David Crowley and Kelda Roys Discuss Wisconsin’s Future

Come on man Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. We go. Good morning. Welcome to community boys. I'm your host Keith Paris good to be back in the studio Yesterday I turned on the radio turn on YouTube. There was nothing silence and come to find out and then the crazy piece about yesterday WNOV My sister and all those folks they didn't lose power because of the storm they had lost power earlier that morning Yeah, so then the storm hit that in hell

So for all those folks and I was out in Cedarburg for a doctor's appointment Man, it looked like midnight. It got so dark man. And that's when that that tornado had been coming. Oh man, it's crazy Anyway, so let me set this up. I reached out to all five of the remain And rejoin it For the Democratic nomination

Uh, I have, I have three, I have three response. Actually, everyone responds to one campaign. The other campaign is trying to. So, um, it was just you all. Uh, so I, uh, have been in studio with us County Executive David Crowley. Doing well. How you doing, sir? Every day is a good day. I'm doing better. You know, last time you saw me, it looked like a broke hip.

So I'm walking a whole lot. You're doing much better now with a whole lot better. Good. So I wanted to do this just because I was getting phone calls. I can't answer for the candidates. Yeah. And I know you tonight is going to be very interesting. Yeah. So let me do this. I'll just start off. I'm going to ask all the candidates the same question. Okay. Is that fair? That's fair. Okay. So what experiences in your personal professional and public service background best prepared you to serve as governor?

And what distinguished you from the other Democratic candidates in this race? I was born into struggle. Parents taught me the value of hard work and struggled themselves with mental health and drug addiction. And when I think about my experience just living life, I know what it's like to struggle. I know what it's like to not know if you're going to have food on the table, or whether you're going to have a roof over your head. But as I've been able to grow up, become a community organizer,

go through a miracle or work with many nonprofits, you know, my background is about the people and I will say that that's what makes me unique more than anything is that I started off as a community organizer. I didn't go right into, you know, being an elected official and community organizer gave me the ability to not only, you know, take root here in the community, but it also allowed me to build

Authentic relationships and get things done and help empower others to do the work as well But also as a state representative and as the county executive I have been able to bring People along the entire political spectrum to the table to make sure that we are benefiting those that we represent And so when I look at my my experience, you know, I'm the only candidate that I only served in the state Legislature but has experience actually running government representing 19 different municipalities a million people and we've done incredible work and so

It's not just about the vision that we have for the state of Wisconsin. It's also about asking the question of who can actually get these things done. And I've been able to navigate the political landmines, if you will, to actually deliver not just for Moorkey County, but every single municipality in this state. And I know that as the next governor, we'll be able to do even more work to make sure that when the tide rise, all the boats rise, to be honest with you.

Will Rogers famously quoted, I am not a member of a political party. I'm a Democrat. So when, how would you describe, because there is this, people are describing, we're hearing these different descriptions of people within the Democratic Party. So how would you characterize yourself as a progressive liberal moderate or something else? And then how does your governing philosophy shape the policies you would pursue as governor?

You know, it's unfortunate that we try to put everybody in these boxes. We talk politics, right? And everybody has a lane.

you know whether you are pushing democrats or pushing republicans to focus on particular issues that aren't necessarily in the mainstream media each and every single day and so i do think that you know the different factions that we have across the political party they they have a role to play and so when people say well what do you consider yourself it's like well i'm gonna get stuff done democrat you know i consider myself to be not just a progressive i see myself as being a pragmatist and making sure that we're actually doing things not just to help us in the short term but

creating more long term stability. It's like as we continue to talk about the affordability crisis, yeah, we can do a lot to infuse more money to provide that relief.

But that isn't going to solve the problem in the next two years. And so we have to focus on having a vision, having a strategic plan when it comes down to the communities that we represent. And so that requires partnerships, that requires us stepping outside of the box and not focusing on the status quo and being innovative in the solutions that we're putting on the table. And so as I run this race, I realize that going back to your quote, it's not my job to get people to become a Democrat.

I just need them to vote for a Democrat, you know, because when you vote for a Democrat, not just in this governor's race, but in the state assembly, in the state Senate, it's going to allow us to pass the policies that's truly going to make a difference in everybody's lives. And you used the word vision. So what's your vision for Wisconsin over the next four years? And how will people be able to describe your leadership? Well, how will people know your leadership was better over the next four years?

You know talk about making more accounting the healthiest County and I want to do the exact same thing with the state of Wisconsin make it the healthiest state in the Midwest come 2035 and I want folks to understand that health isn't just mental and physical Money in your pocket is health access to transportation is health access to child care to health care to a good public education system All these things contribute not just to our individual health, but to our societal health and so

When I think about the next four years, I want people to, you know, at the end of my first term, I want people to say that, no, I not only seen the difference, I felt the difference that this governor, uh, brought to the table. And not only did I feel the difference and seen the difference, but I was a part of the difference because so many communities across this state, whether we're talking, you know, our teachers, whether we're talking our farmers, people who live in rural communities, people who live in, uh, zip codes, like in the city of Milwaukee and market county, where we seen in.

you know, incredible amount of disinvestment. It's about making sure they have a seat at the table, because if you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu. When you're on the menu, you have no authority. You don't have any power. And so we have to allow those who are directly impacted to have a voice, to have a seat at the table, to make sure that we're including them. And that's how we create more sustainability moving forward. And so, you know, that's, that's what I want. And I wanted.

You know, we always talk about how we have to defeat Trump. But, you know, I'm not going on wood because, you know, at the end of the day, he's not going to be there in the next two years. But what we have to defeat is Trump legacy and focus on what we really want. And I think when I think about my party, the Democratic Party, we have been reacting to Trump, reacting to Republicans, and that's allowing Republicans in this administration to define who we are as a party.

And so we have to get off the off off the defense and actually play offense. And so I'm looking, I'm looking forward to being incredibly aggressive, you know, in this in this term, because we have this opportunity to flip the state Senate and the state assembly to make sure that we're repushing these policies that matter. Let's get into some real practical governance questions. If that's all right. Okay. What are the three most pressing challenges facing Wisconsin today?

And how would your administration address them? So the three most pressing challenges affecting communities today is affordability. Affordability. Affordability. I mean, think about it, right? When you talk about affordability, it's affordability when it comes down to property taxes. Affordability when it comes down to paying for our public education. It's affordability because we haven't been able to raise

the minimum wage, which is still $7.25 an hour. And so people need more money in their pockets. Affordability to have access to childcare and be able to afford to send their child, you know, to an educational center so they can make a decision whether they want to work or not, or stay at home. You know, affordability when it comes down to health care, you know, we have many communities right here in our own community and across this state, especially in rural areas where you have hospital clinics and hospitals, you know, closing down because

premiums are too high and we haven't increased the reimbursement rate. And so there's a lot for us to tackle here in the state of Wisconsin, but we have to tackle all these things simultaneously and understand that we need a long-term vision. And so, you know, whether we're talking, you know, data centers, whether we're talking housing, whether we're talking childcare, health care, property taxes, public education, public transportation, all those things connect back to affordability. Are you in favor of expanding Medicaid? Oh, absolutely.

Oh, absolutely. You know, I think that we have to do what's right for Wisconsin and not make decisions based off of who's occupying the White House. Because if we're not making decisions based off of who we are as a state, then that means that these pensions are going to continuously swing back and forth, and we won't have any sustainability for Wisconsin residents. And so by expanding badger care, that gives us an opportunity to provide comprehensive care.

It doesn't just include vision, or excuse me, physical, it's including vision, it's including dental, it's including mental. It allowed us to increase the reimbursement rates so people...

don't have to fall through the cracks or travel one to three hours away to be able to see their provider. Increasing the reimbursement rates helps incentivize providers to be a part of this network, and it puts more money into our home health care workers and family caregivers, more money into their pockets so they can actually take care of themselves when they're taking care of our most vulnerable populations. And so we have a duty to expand battery care.

And by doing that, we'll not only double eligibility, but it allows our gig workers, it allows entrepreneurs, it allows our farmers, it allows our students to be able to have an alternative to for-profit insurance and make sure that they get in quality care across the entire state. What's your position on our current funding structure for public schools, including the so-called 400-year tax?

How would your administration ensure every child has access to a high quality public education? Well, we have to recognize that, you know, we have seen our public schools crumbling across this state ever since the walk of error.

you know, and we need to get back to the basics, the basics of providing for our families. And if people are saying, well, that's going to cost too much, well, we've been doing very little for far too long. And so we got to get back to funding our public schools to the tunes of two thirds and increasing the reimbursement rates to 90%.

key because that would naturally ease the property tax pressures. We're all filling not just here in Markey County, but across the entire state because we've had to go to referendum in order to make up for the gap that the state of Wisconsin has created. And so.

This requires us to put together a bipartisan blue ribbon commission. It's not just looking at the school funding formula We gotta look at the shared revenue funding as well for funding formula as well How are we funding towns cities villages counties and so for the past 30 years? We've been operating under the status quo when it comes down to school funding, but It's antiquated now

And so we have to do something different. And I know that with Governor Evers and his 400 year veto, that that's providing much more stability for our public schools than we ever have had in the past 10 years. And so if we can't get back to the two thirds funding formula and making sure we index to that some inflation, we're not going to be able to get rid of this 400 year veto because our schools need to have.

dedicated funding so they can actually plan for the future and I know that there's a lot of people you know in this in this campaign who also talks about how we have to get rid of vouchers and you know I don't think we do not need to expand vouchers but I think that folks need to understand that we have went to referendum after referendum and after referendum to bring in the amount of resource that we need with the current capacity of students that we have and so if we were to eliminate the charter school system overnight

We'll be putting an even greater burden on our public schools who don't have the resources, who don't have the support, who don't have the space. For example, when you think about the city of Milwaukee, where half of our children is actually in the choice program. And so we have to be focusing on how do we build up our public schools to make it the school of choice for everybody in the state of Wisconsin? Part of the question though was this idea.

quality education. Yeah. Um, and we're going to, we do the evaluations of the schools, um, has, I won't say charter schools, um, but voucher schools. Is that an impact on the quality of education when it comes to our children? I think that there are some good schools and there are some bad schools. And when it comes down to the system, what we need to be focusing on is

Are they being honest as far as what they're doing? Are they being transparent? And we need to make sure that they're held to the exact same standards as our public schools as well, because we don't get to compare apples to apples. It's apples to oranges, the way that the state statute was actually written. And so when it comes down to quality, this is, we can talk about, we can have a statewide conversation, but we have to recognize that we have over 400 school districts here in the state of Wisconsin. And so this is gonna require working with

you know, like the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, working with local school districts, putting our heads together to figure out how do we expand, you know, the quality curriculum that we know is working across this state in communities that are being underserved to make sure that no children fall through the cracks. But we have a responsibility to work with the Department of Public Instruction, to work with our community members in order to fulfill that promise to our kids. Talk a little bit about the 400-year tax.

Yeah, so when many people so there was a there was a was this last session And when we're doing a school funding formula, they increase Per people funding and it was only an increase for the biennial budget, but due to governor evers of veto that increase

that we've seen was in perpetuity for the next 400 years and that was basically a way to to make sure the schools know exactly what they're going to get moving forward because as long as we continue you know to focus on the two years at a time it's hard for our school districts to actually plan for the future and so they can't plan for just for the next two years because you know student population fluctuate things fluctuate

life fluctuates, society fluctuates, seeing what's happening at this federal government and some of the cuts to education, that's continuously fluctuating. And so they don't have the ability to have the foundation to focus on that long-term planning. And so I really commend Governor Erie as far as what he did, because he brought stability to the system by doing that. But we really need a real fix, and that's going to require a state legislature and a governor who's willing to sit at the table to focus on the school funding formula moving forward.

