Two Days Out: Trevor Jung on Winning the Seat Wisconsin Needs

We are so ready.

Oh wait, you can retry the connection and here we go.

Trevor, we're live.

Kristin, here we are.

Two days before the election and oh my gosh, here it is, Sunday morning, GOTV weekend.

You are Trevor Young in Southeastern Wisconsin in this

very hot district.

You are running in one of the hottest districts in the state.

Hello, how are you?

Tired, but so motivated to get to election day.

So

we're feeling

confident, cautiously optimistic, but we're not.

uh, letting her foot off the gas.

Yeah.

So it is Tuesday is literally hours away.

And for people who haven't voted yet, we are going to get into all the, the nitty gritty about how they can find you and why they should vote for you.

But do you want to just start by talking about who you are, where you came from and how you got to this position?

Sure, sure.

Well, I'll start at the beginning.

I was actually born halfway across the world and placed an orphanage until the age of two, where my dad, who's a single parent, small business owner, traveled over an ocean to start a family.

And so growing up in Racine, Wisconsin, I had this all American childhood, literally baseball, community theater, you know, playing in my neighborhood.

and growing up by this real sense of gratitude for where I was and where I could have been.

And so I went off to school to study urban studies and urban planning with the hope of coming back home

and

making a difference.

And then I served two terms in the Racine City Council after my college education at UW-Milwaukee.

Go Panthers!

Go Panthers!

And then after my tenure on the city council served as the transit director for the city of Racine, making sure folks can get to school, can get to doctor's appointments, can get to work.

And through that experience, both as an elected official and as somebody who was running a vital public service, I saw the state instead of being an ally in that work, being an adversary.

and had to step up.

And in this district, being one of two districts that we need to flip in order to get control of Wisconsin State Senate, I thought now's the time.

Yeah.

Oh, there's so much that I want to unpack there.

But I want to just start with, so I'm an OBGYN doctor.

And I am, my job is helping to bring babies into the world and the way you came into the world and how you came from across, literally across the globe to get to Racine, Wisconsin.

And now here you are all these years later, recognizing your privilege and giving back to your community is just such an incredible success story.

So that really heartens me.

Thank you for opening up and sharing that really personal piece of who you are.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, it's definitely defined by gratitude.

I mean, especially with the conflict going on in Ukraine, Russia right now with Putin's aggression.

Yeah, I mean, I could have been one of the bad guys.

And so like feeling that in real time and now being in a country where we honor elections, where everybody has a voice, we're stepping in and stepping up in your democracy can really matter.

I feel like I have an obligation.

Yeah, that's beautiful.

I have to ask a very serious question.

Ah,

okay.

Because I grew up in northeast Wisconsin, so we always called it Racine.

But my son now is a middle school music teacher and he says it's racing.

Which one is

it?

Yeah, well, you know, it's bold.

It

is interchangeable.

Even in town, people say Racine or racing.

Um, you know, we also the nickname of the Kringle capital of America.

So

at one point, uh, we're seeing some of the country's Danish population.

So because of that, we have amazing pastries.

We have Benson's, O and H layman's.

So if you ever are hungry for a dessert,

uh, come on

down.

It is one of the most underrated cities, I think, in Wisconsin.

People think, because it's so close to Milwaukee, it kind of gets sucked up into the metro.

But there is so much personality and so much history in Racine.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, right between Milwaukee and Chicago, historic downtown, award-winning architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the top 10 freshwater beaches in the country.

We

actually have the largest collection of craft arts in the Western Hemisphere with the Racine Art Museum.

Really?

Yeah, it's super cool.

We've got a progressive history of being a part of the Underground Railroad and women's suffrage.

This was the first place in America that had a female minister, more patents per capita than anywhere else in the country.

During the age of industrialization, things were invented here.

Public technical college started in Racine, Wisconsin, so lots to be proud of.

You could work for the Department of Tourism, but you don't.

So you have run the city transit system.

Yes.

What has that taught you about government and how does that qualify you for this role that you are applying for right now as a state senator?

Yeah, excellent question.

