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You're listening to Mornings with Pat Craiglow powered by Up North News.
Now, for my Lake Minnesota studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Craiglow.
Hey, good morning.
Happy Friday.
Happy Memorial Day weekend.
Everybody travel safe.
Take a moment to remember the real reason behind the weekend.
Enjoy your family and friends.
Eat too many brats and tune in this afternoon to the Todd Alba Show.
live from my back deck here on Lake Wissota.
What could possibly go wrong?
It's going to be a good time from two to four today.
A lot coming up here.
We're going to continue our series of interviews with the three candidates for state Democratic Party Chair.
We had Devon Remaker on Wednesday, Joseph Peckie yesterday, William Garcia on in our next half hour to get one more round of conversations with them to ask why
Democratic Party members in county parties all across the state when they gather in Wisconsin Dells next month should pick them.
to succeed Ben Wickler, who's stepping down as a state Democratic Party chair.
And of course, it's Friday.
So we've got Dr. Kristen Lierly here too.
So we'll talk about things in the news health wise, and a couple of important health notes, especially dealing with pregnancy.
So we have the official OBGYN of the show here to talk to us all about that.
First, the official meteorologist for the show is here to talk about the sunshine.
And Kristen, you said the nicest thing about Brittany when you first woke up this morning.
It was just the truth.
I woke up and I looked out the window and there was beautiful bright sunshine coming in.
And the first thing I thought was Brittany Merleau.
How
great is that?
It's
like, he's two little rays of sunshine here.
Well, she also gets it when it's raining too.
So I mean, it's both sides.
So you got, yeah, you got, you got to give it to her that way.
And again, we're, we're, we're all acknowledging it certainly could be warmer, but if, if it's going to be, you know,
cool and sunny versus normal temperatures and rainy.
I think we know where most of us are going to come down on that, Brittany.
Oh yeah, absolutely, 100%.
I mean, we can deal with the frost advisories far up north, probably still again tonight, and then Saturday night before those stop.
And I think our temperatures are gonna warm up enough to where frost is no longer a concern.
So yeah, paddling a crisp morning for a ton of sunshine, I'll take the trade.
We do have warmer temperatures on tap by next weekend, but for this weekend, we're just gonna sit here nice and comfortable, bright and beautiful.
calm winds and no rain in the forecast until Tuesday.
Maybe maybe places far northwest could see some rain trying to move in late Monday night.
But otherwise we're looking at sunshine on repeat temperature slowly getting more mild will be in those mid fifties far east by Lake Michigan and far north today to about the low sixties far west and then tomorrow we're going to put that on repeat.
Then by Sunday, Monday, we're looking at mid to upper sixties, a few seventies across the state.
And we're going to hold that into next week.
And like I said, getting even warmer after that, but I'll take the dry conditions, comfortable conditions and a good long weekend.
I'm excited.
I like that.
Nice, comfortable, breezy and beautiful sunshine on repeat.
Yes.
Let's just put that forecast on repeat.
That would
work out
really well.
Yeah.
Plus 10 degrees.
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
Add that.
That would be a good part.
You mentioned that you're going to have a family that you're hosting this weekend.
Are you are you going to be doing some grilling for that?
Oh, yes.
We're definitely going to be grilling.
We're going to be having a campfire too.
That fire danger is finally low across the state.
So you can do that without worry.
So we're going to cook some meals on the fire.
Oh, we love doing that kind of stuff.
What else?
What else?
Probably doing some kayaking.
Swimming.
A little too cold for that.
Yeah, well.
But of course, you know, exploring the great outdoors.
What about you guys?
Having just come off vacation, we're gonna take it really easy.
We're still kind of catching up on the jet lag, you know, going to bed a little earlier than we normally would trying to get that body clock back back on track here.
So a lot, a lot around the house, because there's been so much to jump into back here.
Um, I haven't really fully unpacked yet.
There's still a suitcase and while we did the laundry, but then there's so much laundry to put away.
You don't even want to know what the, what the closet looks like right now.
So, but there's going to be some grilling and there's going to be a little fire pit going and the pontoon's in.