Talk a little bit about technology specifically AI and economic development. Yeah Artificial intelligence and data centers are creating a new economic opportunity But also raising questions about energy use jobs privacy and community impact What's your vision for what Wisconsin's role in this emerging economy? And how would your administration balance innovation with accountability? Well one I know that there's there's been a lot of talks about putting a moratorium on data centers, but

The moratorium provides a short term fix but doesn't address the long term concerns that we have, you know, all across Wisconsin. And so it is mind boggling to me that the state legislature left session without actually putting any guardrails in place to protect us from the current infrastructure, right? Because we already have data centers here and the moratorium is not going to stop the construction of data centers between now and whatever started between now and the end of this year. So we have to actually hunker down and have it up.

and hold these folks accountable. They need to pay their way.

They need to pay for all the utility uses that they have. They need to pay for any grid or any infrastructure updates. And actually, it's a little tongue in cheek, but I call it the Beyonce approach. Bring your own new clean energy. They need to be focusing on building their own solar farms and wind energy to make sure they're getting as close to 100% renewable energies to power these data sensors. But they also, whether they're being built, we also have to require project labor agreements. They should be utilizing union labor.

And I want to see community benefit agreements, not just in the communities that they reside in, but across the entire state because we're all going to be affected by this. Does the governor have a role in allaying the concerns of, you know, we're running it right now in terms of there are people very opposed to having those data centers in their community. You know, we dealt with it at Midtown. Yeah. Do you see the governor having a role in being able to allay those concerns that people might have?

Oh, I mean I have some of the same concerns that everybody has across the entire states and that's why we need to put these guard rules in place because There are data centers that are already here and we are not protecting ourselves from what is already here and so you know for me We need to have a real an honest conversation as far as what is happening with these data centers But I also think that with the data centers that are currently here

I want to leverage this for our communities. How can we leverage this for our school systems, for our local municipalities, for small businesses, entrepreneurs, legacy industries? How can they also subsidize our energy use? Because I do believe as we are paying to focus on energy to build our clean energy infrastructure, which these data centers were paying to as well.

After we do so many projects and it can only do so much every year, how about we use the excess of those dollars to buy down the rates of everybody across the state of Wisconsin? And so there are some things that a governor can do, but it's going to require partnership with the legislation in order to pass legislation that not only protects the people, but protects our land, protects our water, and protects our future. Last two questions. Wisconsin is politically a purple state. Yeah.

As governor, how would you build consensus across partisan and geographic divides while staying true to democratic values and your campaign promises? You know, one of my favorite quotes is about Teddy Roosevelt, and he said, no one cares what you know until they know how much you care. And I think that one of the things that we have lost

in politics is the ability to build relationships, build trust, build authentic relationships, not transactional relationships to get things done. And my time in the state legislature, as well as the county executive, I've always had to come to the table with Republicans. And I truly believe that, one, I'm willing to sit down and work with anybody who's willing to deliver on behalf of everybody that I represent. And I do believe that you don't have to give up your ethics, your morals, your values.

in order to negotiate to make sure that everybody in this state actually benefits from that piece of legislation. Is compromise a bad word in politics? I think it has become a bad word, but I do not believe it is a bad word. I think that we have not done enough to actually communicate to voters as far as what we are doing a lot of the times, you know, in session, in committees. And so they are relying on

a lot of rhetoric sometimes that some people put it put out there for those who are paying attention or or you know one to create a little bit of a hesitancy with our voters but I don't think that compromises a bad thing I think that at the end of the day when we are compromising it's about making sure that we are doing the right thing and not making political decisions because so many people are hurting right now so many people are desperate right now and we need to make sure that we are providing the relief that they absolutely need.

I'm smiling, all decisions are political. Well, when I say a political decision, you know, like, are you making the decision based off of today and where we are? Are you basing the decision off of, well, are we going to be in power next year? Right. And I think that, you know, when it's a consideration, I mean, you, you run to run again. Well, you absolutely run to run again, but you, you're in office.

You are in office and you have a responsibility to those that represent you. And so my hope is that when you are making decisions, you're basing it off of those that represent you, not what is being pushed to you based off of politics. So speaking of politics, my final question, the day after the primary. So regardless of the outcome, whether you want to lose, what should happen the day after the primary?

And how would you work to unite Democrats like Herden Katz to support whoever the nominee is and ensure that the party's prepared to win an event? Well, you know, I know all about Herden Farrell Katz, right? You know, I've been the chair of the demarchy delegation chair of the legislative Black Caucus and shout out to everybody who I've worked with. I mean, it's not easy, you know, finding consensus when you have a large body to work with. Maybe that's not a word. I think it's so rare.

we have so-called consensus in politics, and that's understandable. Yeah. I mean, because people have their strongly held positions. Oh, absolutely. And that's why I think the word compromise is probably better. Yeah, because finding the consensus, you know, when you think about

you know 99 legislators right 33 senators right and it's just like trying to find a consensus is very difficult even within your own party right finding consensus can be difficult but it's being able to communicate the ultimate goal and if we all agree on the ultimate goal you know whether people want to vote for something or not that puts us in a much better position to deliver for our communities and so you know august 12th

You know all of us in this race, right? We are we are running against one another but we all have one ultimate goal Which is to make sure that we defeat the Maggard Republican in time Tiffany so we don't have him occupying our governor's office And so it doesn't matter who comes out of this Democratic Party, you know or where you sit, you know on the Democratic Party spectrum. We all need to come together

This is about delivering for families, delivering for our children, delivering for those that we represent who have been hurting for so long, especially our most vulnerable residents in the state of Wisconsin. And so, you know, we all have to come together. And for me, I've always been a bridge builder. I've always wanted to bring more people to the table because it reminds me of that old African proverb. If you want to go fast, go by yourself. If you want to go far, bring others along with you. And right now,

you know, when I think about the divide that we have, we have seen in the past, you know, 50 years between urban, you know, rural and suburban communities, we may have come here on different ships, but we're all in the same boat now.

The things that we're facing here in large urban communities like the city of Milwaukee, they're facing in smaller communities like Verroqua or in counties like Trempelow County or Marinette or in Superior. And so this is an opportunity for us to get a little comfortable being uncomfortable and understanding life outside of our geographical comfort zone to build the relationships needed so we can pass policies that benefit everybody in this state.

How do you you know because we're already getting definitions that ask you that question how you would label yourself? Yeah, people are already labeling people. I mean Democratic Socialist is pejorative, right? Yeah, how people it used to be progressive and it used to be liberal Can it within the Democratic Party is there a way forward Where we can be as inclusive and said we where the Democratic Party can be as inclusive

in terms of all these different approaches, because I think it's more about approach than it is what the ultimate goal is. Do you think that's possible? Oh, I absolutely think it's possible. I mean, it doesn't matter. We all want to make sure that when we all do better, we all do better. But it takes building those relationships, authentic relationships. And I think that we can't just keep showing up. Excuse me. Can't keep showing up just doing campaign time. We have to organize even after the election.

Once somebody is sworn in, how do we organize to make sure that we're passing good policy? How do we organize to make sure that people continuously stay civically engaged? How do we organize to make sure that we're not just winning state races or we're winning congressional and United States Senate races and eventually helping to shape who's going to be occupying the presidential, the White House moving forward? And so I absolutely believe that we can come to the table, but we have to be willing to set aside the differences and come down. And honestly,

You know, this is something that we can learn from the Republican Party because we've seen how they did that when it came down to to Trump's election back in 2024. Do they all agree on everything? Absolutely not. But the ultimate goal is making sure that we can push an agenda that's going to benefit everybody. And that's why we need Democrats not just in Wisconsin, but Democrats across this nation to really to really come together and focus on the agenda that we want to provide for all of our residents. It is kind of a follow up on that.

And again, I'd ask that question about, you know, on August the 12th, what about the people who are diehard David Crowley supporters? And David Crowley may or may not prevail. I'm not jinxing. Sure. Not gonna work. What does David Crowley do to make sure those folks don't set it out?

Well, I'm not a guy who likes to sit on the sidelines. And so no matter who is coming out of this, you know, primary, I'm going to be out there making sure we're not going to go indoors, making phone calls and making the case because this race is not about me. It's not about any of these candidates. It's about it's about you, Keith. It's about the people who was in this building. It's about the people who are listening and who are not listening about how they get access to the resources and the assistance that they need so they can not just survive but thrive. And so.

You know, it's going to take all of us coming to the table. And that's why me being an organizer at the end of the day, you know, I want to make sure that we're utilizing my organizing skill set to push good policies. County Executive David Crowley, candidate for governor. You always ask this. I should ask this question in the beginning. Why should people vote for David Crowley?

I'm trying to lower costs for families. I am looking to invest in not just in early childhood education, but education as a whole to make sure that families can thrive. I want to make sure that we're not just

saving more money in folks pocket, but we're putting more money in people's pockets across this state. And so, you know, at the end of the day, this is about how we invest in public education. It's about how do we increase the minimum wage? It's about how do we, you know, repeal Act 10 and right to work for less so people can collectively bargain for their wages for safe working conditions and for their benefits. This is about making sure that our children have an opportunity to afford to go to college. And when they graduate college, there's a home for them to move back to when they want to come back to the

community that they grew up in. And so this is this is an opportunity to really focus on the vision and the mission that we want to have as a state. Because even though we may live in different counties, different cities, different towns and villages, we are still one Wisconsin.

County Executive David Crowley, Democratic candidate for Governor of the great state of Wisconsin. Man, I appreciate you and your folks getting back and making this happen. Thank you. I appreciate that. You're listening to Community Voice. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. Host Keith Parris. Welcome back as we wait for our next guest. Man, I was all prepared to come in to do a program yesterday.

Man, when I came on, it was all silent. I'm going like, oh, man, we paid the bill, right? And then when I talked to Jermaine and he explained to me that they'd lost power. My sister had also lost power. And we were just saying the crazy piece was they didn't lose power because of the storm. They lost power because of a faulty.

piece of equipment and yeah that's 80,000. No, no, 18,000. No, it was like it was 80,000. 80,000 was the storm and everything but this was like early in the morning. It was like us right from that and then you get the storm which was was was a totally different piece. So, man, dude, let me let me recap because Monday's using my weekend recap. I was telling Rhonda

So what a great year for me for music. I got a chance to hear let us see and I got a chance to hear Kelly price Man Man Kelly rip stay man Did you notice every song that they said she saw the whole crowd that that was a whole I didn't realize I didn't realize how you know people got fans Yeah, man, but they rushed the you know came up

She didn't have to do the tracks. I'm going to tell you this. When she did As We Lay, it sounded like a bunch of women singing from experience because they was in that thing feeling it. I ain't calling no names. But somebody said, I heard As We Lay. Oh boy. And I was sitting up there, man, at all Sunday morning, all of us going through my mind as I'm getting ready for church. As We Lay.

We didn't think man. They did the background vocals it was you know, so and you know what and first of all her voice Amazing her voice there. There are a lot of people man. They kind of the voice ain't man her voice was and I think the crowd helped her so I don't know if she got the same reaction when she went to other cities, but I'm cuz I always hear this thing about about

Milwaukee crowds. Let me say this about Milwaukee crowds. Sometimes there's a reason why they ain't getting up. Yeah, because you didn't show up. Well, I'm gonna tell you this for somebody to come who hasn't had a hit in years and seeing her old records and people know the lyrics all the way through and the crowd pretty much sung the show.