You know, my job right now is to make sure that folks can get to work so they can support themselves and their families, can get to doctors appointments so that they can get the care that they need to get to school so they can get the education that we're all entitled to.

And I've seen front row what it looks like when a service like that gets slashed under the

Walker era and under this almost two decade long control of the Wisconsin State Legislature from Republicans, we've seen a culture of austerity around these public services.

That's not pro-business.

That's not pro-growth.

What that does is it limits people's opportunities and access to these vital things.

And so in real dollars, we've seen a 40% cut in transit aides since 2010.

And that makes it harder to deliver these services, to make sure that we're meeting second and third shifts employment opportunities, making sure that we can partner with school districts to get students to school.

And this is basic stuff.

This is not what should be partisan or what we debate about on the floor of the Senate.

But it has become that because of this, I would say, this turning away of working people that we've seen in Madison.

A 40% cut since the Walker administration.

Yeah.

We have less in real dollars, less funding today than we did in 2010.

And we know that things, the affordability crisis impacts everybody and it certainly impacts transit.

You know, even though we've done some really powerful work around electrification, renewable energy, having skyrocketing diesel prices is really impacting our work.

Having, you know, these terrible

and trade wars happening in Washington is impacting our supply chains and being able to get the, you know, tires and tubes and these things that we need to operate these services.

So whether

it's, you know, these policies in Madison that have turned their back on transit or in Washington that have made it harder for us to do this work and make it more expensive for the taxpayer, I mean, it's crazy.

I mean, something needs to be done.

It does.

Well, and it doesn't speak to the future.

So you are a young candidate.

You're Gen Z, right?

I think I

need

some of the millennials.

Are

you?

Born in 95.

Perfect.

But still, so I'm Gen X and I love my car.

But when I talk to my kids who are all Gen Zers, they love public transportation and they love creative solutions to these problems that adding more cars to the road don't solve our problems.

Transit problems don't solve the economic problems that go along with that And I think that's one of the unique things about you running as a young person You have a completely different perspective on the problems that people are facing Not just now, but for the future how we can't just build for next month But we have to build for a decade from now

Oh, totally right.

I mean, going back to our proximity to Chicago and Milwaukee, here we are, we're seeing in the heart of the third largest economic corridor in the United States of America, the 10th largest economic corridor in the world.

Yet my hometown struggles with higher than average poverty, higher than average unemployment.

And that's because we've divested in our connections to the region.

There is no reason that we shouldn't be connected via passenger rail with Chicago, Kenosha, Milwaukee.

General Mitchell International Airport in downtown Milwaukee.

That is a basic investment we could make to create more opportunity, connect folks in some of the poorest census tracts to over 450,000 jobs within 30 minutes of public transportation.

What would that do to our state?

That would expand opportunity.

That would increase the tax base.

That would allow folks to be able to pick and choose the type of jobs and opportunities that best meet their skills.

It's such a shame that we haven't invested in the region like that.

And I know with the Democratic majority in the Wisconsin State Senate, a Governor Crowley, Governor Crowley, Governor Crowley, we're going to make these common sense investments in infrastructure to make the American dream more possible.

So let's talk about you clearly love transportation and you clearly love racing.

So why take the leap from city government to state government?

It's a whole different ballgame.

It is.

Great question.

Honestly, I love my job.

It's a dream for me.

But I've seen that something needs to change.

I am taking on this opportunity to serve at the state level, because I've seen what the state has done as an adversary to local government,

whether

it's transit aids or shared revenue, or working hand-in-hand with local units of government in partnership rather than preemption.

I've seen the state

turn its back on my hometown and the neighborhood that I grew up in.

And so to do this is an opportunity to right the wrongs that have happened over the last two decades with Republican leadership and the legislature and create more opportunity for my neighbors that I grew up with on Carlisle Avenue on the north side of Racine.

I love it.

And you talk about the five T's.

You have to have something catchy, but you've got the five T's.

That's your catchy thing.

Tell me what they are.

and tell me which one of those will be your first priority when you have to pick and choose because you got a tea triage.

So what are those five T's and what's your

priority?