So maybe we'll just put on a hoodie and go for a little jaunt that way.
Kristen, how about you?
You're going to be.
doing big plans or relaxing things.
Well, after that, I think I'm going to come to Lake Wasota and bring a pack of brats and hey, hey, when should I be there?
Well, Todd show starts at two.
So as soon as you can get in the car, the better.
All
right.
I got to go.
Okay.
No, Chris, pick me up.
Let's go.
Okay.
Let's do it.
I'm liking it.
The more the merrier.
And Parker, you said you are calling a baseball game.
Super regionals.
What
that?
Oh, OK.
Yeah.
Wow.
OK.
Let's see.
Robin Tigerton coming down.
I forgot to mention I have a new job for the village of Tigerton watering plants along Main Street.
So that's great.
And he wants to second the notion that Kristen and Brittany are sunshine even on the dark and dreary days.
Thank you
for that.
Always appreciate the comments.
And Brittany, you have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you on Tuesday.
Thanks, you too.
All right, take it easy.
Hey, you can always get our newsletter over at UpNorthNewsWI.com.
We have our daily newsletter.
We have our new Sunday morning newsletter that I write with a look at the week in Wisconsin politics.
And there's a sports newsletter that Christina Laurier is putting together once a month.
And I was looking at her social media posts this week and they include a note about another hike in ticket prices.
If you want to see UW women's volleyball, but
Well, yeah, that that's costing more money.
It is also a reflection of the success of the program and also the whole name image licensing thing where college athletes are, you know, getting paid now.
So a general admission season ticket that cost 60 bucks back in 2021 and 150 bucks last year
will now be $225 in the new season.
So again, another chunk of change, but to see a team that is one of the very best in the country.
So for more sports stories like that from Christina Laurie, sign up for that newsletter as well over at UpNorthNewsWI.com.
Kristen, I want to talk to you in a bit about RFK Junior and the terrible impact on American health that it portends, but there were two notes on the calendar, kind of these national awareness days, and I thought it was a good opportunity to talk about pregnancy and women's health.
And so we're going to cover both of them.
I think it was Wednesday was a world preeclampsia day, which deals with high blood pressure.
And then today happens to be international day to end obstetric fistula.
And that one says here, it's an international day to spread awareness about a childbirth related injury that affects women.
primarily in poor economic regions.
Medically, it's described as a hole in the birth canal that occurs due to prolonged labor without medical intervention and other factors during childbirth.
The United Nations Population Fund says obstetric fistula is one of the most severe and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth.
I was not as aware of that as I was preeclampsia.
And again, it's not to scare people, but I feel like we always have to remind people pregnancy is
is not the easiest thing for people and it does not always have the Norman Rockwell kind of outcome.
No, I think we tend to have this very sunny idea of what pregnancy is.
It's joyful, there's a baby involved and in many cases that is true, but there are lots of things that can go wrong.
Breoclampsia is actually fairly common in the United States.
It's always associated, almost always associated with the blood pressure issue.
It's a blood vessel.
issue.
So it can present in lots of different ways.
There can be vision changes.
It can be a terrible headache.
It can be a liver problem or problems with your kidneys.
But regardless, we tend to see this toward the end of pregnancy and the cure is to deliver the baby because once the baby is out, people tend to get better.
Having said that though, people can develop preeclampsia after the baby is out because of pregnancy related and hormonal changes.
So this is one of the reasons why we need
care for our moms in the postpartum period.
Women can die of preeclampsia, of high blood pressure issues in the postpartum period.
This is complex.
It is probably the most studied condition associated with pregnancy and we haven't figured it out yet.
I don't think there's one thing that causes it, but this is the reason why towards the end of your pregnancy we have you come back so often to check your blood pressure and we're so careful about asking about headaches and weird symptoms because it is
fairly common, especially in this country.
Yeah.
So between that and the obstetric fistula, again, just I can't underscore enough being married to an OBGYN as well.
Don't skip those appointments.
I mean, now for Sherry, she'll say, well, when they have a no-show, I've got extra time to dictate my charts.
