Winners, Losers, and the Wider Gap (Hour 3)

Cross Wisconsin on Civic Media.

You're listening to Mornings with Pat Craiglo powered by UpMorth News.

Now for my Lake Minnesota studio, here is the founding editor of UpMorth News, Pat Craiglo.

Well, hey there, Wisconsin.

Good morning.

It is 6.06.

It's a Thursday morning, August 21st, 2025.

And it is indeed another beautiful morning to have you here up north back live on Lake Wissota from wherever you're spending your mornings listening across the civic media radio network or catching us on YouTube, Facebook, podcast, the app, the website, however you did it, we're glad you did it.

Thanks for spending your Thursday morning right here.

I got a question for you.

What do you know about Wisconsin Lieutenant Governors?

I mean, here, we'll do a little trivia.

Who was the Lieutenant Governor for Tommy Thompson?

How about for Jim Doyle?

Remember Scott Walker, who was his Lieutenant Governor?

How about Tony Evers?

That's a trick question.

Who is his Governor in his first term or Lieutenant Governor in the first term?

How about the second term, the one right now?

Who's the current Lieutenant Governor?

We'll talk all about that in a couple of minutes because we have a candidate for Lieutenant Governor joining us during our seven o'clock hour, Sarah Godelowski, Wisconsin Secretary of State.

Former State Treasurer is looking to add a third constitutional office to her resume and serve as Lieutenant Governor for Wisconsin next year.

That's because the current Lieutenant Governor, I'm gonna give away one of the answers here, Sara Rodriguez, the current Lieutenant Governor under Tony Evers is now a candidate for governor next year with Tony Evers not seeking a third term.

So we'll ask Sarah Godlowski a bit more about why she's seeking the Lieutenant Governor role coming up this morning and talk more about those past Lieutenant Governors.

We'll see which ones you remember.

So all of that is coming up.

We'll also check in with Todd Alba.

He was in Wisconsin Rapids yesterday, just as I was for the WFHR 85th anniversary celebration.

So we'll talk about his time at the parking lot party up there at the radio station.

We'll also talk about back in the state capitol how Governor Tony Evers is not wasting any time changing the way business is done at the capitol.

Now that the state supreme court has struck down one of the many ways that Republicans in the legislature have been obstructing him from doing his job implementing laws and rules, things like that.

We'll get a rundown of this weekend's Wisconsin events with Sherita Booker.

We'll replay our conversation with Dan Schaefer.

about a very liberal US senator coming to western Wisconsin soon to campaign for a congressional candidate already endorsed by so-called blue dog Democrats.

And economic data shows the Trump presidency is doing exactly what experts had warned us about.

There is a widening gap between the super rich and the rest of us.

Trump's trade war has weakened the US dollar.

Consumers are paying the price with higher

prices on store shelves not lower as Trump had promised.

We'll talk about all that with Sean O'Malley about your money in the markets.

We'll talk to Joseph Peckie, Chad Holmes as well, Brittany Merlot's forecast too.

In fact, Ms.

Merlot has given us a state forecast for today that says that the summer sun will stay bright this week.

A completely different air mass will take over for the weekend.

It will be bringing in breezy fall-like temps, then maybe sparking up some rain before it arrives.

Our state forecast for today is short and sweet, partly sunny and pleasant, highs 75 to 80, a southeast wind at 5 to 10.

Then for tonight, increasing clouds, lows in the upper 50s to low 60s, and a light south wind.

That's the state forecast.

She'll tell us much more about that, about just under an hour from now.

Along the way, of course, we'd love to have your comments and your feedback, several different ways to do that.

The Civic Media app would be the best way because that way we see it directly here as you text things to us, pull up one of the radio stations on the Civic Media app, use the text feature or the voice note feature and record a little message to us.

or head over to the YouTube or Facebook pages and put something in that way as well.

Or you can email us radio at upnorthnewswi.com.

Again, upnorthnewswi.com is the home for Up North News, a separate entity from Civic Media.

It's just about 611.

Let's check in with Parker Olson, who produces this fine little program down in Madison Studio A2.

Mr. Olson, how are you?

Good,

Pat.

Having a good time.

My

God, your voice got so high there.

You must really be in a good mood today.

Not really good.

Yeah.

No, that's great.

Careful there.

New headphones.

We don't want to hurt these things.

That's that's all right.

I think we both are a little a little more well rested, you know, travel days are always interesting days.

I mean, I hit the wall hard yesterday.

Yeah, I bet.

You know,

I mean, look, it's it's good to be out and about as good to see other folks like we did in Wisconsin Rapids.

But, you know, after after a night in a hotel and getting back to your own bed, there's just there's nothing like it.

No, your own bed is one of those special things in life.

Mm hmm.

Yeah.

So we've got a lawn that is we had to do some aerating for it.

So now we need to kind of keep it wet because you get those little dirt plugs.

Yeah, you

know,

when you're doing the lawn and then you've got to water them so that those little dirt plugs kind of go back into the ground and everything.

But we don't sprinkle the lawn very much.

We don't water our lawn very much.

We're up on the lake here.

we don't kind of have that suburban mentality where every square inch of the lawn has to be perfect.

You know, and it's fine.

I mean, it's perfectly fine.

We just don't go overboard with it.

Yeah.

But that also includes because we don't use the sprinkler a lot.

I finally had to use it.

First off, I'd take a lot of dust off of it had been sitting in the garage for a little bit here.

And it clearly had aged a little bit.

It was kind of tough to to connect the hose and everything.

And that time I got it done.

I mean, water is spraying in 18 different directions because it's

not quite what you want, I'm guessing.

No, it had collected a little dirt and dust and everything else.

And eventually we we got it done.

and we'll continue moving the sprinkler around today.

But it's just funny because up and down the street there are people who have paid a lot of money for these nice sprinkler systems.

There's heads that are spaced, you know, every so far apart and then you're just doing their thing.

The lawns are perfect.

And then they see either me or Sherry trudging our hose with our one little old sprinkler thunk.

We'll just put it here.

See what it does.

Is it sprinkling in a full circle?

Is that a quarter?

Is that a crescent?

What exactly are they doing over there?

It's very spotty.

Yeah, very spotty.

Can they not?

Do we need to take up a collection and get them a second sprinkler?

No, we're fine.

This is how we want it.

Well, our neighbors, who actually just moved out,

Um, so I can say this without fear of them hearing and then saying something to me.

Um, they had been watering their lawn and mind you, Madison is like, kind of a ton of rain, as you know, as, as they water their lawn, like every night during the night they do it.

And they were complaining about not being able to grow grass.

I'm like, I don't think that's true.

There's some other kind of issue, you know, maybe it was, you know, maybe maybe their their house and their lawn are over, you know, what was once a battery factory or something.

There's got to be something in this.

Well, if you're watering that often, and you're still not able to grow grass, my favorite is going anywhere in the rain.

And in the rain, you're seeing that somebody's automatic sprinkler system still comes on anyway.

You know, let's say it's 5530 in the morning.

and it's raining and you see in the sprinklers just going to town and you're like, I'm glad we don't pay for water here.

We've got a well and that's fine.

But to me, the concept of a water bill is very alien.

Yeah, never had to deal with that.

That's one of them city problems that people have is a water meter and everything.

You're on a

lake.

You don't got to worry about water.

uh no see that's the other thing a lot a lot of people with their sprinkler systems they just run a line down to the lake and you know suck it up that way so i mean there's there are a lot of positives to lake life don't get me wrong but you know one of them is that i i don't feel the need to have the perfect lawn

We have a perfectly good, if you had a cabin up on a lake, you'd have the lawn that goes along with it.

And I'm very happy with it.

We've got all kinds of great landscaping.

My God, the landscaping.

That Sherry's been working on over the years.

She comes to get me as I'm watching the Brewer's game last night.

And we'll get to that in a second.

She's like, you got to see this.

And I don't remember what kind of flowers they were.

I'm sure she told me.

And I'm sure, you know, husbands do that sometimes.