Well, so the five T's are what I believe is an economic model for success for southeastern Wisconsin in particular, but very much applies to the rest of the state.

So number one, you've got transportation, connect people to jobs and opportunity.

Number two is training.

make sure folks have the skills they need to support themselves and their families.

Then you have tourism, you know, we've got a beautiful state of amazing natural amenities and what can you do to invest in those to make quality of life better for residents, you know, and welcome visitors as well to support local businesses.

Then you have technology, you know, making sure that, you know, these big data centers are under control and that the proper investment should actually be on small and mid-sized businesses with skilled workers that are innovating

that can actually produce results for Wisconsinites.

And then finally, talent.

What are we doing to keep people in Wisconsin who graduate from our universities, from our technical colleges, and make sure that Wisconsin is a place where skilled labor chooses to live, work, and play?

We're actually the 10th most left state in the union.

for college graduates.

That's nuts.

And again, that is a direct result of policy.

So if we invest in these five T's, I think that you're creating an economic framework that grows Wisconsin, that bronze the tax base, that allows us to invest in programs like healthcare, childcare, address the cost of living crisis.

And you ask me, where would I start?

Well, I have a little bias.

I would say transportation.

Of course you would.

Yes.

But they're all really important.

They are, they are.

And you know, for me, it's healthcare because obviously I'm an OBGYN doctor.

We are seeing this brain drain.

We are seeing Dr. Strain here.

And the hope is to keep them here because we know they love Wisconsin and they come here for a reason, but the environment to practice medicine, the rural hospitals that are closing down, the lack of access that people have is just, it's profound and it's bad in the cities and it's really bad in rural areas.

There is a real opportunity for a blue trifecta to create a

public option that would make health care so much more accessible for all of us across the state.

Yeah well and keep rural hospitals open and keep urban hospitals open.

You know there's this odd situation happening where like even in the heart of the city we're seeing.

we have a hospital where there are entire wings that are not operating because they're not getting the reimbursement that they should from patients who don't have private insurance.

That's wrong.

So what that does is it limits people's options.

It makes serious concerns around quality of care and it makes serious concerns about access to care when you've got these neighborhood hospitals that no longer have the resources they need to serve their patients.

And then that puts stress on transit agencies to be able

to go to these suburban hospitals.

But that's also being cut, too, like we were discussing.

So really, it's become a spiraling situation in Wisconsin that we need to right the wrong of.

And whether you're in rural Wisconsin or the heart of our cities, everybody's fine.

Yeah.

Now, I know that you guys are getting ready to do some door knocking today because it is just the weekend.

What have you been hearing from people as you're talking to them at the doors?

What are their biggest concerns?

Affordability, affordability, affordability, whether it's child care and restoring the child care accounts program to make sure that parents can afford to go to work.

Can you believe that?

We're talking about affording to go to work.

Yeah.

So like restoring that program, making sure that a university education is.

you know, not comparable in price to child care in Wisconsin.

Child care is more expensive than sending your kids to college.

That's nuts.

That's crazy.

That's number one.

Number two, utilities.

We're hearing a lot about, you know, with this development of data centers across Wisconsin.

It's putting a real strain on our utilities.

And so to be able to make sure that consumers and ratepayers are footing the bill for these major multinational corporations that are developing these things is going to be really important.

What can the state do to make sure that we alleviate some of these concerns?

I think we need to expand the free lunch and breakfast programs through our schools to make sure that at least parents have that little bit of relief when it comes to going to the grocery store.

Housing, I mean, it is the average house price in the state of Wisconsin is over $300,000.

That is so inaccessible for people.

And because of that, a couple of months ago, the Realtors Association published that the average age for a first-time home buyer is now the oldest it's ever been at the age of 41.

41.

41.

Yeah.

I mean, in the United States of America, where we talk about the American dream, owning your own home, becoming so far out of reach, the state needs to step up and make it easier for folks to be able to purchase a home, whether that's

a down payment assistance program, whether that's working with local government to streamline, you know, approval processes for like development, whether that's investing in brown fields and some of our cities to make it easier for multifamily development right in the heart of our communities.