I mean, there's that.
But you'd much rather have that person in and continue to be monitored or to get prenatal care at all.
There's still a troubling number of people who come in and say, yeah, I've been pregnant for the past 38 weeks.
I just couldn't afford to come in or whatever until now.
It
still happens.
Right?
I couldn't get that.
People have so many barriers to care, which is why we need to reduce the number of barriers.
And actually the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is changing the way that we deliver prenatal care right now.
And for a very long time, it's been come in every month until you get to the middle of your pregnancy and then it's every two weeks.
And then it's every week after that.
Well, now we're starting to look at things like telehealth and what is your general health?
What are your risk factors?
How often do you actually need to come in?
Can we send you home with a blood pressure cuff so you can check your.
blood pressure at home.
So we've really reimagined how we deliver prenatal care so that it works for our patients and removes barriers, especially in a time when people are really struggling to get access to health care in places like rural areas.
And again, it underscores the notion of why you need that Medicaid expansion for increased coverage for women postpartum instead of 60 days to one year.
And 48 states have done it.
just us in Arkansas.
And in both cases, you've got Republicans in those states that are blocking it, not all Republicans.
In Wisconsin's case, it's one Republican.
Assembly Speaker Robin Voss is stopping that measure from coming up for a vote, which would pass overwhelmingly if it did.
And we say that again, because you really can't pester your legislator enough nicely to say, get this bill passed, get the speaker to put it up for a vote.
Yeah, and to be honest, in Arkansas, they at least did some things.
They didn't pass postpartum extension, but they did some things to make it easier for moms to get care.
And in Wisconsin, we've done nothing.
In fact, we're making it harder for them to get birth control.
We're making it harder for them to get abortion care.
We're making it harder for women to get postpartum care and.
Let's talk about child care.
We're making it impossible for people to get child care at no point in the spectrum of getting pregnant, having a baby, or taking care of your children.
Our Republicans making it easy for
us.
it's incredible to think that that caucus which you know has women in it and all the women that they represent that they still stand in the way of women's health in this way but that is exactly what they're doing so that's why we continue talking about expanding Medicaid coverage that it isn't just some kind of you know welfare handout that this is good public policy that again is happening
everywhere else, but here.
So Kristen, thank you for telling us more about that.
I want to tell folks before we get to the break that you can win Milwaukee Brewers tickets.
It's Friday.
We're going to be doing this most Fridays throughout the season.
Text a keyword.
Each Friday we'll give you one that you text in using the Civic Media app.
And then one entry is drawn statewide to win four tickets to a specific game.
In this case, it's next Tuesday's game against the Boston Red Sox.
for tickets to next Tuesday's game if you text the word radio.
using the Civic Media app radio, R-A-D-I-O.
If you do that, you will be in the running for potentially winning four tickets to next Tuesday's game.
The Brewers were winners eight to five in Pittsburgh last night, and they will do it again this evening.
Pre-game coverage starts at 5.05 on several Civic Media radio stations, then they'll play Pittsburgh again Saturday and Sunday.
Still ahead, this hour, William Garcia, candidate for state Democratic Party chair.
From the heart of America's up north, live from Lake Wissota, thanks for making
this the place to spend part of your mornings on the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm Pat Rightlow.
State Democratic Party Chair candidate William Garcia joins us in just about 15 minutes here on these mornings across the Civic Media Radio Network.
Dr. Kristen Lyrely is here now and here it's a Green Bay Packer shirt, I assume.
A green shirt.
No.
Oh, no.
Green Bay Bicycle Collective.
Oh, okay.
Gotcha.
And and then you've got your your green thumb because you had your mulch and now you've got your green journal that every OBGYN gets out your Green Bay Packer mug.
You're just all green.
All green.
The journal that we're talking about pregnancy and health and everything, and there's more stuff than anybody could possibly take in, but you try to take in what you can, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal that you are holding up right now.
There's no shortage of peer review cases that you have to do.
