHour shows Donald Trump
is gaining the support of more Black men this election cycle.
Murv Seymour has more on efforts to win over Black and Latino
voters in Wisconsin. >> We can't survive four more
years of Joe Biden. We need President Donald Trump.
>> Welcome to the last outdoor rally Donald Trump held in
Wisconsin. saying hello, Wisconsin. Hello.
Great state. I've had great. We've had great success here.
What a crowd. What a crowd. >> And Trump's message is a
crowd pleaser here. >> After we win the presidency,
I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine
settled with only a few Black and Latino voters in attendance.
Because if you look at the Hispanic population, the former
president talks directly to this minority group of voters who
overwhelmingly and traditionally tend to vote for Democrats.
>> Trump is trying to buck the trend with voters of color. But
is it working? >> If you look at the Black
population, they're voting for Trump. They're voting for Trump.
You you look at you. You Thank you. I like that person right
there. >> Hilario Deleon is the first
Latino chairman of the Republican Party of Milwaukee
County, and he's the youngest. He passionately works the crowd
at rallies like this to ignite enthusiasm for Donald Trump, who
he believes offers a lot to Black and Latino voters,
especially when it comes to jobs and the economy.
being left behind by the Democrat Party. They feel like
the party is gone way too far to the left, and they want to just
kind of return back to the middle. They may not like his
personality, but if there's one thing that they do say is that
he brought us jobs and he put money in our pockets and we were
able to, you know, have, you know, better life under him than
under the previous administration.
blocks away. He tells me he's brought his young son to teach
and expose him to politics so he can one day vote with his
conscience. politics I didn't understand. I
said, well, whatever they do is fine with me. But when you have
children and a family, you understand that? Wait a minute
now. I can't afford paying all this for the gas. When it was
Leow for the food and the eggs when it was low, and now it's
high. Why is it high? >> Sporting is Donald Trump
wanted for president? Shirt Phillips Brookshire is a walking
billboard for the Trump campaign. He says he's been
supporting Republican candidates since the days of Ronald Reagan.
If he could have things his way, I wish more Black people would
pay attention to their own hearts and stuff.
>> And don't go by the media and don't go listening because of,
what their grandfathers and grandmothers said. Vote
Democrat. Don't do that. Vote for somebody that that has ideas
that are really out here to do something to help you to connect
with more voters in Wisconsin, the Republican and Democratic
parties both have set up offices in Milwaukee's inner city,
targeting Blacks and Latinos. >> Gracias por la vida. Salud y
fuerza. >> Welcome to Milwaukee's south
side. Sin su voto, no tienen voz.
>> Without your votes, you have no voice, he says.
>> We have a chance to shape the direction of our nation,
and Latin culture. >> Imagine being able to just
talk to three people, a week, maybe change one person's mind a
week. You could literally be the difference surrogates of the
Harris Walz campaign have come to Iglesia del Dios Vivo Church
to speak directly to Latino and Black voters in this blended
neighborhood. a una persona. Qué VA no quiere
a Los latinos? Quiere divisione? >> Tonight's message is in
English. something is right now. We don't
want to wait until November 6th and Espanol.
>> Let's get out here. Let's get the vote. Gracias. And God bless
you. Thank you. >> If the election is close,
voters in this room could be some of those who decide who
wins. it's going to come down to the
Black and the Latino vote coming together and talking together is
an excellent way to improve our chances of the Black and Latino
vote. Doing it for Harris and Walsh as a Latino person, I
would say it's important to vote for the candidate that is going
to, you know, be open to diversity and to community and
people of various cultures. >> Good evening.
>> Milwaukee during the Democratic National Convention,
Vice President Kamala Harris brought her message of a
proposed tax cut for the middle class and $25,000 in down
payment assistance for first time homeowners to the Fiserv
Forum Arena in downtown Milwaukee. While she doesn't say
it, it's a message meant to speak directly to middle class
Black and Latino voters. >> The high cost of housing
understanding so many people are trying to fulfill the American
dream, and we need to give people help to get there.
>> Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson resists the assumption
that Black Latino voters will automatically support the
Democrats. But he says he hasn't met any Black voters in
Milwaukee who support Donald Trump.
>> That's why the vice president today is leaving her own
convention, the DNC in Chicago, coming to Milwaukee, coming to
the most diverse community in the entire state of Wisconsin
and saying, hey, we see you. We value you. And I want to earn
your vote. >> People go there from
Wisconsin. our great country.
Bountiful Black and Latino voters in Wisconsin is hardly
over. Some wonder just how many more times will we see this team
of candidates here in this crucial swing state to win over
this key demographic of voters? Reporting for “Here& Now”. I'm
Murv Seymour. >> For more on this and other
issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBS wisconsin.org
and click on the news tab to see all of our election coverage.
Visit Wisconsin Vote.org. That is our program for tonight. I'm
Zach Schultz. Have a great weekend.
>> Funding for here and Now is provided by the Focus Fund for
Journalism and Friends of PBS.