And she said, look at the bees.

And at first you see like, you know, four, five, six bees on this patch of flowers, patch flowers about five feet by five feet square, roughly, in that part of the landscaping.

And then you kind of refocus your eyes.

And there have to be 100 honey bees on there, just doing their thing.

I mean, so many of them, we have the happiest pollinators on Lake Wissota right now.

Because the way that she set up the landscaping is that

different things bloom at different times of the summer.

So all summer long spring and summer long at some point something is like, like, last week, it was the hydrangeas.

I mean, they looked like a Fourth of July fireworks display.

These hydrangeas had blossomed so big.

You know, we had the lilacs before that and we had bryolorets and all that.

And these, these flowers are blooming late and the bees are just soaking it up.

So, you know, so, so before we get

people thinking like my lawn looks like something out of the Adams family, it does not.

It's perfectly good.

We mow it regularly.

It is a perfectly fine one.

It's just that the landscaping and the flowers that Sherry has added is what really sets it apart.

So

Sherry is doing the heavy lifting between the two of you is what I'm hearing.

That's been true for 40 years now.

Yes.

Okay.

That's a very fair statement.

Because I mean, look, priorities, the the Cubs brewers, they were on the TV, you know, that's true.

I mean,

things have to get done.

Well, while I'm well, while I'm doing the dishes and things like that.

And it was a little tough watching the brewers lose again to the Cubs four to three.

The brewers now have a three game losing streak.

They have not had many of those this season.

And I don't know, I don't Jacob Mizorowski.

I don't know those first couple of games.

I mean, he got put on the All Star roster.

He was looking like the next big thing.

And now he looks

Uh, like a Fabergé egg, you know, just very fragile.

I mean, not at first.

He retired the first six batters in a row.

Yeah.

And then he recovered too.

And he recovered.

Yeah.

But, uh, he then walked the first three batters in the third inning, walked the first three batters, bases loaded.

So here comes Michael Bush.

The count gets up to three balls in one strike.

So, you know what, Mr. Rowski has to put one right down the middle.

Michael Bush knows it.

and drives it into the gap and left center field.

It clears the bases.

The Cubs go up three to one, and the Brewers try to come back, but ultimately fall short by a score of four to three.

Colin Ray, the former Brewer, gave up only three hits to the Brewer hitters through six innings.

So now the Cubs have improved to seven and five against the Brewers so that even if the Brewers win this afternoon, the Cubs will still have the season series tiebreaker.

But as for that game this afternoon, finally, the fifth and final game in four days at Wrigley Field, the pregame coverage will begin at 12.45 this afternoon on several civic media stations around Wisconsin.

And then there's no rest.

There's no day off.

It's right back up to American Family Field for a series against the San Francisco Giants starting tomorrow evening.

And through the weekend, San Francisco for three games,

And then Arizona comes to town and the D-backs will play the Brewers for four games next week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday nights and Thursday afternoon.

So, you know, this five game stretch was rough, but it is only the beginning.

Got to come home and hope that some home cooking turns things around.

Yeah, I think so.

I think that this is the most glad I've ever been to be done with a road trip and headed

home.

without a doubt.

So we'll talk about that list of Lieutenant Governors.

We'll see what you know.

But first, Sharita Booker is going to tell us about things going on this weekend from the heart of America's up north.

Thanks for making this the place to spend part of your Thursday mornings.

I'm Pat Crightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

All right, it's time to get the handle on what is happening this weekend for some of the events large and small around Wisconsin this weekend with our social media manager, Sharita Booker.

Sharita, hi.

How are you?

Good, Pat.

How are you?

I'm good.

Thanks getting ready for the weekend here and we're going to start like

Like happens a lot because the Summer Fest grounds, the festival grounds in Milwaukee, they have so many different festivals throughout the course of every summer and this weekend it's Mexican Fiesta.

Yep, Mexican Fiesta kicks off.

Friday and it will run through Sunday at the Summerfest grounds.

There will be tons of live music performances and some of those headliners include Raymix, Lila Downs, Louise Angel, Mariachi Reyna de los Angeles and Julio Caesar.

The cultural pavilion will display an expedition of Mexican art and crafts from more than 150 artisans coming from different states of Mexico.

There will be a Dia de los Muertos Parade Friday at 8 p.m.

and a vintage and custom car and motorcycle show.

Saturday from one to six and last but definitely not least there will be tons of food to choose from authentic Mexican cuisine as well as tequila tastings.

General admission tickets are $20 online and $25 at the gate and children under eight are free and if you want more information or to buy your tickets ahead of time visit mexicanfiesta.org.com

I'm sorry, MexicanFiesta.org.

MexicanFiesta.org.

Got it.

And let me say again, and I know sometimes we talk a little too much about fine alcohol for an early morning show.

But when you talk about tequila tasting and people go, oh, that thing with the lime and the salt, it just burns so much.

I'm just here to remind you the high end stuff.

You don't go through all that.

You just get to sip it and it's good.

You know, same goes for a lot of those things.

You pay for it, don't get me wrong.

So when you hear tequila tasting, remember there will be different kinds and if it's a tasting, you know, you don't have to buy a whole bottle, just take a little sample and see if it's something that you like.

Wait, weren't you the one telling me you're a tequila drinker?

I am.

What am I doing here?

You give them some words of advice about a tequila tasting.

Yes, honestly, I feel like the more expensive the smoother it goes down.

But my favorite is Don Julio 1942 and that bottle is like over $100.

So that's something you would not.

take a lot of right away.

So.

No, I would not.

I would not make a nightly old fashion with that.

No, I would not.

Though I will say I have had tequila old fashions again with the good stuff.

So good.

Yes.

In fact, if you're ever up in Eau Claire, head to the Lake Lee at the Oxbow Hotel.

They make a Oaxaca old fashion that is it's just it's perfect.

It really is.

So.

I didn't

even know that was a thing.

It is.

Yes.

So give that give that a try.

Put a little Wisconsin.

and twist on one of your favorite beverages there.

All right, so let's move from Mexican Fiesta.

Oh, I like your next choice.

People going, oh, you guys always talk about Milwaukee.

Fine, let's go on up to Cumberland, boys and girls, because it's rutabaga fest time.

Yep, and it's their 30 or their 93rd annual rutabaga festival and that'll run today through Sunday.

There will be deep fried rutabaga fries, rutabaga mash and other creative creative takes on the veggie.

The event will feature a hot pepper eating contest, a fun run, a beanback tournament, carnival rides, kids tractor pedal pool and a craft fair.

There will also be live music with performances by Maiden Dixies, which is tonight, Wicked Garden on Friday and Tandy Blue on Saturday, as well as Raffae Carlson.

And if you're wondering why rutabaga, like me, here's a little history on that.

Cumberland earned the nickname rutabaga capital of the world because in the early and mid 1900s, its sandy soil and cool climate made it ideal for rutabaga farming.

The crop was grown on a large scale and shipped nationwide and became central to the town's farming identity and economy.

But for more information on this event, visit CumberlandChamberWI.com.

And for folks that have never been there, it's in Barron County.

It's about 20 minutes west of Rice Lake.

And of course, Barron County, I mean, Chris Krusey is one of the one of the more popular folks that has ever come out of Barron County, always puts on a good show.

So if you're anywhere in Northwest Wisconsin, you might want to consider a trek to Cumberland for Ruda Vega Festival.

There we got that on there.

Now, Sharita really got me on this one.

I saw that it is, it is UFA championship weekend.

And I was like, are we talking about ultimate fighting?

We are not.

We are not.

What are we talking about?

Ultimate Frisbee.

Ultimate Frisbee time, of course, of course.

Tell us more.

So that's kicking off in Madison Friday and Saturday.

There will be two semifinal games featuring the four UFA division championships that include Atlanta Huzzle, Boston Glory,

Minnesota Windchill, and Salt Lake Shred.