There is so much behind the scenes, not just going to med school, but everything beyond that, which is why I think when you hear us
with a certain tone in our voice that just some politician can come in and say, I know what's best, why it really gets under the skin of doctors and patients and allies and everybody like that.
And it just, again, doesn't make sense that any politician who often does not represent a majority of their constituents, you know, because so many people don't vote, it just, it gets to you sometimes, Kristen.
And I'm glad to have you here to bounce it off of.
Thanks.
It gets to me.
I mean, RFK, I don't know if you saw his testimony with Susan Collins where he was doing all this finger pointing.
He was testifying in the Senate, and he was blaming her for all the years of the American culture that where they perpetuated bad things for our health.
And I was thinking, buddy, you were in the Senate too.
And all this stuff was happening.
And yeah.
We have issues in this country.
There is no question.
We need cleaner water.
We need safer food.
We need better environments for our health.
Our health is holistic.
His perspective on vaccines and his approach to the measles outbreak I think has been really scary and again I'm waiting for that to come barreling down on us as we see more and more measles cases popping up in a state like Wisconsin where we are so Profoundly under vaccinated, but it's not just that it's whooping cough We're seeing record numbers of whooping cough as that's on the rise There are so many things that we're just at the beginning stages of because he's not serious about our public health and I'm incredible
concerned science medicine we've got to stay up with that as physicians we've got continuing education we've got to do we've got to know what's happening in the world because things are always changing but that is not something that rfk is on top of and again he doesn't have the the health and well-being of the public in mind
no when he says you know that he's gonna put out these recommendations about chronic disease and the the health of the food supply
there is just no level of credibility or trust there to say that it will be anything other than something that will continue to set back food safety and good nutrition and, you know, promote a lot of quackery, quite frankly, all in the name of fighting things that he he's just speaking.
How do I say this properly on the radio?
Out one's tush, shall we say, about the way that this goes.
And again, these are generational things.
It takes a long time to build something.
It takes much less time to tear it down.
A culture of getting vaccinated against disease, getting off of oil and coal.
immigrant labor.
I mean, we're going to face a generation here of, you know, a worker shortage as a result.
The war on education, this latest thing against Harvard and saying, you can't take in international students.
Those international students were, we were already in danger of not getting them anyway, because they're worried that they're going to get murdered, you know, because of our gun culture here.
Now with the political culture, we continue, we're going to continue to see international students go away.
That was frankly, Kristen, our only hope for getting doctors in rural areas.
was continuing to educate and train students from overseas who wanted to come to the US who now don't think so strongly about coming to the US.
We have a profound lack of physicians and qualified providers, even PAs and nurse practitioners, to work in rural areas.
it's not going to get any better.
And then when you look at these Medicaid cuts and the impact that that will have on rural hospitals, half of rural hospitals across the country right now are living hand to mouth.
They are not making ends meet and they depend on Medicaid.
So when Medicaid funds start to go away, they aren't going to be able to keep their doors open.
And that means that people who live in those areas where I've worked in places where the hospital is the biggest employer, people
go there for lunch they go to visit their friends in the long-term care facility and that is like the hub of the community if that hospital goes away that town dies the economy withers and then where do people go so this the impact of the decision that was made yesterday and what happens after that could be absolutely profound especially in our rural communities where they're already struggling
What is coming up this weekend on the Dr. Kristen Lyle Show?
Oh, Pat, I'm so excited.
We're talking about childcare.
So I've got Mayor Ryan Sorensen from Sheboygan.
We've got Mike Close, one of the Alders, Leah Hibble.
She's on the school board there.
And Angel Berry, she runs a daycare center that does beautiful work in Sheboygan.
We talk about childcare counts, what it's going to mean for them.
both from a provider perspective and a parent perspective, and actually from an economic perspective across the city of Sheboygan.
It's an awesome episode.
I strongly encourage that you tune in.
WGVW, WISS, three o'clock tomorrow and Sunday, and on the Civic Media app.
That's right.
Gotta use that app, that same app where you can text in radio right now for your chance to win Brewer's tickets, four tickets to next Tuesday's game.
Go to civicmedia.us to learn more about the rules.