So it was you know, I gotta tell the story. So, you know, I'm gonna use my little VIP status whatever I care I'm just that kind of I'm just that kind of dude, right? So When right out get this right out I ain't Blake What happened man? So I got my WNOV polo on Pull up into the parking they turn people around I get to the thing

WNOV do get on walkie-talkie WNOV coming through WNOV coming through talk to the sister, right? Yeah, so you get up to that next gate, you know, she opened it up. Hey WNOV. She said You know this dude in back of you I Never seen this

I tried to get nobody, because you know people try to get in on your smoke, right? No, it was just like I turned around and I guess what she know, because he had on his W-N-O-V, right? And she said, you know this dude behind me, I'm going, I didn't even look at the review. No, uh-uh, let me get up in here. Every man for himself. It was Chris Levy, because that's the kind of dude I am. And so now we over in our little section. We're on the south side, normally we're on the north.

But we're on the south side this time. Get in, we got our little VIP thing, and let me thank, let me thank Debo and Sharon. Nice little hospitality thing going on over there. I think when we got to Kelly Price's third song, there's so many people that pushed up to the VIP. Yeah, they pushed up in there.

Okay, and this is the thing I love. This white man, Jermaine Wright out is one of my favorite people. Jermaine come all in like, you know, hey, what's up? Well, they actually escorted me up there. I know they did.

So Jermaine come in and, you know, and he talking, he got, you know, he doing this, he doing that. Hating on the dude. Hating on the dude. Hey, don't do that. Don't do that. Anyway, the time is very good for where we were. So let me, so he doing that, he just taking it all and just hate, just hate, just hate.

Man, Kelly Price, get up there. Him and Sharon pop up on the stage so quick. I'm going to hear the word from a hater to a fan. Look, I couldn't take it. But when she started singing, it was almost like church. Side woman! I ran to the stage like, you better sign the walls up on the stage. You better sign. What did you say there? What did you say? Listen, hey, Clark, I ain't even lying.

I saw the keyboard up there. I saw a dude sitting there, man. I want to move him out the way. Amen. Let me play for him. He didn't have to do anything. He didn't have to do nothing because between, you couldn't even hear the tracks anymore. I know. Because the folks was out there and oh man, as we lay, oh lord. And she sound just like the record.

That's what I'm saying. Her voice was incredible, man. You know what? Her and R Kelly, they sound just like R Kelly. Just like they record. You ain't heard R Kelly since he been locked up. He ain't sounded. No, actually. How you doing from prison? From over the farm. You know, we create a tree. You know, we create a you can actually you too. We man. So he did Chris Brown remix.

And he killed it. Yeah, he did it over the phone. And they, you know, did a mix on it and put it out. Man, so let me, and again, just to... It was so many people out there. I mean, it was... It was about three to four. Now, I ain't even gonna lie. When I pulled up and started walking in, the security guard was like, that go right out. Y'all take him to the front.

So they walk and taking me up there and I'm looking around and people like, bro, where you going? Can we go with you? I'm trying to ignore him.

I'm trying to ignore him. Make a lane. He'll come right out. Make room for me. Make room. Here you come. So great show. So let me shout out the people that I know I've heard like last weekend was great. I heard this weekend was great this past weekend. So let me shout out. Let me shout out DJ Clark Kent. Thank you. Oh, he got hand claps. Yeah, man.

So it turned out to be man just just a great show and Look man, I'm like right out. I'm a hater

Man and when you come in cuz I'm gonna tell you man I went to see some folks and I was going and this was free and I was complaining But the fact I think people got a great show Man, it was so shout out that that every now and then man, you know, you can hit cuz who's this dude last year for I'm gonna call out his name anyway You know just to be able to do it and you could see from her

She was really feeding off the crowd. So, you know, and then people were, now, she'd have to go in and explain as we lay. People pretty much could.

We we we figured that out. Oh, it was a bunch of school. Oh, man, it was bad those paid records. Oh, man. I mean, you heard it in the people. Don't add that because you do a whole paid repertoire. So I understand what you're talking about. Right. So let me listen to the demo yesterday. I'm sitting there.

I said, man, who's that singing? That's me. I got out the car, slimmed the door, walked away. I said, now I understand what you're talking about. I said, hey, man, I just don't say too much, right? I still don't know. I'm like, man, him and Kelly could have got up there, man. And they, they, uh, boy, that was, but yeah, man, right, I'll, right, I'll have you in tears. And then wait a minute, then he got to close it.

a change going to come. Now, we went from broken hearted to the revolution. And so, whether it's in surrender or black power, either way, they up. Either way. Man, let me tell you something. Yesterday, Sunday, Russell came up. He performed with R&B Live. And that's my first time ever seeing R&B Live perform. Russell. Smil. Smil.

True? Oh, he a monster. No, I know he a monster. But this is the crazy thing about this, Clark. I had my show about two, three years ago, and nobody knew anything about Russell. So I had him on my show tribute to soul music, gospel, and R&B. And when this cat came on stage, just to understand God's truth. When he came on stage, people ran to the stage, right?

and they turned it to a whole offering. Like he was singing, raising offering at a soul concert. It was the craziest, if I got video of it, it was the craziest thing I've ever seen. But just the energy that was in that building when he was on stage was amazing. So then after that, everybody was like, who is this guy? Who is this guy? And they started reaching at him and he just been ripping the stage every season. You know, I'm a...

I'm a believer in celebration. I am and I know some of you deep church folks, but I I don't care The celebrations to celebration, you know, the jam is the jam, right? The worship is the worship and when we get man where people get like on one accord and now you got that whole movement Celebration is part of our African culture. Exactly, you know and regardless and people man, whether it's the blues whether it's gospel whether it's funk

Cuz I'm gonna tell you if you ever seen George Clinton lie you go on the church on the church man And can we use these words in church blank blank blank get off your blank and

Oh man, people out there skating. But you know, it was that time that music was in. It was in that disco rim. It was in that time when she put that record out, people thought she was going to hell. Like the church deemed her to hell. Like, oh, that's the blues. That sounds like the blues. That don't sound godly. And that asked the question because people. She get royalty checks. I mean, but not only that, but people say that.

about the music that I produce and I asked them, I said, well, what's godly music? What? Strings and organ. No, that's not godly. That's your perception of what godly music is. Let me tell you, Russell was singing the song called Love Me For Real. And people didn't know he took him to church as he was singing the song, took him to church, but he kept the song R&B. All right. Wait, man. That's the gift because he's black.

Y'all know we had what should have been labeled a disaster around here yesterday. Power was out. Flooded up to the steps again. So with that being said, Pittsburgh home power was out as well.

And so we were trying to, you know, do my uncle's home going. That was yesterday? Yeah. Okay. So ain't no power. It's flooding everywhere. It's raining, storming. So Russell walks up because I had asked him to sing a song for me. So he walks up and he's, he said, ain't no power, man. I said, man, you got power at your church. He said, yeah, I got power with my church. So thankful to him. Pits Mortuary for actually allowing us to move the service over there. He didn't have to do that.

So I certainly want to just take my hat off to him with a wonderful, wonderful friend. He proved himself to be. Of course, we gave him a love offering. But the fact that he was there and was able to do that for us, so I just wanted to thank him. And no fault to Pittsburgh in our home because we all were without power. When I pulled up and I saw that marquee not working. I knew, man, it was. Yeah.

Man, I told Clark, man, it is. Put him on the raft in some water. Roll him down the hill. Roll him down the hill. Call it one. Oh, you said it by Mark? Yeah, I did. Oh, OK. Thank you. The mic is off. I know. They ain't done the same with you, man. You know that. Everything is fair game here. Oh, I know. I know. You don't like transmitting. We don't care. I know. Everything is fair game here. That's about as bad as that. Y'all saw that glass.

Chris Levy's sister in law bought him the cup.

It looked like an urn. He was proud of that cup. He ain't brought it back here no more, man. We lit him up. He brought it out no more. I'll tell you, as DJ, he caught it. He caught it Friday, dude. Ain't nobody safe. Nobody. But they talking about my back. I'm going like, man, you know I need a back knocker. Oh, man. Oh, yeah, that was my talk. Jermaine didn't do it, but I asked him to find that song. Push. Push it. Pull it.

And turn progressive ideas into law. At the end of the day, politics is about power so you can change people's lives for the better. And that's why I'm running for governor. I currently serve in the state Senate where I've been able to help expand access to healthcare, particularly in underserved communities like urban Milwaukee, like rural Wisconsin.

I previously served two terms in the state assembly where I was there to fight against Scott Walker and Tom Tiffany as they attacked public education and local governments. I'm an attorney by training so I will 100 percent be holding the Trump regime accountable for their violations of our laws and the way they're undermining our rights. And I'm also a small business owner for 13 years and I've spent four years as executive director of a reproductive health care organization. So

really been involved in making change for 25 years on health care, public education, public safety, and all the issues that I think are important to people around the state. They're part of opposition is trying to define your opponent.

So how would you describe your place within the Democratic Party? Would you describe yourself as a progressive, liberal, moderate, or something else? And how does your governing philosophy shape the policies you would pursue as governor? I am socially progressive and fiscally responsible. I am a proud Democrat. I spent my early years in rural Taylor County in northern Wisconsin. And then my family later moved to Madison in Dane County, where I now represent.

I firmly believe that every single Wisconsinite, no matter who you are or where you're from, you deserve the freedom to thrive. And that means raising wages. That means lowering costs on the big ticket items like housing and healthcare, childcare. And we have to have great public schools everywhere. Too often, I think Republicans have deprived our communities of the resources that they need so that opportunity is unequal in the state. It depends on

what you look like, it depends on how much money your parents have, and that's wrong. I'm someone that absolutely believes the most important thing above and beyond ideology is what you can actually deliver for people. And so, although I'm very proud of my progressive values as a Democrat, I believe healthcare should be a right and available to everyone. I believe deeply in public education. I want early childhood investment and criminal justice reform. But at the end of the day,

I've been able to get things done even when Republicans are in control because I am willing to work with people who think differently from me. And I think we deserve that in a governor. In fact, it should be a prerequisite for the job. What's your vision for Wisconsin over the next four years if you're elected governor? And what would you want the people in Wisconsin to say in terms of change, has it changed for the better or has it changed for the better because of your leadership? I want Wisconsin to be the best place for public education in the nation.

I want every single kid to be able to have the best childhood that they can and the best education that they can. I want more money in people's pockets. I want to raise wages by restoring collective bargaining rights and bringing that minimum wage up. And I'm the lead author of bills to do that. And I want to lower costs and open up the state's health care plan to let anybody buy in. That's a great segue because I wanted to ask you about public education and funding, public education.