Saturday morning, we'll start with two youth clinics followed by History and the Making, which is the very first all-star game between the Western Ultimate League and the Premier Ultimate League, which is the top women's and non-binary professional leagues in the world.

The weekend will wrap up Saturday night with the 2025 UFA Championship Game, as well as the PAPS Light Post Game Party.

Single-day tickets start at $15 and weekend passes start at $25.

So for more information on the grab your tickets, visit watchufa.com.

All right, here's what I got off their website.

Ultimate Frisbee is on a field 80 yards long.

The end zones are 20 yards long.

Ultimate Frisbee is seven players to a side.

You score much like football or rugby to get the Frisbee and the other team's end zone.

Unlike football and rugby, you can't run with your Frisbee.

So it's a lot of this back and forth without it being, you know, intercepted basically.

I think I would have really enjoyed this as a younger person.

Me too, like I'll play frizzy with my kids, but obviously it's not that serious for us.

List of other fairs to tell you about the Central Wisconsin State Fair, of course, is going on in Marshfield through Sunday, the Manitowoc County Fair, the Wapaka County Fair.

Now those ones started yesterday.

Today, the Adams County Fair, the Burnett County Fair, Marinette County, O'Connell County, and Price County, those county fairs all start today.

The Florence County State Fair, little tiny Florence County way up north, their county fair begins tomorrow.

And from over at travelwisconsin.com, we learn there are things like the Blanchardville Cruise Inn today, the Medford Park Fest, Mason Concert in the Corn, that's way up on your way to Ashland, Loyal Corn Fest, we've talked about that in Clark County, and Tigerton Lumberjack Days, which Rob has mentioned several times, and in Plattville, the Chalk and Cheese Festival coming up on Saturday.

With all of this, you got no excuse to park yourself on the couch this weekend.

Sherita Booker, thanks as always for getting our weekend started with this list of events.

Hope you have a great day.

You too, bud.

We'll be back right after this.

You're up north.

We're talking to Dan Schaefer from the Reconbibulation Area who's working on a new column and I like how you describe the column because it really describes the political feel right now.

How do you describe the column?

So I put out a call for a mailbag column before I went on vacation.

And just so happened that pretty much all of the questions that people sent me were about one topic, were about the governor's race for next year.

I think, you know, might have something to do with the column that I wrote earlier this summer, perhaps.

But a lot of interest, I think, is certainly among reconpopulation-era readers.

So I characterize it as my too early assessment, my too early breakdown of the field for governor, both on the Democrats.

on the Democratic side and on the Republican side.

Because it is.

I mean, by our own admission, it's way too early for

this.

But we also know, as we learned from the residential raise last year, it's possible for these things to start too late.

So, you know.

you'd almost rather be in a place, especially if you're, if you're at Ser Rodriguez, this is a good place to be right now.

I mean, David Crawley, the Milwaukee County executive, has talked about jumping in, but he hasn't yet.

Senator Kelder Royce has talked about jumping in, but she hasn't officially yet.

No other Republicans have jumped in than the two who are relative unknowns across, you know, most of the state of Wisconsin.

So, you know, if you're, if you're happy, if you're Ser Rodriguez, Lieutenant Governor, I think you're

moderately happy if you're Tom Tiffany, because again, I don't think he actually wants to run for governor, but maybe is now feeling the pressure given the public opinion polling, which by the way, I think it's just based on name ID, not any kind

of love

for the guy.

Yeah, I think it certainly seems like he's running, right?

Like, I was out of town for much of it, but I saw some of the social media stuff that he was doing at Wisconsin State Fair and all of that.

And like, that's the type of thing you're going to do if you're running as a statewide candidate.

It seems like he's probably headed in that direction.

And I think the main thing in the Republican side is a Trump endorsement.

Like, there was this poll that the Daily Caller put out that showed Tiffany at the top of the field with like 40% to like, you know, somewhere between 10 and 15% for for Barry and and showman.

And then they said, if Tiffany were to get a Trump endorsement, it was something like 60-some percent of the Republican voters would back Tiffany.

So I think the whole thing on the right for their gubernatorial primary is a Trump endorsement.

That's the whole ballgame.

There are already three Democrats in Wisconsin's third congressional district who are itching to run against Derek Van Orden.

And for one of those candidates, Becca Cook, who was the nominee last time around for the Democrats against Derek Van Orden, she's already getting some big name help from other members of Congress who are coming into Western and Central Wisconsin.

Yeah, I'm fascinated by the Rebecca Cook campaign right now.

I think she's running such an interesting race and I think she has this event coming up this weekend in Verroqua with Bernie Sanders.

She just had an event last weekend or maybe yesterday, I forget, I don't know the exact timing here, with the newest Michigan center, Alyssa Slotkin.

She's been endorsed by the Blue Dogs.

She was at this centrist think tank.

convention a couple weeks ago.

So if you're looking for somebody who's actually approaching the Democratic Party wanting to have a big tent with lots of different voices for representing lots of different, you know, kind of groups and constituencies and whatever it might be, I think what Cook is doing right now with this is really interesting.

And I think with Sanders in particular, we've kind of reached this moment now where, you know, Bernie Sanders maybe in 2015 when he was coming on the scene as a, you know, as running for president.

as a democratic socialist and the way that people had reacted to that at the time.

I don't think people have the same kinds of negative or wary or divisive reactions to Sanders that maybe they once did.

We're seeing in the New York mayor's race, even Andrew Cuomo is trying to campaign in certain ways to promote a connection to Bernie Sanders or a piece of legislation that he signed.

Obviously Sanders has not endorsed Cuomo or endorsed Mondami in that race.

It is very interesting to see the approach that Cook is taking.

And really, you know, if we're talking about Democrats needing to kind of rebuild that big tent, which is something that I've talked about a lot since the 2024 election, I think this is what it looks like.

I think this is inviting people from all across the ideological spectrum to come campaign.

And I'm really fascinated to see how the rest of her campaign plays out in the race to unseat Derek Van Orden.

I lost track of how many times you said either interesting or fascinating.

Because look, let's call it what it is.

The whole reason there are three Democratic candidates in this race already is that there are folks who believe that Becca Cook has been too close to the blue dogs, has been too close to a moderate position when there are progressives and liberals in that district that want to be

to stake a position more in line with Bernie Sanders, and yet here's Bernie Sanders now campaigning with Becca Cook.

I mean, Becca has been approached by me and by other shows at Civic Media to come talk to us.

She has declined those invitations, and I think perhaps it's, again, to keep up this appearance of being moderate, not beholden to the party machinery.

They're definitely establishment Democrats that have preferred either Emily

or Laura Benjamin, who are already in the race, which is again, here's that word, fascinating, that Bernie Sanders is looking at this and embracing Becca Cook's candidacy.

I don't know if it's a left versus center thing or if it's more of an electability thing has has has Bernie Sanders and others taken have they taken a look at the field and said well there may be other Democrats but they believe that Becca Cook as the last nominee who came close is the one who's more electable and you know we won't worry about you know her more moderate positions.

Right, and I do think what she the way she's running as you know really emphasizing kind of her working-class background is you know

Certainly an extension in a certain way of kind of like Bernie Sanders progressivism It might not be you know This is the the social democratic socialism or whatever you want to characterize it as but I think that the divide in the Democratic Party is less of this Progressive versus moderate that we saw maybe ten years ago certainly animated in that primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders I feel like the Democrat the divide in the Democratic Party right now is almost on action versus

action or something along those lines or focusing on the working class versus focusing on, you know, more neoliberal friendly corporate interest or whatever one of buzzwords you want to throw in there for that kind of thing.

And I think even if Cook, you know, has expressed more moderate views on certain things over the years, I think I do think the working class connection that she has, you know, can be seen as an extension of a Bernie Sanders style of leadership.

But she had a campaign ad last year where she literally was standing in the middle of the road with

a

drone shot and making the case for somebody who was moderate and for people who are closer to the far left of the party.

That was a maddening image of, you know, are you going to fight for us or are you just going to be squishy in the middle?