I was flying back from Portugal on Monday, next Monday's Memorial Day, a holiday.
So having you here today, it finally feels complete.
Like I'm back home now.
I've got, I'm back into all my usual routines, all my friends that I'm reconnecting with.
So thank you for making a little time here before.
What I hope is really relaxing weekend.
I hear you saying that I complete you.
You most certainly do, my friend.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Have a wonderful weekend and we'll talk next Friday then.
Sounds great.
Unless of course
you show up here, you know, in the next few hours,
you know, what a great way to wrap up.
Yeah.
I got brats in the fridge.
Let's go.
Todd Albana would be ready.
I'll take the boat out just for that.
See you later.
See
ya.
All right.
Coming up next, William Garcia will talk about his race for state Democratic Party chair.
Thanks again for joining us here live from Lake Wissota on the Civic Media Radio Network.
I'm Pat Kratlow.
Welcome back on this Friday morning, May 23rd, 2025.
This is what was once called Up North News Radio.
See, this is what Jane McNair does, is all this time that I have been saying that the thing that used to be called Twitter, and now I need to call this the thing that used to be called Up North News Radio.
We are hoping to hear from William Garcia, candidate for state party chair in just a sec.
I had to email him
the correct link.
We changed links when we moved to a three hour radio show here.
Otherwise, like all of our other guests will sometimes give us a call at 855-75 Civic, 855-752-4842.
And we talk to guests over the phone that way as well sometimes when that's what has to happen.
But that's okay because it gives me a moment to tell you that you can text the keyword radio to us using the Civic Media app.
We have stations and shows all across the state that on Fridays, during the Brewer's season, are going to be giving away four packs of Brewer's tickets to specific upcoming games.
And so you have to listen to this show, to Matt and Air on Air, let's see, to Tom Hartman, to Todd Alba, to Maggie Dawn, all the usual suspects.
And if you do that, then you can get that keyword, which today is radio, texted to us through the Civic Media app.
We pick one randomly, and it's four tickets in this case to next Tuesday evening's game versus the Boston Red Sox.
Get the complete rules over at civicmedia.us.
All right with that business out of the way Let's talk and check in now with William Garcia candidate for a state Democratic Party chair who joins us from I'm sure beautiful lacrosse County.
I'm guessing Hey,
good morning
thank you for being here always appreciate it how goes the run again three candidates in the race this is our second time through talking to all the candidates we've come through the congressional district democratic party conventions all the county party meetings you've had to go to what's your view of how things are going so far
well i think things are going great i've i've had an amazing time um going to all of the county uh
going to all the CD conventions, talking to people about what I want to do with the party, where I think the party needs to go, and I'm hearing a lot of support.
In fact, I'm actually really proud that both of the other candidates have kind of altered their platform somewhat to be a little more aligned with mine because of what I've been saying.
how much it's how people are responding to it in terms of the need to strengthen and grow county parties That's now a part of kind of everyone's pitch and I'm really happy for that and I'm gonna continue going forward and talking about the need to focus on our local county parties on our other local organizations In order to grow and build them because that is how we're going to bring in support for 2026
I'm not in any way shape or form taking credit for for what you're just
saying there about county parties only to say that I like you have been part of a chorus for the past I don't know how many years talking about the need for the state Democratic Party in this case and again the Republican Party has its own infrastructure debates like this but that the state party needs to both listen it works both ways listen to the people
in those local county parties and also provide them with the resources they need rather than rather top down management of the party.
And so when you tell me that, you know, you're saying that and that you're hearing that from the other candidates as well, I think that that only bodes well writ large for not just the entire Wisconsin Democratic Party, but for, you know, voters who aren't just in the big Democratic strongholds.
Yeah, and that's what
The way that we are going to flip the assembly seats that we need to flip in order to get a majority in 2026.
The way that we're going to get the Senate seats and retain the governorship is by decreasing the margin of Republican support in smaller counties and rural areas.
This is the path to victory.
And that path is...
goes directly through county party organizations.
County parties need to be trusted that they know best how to organize in their neighborhood and how to talk to people in their county.
