immediately and contact law enforcement if we have to.
>> For "Here& Now", I'm Steven Potter for the first time in
more than a decade, control of Wisconsin's legislature is
actually up for grabs this fall because of a new round of
redistricting ordered by the Liberal majority on the
Wisconsin Supreme Court. >> Voters across the state are
learning they actually live in a competitive district. Nowhere is
that more apparent than in the green Bay area, where there are
350 over 50 races with no incumbents "Here& Now", senior
political reporter Zach Schultz spent a week in green Bay to
meet the candidates and bring us this report. Reporter.
>> Hello. How are you? >> I'm running for state
assembly. Yes. So wanted to introduce myself.
>> What's important to you? >> If I can ask, can I give you
a flier, John? Sure. Okay. I mean, I could tell you. Oh,
yeah. That's me. You got my vote. Well. Thank you. All
right. Well, good seeing you, man. All right. Take care.
>> All across the green Bay area, candidates for the
legislature are knocking doors, talking to voters and asking for
their support. But often, the first thing they have to do is
explain which district they live in under the new maps.
>> I've knocked a lot of doors in the last couple of months
here, and a lot of people aren't aren't aware of the changes yet,
and a lot of it is just educating them.
folks whose door I'm knocking on, they're aware that there's
new maps. They know about it. Do they know what number they're
in? No. Republican Pat Buckley are
facing off in the new 89th Assembly District.
>> My name is Ryan Spaude. I'll keep it real short and sweet.
I'm a candidate for state assembly.
Brown County district Attorney's office. He says the new district
fits the definition of a fair map.
contiguous, competitive >> Pat Buckley is a retired
police officer who sits on the Brown County Board.
>> My name is Pat Buckley. Hey, I'm running for the 89th
Assembly. Okay? And that's a new district created with
Ashwaubenon. decided not to run in this
district, Buckley was recruited to run on the county.
>> We're nonpartisan, and we're supposed to be nonpartisan. Even
though we have people that lean left and people that lean right.
And as the chair, it's my job to bring those people together to
help get things done. >> Hey, sir. Ben Franklin from a
couple doors down. How you doing?
Republican Ben Franklin is running against Democrat Kristy
Welch in the new 88th Assembly district.
>> My name is Kristy. I live over in East De Pere and was
stopping by today because I'm running for state assembly this
fall. Brown County Democrats, but only
got invested in politics in the last couple of years when Roe v
Wade was overturned. point, but a shoving point.
>> Franklin is a veteran and a small business owner who only
moved to Wisconsin in the last couple of years.
>> I'm new to politics myself. I'm not a career politician.
>> This is our first go around. The 88th and 89th Assembly seats
make up two thirds of the new 30th State Senate district. I'm
Jim Rafter. president, and I'm running for
state senate, which features Republican Jim Rafter and
Democrat Jamie Wall. >> I'm running for the Yeah, I
actually just live a few blocks up that way.
>> Wall is a business consultant.
get them together around the table, get the facts and, you
know, to solve problems together. And that's the kind of
mindset I'd want to bring to Madison.
president. Democrats and Republicans. We're
a nonpartisan board. I've done that for ten years, and all we
do is focus on the job. We don't focus on party.
>> There's no guarantee all three races go the same way. On
election day. But there are a number of striking similarities,
starting with the fact redistricting made all three
districts competitive open seats.
old map, it was it was rigged. It ran parts of Brown County
that really didn't have a whole lot to do with each other. And
now it's contiguous. It's compact.
hearing similar things at the doors.
>> Number one issue would be economics.
>> Economics? Yeah. Meaning employees in cost of living.
>> Both. Number one issue. I hear. Economy. Cost of living.
>> Democrats are hearing about costs, too. But not just the
price of eggs. >> People are concerned about
costs. And there's lots of different buckets of costs. But,
you know, costs at the grocery store. Housing costs. Childcare
costs. Oh, boy. >> Childcare. You know anybody
who's got young kids now? I mean, it's about like sending
your kids to college. >> Another topic at the doors is
abortion. it's been the whole Roe v. Wade.
>> It's a topic all three Republicans are looking to
avoid. tricky one.
and I think that you know, it's not as simple as left and right.
>> They all pitched a version of Republican Senator Ron Johnson's
idea of a statewide referendum on abortion.
>> I would recommend putting it up for a vote and a referendum,
so to speak, and then just let the people decide on if they
want to put a timeline on that. >> However, Republicans in the
legislature talked about this last session and never brought
the issue to a vote in either chamber. Democrats feel the
issue still resonates with voters across the political
spectrum. women and men that are unhappy
that that's what we're operating under now.
>> I think women should have the freedom to make choices and work
with their with their doctor and without their state senator
being in the middle of some of these, some of these decisions.
>> Surprisingly, none of the candidates were eager to talk
about Donald Trump. >> I will certainly vote for
Donald Trump. Do I think that his final word is gospel? No, I
don't, but I think that at the end of the day, we're all
conservatives going back to the primary.
>> You know, it wasn't necessarily my first choice in
the primary, but he's on he's on that part of the ticket. So
we'll look at the policies. I prefer to look at the policies.
>> I'm not getting involved at the federal level in those race.
I'm focused on the people of the 30th district.
Trump? decision and I'll vote for who I
vote for. >> For legislative Republicans
in a 5050 district disavowing Trump completely risks having
his supporters skip your race. But coming out as full MAGA
risks turning off moderates who don't like Trump but might vote
Republican down ballot somehow. >> I want to get that SOB in
jail. Who's that? Mr. Trump? >> Oh, in green Bay, Trump is
creating his own kind of swing voter.
I've talked to, particularly swing voters lite liberals like
conservatives that they're not necessarily going to vote a
straight ticket. And those are where I get in really meaningful
conversations. conversations as before Trump,
he was a Republican. >> There are so many people like
me in this district that's that there's so many folks I've lost.
Count how many people I normally vote for Republican, or I
consider myself a Republican, but I find myself voting for a
lot of Democrats lately. It's like, yes, like I was there in
the end, 50 over 50 districts often come down to which
candidate outworks the other and makes sure voters are energized
to get to the polls. >> It's going to be won by
whoever knocks the most doors, raises the most money, makes the
most phone calls, connects with voters.
time running for office. I'm excited. I'm energized. I think
there's going to be a lot of exhausted people, though. By
November 5th. >> A lot of people haven't
really thought about it yet, and haven't been putting that much
energy into it. I just haven't seen that much energy yet as
some of the pundits on TV like to portray.
still apathy? You know, there's still people who say, I'm tired
of polarization. I'm not even going to deal with politics.
Everyone's tired of polarization. I'm tired of
polarization. Big reason why I'm running.
about it. I mean, there's no shortage of politics in Brown
County. The downside of living in the epicenter of American
politics is you got to deal with a lot of politics, you know, and
that can be exhausting for people.
battleground or the battleground states, meaning that as green
Bay votes, we already know different places around the
state that they're going to vote red or blue. But this will
likely decide if Wisconsin goes red or blue.