But for that third congressional district, as Ron Kine knew as a Democrat and as Steve Gunderson knew as a Republican before him, that middle of the road is quite often the only way that that road leads you to Congress.

that's right and you know it's about winning right you've got it at the end of the day you know you can have all the purity tests that you want but if you don't win it's it's not going to matter uh so i think you know cook uh outran expectations i mean we have to consider that piece of it as well you know the fact that she uh outran you know not only Kamala Harris but Tammy Baldwin who did

pretty well for a Democrat in western Wisconsin in that third congressional district and for Cook to have better numbers than each of them.

I think part of that is, I think because Derek Van Orden is a weak candidate, but I think also it has something to do with the campaign that Cook is running and I think what she's doing right now, I'm going to say it again, it's very fascinating.

Dan Schaefer talking to us from the Recombobulation Area.

You can sign up for his newsletter at therecombobulationarea.news.

We visit with him live on Tuesday mornings at 8 30 and play it back a little later excerpts like that one for you there.

And of course, the best way to catch anything in its entirety if you can't listen to us live would be to pod this program.

Head over to Spotify or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe or follow mornings with Pat Kratlow followed of

powered by Up North News.

And that way, you never miss a thing.

I mentioned earlier that Lieutenant Governor candidate, Sarah Godluschi, will be joining us about 730.

And I asked, what do you know about Lieutenant Governors?

And I just wanted to see again, for those of us who are wonks, you know, we can rattle these things off in our sleep.

But others, not so much.

Who was Tommy Thompson's Lieutenant Governor?

And some of these you're gonna go, oh, of course, of course, Scott McCallum, who later became governor himself when Tommy moved to the George W. Bush cabinet.

And then for a time, Scott McCallum had a lieutenant governor, Margaret Farrow, and then Jim Doyle became governor.

A lot of folks on the Democratic side still remember Barbara Lawton, still think very fondly of her.

Scott Walker, you remember his lieutenant governor?

That was Rebecca Clefish.

And then Tony Evers in his first term,

had Mandela Barnes as Lieutenant Governor, who then decided instead of running along with Evers for reelection, he was going to run unsuccessfully for U.S.

Senate.

And so we needed a new Lieutenant Governor.

And that's when Sarah Rodriguez stepped up and ran in his career, serving as the current Lieutenant Governor.

Because again, here in Wisconsin, you don't run as a ticket.

And so the person who wins the governor's primary

is on the ticket with whoever wins the lieutenant governor primary.

And sometimes those folks are in sync and sometimes they are not, but it's not their call to make.

It is up to the voters and we have wide open races for governor and lieutenant governor next year.

Governor Tony Evers is jumping right into changing the way things are done at the state capitol after a state supreme court now controlled by progressives.

struck down a way that Republicans in the legislature had been obstructing the way that he does his job.

And you'd have to go back a couple of few weeks now for me to explain this very, very unknown but powerful committee in the legislature called the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules, or JCRAR, something that I'd served on, which was supposed to be a check on a governor's power, because when you pass a bill into law,

You know, that bill can't write out everything that might be needed to make that law take effect.

That's what rules are called, and executive branch agencies, the DNR, the Department of Transportation, whatever, they write the rules that put these laws into effect.

And the legislature, using that committee, had been taking it upon themselves to essentially veto or

needlessly delay the rules that anybody from the Evers administration was writing.

And again, it wasn't so much a check on governors anymore as it was an obstruction.

And this state Supreme Court looked at that and said, nope, that is not a constitutional way for legislatures to act.

You already passed the bill into law.

Once you pass the bill into law,

the executive branch through their agencies and through their governor, they get the opportunity to write the rules as they see fit.

Well, Governor Evers is now moving forward on policies as written here by Jesse O'Poyne in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to

have some of these rules put in place without legislative approval.

He has sent a letter to members of his cabinet asking them to submit administrative rules to the Legislative Reference Bureau to be published and implemented, basically bypass the legislature.

Evers had said previously that, quote, no small group of lawmakers should have the sole power to stymie the work of state government and go unchecked.

And so

Evers is not only for that one case that the court case was about, but for other matters involving rules that help implement state law, he's going directly to having those rules published and bypassing the joint committee.

Could that set up problems later, say with a Republican governor and a Democratic legislature?

Perhaps, but for now, the impediment put up unnecessarily by a Republican legislature has been removed, that kind of abuse of its power.

Today's history lesson is next.

You're up north.

That

is Jackie DeShannon, who is 84 years old today.

Singer, songwriter, as a singer.

She had that, put a little love in your heart.

She had what the world needs now is love, sweet love.

But her songwriting wasn't always that light and breezy.

For example, it was Jackie DeShannon who wrote Betty Davis Eyes.

for Kim Carnes back in the 1980s.

Jackie DeShannon, 84 years old today.

Actress Kim Cattrell from Sex in the City.

She is 69 years old today.

Former quarterback for the Bears and yeah, even the Packers and the Vikings too, right?

Jim McMahon.

He's 66 years old today.

Oh, look who's got a special, who's a special birthday boy today?

Parker.

It's Craig Council.

Craig Council turns 55 years old today.

What a nice present it would be if we could hand them a big old L this afternoon.

That's true.

You know, I want to... There's a lot of animosity for Craig Council in Milwaukee.

Yes.

I'm... I'm okay with them.

After he's done being the Cubs manager, I will love him again.

After

he's done being the Cubs

manager.

Here's the thing that people go, well, if you were offered a contract to be the richest manager in baseball, the highest paid manager in baseball, you'd take it even if it was from the Cubs.

My position would be, no, he was wanted by the Mets and several other teams.

And you know, even if it wasn't the highest, he was going to be one of the highest paid managers.

He was going to be fine regardless.

I'm on the side of folks that are going to keep the hell that hold that against them.

I just am.

I think that that was a you could have made you could have made better choices, Craigers.

That's that's all I'm saying.

But happy birthday.

55 today.

Race car driver Paul Menard is 45 years old today.

Hey, the Winklevi the Winklevoss twins have a birthday today.

Cam and Tyler Winklevoss are 40.

four years old today.

They are the ones who co-founded ConnectU, which they say Mark Zuckerberg ripped off to create Facebook.

They are now big into the Gemini crypto exchange, and they have already given a million dollars between them to Bill Barion, the businessman running for governor on the Republican side here in the state of Wisconsin.

Olympic sprinter and champion Usain Bolt is 39 years old today.

Oh, wow.

And I mean, you're saying Bolt.

39, he could still beat you in a race.

He'll

still beat

you in a race when he's 99.

I mean, I remember watching some of those races and it was Secretariat-esque in his speed that he has.

It's just unbelievable.

Let's see, Roger put up on Facebook, a couple of notes here that Jean Dolores Schmidt, better known as sister Jean, chaplain for the men's basketball team at Loyola University in Chicago, turns 106 today.

Wow.

So happy birthday to six sister Jean 106 years old today.

This is the also the anniversary of the birth of the late Harold Reed, who was the bass singer for the Statler brothers he'd been born 86 years ago.

The soundtrack to the hit romantic comedy sleepless in Seattle topped the album charts this week in 1980 1993.

It's

so important to make someone happy.

Make just one, someone happy.

I

will always claim that every man has one rom-com that as much as we make fun of the genre, that it's your go-to rom-com.

For me, it's sleepless in Seattle.

Tom Hanks, Meg Rine, but especially this soundtrack.

I mean, it's got Jimmy Duranty on it here.

What more could you want?

It's a great soundtrack.

From 1993, it was the number one album this week, 32 years ago.

This is the anniversary of the birth of the late country singing legend, Kenny Rogers, born this day in 1938.

On this day in 1959, President Eisenhower signed the executive order that made Hawaii the 50th state in the union.

The late sports casting legend Jack Buck was born on this day in 1924.

Now most folks remember him for his 1988 World Series call of Kirk Gibson hitting a home run and he yells, I don't believe what I just saw.