We need to start treating county party officials like the experts they are in their neighborhoods.
And that is really the basis behind my campaign.
I'm the only candidate who has worked as a county party chair.
I'm the only candidate who's a CD chair.
I'm the only candidate who's coming from this system.
And that means I'm really the only chair that knows exactly what the problems are with the kind of top-down DPW organization as it is right now and how to fix them.
Let's talk as well about the development this week.
We had Devin Remacher on Wednesday who had just received the endorsement from outgoing chair, Ben Wickler, Joseph Pecky reacted to it yesterday.
So let me ask your reaction as well to Ben Wickler deciding to make an endorsement in this race and doing so for Devin Remacher.
Sure.
I was kind of expecting it to be honest.
I think Ben and Devin have worked closely for many, many years and I think that's great.
The problem is, is that this lack of focus on the county parties is a problem that we've had for many, many years.
And so, as like I said, I really like Devin, but I am the person who's genuinely going to focus on county parties and maintaining and growing them because
I have experienced the problems that we're having over the last six years.
And I'm the one that can really come in and fix them.
I think Devin, I think Ben and rightly so Ben should be, Ben and Devin should be extraordinarily proud of the growth and the progress and the strength of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
I'm proud of it as well, but.
What needs to be fixed in this current moment is this refocusing on county parties and other local organizations like our caucuses like our young Democrat chapters and I am the person that can Maintain everything that Devon and Ben have built while also fixing this one key issue
It is an important thing about this race that we've all noticed is that obviously there are a lot of good things to say about Ben Wickler's tenure and certainly record, but that it wasn't perfect, that the party is not perfect.
So how do you both acknowledge what's good, but also, you know, shine a light on what it is that needs to be changed.
And go ahead, Willen.
Oh, I was just also going to say, I want to remind everyone that the Wisconsin Democrats are on the forefront in the country in terms of the strength of their party.
The Wisconsin Democrats are stronger and more active than just about any Democratic party in the country.
And what that means is, is that we're often the first to do things.
We are the vanguard.
We are out in front on everything.
And sometimes that means that we make mistakes because we don't have any examples to pull from.
And so in this wonderful growth that Ben Wickler and Devin have built, we have left the county parties behind a little bit.
And that's the thing that needs to be addressed right now.
I have to ask you about a hypothetical that may not come to be, but is going to be very important for the next chair if it does.
And that deals with Governor Tony Evers, who has not made a decision yet on running for a third term.
If he does not,
The the easiest guess to make that I'm about to make here is that much like in 2018 when he first ran it was him and more than a dozen other Democrats running for governor if if Tony Evers decides not to run for a third term there will almost certainly again be upwards of a dozen people running Not the worst problem to have having a deep bench of talent
But I mean, it's almost a logistical nightmare trying to be fair.
There's county chairs who are going to want to endorse somebody, but maybe they shouldn't, either because of county rules or state rules.
I mean, let's face it, whether you get elected or not, if you stay active in the party, that is a bit of a minefield that Democrats have to be looking at if the governor decides not to run for reelection.
Well, and honestly, it's a minefield that I've experienced already, because here are the third congressional districts.
We have had strong, robust primaries with multiple candidates the last three cycles.
So I am experienced with working on that.
My preference is always.
And in fact, what I will be arguing and mandating as chair is that the state party should be providing
resources and the infrastructure that helps every one of the candidates who wants to run for governor speak directly to voters without preference towards any one of them.
I do not want a party that puts its finger on the scale in terms of trying to decide before the voter gets to decide who's going to win that primary.
It's up to the voters.
That kind of primary it motivates our base it It brings out the best vision for the moment and that's what a lot of primaries are primaries are not about which candidate Really love or whatever it's about because because they're all great.
It's about who is present
We're talking to William Garcia.
He's a candidate for state Democratic Party Chair.
That decision will be made in Wisconsin-Dell's middle of next month at the State Democratic Party Convention, where, as the party announced yesterday, Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock will be the keynote speaker on the first night of the convention.