How important is adequate funding for public education, where we assure that the highest quality of education for all kids in the state of Wisconsin, and then you're in the legislature, talk a little bit about the 400 year tax. Sure. Well, I'll start by saying, Keith, I'm a mom and stepmom of five, and I'm a proud public school graduate myself. It is obvious to me that at 47 years old, what my sisters and I got growing up in this state,

different from what my kids are getting today and that has everything to do with the way Republicans have taken money out of the public school system over decades. It is not okay with me and I am not under any illusion that money is the only thing that our kids need and that our schools need to thrive but you can't have high quality public schools without money and it starts with the teachers at the

head of the classroom because we know that's the single most important factor in kids success and their ability to learn is attracting and retaining great high quality teachers. We have a huge retention crisis and it goes right back to teachers can't afford to pay their bills. They can't afford to buy a house. They can't afford to pay off their student loans or even have kids themselves. And that goes right back to Act 10. It was Scott Walker and Tom Tiffany attacking public education, defunding public schools. And so I believe

We should restore those pre-walker tax rates on millionaires and billionaires, pour that money into public schools, and at the same time improve quality and retention of our teachers by restoring collective bargaining rights. What are, if you can identify, and I'm sure there's many, if you could, what are three, the three most pressing issues right now facing the state of Wisconsin?

affordability for sure, which is a function both of the fact that people are not Earning the wages that they should be right wages are being suppressed It's also a function of the high cost of things especially the big-ticket items like housing and utilities and child care And I've got detailed plans for how we can address all of those number two I would say is public education Because it is so central to our economic success and to whether or not young people feel like they can build a life here and have families here and number three the

the threat to our democracy of this authoritarian regime in washington we need a governor who is fearless and not afraid to stand up to the bullies and billionaires that are trying to undermine our rights and our freedoms hurt us in our pocket books as they line their own and i've spent my career basically doing that i called out elon musk two years ago and i said he's breaking the law trying to buy an election here and now two years later sure enough the elections commission said yep we think he broke the law we should

prosecute him. I was the one who 20 years ago said if Roe v. Wade is ever overturned, abortion could once again be a crime in Wisconsin. Sure enough, Trump did that. He attacked the freedom of women to make our own health care choices. And we saw abortion unavailable in Wisconsin for a period because of that law. And so I've never backed down when it comes to defending our rights and freedoms. We talked a little bit with county executive Crowley and he

He brought it up. So I'd like to you talk about public education. We also know that the money that finances voucher schools and charter schools also is public money. Mm-hmm. What's your position on that? I believe that public dollars belong in public schools and I would like to bring the

voucher scheme to a responsible end over time. I think that Milwaukee and Racine should be handled differently from the rest of the state, and my plan would not displace any child who is currently in Milwaukee or Racine from their education. They will be allowed to complete their education through graduating high school, as will any siblings that they have. However, it's also not okay to take public money and then discriminate. You shouldn't be able to fire a staffer because they're the wrong religion or because they're gay. You shouldn't be able to

Say we don't want to educate this kid because she's got a disability. That is absolutely wrong Can they do that if if they're taking? Public money they can today, but they shouldn't be able to really is my point Yeah, I think you know public dollars should come with responsibility and what we've had is a situation where the public schools are playing by one set of rules where they have to

have licensed teachers, no corporal punishment. Kids have to take the forward exam. Their books are open and transparent. They're subject to open records laws. And then you've got private voucher schools that are not following any of those regulations. And so we don't really know where the tax dollars are going. So I remember back in the day, the whole situation with Bob Jones University.

And Bob Jones University lost federal funding because of their discriminatory practices there. That doesn't apply on the state level where if you're taking state dollars, you're not subject then to the laws around employment. I understand with churches because churches have their own. I didn't realize that with some of these private schools if they're receiving state money.

that's that's exactly what is happening around the state is that religious institutions are running these schools and they're accepting public money under the guise of the voucher program but they are still operating in ways that are discriminatory and listen every single kid no matter who you are what you look like where you're from how you're coming into the classroom you deserve a great public education and it is not okay in my view as a parent that some kids are not

getting that and they're being turned away from any school that's taking public money. I just don't think we can accept that in a democracy. Can we talk a little bit about technology, AI and economic development? Artificial intelligence and data centers are creating new economic opportunities, but they're also raising concerns and questions about energy use, jobs, privacy and community impact. What's your vision for Wisconsin's role in this emerging economy and how would your administration balance innovation with accountability?

I mentioned I was a small business owner, and my business uses technology to make it easier and more affordable for people to buy and sell homes. So I am by no means a Luddite, but I also know that there are incredible risks that are economic, social, political, and public safety risks with basically turning over too much power to

big tech companies. AI is being used to deny prior authorization for healthcare. AI is being used to illegally price fix and raise rent on people. It's being used to offer discriminatory pricing at the grocery store. So you might see $4 for a box of Cheerios and I might see

$2 or $6 based on our credit histories. That is wrong. And no legislator in the state, Keith, has authored more bills to regulate big tech and to protect us from those kinds of harms than I have. So I am very much a believer that there's incredible possibility with technology. My dad was lucky enough to get a lung transplant earlier this year. And AI was incredibly helpful to us as his family and caregivers in understanding

How to help support him through this and what the risks are and how to manage that? And I think there's possibilities for AI to deliver better public services to people at lower cost and help our public employees Do their jobs more effectively in serving the public? But at the same time we can't have things like weaponized autonomous drones. We cannot allow

bots to be raising the prices on everything from groceries to concert tickets. We cannot let predatory social media companies continue doing essentially a big social experiment on our kids at the expense of their mental health and their well-being. And that's why I have been very aggressive in regulating big tech.

the 800 pound gorilla in the room is data centers. No one wants them in their communities. How do you allay the concerns that people have about data centers? You're talking about the benefit of AI and data and how dependent we are on this data, right? How do you allay their concerns around, I don't want that data center because of energy use or other things in my community?

I don't I don't think it's my job to allay people's concerns about data centers I think it's my job to make sure that communities are the ones who are deciding their own futures and I believe we need at a minimum very strong state regulations to protect our workers our environment especially our water to protect all of us in our pocketbooks as ratepayers you know who

need utilities and to protect local control and transparency because what's happening right now is not okay. You've got these big powerful wealthy companies just coming in steamrolling communities and people don't even find out about it until after the deal's already done. I think that's unacceptable, right? That's not consistent with local control. And so my plan would basically be to help local communities be in the driver's seat. We're going to have a state

team of expert negotiators that if a local community decides, hey, we want to have a conversation with Metta or Google about a data center, don't make that retired town board chair go up against those a team of lawyers from Facebook that do this all day. Give them a team of expert negotiators. Make sure that there's strong state standards so that they don't have to worry about the quality of the water or whether the workers are going to be well paid or whether there's going to be an NDA. That stuff is going to be demanded upfront.

I also want to make sure that we're not subsidizing data centers. Right now, the bill that Republicans passed is going to cost Wisconsinites about $2 billion. That's money out of our pockets going right into the pockets of these big tech oligarchs. That's totally backwards. They should be paying us. And so my plan calls for us to get hundreds of millions of dollars from every data center development that we will use then to finance our own public clean energy infrastructure bank.

so that we get solar panels and geothermals on you know division north division high school right and make sure that we're getting cleaner air uh lower energy costs and getting to address climate change by energy efficiency and more clean and renewable energy. Wisconsin has politically has been politically described as a purple state. Yeah I've noticed. As governor how would you build?

Bill consensus, but I cannot substitute this word. How can you work towards compromise? Yeah across partisan and geographic divides while staying true to your democratic values and your campaign promises Keep this is the work that I have been Engaged in for 25 years and part of that of course I've been in the Senate and the Assembly as a legislative leader But other parts of it I've just been a citizen an activist or a nonprofit leader or just an attorney I pride myself on

really working hard to listen to and hear from and seek out people who have different ideas than me. I like to go on right-wing radio and I want them to ask me tough questions because I find that oftentimes if you can make a connection with someone, you can find something to work together on. And so even though I'm a proud Democrat, I'm proud of the progressive values that I have around civil liberties and civil rights.

But I've also been very proud to have worked across the aisle and been able to pass bills again and again and again in pretty tough Republican dominated situations as a Democrat and there's no other candidate running for governor. None of my friends in this race have a track record like that where they can say we've passed bills for over 20 years in these really challenging divided times. Is compromise a bad word in politics? It shouldn't be because that's

You know the alternative is you have dictators and I sure don't want that That hasn't working out so hot for us right now. I'd say No Kings no Queens My final question The day after the primary mm-hmm so regardless of the outcome of August 12th, what should happen the day after the primary

How would you work to unite Democrats support the nominee whoever whether it's you or someone else and ensure that the parties prepare to win an open The most important thing for all of us to do is to unite behind our nominee so that we can beat Tom Tiffany because Wisconsin cannot afford to have Donald Trump's rubber stamp as our governor. We just cannot afford it The thing that really worries me is that we've got Republicans

Trying hard to choose their own nominee that they want to run against they are backing Hong in the Democratic primary and trying to gin up Democratic voters to vote for her because they think And they may well be wrong. I hope they are but they think that she's gonna be the easiest one for Tiffany to beat and Not a lot of people know this Keith, but Republican billionaires two billionaires put 16 million dollars into the Senate and Assembly Republican committees

because they apparently see a path where if they get the nominee that they want to run against that they could win a Republican trifecta in Wisconsin. We have worked too hard for too long to claw our way back from 2010 in that terrible Walker years to throw it away now and that means every single one of us has to

work together to make sure that we can elect Democrats in the legislature and that we have a Democratic governor come January so that we can actually deliver for people. At the end of the day, I want to be governor, not because I want to drive around in a black SUV and cut ribbons. I want to use power to make people's lives better, to put more money in people's pockets, to lower the cost, make universal early childhood available, great public schools, and to protect us during this really scary moment for our democracy.

You said it without saying it. So I'm gonna only because you brought it up Politics is perception what people see really really is I want to see something in in in that candidate. That's me, right? Yeah Just by nature of what's happened here, we have two women Mm-hmm We have one woman of color

We have two black males. That can factor into people's choices. Are you concerned about that, like, you know, the difficulty that women face, you know, regardless of ethnicity? Should that be a concern in a purple state like Wisconsin?

I think we are lucky to have a diverse slate of candidates. I mean, the most diverse in the history of our state. I think that's wonderful. I will say, I do get the question, you know, can a woman win in Wisconsin? And I just got to turn around and point to my girl, Tammy Baldwin. She is the most popular elected official in the state of either party. And she and I won the year, even when Trump won. She sure did. She sure did. And, you know, she and I have a lot in common. We are both.

you know, Dane County Liberals, we're both lawyers, we're both experienced legislators, you know, and she, you know, she is incredibly popular in the state. Six of our seven Supreme Court justices are women. And I also really think it's important to push back whenever people say, well, a black candidate can't win in Wisconsin. That's nonsense. That's absolute nonsense.

Just because not every black candidate or not every woman has won every single election does not mean that those candidates cannot win. This state voted twice for Barack Obama, right? And um, my hope would vote a third time. Yeah, let's do it again. I mean, let's get that. Any Obama let's, you know, Malia, whoever wants to come, let's get him. Let's get all of you. Just need the name, right? No, I say that because again, um, we can

That's the question I was asking. It's a fair question, right? We should talk about it. Let's get it out there. Yeah, talk about labeling. So when you hear the concern where we use this term electability, now, being somewhat of a wordsmith, I understand what obviously electability is, I'm running to get elected. Right. But that's not what it's saying. Right. And so when that's used, that becomes concerning because now it is a dog whistle. Exactly.

And that's why I think it's important to be pushing back on that. Should voters think about electability? Absolutely. But what does electability mean? It means somebody who voters feel like, oh, that person's going to fight for me. Or I trust that person. That person's going to go toe to toe with Donald Trump. That person's not going to roll over when ICE comes into our state. Or that person can take down Tom Tiffany on a debate stage. Or that person shares my values.

That's what electability should mean. We should be talking about who's got the experience, who's got the knowledge, who's got the track record. And, you know, fortunately in a democracy in the free country that we all deserve, we each get to make that decision for ourselves. I should ask this question at the beginning that said the same thing to County Executive Crowley. So I'll ask it at the end. Why should the Wisconsin voters vote for Kelce Royce?