These are the things that we need to do.

Housing, childcare, utility costs, grocery bills, we need to be laser focused on affordability and that's what we're hearing at the doors.

One of the things that people are laser focused on across Wisconsin is data centers.

Oh, yeah.

And I drove by the data center that's under construction in Racine and it is like it's no joke.

It is a giant.

I don't even know how to describe it.

It's just huge.

Yes.

What's your take on data centers and how do we

We proceed into the future responsibly.

We know we need these things, yet we also need to be thoughtful about the environment and the cost to consumers and what the future looks like.

You're exactly right.

I mean, Kristen, you hit the nail on the head.

We're in a situation now where Republicans gaveled out of session when the Data Center Accountability Act was introduced by Jody Haver-Sinneken up in Ozaki County.

Gaviled out a session.

This is the political issue of our time.

And people are so concerned about what this means for their neighborhoods and what this means for the environment, what this means for workers, what this means for local control.

And Republicans gaviled out a session, not voting on something that is top of mind for so many residents in District 21 especially.

So what we need to do is pass that bill.

make sure that we've got workers protections, prevailing wage, contract labor agreements so that we know that...

any project that happens like this, labor has a seat at the table and there are good union jobs where there's benefits and quality wages.

Number two, the environment.

We need to make sure that these types of things are properly and heavily regulated so that we don't risk our groundwater, so that we don't risk our beautiful landscape in the development of these things.

We need to protect weight payers.

There is no reason.

that you or I should be filling the bill for the infrastructure that it takes to be able to power these facilities.

And we need to make sure that we empower local government.

The state should work with local government in representing their interests.

You've got these multinational corporations with their $1,000 an hour attorneys who are now sitting across the table from these local units of government negotiating.

We need to make sure that the state

partners with local government in these negotiations to make sure that nobody's being taken advantage of, and

that

you've got a real advocate for Wisconsinites.

So if we do these things, I think that we clearly will create guardrails and a framework of success around these things, and we need to leave it up to the locals to say whether they want it in their community or not, because that is what democracy is all about.

You're exactly right.

And this is one of those issues that spans your political ideology.

Republicans, Democrats, independents, everybody's worried about data centers, and they want responsible answers.

And those answers are there.

But we've had such gridlock in the legislature in Wisconsin that this kind of stuff can't even make it to the floor.

Can't even have a discussion because the leadership just hasn't been there.

And that's not the only issue.

Another giant issue for the state has been public education.

We haven't really touched on that much.

And as I mentioned earlier, my son is a teacher in Racine.

He loves it.

He gets it.

It's so hard to be a teacher, a public school teacher in Wisconsin right now because our schools are so grossly underfunded.

And it doesn't take a teacher to understand it.

The kids get it.

The property owners get it.

We're going to referendum.

for operational expenses in so many schools across the state.

How do we fix our public education, broken public education system?

This is going to be one of your giant priorities as a senator.

Absolutely.

Well, you hit the nail on the head when you talk about referendums.

In the state of Wisconsin last April, we had over 60 referendums across the state where local residents decided to increase their own property taxes in order to maintain public education in their communities.

Property taxes have gone up under Republican leadership because we've underfunded our public schools.

You're

paying more for struggling education.

That's not a successful formula.

So what we need to do listed in our state constitution is properly fund public education and reduce the burden on local property taxpayers.

The state has a broad base of tools, a broad base of tax options in order to support our public education system so that doesn't have to burden seniors on a fixed income in order to support our public schools.

So we need to leverage the power of the state to make sure that we invest in schools and we're seeing

Milwaukee and Green Bay and Kokona and all across the state of Wisconsin.

Thanks for the shout out to my hometown.

Still kind of proud.

Let's talk about your district a little bit.

It was occupied for a very long time by a pretty extreme Republican Van Weingard, who like all of the other Republican leadership, they hit the deck.

They decided that they were just going to

get off the sinking ship like rats when they saw the writing on the wall.

They know that we are going to have a blue trifecta and they didn't want any part of it.

So this is an open seat that you are running for.

But it's also not an easy win.

What makes you think that you can win this district?

