Rules in terms of
how long
they can speak the
same audience.
Okay. >> What
is the end of that
question? >> I just
I like that.le
>> Perfect. >> 17.5
minutes. >> Awesome. AM I supposed
not say, hey,
Shawn, don't
know what supposed to do.
>> I think you Ican let it.
would yield to the control room if they
have, was.hink there
You could just nod, what?
the nod. That's that meant. Okay. I
wasn't sure. I mean,
honestly, we
could just do that way
forever, as as I'm concerned.
>> The question is, was what was
it like? >> Somewhere.
>> Democrats running for governor have less than
two stand to
out in a field.
How'd they do
that at the state
party And weion?
run developments
and lawsuits
involving voter
rolls, legislative
maps, and
false electors.
This is
inside Wisconsin politics. I'm Shawn
Johnson here with
Anya van Wagtendonk and Rich Kremer
in Eau Hey,ire.
gang. Hey,
Shawn. >> So
I think say's fair to
that this primary campaign
is not going to
be or
lost based
on what
happened in the
room at the
state party
convention theer
weekend. But
you have
all seven
candidates there.
They were under the
same set of rules. Speaking
to the same
group of
Democratic activists.
What it
like? >> Yeah. You
know, this with
all due respect.
Normal people do
not attend
state party
conventions, right? These
are like the
most die hard
Democrats, Republicans whord
go to that convention.
And so areese
the people who are the most
energized about
their party
and are to beg
the ones to hopefully,
you know,
bring in
their fellow,
but like less
excited Democrats. And so
I think that was kind
of the ofe
the speeches that were getting from the
gubernatorial which is that they
were toing
appeal to this
base, right? The
most ofind
committed Democrats
possible, and
also make the
case not shouldthat they
stand out in this seven person primary going
into August, but that
they also
most sort of
best positioned to
beat Tiffany in November.
And so differenttwo
arguments that to be making, the
one that makes you appealing to Democrats,
and mostt makes you
appealing to kind of your average wisconsinite.
d a lot of there
was a kind of threading of
that needle while also trying to get excitement.
So it was, it definitely a little
bit of going on. But that
I think was kind overarching theme.
>> What common threads stood out to you?
I mean, was awhat
theme that stood out
in all the or at least most
of them? so kind of two.
So also byandffany
extension, Donald A lot ofght?
trying to tie the two
of affordability was kind
of The the day.
theme of the convention was Reclaiming
the American dream.
And, and each of
the talkedtes
in either
broader or more
specific terms, sort
of depending
on candidate
about what would do to
basically put more money in
people's pockets,
lower prices, make
things more affordable in
Wisconsin. Rich,
you not at this
convention, although
we had a
chance to listen to speeches later. What
stood >> Well,ou?
Ana already
mentioned it. There was a
lot of talk about
Donald Trump and the
chaos in
Washington from
his administration. That's
according to these
Democratic candidates.
And it's
pretty obvious
why they
would focus on
the president
and his, you
know, popularity
rating is
pretty in
polling. So
it likems
there's they're hoping
that Trump will
be a liability for
Tom Tiffany as
they as
they move forward
in this campaign.
And also
there, there
there's only one
Republican in the
race. So
they're able to
focus their attacks
on one
person. you know, Tom
Tiffany doesn't have to
worry about
trying to
stand out
among Republican
competitors his
primary or
in a
primary. So
that's what stuck out.
But there was some other
things that
stood out
in ofms
like the
closest tong
criticizing other
Democrats seemed
to come from
state Senator
Kelda Roys,
and she just
basically said the
party cannot
afford to
pick a
nominee that
would put a
Democratic trifecta. That
is the state
Senate, state
Assembly and the governor's
office in
jeopardy. So
no names were
named, but
people might be
able to
infer who
or how
many, you people she
might have been talking
about. And
of there was
a number pretty bold
promises from some of these
candidates as
well. >> Yeah.
That did
that criticism
did jump out
to There was
another one, think
you could argue
from Francesca Hong
saying that
when you go
out on the campaign
trail, people
can detect
BS. We're toot going
say the word because
family show here, guys.
