Hey Matt Rothschild here host to the Wisconsin Ford Podcast all across the Civic Media
Radio Network and at civicmedia.us for the next several episodes of the Wisconsin Ford
Podcast.
I'm going to be interviewing Democratic candidates for governor.
Just me now is Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley welcome to the Wisconsin Ford
Podcast.
Well thank you for having me such a pleasure to be on with you.
Well it's great to see you and to hear from you it's been a long time since I've been
able to have that opportunity.
I've been interviewing all the candidates as I mentioned to you before we went on the
air and I started every interview the same way which is the obvious way why do you want
to be governor?
Great question.
First I think it's important to acknowledge that governor Tony Evers has been the
quiet calm strength that we have needed here in the state of Wisconsin when I think
about getting us to the pandemic you know being on the front lines helping to protect democracy
but also helping to take the most vulnerable citizens here in the state of Wisconsin from
a lot of harm particularly from the Republican control legislature and so and that must
have been so hard dealing with those folks.
I mean as a person who served in the state legislature is very hard you know of trying
to work with a particular party who just want to obstruct and stop everything that you
want to put in place and so you know I'm a husband I'm a father the county executive
and lifelong Wisconsin and honestly I'm running for governor because I believe in the state
I believe that there's so much that we can do by coming to the table together but I also
have a track record of being able to deliver results and right now you know we are in an
affordability crisis.
Absolutely.
You know rents is going up housing prices are going up groceries are going up utilities
are going up and so we all recognize that a lot of the things that are happening right
now in in everybody's world is because of the bad policies that are coming out of Washington
DC and it's unfortunate that we have you know Republicans who are willing to carry his
water Trump's water versus carrying the concerns of you know those that they are elected to
represent but I truly believe it that doesn't mean that we can't rise and do things for
Wisconsin nights and as a person who has struggled you know I was evicted you know three times
before I graduated high school I know that pain and so I want to make sure that no child
has to go through that again and so I'm running for governor to make sure that when the
tide rise all the boats rise and so we can have health care that's affordable and accessible
we can build you know the child care centers that are accessible in rural communities but
also affordable so people don't have to go into debt just to send their child to daycare
or early childhood center you know I think that we need to be building family sustaining
union jobs in every corner of the state of Wisconsin while also making sure that we
fully fund our public school system so our our young people are not just ready for the
jobs of today but ready for opportunities for tomorrow and when I look at how there are
many politicians who like to focus on distractions divisions and culture wars in Milwaukee County
I have been able to deliver results that improve the lives of everyone I represent 19 different
cities and villages in Milwaukee County close to a million people live in Milwaukee County
which is a six of our entire states population and we've built affordable housing for our seniors
for working families people with disabilities we've reduced our overdose deaths about 30%
in just one year working with our partners on the ground we've reduced our carbon emissions
in half we've made government more accessible all while delivering the largest property tax
cut in our county's history and these aren't democratic or republican issues these are issues
that every Wisconsin I no matter what letter is behind your name or if you don't care about
with politics these affect your everyday lives I think we have a great opportunity to galvanize
the base bring those lost voices young voices independence back into the fold build the type
of democratic party that we need to make sure that when the tide rise all the boats rise you said
you love Wisconsin where is that love of Wisconsin come from you know I was born and raised here
and you know my father you know passed down many traditions that he got from his grandfather and so
you know my dad took me all across the state to go fishing going to be for damn or when we go
duck hunting going to Lake Winnecani and you know I had a teacher my first great teacher who took
me to my first farm who family had a dairy farm and so you know we have a very unique personality
here in Wisconsin and I know we always talk about Midwest nice but Wisconsin nice is much better
that's for sure and it's a real thing it is a real thing I think I think our workforce is also
second to none you mentioned the affordability crisis what what can you do as governor to solve
that for people I mean you've got the health care you've got groceries you've got you know housing