And I'm sure William, you agree that that's a pretty good get for a party that is plenty motivated, but wouldn't mind hearing from Senator Warnock as well.
that it's a wonderful get.
I've been lucky enough to hear Senator Warnock speak in the past.
He's an incredible speaker.
Makes me a little excited as well because that means I'll actually be sharing a stage with Senator Raphael Warnock because all three of the candidates also give small speeches that night in support for their campaigns.
So I'll get to present with Senator Warnock.
The big news this week in terms of 2026 politics was that appeals court judge Chris Taylor is getting into the race for a state Supreme Court.
We of course have to acknowledge that there may be more candidates.
It is very early yet.
But if this were to be the field with appeals court judge Taylor versus Justice Rebecca Bradley, you know, from the far right end of the Supreme Court bench, that is a
I guess all I'm saying is that would be a competitive race and that's really what you're looking for is a competitive race against a well-tenured state Supreme Court justice
a competitive race against also the most extreme conservative candidate on the bench that is That's what we need to be thinking about this race is not going to be the hundred million dollar race that we had last year because
it is not going to flip the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court, like the last two Supreme Court elections have done.
And that means that we need to be, again, my plan, focusing on growing and strengthening county parties, because our county party volunteers and our county party officials are gonna be vital in getting the message out about Chris Taylor, because again,
the money that is that poured into Wisconsin the last two Supreme Court cycles will not be replicated because the ideological makeup of the bench is not at stake.
We are talking to William Garcia.
He's candidate for State Democratic Party Chair.
There are three candidates in the race and that decision will be made by delegates at the State Democratic Party Convention next month in Wisconsin Dells.
And we've been very privileged to be able to go through two rounds of interviews with the candidates here so far.
And we'll continue to talk about the issues that are important to it.
Before we go to break, let me tell you that again, we have a Brewer's Tickets giveaway.
Text the keyword radio to us via the Civic Media app.
There will be one entry drawn statewide to win four tickets to next Tuesday evening's game against the Boston Red Sox.
You can get the complete rules over at civicmedia.us and we will do this most Fridays throughout the course of the season.
We'll pause here.
I'm Pat Krightlow reminding you that keep that pledge of allegiance in mind this weekend.
All of it.
Liberty and justice for all.
This is the Civic Media Radio Network.
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Next week on the program, well from Monday, it'll be a holiday, Memorial Day, so we'll have some of our best of segments that we've aired over the past couple of weeks here.
On Tuesday, we'll have author Laura Bird, and she will talk to us about upcoming summer reads, some of her recommendations that you might want to take to the beach or wherever you're going this summer, and a bit more about how you can learn about the upcoming new books the way that she does.
Dan Schaeffer will be here on Tuesday as well.
No, I take that back.
Dan Schaeffer will be on Wednesday of next week because he's taking an extended weekend.
Also on Wednesday, we'll talk to Matt Brusky from Citizen Action, part of a coalition of groups that are going to urge Governor Tony Evers to veto a state budget bill.
If it does not make adequate investments into education and other important areas, not just a line item veto, they want them to veto the whole bill and send it back and make the legislature start over if it's not up to certain standards.
We'll ask Matt what those standards are and what would trigger that kind of an ask of the governor.
And then on Thursday, a Money in Markets news from Sean O'Malley, Melissa Baldoff with our climate check and much more all throughout next week.
here on the program, Cross the Civic Media Radio Network.
Let's continue our conversation now with William Garcia, candidate for State Democratic Party Chair out of the Third Congressional District and La Crosse County.
And William, I kind of jumped into the state of the race and everything.
And so for folks who might have missed it in the first go round of interviews, I just want to ask the straight up why you're running question 101, William Garcia, there are three candidates in this race.
What makes you the best choice to be State Democratic Party Chair?
I'm running on a three-word platform, grow, persist, resist.
And what that means is, grow.
I want to focus on growing and strengthening county parties and other local organizations like our young Democrat groups, our college Democrat groups, as well as our DPW caucuses.
I think in the explosive growth of wisdoms over the last six years, these groups have been left behind a bit, and they need a lot more support.
not just financial, but also in terms of infrastructure, communications, digital assistance.