But of course, anybody close to Minnesota Twins territory remembers Kirby Puckett's home run closing out game six.

Into deep left center for Mitchell and we'll see you tomorrow night.

Still chills.

every twins man gets chills here and we'll see you tomorrow night.

There will be a game seven after all.

Singer Casey Musgraves is 37 years old today.

And

one more count Basie.

was born this day in 1904.

Count Basie passed away in 1984.

And although I always associate his song, April in Paris with this great scene out of Blazing Saddles, it is a song that stands on its own just fine.

Here's a little April in Paris from Count Basie.

I'm

digging.

Isn't that great?

I just love this one.

This is Brazilian blowout day, a celebration that commemorates the well-known hair straightening procedure.

Getting a Brazilian blowout will keep your hair silky throughout the summer when done correctly.

It will keep your hair from frizzing while maintaining its natural smoothness.

The stuff I learn in this segment.

Okay, interesting.

Yeah.

This is National Spumoni Day, an Italian ice cream treat that incorporates cream and fruit and nuts.

Never had it.

Don't know that I ever will.

And let's see.

And then we've got to tell you that after the news, we'll get the updated forecast from meteorologist Brittany Merleau.

And then also in our next hour, we're going to talk to Sarah Godluschi, Wisconsin Secretary of State, who is now running for Lieutenant Governor.

And then tomorrow, we'll be talking to Dr. Jill McMullen of TOMA, who was recently interviewed by Pete Buttigieg.

I'm Pat Crightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

Live, across Wisconsin on Civic Media, you're listening to Mornings with Pat Kratlow powered by Up North News.

Now, for my Lake WSOTA studio, here is the founding editor of Up North News, Pat Kratlow.

Hey, good morning.

It is 706.

Nice to have you back here up north on this Thursday morning, August 21.

Parker Olson is producing this fine program down in Madison Studio A2 and meteorologist Brittany Merlot is standing by.

As are a lot of you, Parker, we were casting aspersions before.

Some of our usual textures and commenters weren't with us right off the top.

And Alicia made sure to put up on YouTube.

I was driving.

And that's

what we

want.

We don't know.

We do not want people texting while driving.

So I'm glad that she waited till she was somewhere where she didn't have to keep her hands of 10 and two on the wheel, and could let us know that she was there.

And any of you folks can join us.

Just head over to the Up North News or the Civic Media Facebook or YouTube pages.

We'd love to have you along.

Just as we do every day from Rob and Tigerton, who says to Brittany, as always, good morning from Tigerton.

It is sunny with light fog 56 degrees.

I had three yards to mow and

Tigerton, then a doctor's appointment in Shawno.

He says, last night, I was in Neopitt for a meet and greet with the four Democrats looking to potentially take on Congressman Tony Weed.

That would be in Northeast Wisconsin's eighth congressional district.

Kristen Lyrely, he says, was the emcee of last night's event.

And he took pictures of the event of people giving speeches.

And I know that Kristen told me she was looking forward to Rob coming out there and being the photographer for that event.

We mentioned in our history segment the birth anniversary of the late Jack Buck and Rob says that Jack Buck called Bart Starr's quarterback sneak for the winning touchdown for CBS in the 1967 NFL Championship game that we all know as the Ice Bowl.

So I did not know Jack Buck was on the call for that one.

Brittany, the stuff we learn here on

this program,

you know, I mean, we should be getting one of those educational licenses, you know, for all the stuff that we teach people.

throughout

the course of

the day.

Yeah.

Did you, you did make it to WFHR yesterday for their anniversary?

I did make it.

I was like the grand finale.

You're

the

headlight.

You're the Jimi Hendrix

of

this all.

The main event.

I was

all worried too when I showed up.

I was like, oh, those clouds look like they're going to rain.

If I show up and I bring the rain, I can't go in.

Oh,

yes.

That is an occupational hazard, isn't it?

Yeah.

Oh, so I had

the very early shift there in Wisconsin Rapids.

Todd Alba had a great time in the parking lot there for their big celebration of their 85th anniversary.

And then you kind of helped take

things home there.

And I am I am guessing confidently that the people at WFHR and WIRI were as sweet and friendly when you got there as they were early in the morning.

Yep, even after standing out there all day in the sun, you know, hey, hey, you agreed.

We still hit yesterday.

It was nice.

It was sorry.

It was while we have it.

It was great.

It was a great little road trip.

And by the way, I took a different route home up through Marshfield so that I could get up onto 29 and make a stop in Nasonville and get the get their cheese curds.

They got the bag of cheese curds right here.

These are I'll try not to squeak too much while you're doing the weather.

But it's that it's that little yellow shack.

right before Curtis just west of Abbotsford that you know these really nice ladies in their white uniforms and their hair and nets are there and they're just packaging the curds as they're being made and bagging them up and these are these are as fresh as they come and I'm just squeaking on cheese curds the whole rest of the way home.

That sounds so good.

It was great.

Exactly watering.

So I'm gonna go enjoy some courage while you tell us how the weather is looking for the end of the week.

This tonight kicks off the high school football season.

So the weather appears to be coming close to high school football weather later on.

It sure does.

It's going to match that vibe as we go, especially into this weekend.

This morning, though, be careful driving.

I'm glad Alicia waited until she was done driving to message because that's a dense fog and it is thick in some places, especially central parts of the state and northern parts of the state this morning.

Of course, that'll clear and give way to partly sunny skies throughout the day today.

Temperatures right now starting at about 50 degrees in Ashland, 68 degrees in Racine.

We are going to make it to the mid to upper 70s.

again today.

So pretty much what we felt yesterday.

Just a smidge warmer and we're going to put those temperatures on repeat for tomorrow too.

So very comfortable out there.

We are going to see a few more clouds starting to build in off of Lake Superior far north in the state later today.

And then the rest of the state is going to get cloudy for tomorrow because we have a cold front arriving and that is going to bring some showers and storms potentially.

Those look to start tomorrow morning, far northwest in the state, kind of heading towards Eau Claire and Hayward, maybe in the afternoon.

And then early evening towards Wausau and Rhinelander, overnight, maybe La Crosse and Fox Valley.

And then by Saturday morning, a few spotty showers could linger towards Milwaukee.

After that though, a fall feel.

I'm kind of excited.

A little brief refreshing moment, a few days there where it is going to be temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s on Saturday.

It is going to be breezy too, partly sunny that day.

But then on Sunday, those winds really start to whip and they actually create some lake effect showers.

Not snow showers yet.

Just regular showers on Sunday, far north in the state off of Lake Superior because temperatures are going to be in the low 50s, far north as highs, to low 60s, far south as highs.

That's way different.

I was going to say, we do not get 60s as highs in August very often.

No, we do not.

Just a little bit of nature air conditioning.

And I mean, it's normally not news that I've got the house all opened up all the windows and everything, but given how smoky it's been.

So it's either been hot and humid or smoky that, you know, this is not going to be our least expensive year for Excel energy for the air conditioning bill is what I'm trying to say.

So this is a nice treat to have this.

Exactly.

Save a few dollars here.

Yep.

That's

Alicia says it was really thick around Kana and Wright's town.

She puts up a big old smiley heart face for being shouted out for being a good careful driver by Brittany and of course a little cheese wedge as well.

And Rob says is that by the Abbey truck at Highway 29?

Close to it.

Yep.

It's on it's on your way.

That's the next exit.

If you want to stop at Nasonville to get those cheese curds.

So Brittany, thank you so much.

We'll get another update from you next hour.

Sounds good.

Okay.

Hey, you can only sign up for the Up North News Daily newsletter.

If you haven't yet, head over to UpNorthNewsWI.com and get yourself signed up there.

The Milwaukee Brewers were losers again, they've now lost three in a row to the Chicago Cubs.

Jacob Mizorowski, once again, is proving himself to be a an explosive pitcher.

But as a result, you're going to really tax the bullpen.

Now, he started strong, he retired the first six batters, so two innings of perfect ball, but then in the third inning, he walked the first batter and then the second batter and then the third batter to load the bases.