either mortgage or rent is just astronomical you got out of state hedge funds buying up housing
in Milwaukee and all of other places in Wisconsin so it's just so hard for people to to pay for a
decent place to live you know when I when I take an account of what we have done in in Milwaukee
County was very unique about their projects the seven projects that we have that are either
underway or currently constructed they all happen in suburban communities communities that you
know before this administration my administration said not in my backyard but I remember a quote
one of my favorite quotes Teddy Roosevelt no one cares what you know until they know how much you care
and so we went into those specific communities and was able to work with them on building affordable
housing units that work for them but we had to identify the developers we had to identify you
know what needed to come from the county what needed to come from the phase what we could use from our
American Rescue Plan Act dollars and other lenders and so we realized that we have to make sure that
we right size each solution to fit each community right because there isn't a one size fits all
solution particularly when it comes down to housing because what works in Milwaukee may not work in
Marinette may not work in Barron may not work in O'Claire lacrosse and so we we have to make sure
that we bring those trusted experts those who are directly impacted to be a part of the table in
order to bring the solutions that we need to see you've also mentioned union jobs we need higher
wages in the state yes are you for repealing act 10 and what would you set the minimum wage yet
well we absolutely need to to raise the minimum wage I was in I was visiting one of my wife's
friends in in Arizona a born and raised in the Wisconsin area and I asked her why she hasn't
moved back because she was complaining about there being a shortage of jobs there they have more
people in the Phoenix area than they have jobs and I said well don't you just come on back and she
said well your minimum wage is too low and so when you think about other Republican states across
the country with a higher minimum wage than we do in Wisconsin we absolutely need to change that
and as a you know I am union made so my father is a retired electrician and you know always joke
that you get somebody as nutritious my father and how does my mom you put those things together this
is the spark that you get and so we need to make sure that there is collective bargaining
here in the state of Wisconsin and so I believe that act 10 should be repealed and that we need to
make sure that all of the wages that people are paying are getting paid excuse me are living
wages no one who was working a full-time job should have to rely on government assistance to help
them out in order to survive in our state I mean $7.25 an hour it's just a joke oh that absolutely
is a joke my first job was in 2000 excuse me 2000 and 2001 and I was going to get to my freshman
year of high school and at the age of 14 I made $7.00 an hour and you take into account with
this the minimum wage was then it was about 5.25 and so in the past 20 years you know more than 20
years our minimum wage the federal minimum wage is only raised by two dollars and we it's not just
taking a look at the minimum wage but how do we look at our federal poverty level as well that
hasn't really changed to make sure that the benefit cliffs that that people have been facing aren't
there because we know right now with the rate of inflation what we're seeing with these terrible
policies happening at the federal level that the costs that are increasing at an alarming rate
right now that people just can't keep up another issue you talk about on your website is a modernizing
criminal justice policy yeah and I know you worked on that at the state legislature and I admire
you for doing that what are some of the proposals to do that well there's a lot that we can do you
know as as the county executive in Milwaukee we're the only county that is responsible not just
for a jail with our shares being responsible for the jail but we also have a house of corrections
which we rename the community reintegration center and in our prison system is supposedly
to be there to help people reintegrate back into society and so there are a lot of individuals
who are there on low level crimes that we need to be taking a look at to see if they can return
home in order to save more dollars but how do we also make sure that we're providing them with
the skillsets to make sure that once they do return home they have the opportunity to live in a
decent home that they can have access to some type of health care and insurance making sure they
have access to employment opportunities so how do we help to upskill them throughout their time
in our care and making sure that we protect them in their future and so when it comes down to
criminal justice reform there's so much that we need to do first and foremost starting with
the decriminalization of marijuana how many individuals who are currently serving prison time
because of low level drug offenses quite frankly is mind-boggling to me and you know I remember in
