Frederica Freyberg:
"When it comes to elections, Wisconsin is the land of the nail-biter." Those words from our next guest, state Democratic Party Chair, Ben Wikler. He's heading off to the state party convention this weekend in Milwaukee. We spoke to the state Republican Party chair last month, ahead of that convention. Ben Wikler joins us now. Thanks a lot for being here.

Ben Wikler:
Great to be with you.

Frederica Freyberg:
So as you head into your party convention, what are the stakes in this upcoming election up and down the ballot?

Ben Wikler:
This election really is a hinge moment that will swing one way or the other in the fight for freedom, for the freedom to make our own decisions about our own bodies, get the healthcare that we need in our state. The freedom of the people to choose their leaders as opposed to people overturning elections. And the freedom to get a family supporting job, be able to organize for representation in a workplace, build an economy that works for everyone. As against from the Republican MAGA politicians from Trump down to the state Legislature over and over, attempts to ban abortion, attempts to shred democracy, and overturn elections where the people have made one decision, and they want to throw that decision out. And on the right from the Republican side of the aisle, we're seeing attempt after attempt to give massive tax cuts for the ultra wealthy, and then stick the middle class with the bill. We think we should be bringing down costs for the middle class and the wealthy should pay their fair share. Those are the stakes in this election, and you see it at every level of the election. And Wisconsin specifically will tilt the entire country. So it really could not be a more consequential moment for American democracy, and for voters in Wisconsin,

Frederica Freyberg:
In Wisconsin, polls indeed do show a nail-biter between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. How do you think Trump's 34 felony count conviction plays even as he is massively fundraising off it?

Ben Wikler:
Trump's 34 felony convictions underscore the threat that he poses to voters who want to be able to make their own decisions about the kind of country we should be. Trump cheated. He broke the law, and then broke the law to cover up his law breaking in order to get into the White House in the first place. Then when he was in office, he tried to extort a U.S. ally to make up attacks against Joe Biden. Then he lost the election. Again, oversaw criminal conspiracy to overturn the election. We just saw indictments this week in Wisconsin, and now he wants to get back into the White House in order to, as he puts it, "Become retribution to exact his revenge on the people he perceives as his enemies." And frankly, anyone who voted against him before, anyone who's concerned about the idea that he should have total immunity, and total power, you might be on his enemies list. This is not a comfortable situation for democracy. And the felony convictions underscore that he will do anything, break any law in order to grab what he wants, even if the public does not want to give it to him.

Frederica Freyberg:
On the other hand, how does Joe Biden overcome low approval ratings, and the apparent blame for inflation?

Ben Wikler:
What's striking about this election is that the more voters learn about what Trump has planned for the country, the more they support Joe Biden. And the more they know about Joe Biden's accomplishments, and what he has planned for the next term, the more they support Joe Biden. So the more information we can get out to people, the more we can communicate in ways that break through the noise and are memorable, and connect with people's deepest values, the better off Joe Biden, and Democrats up and down the ballot will be. And that is the job of every volunteer of the campaigns of voters who believe that it's important to choose someone who will bring decency, and continue to bring integrity, and a focus on working Wisconsin voters to the next term.

Frederica Freyberg:
How is your base feeling about the president's executive order effectively shutting the borders in the case of reaching a cap on migrant crossings?

Ben Wikler:
There's a lot of concern from a huge swath of Americans about the situation at the border. And what most Americans want is what people have been advocating for for years, which is a solution that involves securing the border and creating pathways for legal immigration, a pathway to citizenship for folks that have been here following the law, paying taxes. And there was actually a tough and fair border security bill agreed to by Democrats and Republicans that Trump shot down. So this is a far cry from an actual legislative solution that Trump refused to allow Republicans to vote for, but it's President Biden working to do something that is within, potentially within his reach to do while he advocates for more long-term solution to this crisis. This system, the situation we have right now, it doesn't work for anyone, and Americans deserve better. They deserve a bipartisan agreement that can ensure that we have a safe and orderly system, and can address the crisis of the border, and the humanitarian crisis associated with it, and ensure that people who are are here to build a brighter tomorrow, have a legal pathway to follow the American dream.

Frederica Freyberg:
Now, abortion figures prominently in your fighting for our freedoms platform. How salient though is that issue for Wisconsin voters who now have access to abortion?

Ben Wikler:
The abortion ban that was passed in 1849, and loomed over the state as the court cases began right here when every abortion provider in Wisconsin stopped providing care after the Dobbs decision. That is in very recent memory for Wisconsinites, and many Wisconsinites know someone personally who is directly affected by that abortion ban, we're one bad election away from an abortion ban coming back into place. Whether it's Trump with Project 2025, his plan to create a defacto abortion ban even without passing a law or the kinds of national abortion bans that Mike Johnson would pass, probably with help from people like Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil, if they go back to the U.S. House. All the way to our state, where Republicans in our state Legislature have been supporting and supported by the most, not just anti-abortion, but anti contraception extreme groups. And we know that there's an anti-abortion extremist running for Supreme Court in 2025, Brad Schimel. So this is very real, and the threat has felt very personally to voters. It might not be what you think about every day when you wake up, but what we found over and over is that, when you have a conversation with someone at your front door or with a friend who's reaching out to talk to you about the campaign, it's an uncrossable line. The idea that a politician would invade your family's private choices about medical care that people should be making their own decisions about. That's not something that Wisconsinites are ready to accept.