That's okay. Voters should vote for me because I have been working to build power and make your lives better for my whole career. I have the most experience getting things done in state government. I have strong progressive values combined with a track record of bipartisanship and independent thinking.

being willing to stand up to members of my own party even when they were wrong, that contrast sharply with Tom Tiffany. I am the candidate that is best able to unite Democrats in what is kind of a divisive moment for our party, if I could say that, to beat Tom Tiffany, deliver a Democratic legislature, and most importantly, actually get the progressive Wisconsin that all of us deserve. State Senator Calderois, she is a candidate for governor.

and on the Democratic side in terms of the primary. Thank you. Thank you. Can I say one quick thing? I am really honored to have the backing of WEAC, the state's teachers union in this race. I also have the most endorsements overall. And even though I am running against three good Milwaukee County candidates, I have more endorsements in Milwaukee County.

than any other candidate in the race. So I'm going to just ask for your voters to check me out, check out my website, consider it, and I hope I can earn your vote August 11th. Good luck tonight. Thank you. I appreciate you and David coming in. I know this should have been debate prep time and that you that you took the time. So I appreciate you. Thank you campaign for reaching out immediately to make you available. Appreciate that.

Again, State Senator Kelder Royce, she is a candidate for governor on the Democratic side. That primary is August 11th. You're listening to Community Voice. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back. Oh man, did you hear that little steak on that? They got cut it up. Well, you know, but someone had said, because what was it last week? They love being able on terrestrial.

They hear, they get the chance to hear Valdes in the country. Sometimes if we really like today, we need to start as quickly as we can. And so then people didn't get it. But man, I'd never heard that little stink. They slide. Yesterday, speaking of baseline, yesterday was Verdean White, 75th birthday. So shout out to Verdean White. So is he still on the road?

Yeah, he's back now. He's back. Man, you could look at a man and his knees really got knocked. And I know he had some kind of surgery last summer because they did that September, 21st of September thing, which was a great show. They had all these folks in and they have another dude who plays bass.

I think he only played on like three songs than the other dude pretty much carried, you know carried the bass Let let me see. Let me let me go into the chat here Let's see Keith. You're a good interviewer. Oh, thank you George What she's saying and DC said have been saying for years now, I pray we don't have another 2024 Trump said yesterday we is better

He is better for us than our parents Something is wrong with something very wrong very wrong Yes WAP 92 Mandela Burns is scheduled to be here with us tomorrow morning at 9 o'clock So again, he'll be here tomorrow morning campaign reached out. I did reach out to like I said all five I've heard from one I think they're still

the primaries next week. So I'm still hoping that the other two candidates will also come on. And let me say what precipitated this. Someone had called me about something and I'm going, you know, it's better to have that conversation with the actual candidates because they're tight timeframe.

They were you know, it was blocked about 25 to 30 minutes if they would have agreed to stay I would have been open the phone lines So but again people go in the chat Let's see he came on keep show when he ran for senator He did it was it was a little controversy there, but Mandela is scheduled

for tomorrow morning. Again, channel 12 tonight at seven o'clock is doing their gubernatory forum. All five of the remaining Democratic candidates are there, so people get a chance to see them go at each other. And I was purposeful in not raising some of the outside noise that you hear. I just really wanted them to talk about policy and philosophy, all the other stuff that people do to attack you. I don't know if that's the space.

you know for for this and um let me say this about the democratic party um what a great opportunity what a great opportunity there's a there chances are they're going to retake the house um senate now is becoming problematic

Because of the situation with Platner up in Maine and now that they had to now I think Jackson will be the nominee there Susan Collins was considered the most vulnerable Republican running for reelection But with all the discord and then the issues they're having at the Democratic National Committee in terms of financing and the person I guess I guess you should have elected Ben Winkler. How about that?

So it's gonna be interesting. I was talking to County Executive Crowley off air and I asked that question about what happens on August the 12th. And I'm gonna tell you, man, sometimes it's like herding cats, okay? So you hope that they won't, they being the current five people who are running will not do a lot of damage to each other. I know you're in it to win it.

But, you know, for some people, the most important thing is beating Tom Tiffany. And then I think we need to be mindful of this and ask this question. You might vote for somebody in the primary and your candidate might not win. The question is, what will people do if their candidate doesn't win? In my mind, the worst thing you can do is sit it out because your guy or gal didn't win.

And again, these folks are, there is not any daylight between the issues, their philosophy, even their governance or their approach to governance. So I think, and I think Kelda, I think she described it, it's not like, you know, these are poo butts. I think all five of these candidates are highly qualified.

Um, to lead the state of Wisconsin. So that's the issue that Dems will have in terms of how you come together after a crazy, crazy primary. You've never seen a person get out the race that asked to get back in the race. That's something I've never experienced in my lifetime. So yeah, I guess, man, I guess they said the greatest book is yet to be written. So.

I'm with that again because we weren't here for circumstances beyond our control yesterday And I don't know it I think it hit when we were leaving the air Friday that LeBron James has signed with the Philadelphia 76ers I talked to Frankie and Frankie is a big sixer fan. So he was well He was laying it out. I said, yeah, man. Y'all y'all got a stellar starting five

Who's on that bench? Nobody. OK. And I was telling people, people don't understand the way the league is going. It's more of a young man's league now. So running gun, a lot of transitional offense. And you got to look at some of these older players after a while. Now, I understand the first two, three, four times up down the court. But as the game go along.

A father time is undefeated. So he's going to start feeling. And how many games they play? Amen. Father time is 82. They play 82 games. So I'm sure he's not going to play all 82. I don't know if you see me getting ready to cut cross. I see a hundred and nine straight. Yeah, I'm going to get ready to cut cross. So.

Just so I understand. Hey man, just different between me and you. No, no, no. Just so I understand. And you know, I flunk kindergarten. So just so I understand. Are you telling me that it's such a young man's league that if you had a choice between LeBron James and AJ Green, who would you take right out? I'm answering the phone right now.

Who would you take when you take LeBron James? And you know what AJ Green's gonna get paid more money than LeBron James. 20 million. No, because you know LeBron is deciding at the veteran's minimum, right? 8 million for two years. Call and welcome to the program. Good morning. Good morning. How are you, sir? Not bad.

Good. I was looking at you on the TV. Mm hmm. And uh, heard you was fake. Boy, I ain't got no room for you to start it. Uh, I'm looking at him on the TV. Do he look sick to you? Earlier, he did. He needed some milk. That's, that's how it was. No, no.

You didn't need milk. Stop drinking milk. He looked almost nine months PG. Well, regarding this morning interview with Roy, I see you had your question scripted. I want a question always

to all the governor candidates and all politicians for the state. Why is Milwaukee paying $20 extra wheel tax and 9% fare tax and not getting back what we're supposed to get? Okay, good question. Now the wheel tax is local, wheel tax, because Milwaukee County also has a wheel tax.

And I think racing is talking about going to a wheel tax. We're the only ones going in and they're talking about it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, we got to figure out the potholes. The potholes are 30 years old. When they put, when they paved the streets, they did it pitifully. And then they didn't correct it. It's like the county supervisor family was supposed to do. And they all have a good one.

All right, you too. Well, man, I feel better than I think I actually look. But OK, man, I didn't realize that I was looking that bad. Well, no, I mean, you know, the first couple of times when he was lipping. Man, y'all saw me, man. You had to help me to the car, man. Yeah, you can tell that it was bothering you. It was, it was. Yeah, it's called pain. Irritating. Irritating. It was painful, man. I like that, you know, certain pain.

it just irritates you, like certain pain, you know, though you can deal with like, ah, ah, okay, I can deal with it. That's discomfort. Okay. Oh, yeah. Because remember they used to say there's a difference between playing hurt and being injured. Right, and I was injured. I was injured. As a matter of fact, when I went to the orthopedic yesterday, he said, how'd the shot go? I said, man, 85% better. He said, but that's surprising to me.

And he said, okay, cause sound like he won't do surgery. So I'm doing all I can to avoid surgery. So a lot of it is the exercise and building up your core. That's what the physical therapist, I was telling, I bumped into someone and I was telling them how I've learned more about my body every time I go to physical therapy, you know, just how the brain controls a lot of this.

Yeah, man, y'all, y'all, there was some moments that, oh, man, I mean, it was, it was, it's a lot better, a whole lot better. I'm moving slowly because part of that is being able to learn how to walk normally. Again, I was a physical therapist on Friday, not Friday, last Wednesday, Tuesday. I said to her, I just want to get my Denzel Washington walk back.

Now, I'm only going to give the race of these people because it was something that we kind of alluded to in our interviews, and certainly with Kelda. She said, no. She's a physical therapist. No, you would walk like Obama. And she did the Obama walk. Oh, man, she had the Obama walk, man. And I said, OK. And then she said, which was very interesting. I'm solicited because, you know, like I said, I go out and I ain't political. Right.

When I mean I ain't political I'm political but I ain't political in terms of I'm spouting right what I right, you know, so she said and we miss him Yeah, because everybody feels and everybody in the room was like No, I think I think that there were a lot of people who there was a lot that went into Donald Trump getting in the second time and You know me and me and DJ were really going back and forth about this

Because there are things that's outside of the control of any candidate. You try to control what you can control. But, you know, no one accounted for a million white males who normally don't vote showing up to vote. Well, yeah, they did because it was all part of that 2025. No.

Uh-uh plan it was it was rogan and it was what's my yeah, Charlie and Charlie Kurt yeah, and so that flew out of the radar people had no and then in 2020 2016 You had people showed up, but then you had people who didn't show up. Yeah, that's the margin You know see but you know that what tripped me out is though. You got people like Joe Morgan. I mean not Joe Morgan. I'm sorry. Oh, I forgot the guy last I see his face

Joe Rogan Rogan, right? That you know, he was campaigning for Trump. He was he was pushing a narrative. And then now all of a sudden he's not against Trump saying how bad of a person Trump is and missing this and that. Well, you can't put the genie back in the bottle. Yeah. And I think also he's more important to Trump than Trump is to him.

His listeners are gonna listen to him of course before they listen to Trump of course and so I think it was that I think you know some things Thank God for people. I guess any little progress is better than no progress Where people began to look at things I think it was the war

And man, when you just sit up and think about, I was watching, what's my guy, Brendan Frazier, he did Eisenhower. Man, this is a great movie. It talks about the three days leading up to D-Day and how it really came down to a meteorologic. A meteorologic? A dude who do the weather. Meteorologists? No, that ain't it. That ain't it? No. God, dog it, I thought I was gonna say this. But when you sit up and think about how serious people are,

And, you know, Dan Cain and JD Vance have come out because both Dan Cain, obviously he's the chairman of chiefs of staff and JD Vance served in the military. They kind of understand how the military works. You know, Donald Trump went to military high school. That ain't the same. They ain't the same. And so when people kind of get out and he just figures like, man, I'll get out and my generals can go in.

And then you have someone like Pete Hesseff, who is such a sink effect that that's all is in. I just want to please him. Somebody has to tell the emperor, you're not wearing clothes. Matter of fact, from, you know, I was just watching this documentary and they were saying how

Trump was actually put in that school because he was bullying people and his parent put him in that school for discipline That's what most that's why a lot of kids went to military school Yeah, Trump, you know growing up he was a bully and his parents Saw that in him and put him in military school for discipline for punishment, right?