the state legislature when you had folks like Grover Norquist who were coming to the state
legislature here in the state of Wisconsin promoting us to actually focus on criminal justice reform
because there are Republican states who are doing much better than we are right here
yeah when he's the good guy you know we're doing well that we're falling behind there you know
it's not too often where I'm saying I'm I'm with Grover right you mentioned that you've been
able to cut carbon emissions by almost 50 percent I think if we are so it's 48 percent and
Milwaukee County can you replicate that as governor we absolutely need to replicate that and I
think that we can replicate that and as we look at you know as we rebuild infrastructure
renovate infrastructure build new infrastructure there's so much that we can put in place
as it relates to reducing our carbon emissions what more can we do with wind and solar to help
provide the necessary energy that we need but it's also about putting a stake in the ground and as
we continue to have conversations about you know different industries that are moving into the
the Wisconsin area we have to make sure that we protect our environment Lake Michigan the great
lakes is the greatest asset that we have here in the state of Wisconsin and we need that asset
but it's important that we protect that asset for future generations and so when I look at all
the different types of projects that we can implement is really about how do we make sure that we
can reduce our carbon emissions and that needs to be a part of the planning process from the very
beginning you know as governor you got to get a budget passed I know you did budgets at the county
you got to do budget balance budgets at the county um there was a controversy this time around a
lot of folks who were advocates of public school funding didn't think the budget went far enough
and and we're advocating it just a total veto I'm wondering what your view is of that possibility
of Republicans still hold up the majority in both houses here at the state capital which they
may or may not I mean let's let's just be honest the Republicans have been the ones with
has been defunding our k-12 education system and it's the reason why so many school districts
across the entire state almost every year has had to go to referendum to make sure that their
teachers their children have accesses to the resources and skill sets that they need in order
for them to thrive and let's just let's just call it what it is the the state of Wisconsin broke
its promise there was a moment I think it went to late 90s early 2000s where the state was going to
fund all of our public school systems to the tune of two thirds right well what happened to that
right and they're not just what our public education system but now being as county executive and
and how that affects shared revenue and us being able to have enough you know public safety or
be able to invest in housing and transportation garbage pickup and the themes that local elected
officials deal with a everyday basis that affect the the the the the lives of everyday citizens and so
we absolutely need to get back to a point where we can fully fund our public education system
and i'm a product of public schools marquee public schools all three of my daughters attend
public schools and i want to make sure that every child who is attending a public schools is
afforded the same opportunities that we're giving to folks like yourself in my opinion who are you
on vultures uh a lot of critics uh who are proponents of the public education system say the
voucher system is just drained money from public education you know and i know that there's a lot
of people who say we need to get rid of you know the voucher system and i think that until we can
fully put up fun our public schools systems it's a hard conversation for us to have because our
public school systems currently do not have the capacity to bring on any any any family that is
utilizing the voucher system and so i truly believe that any school who is receiving dollars
public dollars of for any child needs to be transparent they need to be held accountable
and they need to be held to the same standards as our public schools to make sure there's
the equal playing they can't just cream take the cream of the crop and get rid of anybody they want
to i mean we can't continue to do that i mean we've seen you know individuals um across this state
who you know they may start in a voucher system and a private system and then all of a sudden
after the third school uh the third Friday that count then they're back into that public schools
and it's unfortunate that you know the private school systems they will receive those payments
you know in real time where the public school system receives those payments the year after
and so the next year you know those public schools aren't even equipped with enough resources
to actually take care of those children and we have to make sure that we stop that gap because too
many kids are falling through the cracks what about the UW system and funding of that system and also