And then he got the count to Michael Bush up to three balls in one strike.

And so he threw a ball down the middle, more or less.

And Bush drove that into the gap in left center field, cleared the bases.

Cubs went on to win by a score of four to three.

So the Cubs, no matter what happens this afternoon in the series finale, the Cubs will now have won the season series.

And that would give them the tiebreaker if need be, although right now.

The Brewers do still have a nice lead in the National League Central Division, but they got to get back to work here starting this afternoon when they wrap up the series at Wrigley Field.

1245, the pregame coverage begins on Civic Media stations and Park Falls and Hayward.

We're seeing Kenosha, Richland Center, and Oshkosh head over to the Civic Media Radio Network page, civicmedia.us to learn more.

So we were in Wisconsin Rapids yesterday, we were right across from the Wisconsin Rapids DMV, the state office building there.

And Parker, if there's one thing that we, you know, kind of take for granted, it's that state office buildings, and a lot of buildings similar to that in the public sector, they're not flashy.

Oh,

God, no.

You know, they, they are

basic, to put it kindly.

Now, that does not necessarily mean that they're ugly, but some public buildings are.

And that is according to the New Jersey real estate network, which surveyed 3000 Americans asking them to weigh in on state capitals, post offices, court buildings, city halls, and as a result, Green Bay City Hall was voted Wisconsin's ugliest public building.

and number 33 nationally.

So it's it's in that list of top 100 ugliest buildings.

That's bad.

I in and I haven't seen it enough to know what makes it so I mean, I'll happily ask Dr. Lierly, you know, one of these times, but the number one was in Flint, Michigan, the city of Flint Municipal Center.

Why do we

keep

banging on Flint, Michigan?

Give them a break.

Well, because somebody there decided to have an exterior that's all about concrete and brick, not welcoming at all.

Next was the courthouse in Fresno, California.

Let's see, there's the Buffalo City Court in New York City.

There's places in Mississippi.

Philadelphia with its large scale and stark lines.

This building makes a bold statement, but not a flattering one often described as monolithic.

It commands attention more through size than through charm.

It's handled.

It's designed to handle the city's business, not to win hearts.

It's very Hey, I like it.

It's a little utilitarian, but that's okay.

Oh, they do have a description here on City Hall and Green Bay.

Green Bay City Hall keeps a low profile with a straightforward brick design and traditional layout.

It's steady and practical, though architecturally, it doesn't reach far.

A touch more civic character could help it feel like more of a city centerpiece.

I suppose, but see, now we get to the heart of the matter here.

Look at most state capital buildings, especially in Madison.

Would you not agree, Madison, the Wisconsin State Capitol is one of the most beautiful state capitals?

Oh, yes.

Without a doubt.

Yeah.

It is lovely.

It is ornate.

And it was built at a time of great civic pride, where people wanted their state capitals and their courthouses and their city halls to show off because it was an extension of themselves back when people saw their state or local government as them.

You know, as in we, the people, this is our government, this is our building for it.

We're not in that era anymore.

If we were building capital buildings today, they'd all be part of this list.

They'd all be these monolithic office buildings, all in the name of austerity and cost cutting.

And we would not have these things.

There is no fourth grader that goes on that tour of the Wisconsin State Capitol that isn't awe inspired.

and inspired to do things like engage in public service.

For living in a state where the people thought so highly of themselves that they put in the artwork that was in there and made this a place that felt important for the people's business to be done.

Whereas if it were happening today, it would be done in a fishing shack and a card table for some people to have it done because they think so little of their own government and of the people who serve.

To them, the people who serve, they're not leaders, they're just typical politicians.

And I think that mindset has been to our detriment.

It's become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Look at the kind of people that we now have in government because we've been trashing government for so long.

So I'm not saying that every future public building has to be opulent, doesn't have to be, you know, gilded, doesn't have to have gold leaf everywhere.

But somewhere in the middle is having a healthy enough respect for where people serve us in government to not treat it like it's, you know, some kind of unwelcomed appendage.

Let's get back to more places that don't make a list like this and become a place of civic pride in our states and in our hometowns once again.

A local update coming up next for most of you, and when we're back together in 15 minutes, Sarah Godlowski, Wisconsin Secretary of State, who is now running for Lieutenant Governor in the 2026 elections.

From the heart of America's Up North, live from Lake Wissota, thanks for making this the place to spend part of your mornings.

I'm Pat Crightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

Matt Naranair follows this program from 9 to 11 across the Civic Media radio network and coming up today, former U.S.

Attorney Jim Santel at 9.35.

At 10.05, they'll be talking to Kate Riley, President and CEO of America's public television stations.

about the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in order to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires.

And at 1035, Jane and Greg will be talking to JR Ratcliffe from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Then on the Maggie Dawn show later today, there will be a conversation after five o'clock with Officer Dan Hodges.

Washington DC Metro police officer who was among the many officers injured in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

An attack by a mob of domestic terrorists, all of whom have been pardoned by President Donald Trump and no longer are paying the consequences for trying to

overturn an election and trying to overturn our government.

Dan Hodges on with Maggie Dawn at five o'clock this evening.

Remember, if you can't stick around for those shows and people go, well, why are you talking about these things?

They're hours away.

Maybe you can't listen, but in this day and age, we've got the tools that let you do that.

Just follow these shows as a podcast.

And as I say all the time, and I'm sure Spotify and Apple don't want me to say this, you don't have to listen to them every day.

But if you follow them, you've now got them at your fingertips.

And that way it's easy to look up a show, look up an episode and listen back to something that you heard there.

So again, head over to Spotify and follow us that way or Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

Let's see on the text line here from Jim and Brookfield.

I was listening earlier.

I really hope Governor Evers pushes through all of the policies that were held up by legislative committees.

Thank you, Jim, for the comment.

We were talking about a Jesse O'Pointe story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about how Governor Evers is moving forward now to implement some policies and rules that previously had been blocked by a legislative committee.

And again, it feels weird to even still say that, that there were things that the executive branch was trying to do that

people in the legislature could block through one committee of the legislature.

And it was something that the Wisconsin Supreme Court, you know, recently overturned because let's take the one about allocating money.

Okay, the legislature passes a state budget.

They passed it, they voted on it, the governor signed it.

And yet the legislature's over here saying, well, we're not going to release the money until we get to micromanage the ways in which you're spending from that pot of money.

And that's just not how things are supposed to be done.

And the same goes for implementing some of the rules that happen after laws are passed.

And that too now is no longer a barrier to Governor Evers now entering his eighth year in half way through his seventh year in office.

about this, but finally has a state Supreme Court that is removing the roadblocks that Republicans in the legislature were intentionally putting up here.

Tomorrow we'll have our Week in Review panel and Mark Jacob will be a long, long time journalist in the Chicago area.

He now has the Stop the Press's newsletter and he's got an interesting one this week called Celebrating the Heroes of the Resistance.

It's all about

the people who, whether they're politicians, legal leaders, scholars, media folks, business leaders, moral leaders, who have all been bright lights in combating the darkness that is MAGA.

And we'll be talking to Mark tomorrow, along with former US Attorney Jim Santel, and journalist Jennifer Schulze.

But one of the things I sure would like to ask them about, and I don't know if time allows, and so I want to get to it now, is an article in The New York Times.

that again we seem to have a difficult time in national media today calling things what they are.

There was this feature recently about a place in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas where a small group of homesteaders are building an exclusive community from scratch.

The headline says

The founders of this new development say you must be white to live there.

Housing rights experts say a community restricted to white residents is illegal, but the creators believe they could win a potential challenge in court in the current political climate.

And then it goes on to talk about the shady backgrounds of these people who are starting this community.

But again, talking about why they would restrict it to people.

There's an article or a little note here about white nationalism that exploits economic anxiety.

And at that point, I had to stop reading.

Because I was like, why is the word racist not in this headline or the sub headline or anywhere in the article?