Yeah.

So this is a new map.

And in this new map, you've had President Biden won this district by one point.

Vice

President

Harris won this district by one point.

Senator Baldwin won this district by one point.

Governor Evers won this district by one point.

I mean, we're in a situation where this is the most competitive state senate district in the state of Wisconsin.

And guess what?

That's how it should be.

voters should be able to pick their elected officials.

What a novel idea.

We need to

end gerrymandering in the state of Wisconsin.

We need to codify that into law and not just have our state Supreme Court toss out maps when Republicans take advantage of their majorities.

And we need to make sure that we've got free and fair elections in Wisconsin.

And

that results in better policy.

That results in forced compromise.

That results in when I go to Madison, the way that I'm going to run our office is by reaching across the

finding common ground, finding solutions.

And that's not just because that's my attitude.

That's because I'm from a district.

That will require that because I will be representing Republicans, independents, Democrats who expect their representative to reach out and find common ground and deliver public policy that makes a difference in people's lives.

We've seen over the last two decades with Republican gerrymandered maps what it means to not have to actually govern.

What it means to just shut the doors and lock them, knowing that your majority is entriined in maps that are benefiting one party rather than competitive elections forcing compromise.

So in the 21st district, you know, it's a microcosm of Wisconsin.

You've got the city of Racine, which is very democratic.

You've got Caledonia, Raymond Franklin, which is pretty Republican.

And then you've got Greenfield, Greendale Hills Corners.

in parts of city Milwaukee, which is as purple as it gets.

Urban

rules suburban.

And, you know, it's about reaching out and making sure that we're not going on doors, talking to folks.

We've got amazing assembly candidates in this district with Eddie Finichkel, Angelina Cruz, who's in the assembly now in Racine, and Ben Brist, who I know is going to win,

who's a

paratrooper, West Point grad, served our country in the armed forces, and is going to flip the assembly.

I am so excited about Ben and Eddie.

I mean, this group, this cohort of people who are running, especially in Southeast Wisconsin, it is like the dawn of a new day.

We've been living in the dark ages in Wisconsin for so long, and we haven't been, there's not been any representation.

As you said, it's been just like the Republicans knowing that they can't lose, so they just do whatever they want.

Now it's gonna be about actually representing the people.

It's

just so good.

It does.

It does.

It's like how it should be, right?

Yes.

Okay.

I know that you need to get out and start knocking on doors.

So with our parting time, tell us, for that person who hasn't voted yet, the person who is still trying to figure out, the person who's just getting to know who you are, what do they need to know before Tuesday?

Well, you need a representative who's in it for the right reasons.

And for me, it's because I owe everything to my hometown.

And I'm

going

to be laser focused on making sure that the folks that I grew up with on Carlisle Avenue and all across the 21st District, that they have somebody who's sincere.

who's focused, who's serious about the issues that people care about most, and that's making life more affordable for people.

Whether that's childcare or healthcare or their utility bills or grocery bills, you need a senator who is laser focused on making sure that your life is just that much easier, that the American dream is within reach.

And for me, my entire career has been about public service, making sure folks can get to work, can get to school, can get to the doctor's appointment, and I'm ready to take that

practical attitude of delivering equality service to Madison.

How can people find you?

Ah, TrevorYoung.com and that's J-U-N-G.

And so we've got just two more days.

So if you want to drive down to the 21st district and help knock on doors or support the cause through donating, you know, we've still got flyers to, you know, hang on people's doors and everything is really appreciated.

It still matters.

So if you feel friends inspired by this conversation, if Trevor has lit that fire in you, he certainly has lit it in me.

We know we need to see him in the state Senate.

Get the word out.

Talk to your friends in Senate District 21.

We need to get him elected.

Not only is this seat going to put a wonderful

person who is authentic and thoughtful and experienced and knowledgeable and cares about you in our Senate.

But this could be the seat that actually flips the Senate in Wisconsin.

This is important stuff.

Trevor, thank you so much for taking the time this morning.

Chris, this is great.

Upward and onward.

Yeah, boy.

Let's go.

All right, friends.

Thank you.