the two-year campuses that seem to be shutting down is that a good thing is that a bad thing
what would you do as governor well anytime we're seeing any level you know our praise particularly
when it comes down our our tech colleges and university systems for or two years seeing any of
these systems closed we got to take a hard look at the mirror and see what are we doing to make
sure that our young people have a better pipeline to actually enter these systems and so
you know and i'm one of those students where it took me a while to graduate i just actually went
back to school i'm and graduated this past December 2024 something that i promised my mother
congratulations thank you for that and so i am a product of the UW system and i think it's
extremely important that folks realize that yes we've seen a record increase in the UW systems
within this past budget but if you look at the past decade they have been hammered and they have
not had enough money to actually make sure that they can provide the level of education for
particularly in-state students and we've also seen the rate of increase when it comes down to
to to to tuition and so we have to provide relief particularly for Wisconsin families making
sure they have a much better pipeline to go into our UW systems but i would be the first to say
i know colleges and for everyone and if there are ways that we can help them on their their
road to prosperity when it comes down to being an entrepreneur or entering a trade that's
something where we should focus on but we used to have a world class UW system and that has fallen
off and quite frankly we've seen that under the under the two-delizent guidance of Scott Walker
and we have to make sure that we repair the damage that has been done in the past decade and a half
and it used to be totally affordable and now it takes a bite out of people i mean it is no longer
affordable but what is affordable right now right i mean you look at child care it is it is
cheaper to go to UW system than it is to send our children even to a to a early child education
center so there's a lot that we have to take a look at talk a little bit more about child care
what would you do on that well we have to make sure that it is accessible and and quite frankly
affordable you know i my youngest daughter is six years old and you know two years ago we
we we were able to finally get her into school and we had to stop paying for we had the
opportunity to stop paying for child care but at that at that time we were spending more on child
care than we were on my mortgage right and and and and that's acid nine right that's a hedge
scratcher for for many of us and so we need the the ability to provide a level i would love to see
a universal child care here in the state of Wisconsin i truly believe that you know early child
education provides a greater foundation of learning for every student in the state of Wisconsin
when they especially when they enter the public school systems and when you have the opportunity
to help those young people out you know birth to through our diverse the three programs through
early childhood education we're setting them up for success even more and and and we can actually
follow them a little bit and so how do we make sure that our child care centers k-12 systems as
well as our UW systems are all interconnected to make sure that we're creating that pipeline our
children's are well you're singing to the choir here because my wife was a head start nurse for
a long time oh man let's talk about a couple other statewide issues gerrymandering was an issue
that i've been involved in a long time what's the answer to that independent redistricting council
you know that's something that that you know i've always been in favor with and we push for
during my time in the state assembly and folks should be picking their representatives representatives
should never be picking their voters and i think one thing that we can take a hard look at
particularly in a state of Wisconsin or that we know has been used by the republican party for a
very long time is prison gerrymandering talk about that well well you know prison gerrymandering is
when they utilize the prison to be able to count the individuals within that facility towards
that particular district at the prison is within but when you think about the the amount of
resources that come to our state from the federal government those individuals when they're
released are not staying in that particular community they're going to go back to wherever they
they they originated from and a lot of the times many times that comes back they may come back to
Milwaukee County and or the five three two six zip code one of the highest incarcerated zip codes
in the entire country zip code that i was born and raised in and so you know eliminating that will
actually create an even plan even plan field when it comes down to the resources but just making
sure that you know there is one person one vote and so this doesn't allow for folks to dilute
the amount of votes that is that they have within their particular community but again it allows
the resources to be allocated and directed to the communities that absolutely need.