That's what those schools that's what those schools were designed for usually rich kids whose family are looking to put it in to change behavior But obviously I don't know how much they talked about military strategy But I know I know this if you expend something and you don't replace it at some point. There's a deficit. Yes, sir

I'll say it again. If you expend it, don't replace it. There's going to be a deficit. And you underestimated the Iranians. And the Iranians are making you look stupid on the world stage. Yeah, playing with them. Right. He had lost all negotiating positions of strength. All that is gone. He's not in a position where

He can do anything and then because you hate Obama so much you tear up his agreement Which went a long way and now you back to square one but have no you broke it and You don't know how to put it back together and then and the issue is now and I guess That they're running low on weapons. That's what I'm saying and he tried to blame well Biden gave all the weapons away and

Obama did this but when I came in you know, it's plenty it's plenty weapons Like man stop lying and there's other piece and again. I've been saying it No one told you that they control the straight-of-hormules We're 20% of the world's economy all those things through there right and now the Houthis are Making sure the Saudis can't ship their oil

Let me thank County Executive David Crowley. Let me thank State Senator Kelder Royce Clark Kent. Thank you, sir. Hey, man with you, bruh Apostle dish up. I'm so glad I didn't have to call next time we go to a show. Don't be blocking my view. Amen. I had to see brother

And then somebody says something, they looked at us like, and what you gonna do? I guess I'll just have to sit here and deal with the audience. Hey y'all, the good Lord will a quick though rise. Hope to talk to everybody tomorrow. And as always, go from this place and peace.

Come on man Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

We go.

Good morning.

Welcome to community boys.

I'm your host Keith Paris good to be back in the studio Yesterday I turned on the radio turn on YouTube.

There was nothing silence and come to find out and then the crazy piece about yesterday WNOV My sister and all those folks they didn't lose power because of the storm they had lost power earlier that morning Yeah, so then the storm hit that in hell

So for all those folks and I was out in Cedarburg for a doctor's appointment Man, it looked like midnight.

It got so

dark

man.

And that's when that that tornado had been coming.

Oh man, it's crazy Anyway, so let me set this up.

I reached out to all five of the remain And rejoin it For the Democratic nomination

Uh, I have, I have three, I have three response.

Actually, everyone responds to one campaign.

The other campaign is trying to.

So, um, it was just you all.

Uh, so I, uh, have been in studio with us County Executive David Crowley.

How you doing, sir?

Every day is

a good day.

So I'm walking a whole lot.

You're doing much better now with a

whole lot better.

Good.

So I wanted to do this just because I was getting phone calls.

I can't answer for the candidates.

Yeah.

And I know you tonight is going to be very interesting.

Yeah.

So let me do this.

I'll just start off.

I'm going to ask all the candidates the same question.

OK.

That's fair.

OK.

So what experiences in your personal professional and public service background best prepared you to serve as governor?

And what distinguished you from the other Democratic candidates

in this race?

I was born into struggle.

Parents taught me the value of hard work and struggled themselves with mental health and drug addiction.

And when I think about my experience just living life, I know what it's like to struggle.

I know what it's like to not know if you're going to have food on the table, or whether you're going to have a roof over your head.

But as I've been able to grow up, become a community organizer,

go through a miracle or work with many nonprofits, you know, my background is about the people and I will say that that's what makes me unique more than anything is that I started off as a community organizer.

I didn't go right into, you know, being an elected official and community organizer gave me the ability to not only, you know, take root here in the community, but it also allowed me to build

Authentic relationships and get things done and help empower others to do the work as well But also as a state representative and as the county executive I have been able to bring People along the entire political spectrum to the table to make sure that we are benefiting those that we represent And so when I look at my my experience, you know, I'm the only candidate that I only served in the state Legislature but has experience actually running government representing 19 different municipalities a million people and we've done incredible work and so

It's not just about the vision that we have for the state of Wisconsin.

It's also about asking the question of who can actually get these things done.

And I've been able to navigate the political landmines, if you will, to actually deliver not just for Moorkey County, but every single municipality in this state.

And I know that as the next governor, we'll be able to do even more work to make sure that when the tide rise, all the boats rise, to be honest with you.

Will Rogers famously quoted, I am not a member of a political party.

I'm a Democrat.

So when, how would you describe, because there is this, people are describing, we're hearing these different descriptions of people within the Democratic Party.

So how would you characterize yourself as a progressive liberal moderate or something else?

And then how does your governing philosophy shape the policies you would pursue as governor?

You know, it's unfortunate that we try to put everybody in these boxes.

We talk politics, right?

And everybody has a lane.

you know whether you are pushing democrats or pushing republicans to focus on particular issues that aren't necessarily in the mainstream media each and every single day and so i do think that you know the different factions that we have across the political party they they have a role to play and so when people say well what do you consider yourself it's like well i'm gonna get stuff done democrat you know i consider myself to be not just a progressive i see myself as being a pragmatist and making sure that we're actually doing things not just to help us in the short term but

creating more long term stability.

It's like as we continue to talk about the affordability crisis, yeah, we can do a lot to infuse more money to provide that relief.

But that isn't going to solve the problem in the next two years.

And so we have to focus on having a vision, having a strategic plan when it comes down to the communities that we represent.

And so that requires partnerships, that requires us stepping outside of the box and not focusing on the status quo and being innovative in the solutions that we're putting on the table.

And so as I run this race, I realize that going back to your quote, it's not my job to get people to become a Democrat.

I just need them to vote for a Democrat, you know, because when you vote for a Democrat, not just in this governor's race, but in the state assembly, in the state Senate, it's going to allow us to pass the policies that's truly going to make a difference in everybody's lives.

And you used the

word vision.

So what's your vision for Wisconsin over the next four years?

And how will people be able to describe your leadership?

Well, how will people know your leadership was better over the next four years?

You know talk about making more accounting the healthiest County and I want to do the exact same thing with the state of Wisconsin make it the healthiest state in the Midwest come 2035 and And I want folks to understand that health isn't just mental and physical Money in your pocket is health access to transportation is health access to child care to health care to a good public education system all these things contribute not just to our individual health, but to our societal health and so

When I think about the next four years, I want people to, you know, at the end of my first term, I want people to say that, no, I not only seen the difference, I felt the difference that this governor brought to the table.

And not only did I feel the difference and seen the difference, but I was a part of the difference because so many communities across this state, whether we're talking, you know, our teachers, whether we're talking our farmers, people who live in rural communities, people who live in zip codes, like in the city of Milwaukee and Markey County, where we seen

you know, incredible amount of disinvestment.

It's about making sure they have a seat at the table, because if you don't have a seat at the table, you're on the menu.

When you're on the menu, you have no authority.

You don't have any power.

And so we have to allow those who are directly impacted to have a voice, to have a seat at the table, to make sure that we're including them.

And that's how we create more sustainability moving forward.

And so, you know, that's, that's what I want.

And I wanted.

You know, we always talk about how we have to defeat Trump.

But, you know, I'm not going to know what because, you know, at the end of the day, he's not going to be there in the next two years.

But what we have to defeat is Trump legacy and focus on what we really want.

And I think when I think about my party, the Democratic Party, we have been reacting.

to Trump reacting to Republicans and that's allowing Republicans and this administration to define who we are as a party and so we have to get off the off off the defense and actually play offense and so I'm looking I'm looking forward to being incredibly aggressive you know in this in this term because we have this opportunity to flip the state Senate and the state assembly to make sure that we're we're pushing these policies that matter.

Let's get into some real practical government's questions if that's all right.

Okay.

What are the three most pressing challenges facing Wisconsin today and how would your administration address them?

So the three most pressing challenges affecting communities today is affordability.

Affordability.

Affordability.

Think about it, right?

We talk about affordability.

It's affordability when it comes down to property taxes.

Affordability when it comes down to paying for our public education.

It's affordability because we haven't been able to raise

the minimum wage, which is still $7.25 an hour.

And so people need more money in their pockets.

Affordability to have access to childcare and be able to afford to send their child, you know, to an educational center so they can make a decision whether they want to work or not, or stay at home.

You know, affordability when it comes down to health care, you know, we have many communities right here in our own community and across this state, especially in rural areas where you have hospital clinics and hospitals, you know, closing down because

premiums are too high and we haven't increased the reimbursement rate.

And so there's a lot for us to tackle here in the state of Wisconsin, but we have to tackle all these things simultaneously and understand that we need a long-term vision.

And so, you know, whether we're talking, you know, data centers, whether we're talking housing, whether we're talking childcare, health care, property taxes, public education, public transportation, all those things connect back to affordability.

Are you in favor of expanding Medicaid?

Oh, absolutely.

Oh, absolutely.

You know, I think that we have to do what's right for Wisconsin and not make decisions based off of who's occupying the White House.

Because if we're not making decisions based off of who we are as a state, then that means that these pensions are going to continuously swing back and forth, and we won't have any sustainability for Wisconsin residents.

And so by expanding badger care, that gives us an opportunity to provide comprehensive care.

It doesn't just include vision, or excuse me, physical, it's including vision, it's including dental, it's including mental.

It allowed us to increase the reimbursement rates so people...

don't have to fall through the cracks or travel one to three hours away to be able to see their provider.

Increasing the reimbursement rates helps incentivize providers to be a part of this network, and it puts more money into our home health care workers and family caregivers, more money into their pockets so they can actually take care of themselves when they're taking care of our most vulnerable populations.

And so we have a duty to expand battery care.

And by doing that, we'll not only double eligibility, but it allows our gig workers, it allows entrepreneurs, it allows our farmers, it allows our students to be able to have an alternative to for-profit insurance and make sure that they get in quality care across the entire state.

What's your position on our current funding structure for public schools, including the so-called 400-year tax?

How would your administration ensure every child has access to a high quality public education?

Well, we have to recognize that, you know, we have seen our public schools crumbling across this state ever since the walk of error.

you know, and we need to get back to the basics, the basics of providing for our families.

And if people are saying, well, that's going to cost too much, well, we've been doing very little for far too long.

And so we got to get back to funding our public schools to the tunes of two thirds and increasing the reimbursement rates to 90%.

key because that would naturally ease the property tax pressures.

We're all filling not just here in Markey County, but across the entire state because we've had to go to referendum in order to make up for the gap that the state of Wisconsin has created.

And so.

This requires us to put together a bipartisan blue ribbon commission.

It's not just looking at the school funding formula We gotta look at the shared revenue funding as well for funding formula as well How are we funding towns cities villages counties and so for the past 30 years?

We've been operating under the status quo when it comes down to school funding, but It's antiquated now

And so we have to do something different.

And I know that with Governor Evers and his 400 year veto, that that's providing much more stability for our public schools than we ever have had in the past 10 years.

And so if we can't get back to the two thirds funding formula and making sure we index to that some inflation, we're not going to be able to get rid of this 400 year veto because our schools need to have.

dedicated funding so they can actually plan for the future and I know that there's a lot of people you know in this in this campaign who also talks about how we have to get rid of vouchers and you know I don't think we do not need to expand vouchers but I think that folks need to understand that we have went to referendum after referendum and after referendum to bring in the amount of resource that we need with the current capacity of students that we have and so if we were to eliminate the charter school system overnight

We'll be putting an even greater burden on our public schools who don't have the resources, who don't have the support, who don't have the space.

For example, when you think about the city of Milwaukee, where half of our children is actually in the choice program.

And so we have to be focusing on how do we build up our public schools to make it the school of choice for everybody in the state of Wisconsin?

Part of the question though was this idea.

quality education.

Yeah.