But she
was essentially,
without naming
names, saying
the other
candidates aren't
as authentic
as me
as the way that
I heard
it. tell
you one other that kind of stood
out to me, at least upon
first review
of the speeches,
I want to
think in
these felt like
general election
speeches a little
bit. I mean, this is a
primary where
they're almost
going to have
to some of
them are going to
have to get negative
if ladder andto
be the party's candidate.
And, you know,
even the
the, you know,
criticisms we just
mentioned, Rich
weren't exactly
super negative.
And the
messages I could
absolutely imagine
them in
a in a general election
campaign against Tom
Tiffany. But they
are They're trying to
win this
Democratic primary
among a
right now.oup of
>> Right. But it is
this where,ng act
as Rich
said, right, they are
going for
a trifecta.
And was
another big theme
of the weekend, is
this think that theyrats
could take three chambers of
government. And so
they need
to try to
distinguish themselves. And most of
them don't have that of, you know,
statewide visibility. So they
are trying to
get just like baseline
name recognition,
which is important for
a but then,
also not do
anything to
harm other
Democrats because, you
know, if you have
sort of a
1 in 7 chance, and I
know that's how statistics
work, but something
like that.
And so you
don't forward, you don't
want to You don'tty.d
want to be giving
Tom Tiffany sort of
free yourr for
opponent opponents. And so
I think will see a little
bit more maybe of veiled attacks,
but way a
that's sorte aimed at
of holding
themselves thanther
necessarily going
negative at this point.
Because Tom
Tiffany as
Rich mentioned,
is sort of in
a field by ane technically has
opponent, but more or less he's the
presumptive nominee. And so he's
not primary.d in a
So they need to very careful themselves.
>> It can work in ainst you
primary, particularly primary, to go
negative, where
you have voters
who have kind of
that same idea that look, the goal
is November.
Stop fighting
and show how
you're different.
Rich, anything
that jump yout at
there. wasd what Annie
just mentioning. >> Well, I
wanted to, to
kind of
go back to
when, when she
mentioned the,
you know,
the slights and
the, the,
the electability
and that
stuff. One of the
candidates, you know,
early on,
even before he
announced Mandela
Barnes, lieutenant
governor, former
state representative,
he during his
speech, he
I let me go
back before
he on
the race, some
Democrats were
publicly saying,
well, he lost
in 2022.
You know, we
don't need that
again. But during
his speech,
I he
brought upt
and he said,
well, that's why
I'm more
experienced. I've through
this came
within one
point percentage
point of
Ron Johnson in
2022. That's
why I have
the experience. That and
the other
resume stuff that
he's got. So I
just to mention.
That, yeah, there was lot of conversation
about I think speakswhich again,
to trying to
signal that
they could beat Tom
Tiffany in the fall.
And so you had, for
example, Fran
Hong pointed
to the fact that
she's, if not
the most
far left candidate,
certainly among
them. And
the fact that
some people have
brought
that up a liability
against her,
as passionate
as her supporters
are, her
opponents are sort of
equally passionate. And she talked about, well,
, I am part of
a progressives who were
elected. So rather than that being a
liability me, that
actually morees me
electable because
people are
excited about someone who
doesn't bring BS.
And David
Crowley as
well. He
pointed to the
fact that there has
never been
a Black
candidate who has won
statewide office,
and he says
that he goes,ere
people ask him,
can a
Black man become
governor in Wisconsin? And
he said, well,
I can for
the following reasons. And
so he named
that sort of
elephant in the room
as a way of
also drawing attention to
his Andcord.
so, again,
just kind of
the way that the are trying to
distinguish themselves, not
just their
own terms,
but also
for what they can deliver
in November.
>> And there
was a
straw poll at
this convention.
Ana. And I feel
like, you know,
it's it's kind
of to talk about,
but we grains ofnd
salt here for poll, because this is
not a scientific poll. margin of error
would be, look, I'm
not qualified to calculate
it very
high. >> Charles
Franklin haveld
a lot to say
about He would say, don't
pay would be myo straw
guess. But you all these Democrats in
the room, and if wanted to, they
could go to WisPolitics,y
which does conventions. And
and you candidate of
choice among field.mary
And didw
that resolve?