Yeah so if if you're a citizen in Milwaukee you're convicted of a crime you're sent to
Wapan your county is living in Wapan for 10 years yes even though you're coming back to Milwaukee
you're in a half correct correct so Wapan gets more resources than Milwaukee and that's crazy yeah
I mean and it's not to say that you know these communities don't need those resources and I look at
you know I know folks look at Milwaukee it's like oh this is the big city the big county you know
and people like to you know he calls the economic engine of the state but we do this in partnership
we don't do this in Asala we don't do this alone you know in our in our own you know comfort zone
we have to work with communities all across this state if we want to to fulfill our state's model
and that's move forward. Another issue is money and politics you're in the business of raising money
now must be kind of a headache but it's crazy the way the Walker administration ruined our
campaign finance laws are let super rich people and corporations spend unlimited amounts of money
to tell you who to vote for and who not to vote for what's the remedy for that. Well first and
foremost you got to get rid of citizens united you know my first start in politics was working for a
name that many of us haven't heard in a long time and I used to be a organizer for the United
States Senator Russ Feingold who worked with worked across the aisle with John McCain to put in
limits to basically say we need to take money out of politics and if we're going to spend money you
need to know exactly who's spending this money and right now it's this is the wild wild west
you know you give to candidates and you know who they are but you have all these independent
expenditures and packs where people can just hide money and give money to folks that they need
to want they want to give money to and what's unfortunate is that it is money now controlling our
politics versus the people who are actually voting for these individuals and so I will I want to see
money out of politics but we also can't be behind a hate ball as well and so when you see you know
you know we have to play the cars that is in our hands that we are being dealt and so you know
we shouldn't be behind the eight ball we see that Republicans are willing to do what they need to
do in order to win these races and I and I think that as Democrats we have to take advantage of
the game that they're playing in order for us to win what's moved to an uncomfortable subject for
me because I hate raising his name Donald Trump let's talk about Trump for a second and your
opening video on your website you and when you announced you mentioned the Trump and his chaos
and his cruelty yeah what's your take on what he's doing to our country he's just throwing it you
know um Donald Trump and and and and and literally this this this army of Republicans who are
abdicating this their responsibilities to him is absolutely destroying this this this this economy
they're destroying public institutions that so many people have relied on but the scariest part
is how they're destroying trust in government you know we are there to help society we put in laws
that we want to make sure that we can prosper as a community and as a country and unfortunately it
seems as if he only cares about his bottom line and and making sure that he can push his agenda through
his bottom line's doing well too well I mean there's and for me it's like how is this not a problem
right you know and it's not just the fact that he's put his own cronies up there to be able to
protect himself but you have people who are elected to to be the checks and ballots on whoever's
in the executive's office who have literally said he has the he has the right to do whatever he wants to
do and he's put people in on a supreme court who has who has also given him full immunity to do a
lot of the things that he is doing and so we we should all be concerned as far as what we're seeing
happening with this particular administration and one of the reasons why running for governors
because governors are the ones on the front lines who are going to be stopping a lot of these
bad policies are going to be inflicted on communities right here in the state of Wisconsin and so
we all have to wake up we all have to pay attention and so whether you're a Democrat Republican or
independent or a person who don't give a care about politics we have to make sure that this
government is here for the long term to protect the most vulnerable people and make sure that we
have the safety that we need to have yeah if they don't care about politics politics cares about them
they'll be on the receiving end day you write about that you know if you're governor and you know
Trump has his ice patrol people all over Wisconsin cooperating or working with some counties
and county sheriffs here in the state what's your response to that how do you handle what ice is
doing you fight back you know the fact that we are bring again you know ice or pseudo military
national guards to occupy communities across this entire country this lets you know that freedom
is on the brink you know and the fact that I was in Washington DC not too long ago and I'm watching
you know young men and women walking around in their fatigues they weren't trained to be officers
they weren't trained to be with the deal with the public they were trained to protect this country
from violence they were trained to protect you know to to to be in war right and now we're saying
that these individuals because our police department is clearly that's what he's saying doesn't have
uh the knowledge or the skill set to do what needs to be done and so I will always fight back
against any level of tyranny uh or anything that Donald Trump feels that he you know because if
he if Donald Trump really cared about these communities and wanted to make him safer how come he
hasn't called a meeting how come he hasn't brought us to the table you no one can respect anybody
who comes into your house and tells you how dirty it is and how you need to clean it up and they