They're all sorts of things that county parties and these other local groups need.
I especially want to focus on young Democrats of Wisconsin here in the third congressional district We have more college students at any other congressional district in the state and that's why and I've worked very closely with our college dims to grow and expand their chapters Here in lacrosse.
We also have the only official chapter right now of young Democrats of Wisconsin and I want to make sure that we have young Democrats chapters across the state because
That's how we're going to bring young people in by empowering them and letting them just talk about their issues and organizing ways it makes sense to them.
Pursist means we're going to persist doing all the things DPW does wonderfully.
The fundraising juggernaut that DPW is, we're going to keep going with that.
Keeping a national media focus on Wisconsin, which drives our fundraising as well as motivates our volunteers.
And this really strong connection between the governor
the assembly Democrats, the state Democrats and DPW, so we're all working closely together to win that trifecta in 2026.
And resist means that as chair, I will be the loudest voice in the room against the Trump agenda and Republican policies hurting Wisconsin families.
I've been very disappointed in the lackluster response by national Democrats to the existential threat that is Trump.
And as chair, I will spend every day calling out Republicans for the harm they're doing us and explaining to people why
Democrats have a better way forward.
Let's take a moment then to go from the very highest level state party chair down to the local level of the newest members.
People hear this and I'm sure a lot of folks are not active in their local county parties.
What does it mean to do that?
If people keep hearing us talk about that and go, gosh, maybe I should look into my county.
I didn't even know there was.
Is there a county party in every
county?
Absolutely, a county party in your area.
We have
County parties in every county.
Some are small, but most are very robust, even in smaller counties, even in places that vote overwhelmingly Republican.
You have very close to you a Democratic party that is working closely and working on local issues in local areas.
And joining really just means come to a meeting.
Every one of our counties have a monthly meeting, and you could just show up.
You don't need to be a member to walk in.
You need to show up and see what we're doing.
And county parties are responsible for organizing these meetings, but they're also responsible for organizing the door knocking and the phone calling and the postcard writing that we do.
They organize town halls and listening sessions.
There is so much that the...
these county parties do and These county parties are really the front line connections with our with Wisconsin voters
and by the way, you know again, like you said
takes nothing to drop in and get to learn more about it.
Yes, you can become a dues paying member, extremely affordable, all the various levels that are out there, but this is just that one more form of civic engagement that you can choose to do.
There's many ways to do it, but I think more folks need to know they've got a county party that they can take part in.
And it is vital.
And again, the county parties are truly where all of the amazing
organizing happens with wisdoms.
It is these conversations that emanate out of the county party that really drive our voter persuasion, our voter engagement, and our voter turnout.
William Garcia, candidate for state Democratic Party Chair.
It's really great to touch base with you again, William Safe Travels, as you continue campaigning on your way to Wisconsin Dells next month.
And we'll check in again real soon.
That sounds great.
Have a great day, everybody.
All right.
Thank you, William, again.
So very much, William Garcia and Devon Remaker and Joseph Pecky are the three candidates who are running for state party chair to succeed Ben Wickler.
All right.
Coming up next, we've got Matt Nair on air.
Jane and Greg will be along right after the news here.
And then after Tom Hartman, you'll have Todd Alba and no lie, Todd Alba doing the show from right over here on the back deck overlooking Lake Wissota.
We thought about doing a pontoon show, and it's not to say we might try a pontoon ride afterwards, but I think we're going to be nice to our engineering team and just have a nice stable signal from the back deck.
So two to four today, the Todd Alba Show.
My thanks to today's guests, William Garcia, Kristen Lyrely, Keef Akeel, Jennifer Scholesy, Mark Jacob, Jim Santel, and of course to you for being here this morning, I'm Pat Krightlow.
I'm the founding editor of UpNorth News.
That's part of Courier Newsroom, a pro-democracy newsroom.
building a more informed, engaged, and representative America.
You can follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter.
Head to upnorthnewswi.com.
Have a great weekend.
I'll see you Tuesday morning here up north.
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