>> Yeah. Really
interesting. Lieutenant
Governor Sarah
Rodriguez came out
first. And
again, if
Fran Hong is
sort of further to she's aft,
little bit further the center. But then
Fran Hong was number And so you
kind of have a little bit of the
polls of presenting right
now, one ine doing better
a in a primary Again,
given just
sort of excitement
that's Hong, and thenat's
one who broader to ad
audience that is Sara Rodriguez, who comes
from a more of a
business health care executive
and a awon. She flipped
Republican seat when she ran for the assembly
in the suburbs.kesha
And so
you have these
two different
models, and it
kind of Democrats ae
little bit among
them. >> So I
want to throw some
caution at the poll
here that the straw poll,
I was looking
back at the 2018
straw poll, when you
had even
more candidates
running for governor, kind
of depending on
when you mentioned
them. You
probably have
are aware this
by now or have
heard seen
it recently.
But that
year, Kelda
Roys then
straw poll.
She went on to finish
third in the
primary, a distant
third, wonshe
it overwhelmingly at
convention. Do
you do you happen to know where
Tony poll? strawd in
This is the
beginning of our
quiz section
here, guys.
So Tony Evers
placed third.
He had
he had 91
votes compared to Roysda
184. That
year right
behind him were
Andy and
Dana Wachs.
They have
something in common.
They dropped out
of the the end of June
that year. So the convention was in
June I think, and
they were by the 21st
and 22nd.
So. >> Right. So
again, appealing
to quote
unquote normal
people versus
appealing to
the most
kind of
revved up
Democrats who
follow every kind of
twist aboutrn
that. So it translate to what
a general general
audience interested in.
>> Sure. And there's
also a certain amount
of campaigning you can do
in You canthings.
say, hey, get over
to that desk that's
run by
WisPolitics, and I think you should really vote
for >> Bringople.
your people. some ofrey. And
that went on at this convention.
So, okay,
I did want to
play a little game
with with you
two since we
have you here,
would that be okay?
>> All right.
Sure. Ready?
>> You have right?oice,
We're recording a
live show here.
So I
was just
looking back through
these speeches
and through the
benefit of
being able
to look
at the and the number
of times
that certain
words were
mentioned in
these things,
you can see kind
of who hit themes
really hard.
So first
one I looked for was
Trump, who said
Trump the
most. Anybody
want to hazard
a gouess? Rich, you
first. >> I'm
gonna say
Rodriguez. >> I think it
might have Joel
Brennan. all right,t,
Rich, you
win buddy. You
got Sara Rodriguez
and Mandela Barnes were right
at the top
there. sixioned him
times. Joel Brennan
after them.
And then everybody
mentioned Trump at
least once.
But Rodriguez
and Barnes
kind of hitting
to ear
similar themes in
those messages too.
Like they
sounded like
maybe running a little
bit of a November
campaign or
a safer
message in their
speeches. Okay, how
about
Andany?
to be clear,
nobody mentioned
the the
Truman Capote book
that was
adapted into a
movie and later,
you know,
celebrated song. Who
mentioned Tiffany,
Tom, Tiffany the
most? >> Gosh,
I'm just that dadn
joke now. >> I was
I'm proud of
that >> You
know. >> That song, by the
way, my head all the
time. it when it came
out. But the beauty nostalgia Roe v.
Wade. >> I'm
gonna vote
Roys well
for this.
>> There you go. go.ere you
That is not. We got you.
Kelda Roys.
How about you?
Who mentioned
Tiffany the most?
>> Missy Hughes. >>
All right. Good. Good
guesses everybody.
Sara wasiguez
tops and
Tiffany mentions
followed Joel Brennan
Mandela Royss and Kelda.
mentioned. And once
David Missy Hughes
and Francesca Hong
didn't even
mention Tom >> In this
thing, was there at all? It was
kind No, I mean, I.
think it's kind of thing you
assume that you heard bunch of people
say, and go back and look
and realize, well, they didn't actually mention
specific guy. I primary, wins this
though, will a lot in TV
ads Okay, how about
this? We've governoremocratic
right now, and a lot of these people
have Democratic governor.