You finally have to get somewhere far down the article where people involved in racial justice talk about how blatantly wrong and illegal this is.

And that's all true.

But why did it take that rather than a headline more along the lines of, you know, racists trying to build a whites-only community?

We had the same problem with the word gerrymandering.

When those districts first came out in 2011, that new map, some of us recognized right away what it was.

But again,

local media would not refer to it as gerrymandered.

They had to see like three or four election cycles in a row with lopsided results to say, hey, these maps are gerrymandered.

At the time of the civil rights era, you had plenty of people who took Umbridge if you described them as racists.

How do you describe them now in hindsight in the history book?

They're racists.

And the same goes for an administration that is now not just talking to the Smithsonian,

but says they're going to talk to all museums about their exhibits and whether they focus too much on, quote, how bad slavery was.

The Trump administration wants a wide ranging review of museum exhibits.

And the New York Times language says added to his pattern of minimizing black history, his pattern of minimizing black history.

Why do we have such a hard time with that?

Now, some folks will say, well, this is all about a distraction away from Jeffrey Epstein and the Epstein files and everything.

Well, two things can be true at once, that he does see these things as a distraction.

But also, yeah, that he's wildly racist and would like a white nationalist police state as he's trying to create in Washington DC.

Let's stop being afraid to say that.

We're talking to Lieutenant Governor Candidate Sara Godluschi along the way.

I'm Pat Krightlow.

This is the Civic Media Radio Network.

735 now on a Thursday morning.

Welcome back.

I'm Pat Crightlow from Up North News.

Up North News is a separate entity from civic media.

Find what we do at UpNorthNewsWI.com.

Sign up for our newsletters there, including our Sunday morning newsletter about Wisconsin politics and political news and our question of the week where we follow up on what Sean Duffy said about President Trump saying that if he weren't president, he'd probably be transportation secretary.

I don't know that most people buy that.

So I asked

What should Donald Trump's next job title be?

And a lot of interesting answers are coming in so to be part of the first

wave to respond to our question of the week, you got to subscribe to the newsletter at up north news wi.com, click subscribe up in the top banner.

Our next guest is running out of space on her business card.

Being as busy as she is, having served as state treasurer, currently Secretary of State and now candidate for Lieutenant Governor, Sarah Godluschi joining us from our hometown in the Chippewa Valley.

Sarah, good morning.

How are you?

Well, good morning, Pat.

It's so great to be here and I feel like I'm just now even a stone's throw away from where you are.

Yes, I know.

We got to have that Chippewa Valley representation down there in Madison.

And so to that end, you announced yesterday a campaign for Lieutenant Governor.

I will admit that I thought by now we'd have

something like 10 candidates for governor and a whole bunch of candidates for lieutenant governor, maybe attorney general, and we'll get more about the nature of the races.

But as it is right now, you are first to toss your hat in the ring for lieutenant governor.

Talk about why you made that choice rather than being part of, you know, a great big pack of folks like we had back in 2018 running for governor.

Well, I think a lot of us were trying to figure out what

Governor Evers was going to do.

I mean, Governor Evers is one of the most popular governors in the country, let alone Wisconsin.

And so when he made that announcement, for me, I was like, okay, do I stay in my role as Secretary of State or do I do something else?

Like it just kind of opened up, I think, this whole kind of, you know, other opportunities.

And Pat, I will tell you, I've been traveling the state a lot.

doing town halls and talking to folks about the work we've been doing and it's pretty clear people are fed up.

They're fed up because they're seeing this system that works for corporations and the 1% and well some of them are you know just barely getting by.

I mean I was in Kenosha recently and a single mom who's also a home health care worker has to work two jobs just to say a float and

For me, this work has always been about service.

And so as I started thinking about it and talking to my family and friends, I just was like, look, I think the best role for me at this moment is to help the team that's going to solve some of these critical issues, whether it's health care or affordability.

And the best way I can do that is through the Lieutenant Governor's office.

and the Lieutenant Governor's office in in Wisconsin can play a very interesting and unique role as as a communicator almost communicator and chief while a governor is trying to you know shepherd legislation through and we've definitely seen a wide range of types of lieutenant governor in Wisconsin and we should point out

that they don't run as a ticket.

There's an open primary for lieutenant governor.

And then the winner of that primary is teamed up with the winner of the primary for governor.

So in case people are wondering why, you know, you can announce just for lieutenant governor and not be part of a ticket.

So you would be running.

And theoretically, not knowing who's going to win the gubernatorial primary, and you'd be a running mate with whoever that person is.

And they would say, Well,

Here's Sarah Godlowski.

She's my running mate.

So what are the the qualities that you'd bring to a ticket when it comes time to elect a governor and lieutenant governor in next year's election statewide?

Well, I think there's a few things.

I mean, for starters, we've got to talk about electability.

In 2018, I actually flipped more Trump counties than the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

And I really credit a lot of that and growing up right here in the Chippewa Valley and being able to meet folks where they are to listen and to talk to them.

But of course, Pat, it's not just about winning.

That's critical.

But it's also then about getting things done and something that I always think

about is a quote that former Governor Tony Earl talked to me.

He's like, Sarah, it's never about the position, but it's always about the person.

And for me, this role is about getting things done.

That's what I've done as state treasurer.

We prevented foreclosures.

We've expanded home ownership.

As Secretary of State, we've expanded services so that we can meet people.

you know, we can provide these services more in their local communities and it's that kind of get it done mentality and working with the leadership team to solve these really, really complex issues that Wisconsinites are worried about.

I think the interesting thing about what you've done is that you've been in these positions where

frankly, you're not given much and yet have to make something out of that.

The State Treasurer's Office, again, Republicans were looking to abolish the office.

Secretary of State, they wanted to abolish the office.

They'd removed so many powers from it and yet you find these little nuggets in each of those offices.

Lieutenant Governor, frankly, ain't that much different in terms of, you know, what you're given versus what you do with it is that

Is that a role that you'd see for yourself kind of continuing to play that role from First Treasurer to Secretary of State to Lieutenant Governor?

Well, I think some people would probably call me scrappy Sarah and I again really credit that grit from you know growing up right here and the Chippewa Valley and

I remember the first time when I walked into the state treasurer's office and I share this story, Pat.

There were wires that were hanging down from the ceiling.

They turned off my Wi-Fi and they gave me a pay-as-you-go flip phone as a way for me to communicate to almost 6 million constituents.

And I think the big thing has been they've tried to stop me before or not be successful and I've always proven them wrong.

And so what I'm excited about for Lieutenant Governor is that

This is, I think, a real opportunity to continue this, you know, for me, what's always been about service and the work that is ahead, because we are looking at what's coming down from the Trump administration.

I mean, the big, brutal bill.

paying for that $3.4 trillion, it's Wisconsinites.

The state's going to be responsible to figuring out how are we covering Medicaid?

How are we covering the cuts in food share?

How are we covering the cuts when it comes to renewable energy projects?

It's going to be the state.

And I really look forward to being scrappy and figuring out these solutions that Wisconsinites need in order to live this life of kind of that they've wanted in our great state.

Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godluschi is running for Lieutenant Governor and we'll come back to that campaign in just a moment but because you are serving as Secretary of State and you've served a state treasurer let me ask you about those elections next year and why

Democrats would be wise to put strong candidates in there and not take those offices for granted.

It's one thing to have, like you said, a workhorse like yourself in those roles.

You've built up your name recognition.

People want to see you in those roles.

What's your suggestion for having Democrats not take those roles for granted in the next round of elections?

Well, we have seen our democracy be attacked here in Wisconsin and across the country.

And these roles are written into the Constitution because they provide checks and balances.

They help from the legislature and from other potential elected from doing a power grab.

And when you look at these two offices, the chief financial officer, that's the state treasurer.

I mean, the state treasurer can help manage a $1.4 billion trust fund that helps

finance our public schools, particularly the libraries in your public schools and your media items like technology, which I think is a pretty big thing.

And then you look at the Secretary of State, they serve as almost a chief operating officer.