Um, and we're going to, we do the evaluations of the schools, um, has, I won't say charter schools, um, but voucher schools.

Is that an impact on the quality of education when it comes to our

children?

I think that there are some good schools and there are some bad schools.

And when it comes down to the system, what we need to be focusing on is

Are they being honest as far as what they're doing?

Are they being transparent?

And we need to make sure that they're held to the exact same standards as our public schools as well, because we don't get to compare apples to apples.

It's apples to oranges, the way that the state statute was actually written.

And so when it comes down to quality, this is, we can talk about, we can have a statewide conversation, but we have to recognize that we have over 400 school districts here in the state of Wisconsin.

And so this is going to require working with

you know, like the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, working with local school districts, putting our heads together to figure out how do we expand, you know, the quality curriculum that we know is working across this state in communities that are being underserved to make sure that no children fall through the cracks.

But we have a responsibility to work with the Department of Public Instruction, to work with our community members in order to fulfill that promise to our kids.

Talk a

little bit about the 400-year tax.

Yeah, so when many people so there was a there was a was this last session And when we're doing a school funding formula, they increase Per people funding and it was only an increase for the biennial budget, but due to governor evers of veto that increase

that we've seen was in perpetuity for the next 400 years and that was basically a way to to make sure the schools know exactly what they're going to get moving forward because as long as we continue you know to focus on the two years at a time it's hard for our school districts to actually plan for the future and so they can't plan for just for the next two years because you know student population fluctuate things fluctuate

life fluctuates, society fluctuates, seeing what's happening at this federal government and some of the cuts to education, that's continuously fluctuating.

And so they don't have the ability to have the foundation to focus on that long-term planning.

And so I really commend Governor Erie as far as what he did, because he brought stability to the system by doing that.

But we really need a real fix, and that's going to require a state legislature and a governor who's willing to sit at the table to focus on the school funding formula moving forward.

Let me talk a little bit about technology, specifically AI and economic development.

Yeah.

Artificial intelligence and data centers are creating a new economic opportunity, but also raising questions about energy use, jobs, privacy, and community impact.

What's your vision for what Wisconsin's role in this emerging economy and how would your administration balance innovation with accountability?

Well, one, I know that there's been a lot of talks about putting a moratorium on data centers.

The moratorium provides a short term fix but doesn't address the long term concerns that we have, you know, all across Wisconsin.

And so it is mind boggling to me that the state legislature left session without actually putting any guardrails in place to protect us from the current infrastructure, right?

Because we already have data centers here and the moratorium is not going to stop the construction of data centers between now and whatever started between now and the end of this year.

So we have to actually hunker down and have it.

and hold these folks accountable.

They need to pay their way.

They need to pay for all the utility uses that they have.

They need to pay for any grid or any infrastructure updates.

And actually, it's a little tongue in cheek, but I call it the Beyonce approach.

Bring your own new clean energy.

They need to be focusing on building their own solar farms and wind energy to make sure they're getting as close to 100% renewable energies to power these data sensors.

But they also, whether they're being built, we also have to require project labor agreements.

They should be utilizing union labor.

And I want to see community benefit agreements, not just in the communities that they reside in, but across the entire state because we're all going to be affected by this.

Does the

governor have a role in allaying the concerns of, you know, we're running it right now in terms of there are people very opposed to having those data centers in their community.

You know, we dealt with it at Midtown.

Yeah.

Do you see the governor having a role in being able to allay those concerns that people might have?

Oh, I mean, I have some of the same concerns that everybody has across the entire states.

And that's why we need to put these guardrails in place because there are data centers that are already here and we are not protecting ourselves from what is already here.

And so, you know, for me, we need to have a real, an honest conversation as far as what is happening with these data centers.

But I also think that with the data centers that are currently here,

I want to leverage this for our communities.

How can we leverage this for our school systems, for our local municipalities, for small businesses, entrepreneurs, legacy industries?

How can they also subsidize our energy use?

Because I do believe as we are paying to focus on energy to build our clean energy infrastructure, which these data centers were paying to as well.

After we do so many projects and it can only do so much every year, how about we use the excess of those dollars to buy down the rates of everybody across the state of Wisconsin?

And so there are some things that a governor can do, but it's going to require partnership with the legislation in order to pass legislation that not only protects the people, but protects our land, protects our water, and protects our future.

Last two questions.

Wisconsin is politically a purple state.

Yeah.

As governor, how would you build consensus across partisan and geographic divides while staying true to democratic values and your campaign promises?

You know, one of my favorite quotes is about Teddy Roosevelt, and he said, no one cares what you know until they know how much you care.

And I think that one of the things that we have lost

in politics is the ability to build relationships, build trust, build authentic relationships, not transactional relationships to get things done.

And my time in the state legislature, as well as the county executive, I've always had to come to the table with Republicans.

And I truly believe that, one, I'm willing to sit down and work with anybody who's willing to deliver on behalf of everybody that I represent.

And I do believe that you don't have to give up your ethics, your morals, your values.

in order to negotiate to make sure that everybody in this state actually benefits from that piece of legislation.

Is

compromise a bad word in politics?

I think it has become a bad word, but I do not believe it is a bad word.

I think that we have not done enough to actually communicate to voters as far as what we are doing a lot of the times, you know, in session, in committees.

And so they are relying on

a lot of rhetoric sometimes that some people put it put out there for those who are paying attention or or you know one to create a little bit of a hesitancy with our voters but I don't think that compromises a bad thing I think that at the end of the day when we are compromising it's about making sure that we are doing the right thing and not making political decisions because so many people are hurting right now so many people are desperate right now and we need to make sure that we are providing the relief that they absolutely need.

I'm smiling,

all

decisions are political.

When I say a political decision, you know, like, are you making the decision based off of today and where we are?

Are you basing the decision off of, well, are we going to be in power next year?

Right.

And I think that, you know, when it's a

consideration, I mean, you,

you run to run again.

Well, you absolutely run to run again, but you, you're in office.

You are in office and you have a responsibility to those that represent you.

And so my hope is that when you are making decisions, you're basing it off of those that represent you, not what is being pushed to you based off of politics.

So speaking of politics, my final question, the day after the primary.

So regardless of the outcome, whether you want to lose, what should happen the day after the primary?

And how would you work to unite Democrats like Herden Katz to support whoever the nominee is and ensure that the party's prepared to win an event?

Well, you know, I know all

about Herden Farrell Katz, right?

You know, I've been the chair of the demarchy delegation chair of the legislative Black Caucus and shout out to everybody who I've worked with.

I mean, it's not easy, you know, finding consensus when you have a large body to work with.

Maybe that's not a word.

I think it's so rare.

we have so-called consensus in politics, and that's understandable.

Yeah.

I mean, because people have their strongly held positions.

Oh, absolutely.

And

that's why I think the word compromise is probably better.

Yeah, because fighting the consensus, you know, when you think about...

you know 99 legislators right 33 senators right and it's just like trying to find a consensus is very difficult even within your own party right finding consensus can be difficult but it's being able to communicate the ultimate goal and if we all agree on the ultimate goal you know whether people want to vote for something or not that puts us in a much better position to deliver for our communities and so you know august 12th

You know all of us in this race, right?

We are we are running against one another but we all have one ultimate goal Which is to make sure that we defeat the Maggard Republican in time Tiffany so we don't have him occupying our governor's office And so it doesn't matter who comes out of this Democratic Party, you know or where you sit, you know on the Democratic Party spectrum.

We all need to come together

This is about delivering for families, delivering for our children, delivering for those that we represent who have been hurting for so long, especially our most vulnerable residents in the state of Wisconsin.

And so, you know, we all have to come together.

And for me, I've always been a bridge builder.

I've always wanted to bring more people to the table because it reminds me of that old African proverb.

If you want to go fast, go by yourself.

If you want to go far, bring others along with you.

And right now,

you know, when I think about the divide that we have, we have seen in the past, you know, 50 years between urban, you know, rural and suburban communities, we may have come here on different ships, but we're all in the same boat now.

The things that we're facing here in large urban communities like the city of Milwaukee, they're facing in smaller communities like Verroqua or in counties like Trempelow County or Marinette or in Superior.

And so this is an opportunity for us to get a little comfortable being uncomfortable and understanding life outside of our geographical comfort zone to build the relationships needed so we can pass policies that benefit everybody in this state.

How

do you

you know because we're already getting definitions that ask you that question how you would label yourself?

Yeah, people are already labeling people.

I

mean Democratic Socialist is pejorative, right?

Yeah, how people it used to be progressive and it used to be liberal Can it within the Democratic Party is there a way forward Where we can be as inclusive and said we where the Democratic Party can be as inclusive

in terms of all these different approaches, because I think it's more about approach than it is what the ultimate goal is.

Do you think that's possible?

Oh, I absolutely think it's possible.

I mean, it doesn't matter.

We all want to make sure that when we all do better, we all do better.

But it takes building those relationships, authentic relationships.

And I think that we can't just keep showing up.

Excuse me.

Can't keep showing up just doing campaign time.

We have to organize even after the election.

Once somebody is sworn in, how do we organize to make sure that we're passing good policy?

How do we organize to make sure that people continuously stay civically engaged?

How do we organize to make sure that we're not just winning state races or we're winning congressional and United States Senate races and eventually helping to shape who's going to be occupying the presidential, the White House moving forward?

And so I absolutely believe that we can come to the table, but we have to be willing to set aside the differences and come down.

And honestly,

You know, this is something that we can learn from the Republican Party because we've seen how they did that when it came down to to Trump's election back in 2024.

Do they all agree on everything?

Absolutely not.

But the ultimate goal is making sure that we can push an agenda that's going to benefit everybody.

And that's why we need Democrats not just in Wisconsin, but Democrats across this nation to really to really come together and focus on the agenda that we want to provide for all of our residents.

It is kind of a follow up on that.

And again, I'd ask that question about, you know, on August the 12th, what about the people who are diehard David Crowley supporters?

And David Crowley may or may not prevail.

I'm not jinxing.

Sure.

Not gonna

work.

What does David Crowley do to make sure those folks don't set it out?

Well, I'm not a guy who likes to sit on the sidelines.

And so no matter who is coming out of this, you know, primary, I'm going to be out there making sure we're not going to go indoors, making phone calls and making the case because this race is not about me.

It's not about any of these candidates.

It's about it's about you, Keith.

It's about the people who was in this building.

It's about the people who are listening and who are not listening about how they get access to the resources and the assistance that they need so they can not just survive but thrive.

And so.

You know, it's going to take all of us coming to the table.

And that's why me being an organizer at the end of the day, you know, I want to make sure that we're utilizing my organizing skill set to push good policies.

County Executive David Crowley, candidate for governor.

You always ask this.

I should ask this question in the beginning.

Why should people vote for David Crowley?

I'm

trying to lower costs for families.

I am looking to invest in not just in early childhood education, but education as a whole to make sure that families can thrive.

I want to make sure that we're not just

saving more money in folks pocket, but we're putting more money in people's pockets across this state.

And so, you know, at the end of the day, this is about how we invest in public education.

It's about how do we increase the minimum wage?

It's about how do we, you know, repeal Act 10 and right to work for less so people can collectively bargain for their wages for safe working conditions and for their benefits.

This is about making sure that our children have an opportunity to afford to go to college.

And when they graduate college, there's a home for them to move back to when they want to come back to the

community that they grew up in.

And so this is this is an opportunity to really focus on the vision and the mission that we want to have as a state.

Because even though we may live in different counties, different cities, different towns and villages, we are still one Wisconsin.