Who do
you think might have
mentioned Evers
a few
times? Rich,
what do you think?
>> Well, I
would say it'd
have to be someone
that worked
within the
administration or alongside
him. So
that narrows it
down to four
people, would
say. Brennan.
>> Yeah. Okay.
Anya. >> I
think it was also
Brennan. He also made a
point of saying fix darn
roads. And seemed to
be really tying >>eah, yeah. Evers.
It was. Mandela Barnes
Tony Evers, former
lieutenant governor,
followed by his formernan,
secretary, Sara Rodriguez,
his current
lieutenant governor,
and Missy Hughes,
his former
WEAC CEO.
No mention of
Tony Evers
by Francesca Hong
Kelda oroys
David Crowley.
>> So no big
surprise. >> Tony was
back there you,e, I see
I see you. Okay, more, one more,
I promise. different.le
You got a chance at this convention to
differentiate yourself. One way
is you can just
tell delegates
I'm different.
Who said
only candidate? As in
I'm the
only >> Oh, I know this
one. >> Okay.
hear it said. I the only candidate
who dataoses a moratorium
centers. And free
childcare. And
you are correct,
Anya. mentioned it
four times.
This was
interesting to me.
Rich Kelda Roys
was there. She mentioned it a
couple Hers.
message was, I'm
the only candidate
who's been a
legislator. I got I
got bills, as
was whatically
she was saying. And
then David Crowley, the only candidate
who has
executive experience and
nobody else
used that ofurn
phrase, big grain of
salt for that one too,
which is very unscientific,
but I find it
fun to run that stuff
unscientific. >> But
you probably
made a spreadsheet.
make a spreadsheet. darn right. Yeah, I
made it a lot toasier for me
list those things real quick. So we
want on reale
quick to some legal developments this week,
a few
small legal
developments in
big cases.
Rich. First,
let's start with
there was
this decision
by the
state Supreme
Court to
hear an appeal
in a
redistricting congressional
redistricting case?
Is this
a big deal
or an
incremental step? >> It's
pretty incremental.
So these are
about the
congressional maps. There's
two of them that have been
two of these appeals
of these
cases challenging the
congressional map
as gerrymandered
for various
reasons, various types
of gerrymandering.
And it
sounds exciting that
it's made
it to the Supreme Court, but all
they're doing in both
situations is
they will be
deciding whether or
not these
three panels
they appointed
were correct
in how they
dismissed these
challenges. And those
panels essentially
said they
dismissed them because don't have
the authority
to overturn the
maps, which
were put
in place by the
Supreme Court.
And a lower
court cannot
overrule higher
court like
that. So
what I've been told
is thatt
probably means
these gol
back through the
court system, back to
the way up.heirs and
But the Supreme justices will have to
decide whether or not these
gerrymandering claims
can even move
forward. that's a
big question.
But in short,
it doesn't
mean there's
likely thatsn't mean
there's going to be
any new map before the
2026 election.
There's just enough
time. >> Okay.
And lightning
round here, you had
a youse
covered on voter
rolls. What
happened there?
>> So the federal government, the Department
of Justice, wants
to get unredacted
voter registration
information from
Wisconsin. And
that includes,
you know, driver's
license numbers
and Social
Security thembers,
last four
digits. The
Elections Commission
hasn't provided that they've
given a different
list that's
publicly available.
But essentially, the case
was dismissed
last month
in federal
court. It's being
appealed. The DOJ
is appealing
it to the
Seventh Circuit.
But again,
it will take a
while. And
there's of thiser examples
around the nation where
the DOJ
has been losing
these cases.
>> One of those to keepave
an eye on and Ana the false
electors case Wisconsin.
What happened
there? >> They
pleaded not
guilty to
11 counts of
felony forgery,
including Wisconsin's own Jim
Troupis. Well, he's
also trying
to casehe
moved out of Andunty Circuit Court.
so that case continues
to unfold. >> All
right. Thank you for keeping an eye
on we havemeat's all
for today. Thanks colleagueus. Our
Zac Schultz will back in a few
weeks. Wisconsin politics. Be
sure wisconsin.org,
WPR.org, YouTube,
or wherever you
get your
podcasts. podcasts.