They're responsible for whether it is records or administrative work, they deal with international affairs.

And so these are roles that do play an important role in our state.

They're an important check and balance.

And we've got to do everything we can to make sure that these seats, I believe, go to Democrats.

We're going to continue to fight for the things that, whether it's investing in our public schools to making sure we have accessible services through the Secretary of State.

Let's go back and just talk about your path prior to.

uh becoming state treasurer and then secretary of state and now candidate for lieutenant governor because uh i'm i'm sure folks haven't heard you know your your your full bio and uh what all took you from the chippewa valley up to uh serving in the first of your constitutional offices

well i was um at the time pat uh working with

startups and small businesses.

And the amount of capital that Wisconsin was getting for small businesses in one day is what Wisconsin was getting or what Silicon Valley was getting in one day is what Wisconsin was getting in an entire year.

And I'm like, this is wrong.

And so looking across the country, a lot of state treasures were helping small businesses.

And so I thought I would reach out to the state treasurer's office, long story short, they don't return my calls because they're trying to get rid.

of the chief financial office.

And I thought that was wrong.

I really didn't know what I was doing, but I started a bipartisan coalition to save the state treasurer's office and talked about the work because, again, it manages a $1.4 billion trust fund that benefits our public schools.

And this was just a power grab by Scott Walker.

And everybody told me there was no way we were going to

you know, succeed in this constitutional amendment.

The voters had made up their minds.

Scott Walker was behind this.

And I'm proud to say that we won with a super majority of the vote and stopped that power grab.

And then the next question was, well, who's going to run for state treasure?

And someone who had a career in finance, I'm like, I would be honored to do this for my state.

Now, I ask you that question to get to this question about running for Lieutenant Governor.

We have had Republican candidates recently in Tim Michaels, in Eric Hovde, and now in Bill Barion, running for Governor, who are trying to go right from a business career into one of these big state constitutional offices, whereas you have served in the treasure role, the Secretary of State role, looking for the Lieutenant Governor role, can you talk a bit about the

value of that experience versus somebody who has not served in any kind of public office running for a position like governor.

Well to me I think what's really important is experience.

in government and getting things done.

You know, you think about if you're hiring a CEO for a healthcare system, you're not gonna necessarily hire somebody who has no idea how Medicaid reimbursement works or how Medicare reimbursement works.

And so it's all of these nuances that then make a good

CEO of a hospital.

And I think that is the same when you think about executives in your government.

You want someone that knows how to work with the legislature.

You want someone that knows how to write bills or how to get things done in the current structure that we're governed.

And so I do think the experience is important.

But I'll share with you, Pat, when I was talking to my sisters about

you know just thinking about my own experience and they're like uh and running for lieutenant governor they joked with me they're like oh my gosh Sarah so you're gonna maybe have three executive offices under their your belt they're like is that some sort of trophy you're going for um and I was like no for me this has always been about service I think service is at the heart of the work we do day in and day out but experience does matter

And you can learn more over at our website, Sarah.

Sarah with an H, sarah4wisconsin.com.

And again, plenty of folks already were at your event.

Alicia was praising you on YouTube.

Ardeth says on Facebook, Scrappy Sarah, we need your help to fix our state.

She can do it.

Sarah Godlowski, great to talk to you.

Thank you so much for the visit.

Well, thanks for having me, Pat.

It's always great to be here.

You bet.

Great seeing you as well.

When we come back, we're going to talk to Todd Alba here on the Civic Media Radio Network.

Matt Nair on air is coming up next from 9 to 11 here across the Civic Media Radio Network, followed by Tom Hartman, followed by this guy here, Todd Alba, of the conveniently named Todd Alba show on this Thursday.

Yes, where, again, you've got a really big shoe today, and then tomorrow, all of the really big shoes will be giving away Brewer's tickets.

Free Ticket Friday is making a comeback.

And don't let this recent little three game skid.

throw you for a loop.

There's still plenty of baseball yet to be played here.

And I

feel it's going to be a good game today.

Pat, I was listening earlier.

I heard you say it's Craig Council's birthday.

What better gift than a loss?

Fly to Yale.

It would be the it would be the best pregame starting at 1245 across the civic media radio network.

What are the people in Wisconsin Rapids the best?

They are absolutely the best we were up there yesterday, as I know you were yesterday morning as well for the 85th anniversary coming up on WFHR.

And yeah, every single person was fantastic.

The people at the station, the people that were there from the community organizations, took people just coming up and saying hi.

So it was a good time.

Have by all.

I want to think that I was single-handedly responsible for the good crowd that you got because of the video that I the video that I put up in the predawn darkness of 5 30 in the morning Standing outside the the radio station.

They're saying I'm first in line for the Todd Alba show coming out there this afternoon

And sure enough, you had the one thing I was noticing that is one of the hazards of live radio was like the group of young ins who are all coming by and just like, are you on the radio right now?

Are you live?

Hey, can I be on the radio with you?

And

somebody shushed him away

and I was

about to put him on the

air.

You probably were, which is exactly why Lauren Melissa could not be fast enough as bouncers to get those kids, get those pesky meddling kids out of the way before they said a naughty word or something.

Although we all know if anybody's going to say a naughty word on the radio, it's going to be the guy with all the radio experience over here, but you've been very worried.

You know what happened that after we got off the air Miss Wisconsin Rapids showed up and we had a nice chat off the air and and I asked her I said I said are you in high school or you go senior?

She goes no, no, I'm in college actually.

I'm like all right And then the some of those same kids that were trying to get on the air they came up and they're like how old are you and she goes she goes she goes I'm pretty old and And

the

kid goes the kid goes what like 23 and she goes no, I'm 20 and they

One of the kids, like 10 years old, goes, you look like you're 23.

Wow.

And then, and I said, how old do you think I am?

Yeah.

And one

of them said, one of them said 57.

And the other one said 60, at least 60.

Oh

my gosh.

He said,

well, 55.

I don't know about the babes.

See, it's the wisdom.

You have the wisdom that comes.

All that, all that gray in that beard is wisdom, boys and girls.

Not age.

By any stretch of the image.

By the

way, I heard your interview with Sarah Galuzki.

That's fantastic.

She is running for Lieutenant Governor.

I would like to announce this morning after traveling around the state, particularly Wisconsin Rapids, I am being encouraged to think about running for Lieutenant Governor.

So that's exactly what I'm doing.

And I believe that if, if I do run for Lieutenant Governor, my campaign slogan will be somebody needs to keep an eye on these people.

That's all it's gonna be Well really because it's a great job You have no constitutional duties other than staying alive and waiting for the governor to either die or leave office Unlike unlike the vice president you don't have to vote in a tie in the state in the state Senate anymore So you just sit around it's a great office.

So I think I think I'd be good at doing nothing

I think you would you would take that office back down to the level of people's expectations

Which is exactly why Sarah Godlowski does nothing other than win and appointments and elections is because she exceeds expectations in the world But you you I think that should be your motto.

I will bring this office down to its expectations

All right, I think I think I'm thinking about it only now see I'm thinking about it

Okay, we we I think we need to keep you here to talk to people like today.

You're talking to a Dan Schaefer from the Recombobulation area who hopefully has recovered now from his free George Webb hamburger and the experience of waiting in line for it

I'm very, very excited.

I believe it was pink.

Who was it?

Somebody was in town in Milwaukee doing a concert, and they mentioned the recubobulation area on their socials.

So I'm very excited

to talk

to Dan about that.

And I think they were talking about the Milwaukee Mitchell Field Airport, but

nonetheless.

And then number two, yes, our own Dan Schaefer braved the elements, the people, the crowds, and pushed his way through the lines in George Webb.

and he had a free hamburger on George Webb Day for the Brewers.

So we'll talk to you and we might get to politics as well.

You know, somehow I don't doubt that you will.

There's been more than a couple of things that can be talked about besides George Webb hamburgers and things like that.

And also, you know, I've...

I talked to John Shelton from Green Bay.