don't know anything about you they don't know what issues or what you know what challenges you
are facing and so we need to have people who are in office who who understands the struggle who's
willing to listen to communities on the ground and really help build solutions from the ground up
and not just use uh you know the military or many of these issues to divide and distract from the
real things that are challenging our communities you mentioned the National Guard if your governor
you'll be in charge of the Wisconsin National Guard what would you do if Trump says uh I don't care
what Governor Crowley says I'm gonna take the Wisconsin National Guard either to patrol Wisconsin
or send them to Portland Oregon for God's sake well I would want the entire nation to actually
perk up to your ears and pay attention to the fact that state rights no longer then exists right and
so we as you know if I am the next governor you know we have to band together and it doesn't
matter you know what political party you're on you're you're within or or or who you support
this is a right this is really about protecting our democracy and so we have to make sure
that we're on the front lines and making sure this level of tyranny doesn't continue to trickle
down the fact what we're doing in the state and doesn't affect many cities, towns, villages
and counties all across this state and across this country and so again we would fight like
to make sure that Donald Trump does not get his way. A political campaign kind of question
in the Trump era how do you win in Wisconsin do you get out the base focus on the base more do you
focus on independence and some vanishing sensible moderate Republicans? Well I think it's very clear
that there are folks here in the state of Wisconsin across this country one who has a little
bit of buyers before remorse right seeing what is happening on many of the dairy farms here locally
and seeing how ice has come in and literally ripped families apart how it's affecting our
public school systems and the federal dollars that are coming down and and in health care and
wondering if there's going to be clinics opening and in central Wisconsin and south Houston
Wisconsin and western Wisconsin and so there's a lot that we have to focus on and so
um I asked the question again because I want to make sure I'm hitting it right there
just you know this whole question that the national Democratic pundits are throwing around
do you go for the base or do you try to broaden the town? Well one
Democrats are a big ten anyway I mean let's just let's just talk about it but I think it's
about focusing on the issues that matter most those kitchen table issues right if you look at what
is happening with this national administration they they throw out everything that they can to
distract us from the issues that are that really matter to folks every day it's a new thing you know
how inflation isn't real right now or it's higher 100 Joe Biden than it is under under Trump
it's still high doesn't matter what it is the mortgages are high but he doesn't want to talk
about that so what is he does he decides that he's going to tear down one half of the white house
and build something new to cause a distraction right we see this happening every single day and
we can talk about the Epstein files and how they were deflecting on that now they're going to
put it out but oh by the way let's go ahead and and and and start to investigate democratic
elected officials who may have been tied and so we have to focus on those real issues and that's
what people care about and so being in Milwaukee I am uniquely positioned to bring out more
democratic votes than any other person in this race but I know that we can't leave any stones
unturned as democrats when you think about those lost voices that's that's young people right those
are independence and they have democrat values we just haven't figured out how to energize the base
how to bring a cohesive message because we're all frustrated not just with who's in a white house
and who's occupying that space but also with many of our national democrats and we've seen that
just recently with the with the shutdown deal and not really getting anything out of it
it's knowing that the health care premiums are going to be rising for so many Americans across our
country and so we have to put a real agenda it's not just about fighting back we also got to give
something for people to fight for and that's what we're going to do in this campaign is there anything
you want to say or any question I didn't ask you want to answer well I want folks to know that
I am running to be the governor of all of us and you know I'm the only candidate in this race who
not only have served in the legislature but also have experienced balancing billion dollar budgets
we've had to tackle the issues that mattered most and we've been able to deliver for our community
working under a Trump administration working under Republican control legislature but when it comes
down to building the coalition we can build a necessarily coalition not only the win the governor's
but to make sure that we flip the state Senate flip the state assembly and make sure that we're
putting in policies that's going to allow the rising tide to lift all votes and so you can always
visit my website crawly for wi.com you can learn more about me you can sign up you can volunteer you
can tribute but I want folks to know that I'm running for this race for you it's not about me it's
about you it's about our Wisconsin it's about our future it's about our children well thanks so
much for being my guest on the Wisconsin Ford podcast it's great to be with you again thank you
likewise and thank you for the work that you do consist not your quit well that's going to have
to be it for this episode of the Wisconsin Ford podcast on the civic media radio network I'm Matt
Rothschild I want to thank you for listening I also want to thank my engineer and producer Dom Lee
who's always great to work with and I want to thank sage wild of civic media for giving me this
platform I'll be back in just a day or two with another democratic candidate for governor so stay
tuned for that
