The Democratic Voice Podcast

The endless angles to Wisconsin's failed $1.8 billion budget surplus deal

We break down the endless angles to a failed bipartisan deal to spend $1.8 billion in budget surplus property tax relief, rebate checks, education funding and no tax on tip/overtime. The deal was negotiated behind closed doors by three retiring politicians — Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican leaders of the Legislature (Robin Vos and Devin Lemahieu. It was rolled out on a Monday and a vote was taken three days later. It easily passed on both side of the Assembly. But no Democrats and three Republicans killed it in the state Senate. And all but one candidate for Wisconsin governor supported it.  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Sara Rodriguez and her run to be Wisconsin's next governor

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez stopped in La Crosse to discuss why she's running for governor of Wisconsin and some of the issues happening in the state and beyond. We got to know some of Rodriguez's backstory in the healthcare field and discussed some of the things she's both seeing with healthcare and wants to do about it. We also discussed matters dealing with childcare and her plans to help in that industry. Sticking with children, Rodriguez talked about her plans for big tech and protecting kids from the harms of social media and holding those companies responsible. Later, we talked about the recent deal by Gov. Tony Evers and the two retiring Republicans leading the state Legislature to spend $1.8 billion of the budget surplus and Rodriguez's thoughts after it failed to pass.  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Cue the fake GOP outrage as Virginians vote to redraw the maps for Democrats

Donald Trump's gerrymandering war intensified last week and the fake outrage by Republicans is deafening. Democrats keep fighting back against the GOP rigging the 2026 election and Republicans don't know how to take it. In a recent special election, Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment to enact new US House maps that could lead to a 10-1 Democratic majority — shifting from the current 6-5 split. We discuss the irony of Republicans complaining about the move in a war that began when Trump told Texas Republicans to redraw their maps — with no vote by its citizens. NOTE: Since this episode was recorded, Florida's GOP-led Legislature approved a new map from Gov. Ron DeSantis, also without a vote from citizens — shifting their 20-8 GOP advantage to 24-4. The move effectively bypasses Florida’s own voter-approved constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering by unilaterally declaring those protections unconstitutional. We dive into the legislative response from Democrats with bills in both the House and Senate designed to ban mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering once and for all — bills that have of course been stalled by Republicans in leadership. We also talk about the ripple effects this has and the high stakes for Wisconsin with Gov. Tony Evers' push for a nonpartisan commission before the 2030 census likely drops the state to just seven House seats — a special session that has been all but ignored by the GOP-controlled Legislature. Closer to home, we take a look at a "civically illiterate" graphic from the La Crosse County Republican Party that fundamentally misses how elections actually work. And, we break down Wisconsin's political landscape and how statewide candidates for governor will affect the rest of the ballot. An unpopular candidate — like, perhaps U.S. House Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is the GOP candidate for governor — won't do any good for someone like Derrick Van Orden in the 3rd District, or vice versa. Meanwhile, Democrats have a field of candidates for governor with much more fanfare that could bolster those U.S. House and state legislature races on their side of the aisle. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Joel Brennan on why he's running for Wisconsin governor

Joel Brennan joined to talk about why he's running to be the next governor of Wisconsin. We get to know a little about where he came from, how he got into politics, his time in government and beyond, and then policy. We hit on things like the budget surplus and how to spend it, as well as big policy dilemmas like healthcare, childcare, housing and education. Brennan is one of nine Democratic candidates for governor, though that number could shrink some as the signatures deadline looms.  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

When Wisconsin Republicans aren't happy the White House is picking their US House Rep.

We dissect why Republicans in Wisconsin's 7th US House District of aren't happy about the White House picking their candidate. Donald Trump has endorsed 26-year-old Michael Alfonso, who is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's son in law. Duffy, a former US House member, is also funneling $1 million of his campaign money to Alfonso. Meanwhile, half the other GOP candidates in the race just moved to the district to run. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.