Frederica Freyberg:
What is your party's message to Black and Hispanic voters whose support may not be ironclad for the Democrats?

Ben Wikler:
I think the key thing for Democrats to do is show up, listen to people, and then act on what they're hearing. And one thing we're hearing right now really clearly is that people are so frustrated by the cost of groceries, by the cost of gas, and that's why President Biden has a laser focus on bringing down costs for the middle class. He's tackled some of the biggest special interests in the country. Drug companies. Pharmaceutical companies basically ran Washington, D.C. until he and Tammy Baldwin, and other Democrats took the fight to them. They brought down the cost of insulin to $35 a month. They want to finish the job with other drugs, and for people who are not on Medicare as well. There's so much more to do, but it requires a willingness to take on the wealthiest special interest in our country. And what you see with Donald Trump, with oil companies, he is telling them they can have whatever they want if they raise a billion dollars for his campaign, and we need to reduce oil company price gouging. That's what Tammy Baldwin has just been calling for, not hand over the store to the oil companies to raise prices however much they want. So that's, that's step one. But step two is making sure that that people's whole range of concerns around public safety, around democracy, around voting rights, that all these things are both heard, and that Democrats are showing that we are fighting and trying, even though we have so much more to deliver, if we have a second term, if we have a Democratic trifecta, there's a ton we can get done, and Republicans want to take those things away.

Frederica Freyberg:
On the U.S. Senate race, when we spoke to Brian Schimming, he said that "Tammy Baldwin's numbers collapsed after a tough opponent got in the race." That being Eric Hovde. What do you say to that?

Ben Wikler:
I think it's very clear that Eric Hovde jumped in thinking that he could buy this senate seat. This is someone who's been out in California making a giant fortune from running a multi-billion dollar bank, who was voted one of Orange County, California's most influential citizens three years in a row. And he launched his senate race, and then started buying millions of dollars of TV ads. And the polls did tighten. Now, in more recent polls, Senator Baldwin has been on offense, and laying out her story and her lead has grown, but we should not take this race for granted. It's very clear. Wisconsin is an evenly divided state, and for every Democrat running at every level, you have to take very seriously the work needed to be done. I have confidence in Senator Baldwin's campaign because she is a fighter. She does that work, and she will never stop fighting for Wisconsinites no matter what comes at her. But no one should sleep on the Senate race. Anyone who wants to reelect Tammy Baldwin should donate, should volunteer and get involved.

Frederica Freyberg:
In the congressional races, your national party committee is committing to the 1st District with Peter Barca running against incumbent Bryan Steil. Why is that district in play?

Ben Wikler:
The 1st Congressional District, like the 3rd, which has a primary on August 13. So it's you know, not yet in the general election zone, but it's only won by Donald Trump by 2.4 percentage points. So that's a small margin of victory. And frankly, Trump, his performance in 2020 with a fully armed as an incumbent President before January 6, before Dobbs. That may be the high water mark. We have a chance there to flip a seat with a group of people who as we saw in the Supreme Court race, absolutely oppose attempts to overturn elections, and attempts to ban abortion. So Peter Barca has has been an extraordinary public servant, a long track record, deeply known and beloved in the district. Bryan Steil has sided with the MAGA extremists in Congress over and over and over. That's a contrast that really leads to a Democratic victory. And right now, if Republicans lose more than a couple of House seats, they lose the majority

Frederica Freyberg:
With new legislative maps, Brian Schimming says, "Democrats are going to have to find another excuse for losing." What do you say to that?

Ben Wikler:
I think with new legislative maps, Democrats have an opportunity to allow the majority to choose the majority in our state Legislature. And if Republicans get the majority of the votes, they'll get the majority. If Democrats do, they will. That's a change because for a long time Republicans have been hiding against this giant wall built by the gerrymandered maps. And so in 2012 and 2018 when Republicans lost the majority by a lot, they still had most of the seats. This time it's actually accountability for what Republicans have done, and what they've failed to do. Failed to fund public education. Failed to expand Medicaid, and provide health care to Wisconsinites. Failed to put protections for abortion care into the state, into the law in the state of Wisconsin. And a chance to do the things that Democrats, and most Wisconsinites have been clamoring for. We're ready for this fight. And in every corner of Wisconsin, I think we're gonna see patches of blue.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Ben Wikler. Thanks very much.

Ben Wikler:
Thanks so much for having me on.