Zac Schultz:
If you win, then you will be the 22nd vote in the state Senate given the two-thirds majority. That carries some significance when it comes to the abilities of the Senate to carry out some things. Should voters have that in their minds or what are your intentions, I guess, because you would be that vote that would carry that power.

Dan Knodl:
Yeah, I would hope voters to have that in their mind. I will put it in their mind because it is important and if we can talk about it, let's call it the impeachment powers that the Senate would have, which certainly would be tested and see what they are, how significant they are, but I would look to exercise that authority particularly in the judicial system where I think some public officials just are not doing their job. They're not following the law, they're not prosecuting. So I'd go specifically to DAs and judges and this would go to Milwaukee County, specifically, that perhaps should be removed and if the Senate has that authority and the power, I would act upon it. And I think that leads to, again, going back to we need the right people in the prosecutor's office and we should send them more funding and the judicial system, which will send more funding and the correction system, which should get more funding, I'll take that vote in a heartbeat, that we can take that bad element out of the neighborhood and so those neighborhoods can heal and be good, safe communities again, that's really my ultimate goal there and that might be a lever to use to address that.

Zac Schultz:
So is it fair to say with naming names that John Chisholm's job is on the line with potentially this election?

Dan Knodl:
Yes and I've had statements before calling for his resignation and when we see the revolving door, that's what comes through in Milwaukee and we see the court cases, we see the aftermath of people getting out with low bail specifically and causing even more harm. That's a problem and that goes to the prosecutor.

Zac Schultz:
When you talked about the perhaps untested nature of some of the impeachment powers that are out there, there are some people that interpret that very broadly and some much more narrowly in terms of what acts could actually qualify for impeachment or if it's simply, if the vote is for impeachment or not. Do you think that almost any action that the Senate would take in that area would likely end up in court?

Dan Knodl:
I think we have to be honest and so that is likely. I have requests out right now from people who are more constitutionally scholarly than I am to tell me, well, give me an opinion on what this authority might provide and but we won't really know it. It's gonna come down to testing it and if I'm not there, well then we don't even have that opportunity if we end up at 21 Republican Senators versus 22. So it's a open-ended question for sure.

Zac Schultz:
So I just wanna run this extra point by you in this topic. I've seen some people say that constitutional officers, all the way up to the governor, may possibly fall under this impeachment power, others say that the language of the law does not reference and constitutional officers are completely different than other people that may clearly fall under impeachment. What's your thought on that?

Dan Knodl:
Yeah, I think you hit it, that's the question and we may not know the answer unless we test that and use that authority and see how it shakes out. But I would initially look at it that really could involve any elected official, particularly elected officials, government officials as well, appointed, so I view it initially as all encompassing but that's what we'll see if we have that opportunity.

Zac Schultz:
Would you vote to impeach Governor Evers?

Dan Knodl:
I can't say that at this point. Right now I'm looking to work with Governor Evers and we have had success so I don't see a need. If we can work together and we're making policy decisions together, then that is working, that's governing and so we have divided government. It is what it is. I may have people in the Republican Party that don't want to admit that but that's the fact and I'll play with the cards that are dealt. Governor Evers is the governor. He's gonna be the governor for four years. I don't see impeachment on the radar screen and all with him, I wanna accomplish things with Governor Evers and we can, and we have so the budget processes is that first step.