County Executive David Crowley, Democratic candidate for Governor of the great state of Wisconsin.

Man, I appreciate you and your folks getting back and making this happen.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

You're listening to Community Voice.

We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

Host Keith Parris.

Welcome back as we wait for our next guest.

Man, I was all prepared to come in to do a program yesterday.

Man, when I came on, it was all silent.

I'm going like, oh, man, we paid the bill, right?

And then when I talked to Jermaine and he explained to me that they've lost power.

My sister had also lost power.

And we were just saying the crazy piece was they didn't lose power because of the storm.

They lost power because of a faulty.

piece of equipment

and yeah that's

80,000.

No, no, 18,000.

No, it was like it was 80,000.

80,000 was the storm and everything but this was like early in the morning.

It was like us right from that and then you get the storm which was was was a totally different piece.

So, man, dude, let me let me recap because Monday's using my weekend recap.

I was telling Rhonda

So what a great year for me for music.

I got a chance to hear let us see and I got a chance to hear Kelly price Man Man

Kelly rip stay man Did you notice every song that they said she saw the whole crowd that

that was a whole

I didn't realize I didn't

realize how you know people got fans

Yeah,

man, but they rushed the you know came up

She

didn't have to do the tracks.

I'm going to tell you this.

When she did As We Lay, it sounded like a bunch of women singing from experience because they was in that thing feeling it.

I ain't calling no

names.

But

somebody said, I heard As We Lay.

Oh boy.

And I was sitting up there, man, at all Sunday morning, all of us going through my mind as I'm getting ready for church.

As We

Lay.

We didn't think man.

They did the background vocals it was you know, so and you know what and first of all her voice

Amazing

her voice there.

There are a lot of people man.

They kind of the voice ain't man her voice was and I think the crowd helped her so I don't know if she got the same reaction when she went to other cities, but I'm cuz I always hear this thing about about

Milwaukee crowds.

Let me say this about Milwaukee crowds.

Sometimes there's a reason why they ain't getting up.

Yeah, because you didn't show

up.

Well, I'm gonna tell you this for somebody to come who hasn't had a hit in years and seeing her old records and people know the lyrics all the way through and the crowd pretty much sung the show.

So it was

you know, I gotta tell the story.

So, you know, I'm gonna use my little VIP status whatever I care I'm just that kind of I'm just that kind of dude, right?

So When right out get this right out I ain't Blake What happened man?

So I got my WNOV polo on Pull up into the parking they turn people around I get to the thing

WNOV do get on walkie-talkie WNOV coming through WNOV

coming through

talk to the sister, right?

Yeah, so you get up to that next gate, you know, she opened it up.

Hey WNOV.

She said You know this dude in back of you I Never

seen

this

I tried

to get

nobody because you know people try to get in on your smoke, right?

I turned around and I guess what she know because he had on his W and OV, right?

And she said, you know this dude behind me?

I'm going.

I didn't even look at the review.

No,

let me get up in

here.

Every

man for himself.

It was Chris Levy because that's the kind of dude I am.

And so now we over in our little section.

We're on the south side.

Normally we're on the north.

But we're on the south side this time.

Get in, we got our little VIP thing, and let me thank, let me thank Debo and Sharon.

Nice little hospitality thing going on over there.

I think when we got to Kelly Price's third song, there's so many people that pushed up

to the

VIP.

Yeah, they pushed

up

in there.

Okay, and this is the thing I love.

This white man, Jermaine Wright out is one of my favorite people.

Jermaine come all in like, you know, hey, what's up?

Well, they actually

escorted me up there.

I know they

did.

So Jermaine come in and, you know, and he talking, he got, you know, he doing this, he doing that.

Hating on the dude.

Hating on the

dude.

Hey, don't do that.

Don't do that.

Anyway, the time is very good for where we were.

So let me, so he doing that, he just taking it all and just hate, just

hate, just

hate.

Man, Kelly Price, get up there.

Him and Sharon pop up on the stage so quick.

I'm going to hear the word from a hater to a fan.

Look, I

couldn't take it.

But when she started singing, it was almost like church.

Side woman!

I ran to the stage like,

you better sign the walls up on the stage.

You better sign.

What

did you say there?

What did

you say?

Listen, hey, Clark, I ain't even lying.

I saw the keyboard up there.

I saw a dude sitting there, man.

I want to move him out the way.

Amen.

Let me play for him.

He didn't

have to do anything.

He

didn't have to do nothing because between, you couldn't even hear the tracks anymore.

I know.

Because the folks was out there and oh man, as we

lay, oh lord.

And she sound just like the record.

That's what I'm saying.

Her

voice was incredible, man.

You know what?

Her and R Kelly, they sound just like R Kelly.

Just like they record.

You

ain't heard R Kelly since he been locked up.

He ain't sounded.

No,

actually.

How you doing from prison?

From over the farm.

You know, we create a

tree.

You know, we create

a you can actually you too.

We man.

So he did Chris Brown remix.

And he killed it.

Yeah, he did it over the phone.

And they, you know, did a mix on it and put it out.

Man, so let me, and again, just to... It was so many people out there.

I mean, it

was...

It was about three to four.

Now, I ain't even gonna lie.

When I pulled up and started walking in, the security guard was like, that go right out.

Y'all take him to the front.

So they walk and taking me up there and I'm looking around and people like, bro, where you going?

Can we go with you?

I'm trying to ignore him.

I'm trying to ignore him.

Make a lane.

He'll come right

out.

Make room

for me.

Make room.

Here

you come.

So great show.

So

let me

shout out the people that I know I've heard like last weekend was great.

I heard this weekend was great this past weekend.

So let me

shout out.

Let me shout out DJ Clark Kent.

Thank you.

Oh, he got hand claps.

Yeah, man.

So it turned out to be man just just a great show and Look man, I'm like right out.

I'm a hater

Man and when you come in cuz I'm gonna tell you man I went to see some folks and I was going and this was free and I was complaining

But the

fact I think people got a great show Man, it was so shout out that that every now and then man, you know, you can hit cuz who's this dude last year for I'm gonna call out his name anyway You know just to be able to do it and you could see from her

She was really feeding off the crowd.

So, you know, and then people were, now, she'd have to go in and explain as we lay.

People pretty much could.

We we we figured that

out.

Oh, it was a bunch of school.

Oh, man, it was bad those paid

records.

Oh, man.

I mean, you heard it in the people.

Don't

add that because you do a whole paid

repertoire.

So I understand what you're talking about.

Right.

So let me listen to what the demo yesterday.

I'm sitting there.

I said, man, who's that singing?

That's me.

I got out the car, slimmed the door, walked away.

I

said, now I understand what you're talking

about.

I said, hey man, I just don't say too much,

right?

He was slimming the door like,

man, him and Kelly could have got him there, man.

And they, boy, that was, but yeah, man, right on, right on had you in tears.

And then, wait a minute, then he got to close it.

a change going to come

now we

we went from broken hearted to the

revolution in surrender or black power either way they up either way

man let me tell you something yesterday uh sunday uh russell came up he he performed with r&b live and that's my first time ever seeing r&b live perform russell smell from uh

True?

Oh, he a monster.

No, I

know he a monster.

But this is the crazy thing about this, Clark.

I had my show about two, three years ago, and nobody knew anything about Russell.

So I had him on my show tribute to soul music, gospel, and R&B.

And when this cat came on stage, just to understand God's truth.

When he came on stage, people ran to the stage, right?

and they turned it to a whole offering.

Like he was singing, raising offering at a soul concert.

It was the craziest, if I got video of it, it was the craziest thing I've ever seen.

But just the energy that was in that building when he was on stage was amazing.

So then after that, everybody was like, who is this guy?

Who is this guy?

And they started reaching at him and he just been ripping the stage every season.

You know, I'm a...

I'm

a believer in celebration.

I am and I know some of you deep church folks, but I I don't care The celebrations to celebration, you know, the jam is the jam, right?

The worship is the worship and when we get man where people get like on one accord and now you got that whole movement Celebration is part of our African culture.

Exactly, you know and regardless and people man, whether it's the blues whether it's gospel whether it's funk

Cuz I'm gonna tell you if you ever seen George Clinton lie you go on the church on the church man And can we use these words in church blank blank blank get off your blank and

Oh

man, people out

there skating.

But you know, it was that time that music was in.

It was in that disco rim.

It was in that time when she put that record out, people thought she was going to hell.

Like the church deemed her to hell.

Like,

oh,

that's the blues.

That sounds like the blues.

That don't sound godly.

And that asked the question because people.

She get royalty checks.

I mean, but not only that, but people say that.

about the music that I produce and I asked them, I said, well, what's godly music?

What?

Strings and organ.

No, that's not godly.

That's your perception

of

what godly music is.

Let

me tell you, Russell was singing the song called Love Me For Real.

And people didn't know he took him to church as he was singing the song, took him to church, but he kept the song R&B.

All right.

Wait, man.

That's the gift because he's black.

Y'all

know

we had

what should have been labeled a disaster around here yesterday.

Power was out.

Flooded up to the steps again.

So with that being said, Pittsburgh home power was out as well.

And so we were trying to, you know, do my uncle's home going.

That was yesterday?

Yeah.

Okay.

So ain't no power.

It's flooding everywhere.

It's raining, storming.

So Russell walks up because I had asked him to sing a song for me.

So he walks up and he's, he said, ain't no power, man.

I said, man, you got power at your church.

He said, yeah, I got power with my church.

So thankful to him.

Pits Mortuary for actually allowing us to move the service over there.

He didn't have to do that.

So I certainly want to just take my hat off to him with a wonderful, wonderful friend.

He proved himself to be.

Of course, we gave him a love offering.

But the fact that he was there and was able to do that for us, so I just wanted to thank him.

And no fault to Pittsburgh in our home because

we

all were

without power.

When I pulled up and I saw that marquee not working.

I knew, man, it was.

Yeah.

Man, I told Clark, man, it

is.

Put him on the raft in some water.

Roll

him

down the hill.

Roll him down the hill.

Call it

one.

Oh, you

said it by Mark?

Yeah,

I did.

Oh, OK.

Thank you.

The mic is off.

I know.

They ain't done the same with you, man.

You know that.

Everything is fair game here.

Oh, I know.

I know.

You don't like transmitting.

We don't care.

I know.

Everything is fair game here.

That's about as bad

as that.

Y'all saw that glass.

Chris Levy's sister in law bought him the cup.

It looked like an urn.

He was proud of that cup.

He ain't

brought it back here

no more, man.

We

lit him up.

He brought it out no

more.

I'll

tell you, as DJ, he caught it.

He caught it Friday, dude.

Ain't

nobody

safe.

Nobody.

But they talking about my back.

I'm going like, man, you know I need a back knocker.

Oh, man.

Oh, yeah, that was my talk.

Jermaine didn't do it, but I asked him to find that song.

Push.

Push it.

Pull it.

And

turn progressive ideas into law.

At the end of the day, politics is about power so you can change people's lives for the better.

And that's why I'm running for governor.

I currently serve in the state Senate where I've been able to help expand access to healthcare, particularly in underserved communities like urban Milwaukee, like rural Wisconsin.

I previously served two terms in the state assembly where I was there to fight against Scott Walker and Tom Tiffany as they attacked public education and local governments.

I'm an attorney by training so I will 100 percent be holding the Trump regime accountable for their violations of our laws and the way they're undermining our rights.

And I'm also a small business owner for 13 years and I've spent four years as executive director of a reproductive health care organization.