Zac Schultz:
What is the path back to the majority in the Senate for Democrats? Can you win back rural areas, or is it the path through the suburbs?

Melissa Agard:
I would say both. Ultimately, we may hold the minority of seats in the state of Wisconsin, but we know that we hold the majority of the hearts of the people of the state of Wisconsin in the work that we are doing. Again, it's not about whether or not you have an R or a D next to your name. People in Wisconsin do know what it is that they care about. So to me, one of the things that is important that we are doing as a caucus as Democrats in the State Senate in Wisconsin is that we are making ourselves available to the people of our state where they are. Yes, we do need to continue to pay attention to the urban areas and to college towns that have tended to trend a little bit more blue than the rest of the state of Wisconsin, but it is vitally important that we're available to people in the suburbs surrounding Milwaukee and up into the Green Bay corridor. It's also equally important that we're spending time in northern Wisconsin and central Wisconsin because, ultimately, what we have heard is that people want us to be present, they wanna be able to tell us what matters to them, and they wanna see us bringing their stories, bringing forward what it is matters to their families, to the Capitol building and advocating for them. And building those connections, being present, not expecting them to come to us, but us going to them I think will play a big role in being able to move the ball forward so that the people of the state of Wisconsin have adequate representation in the Capitol Building.

Zac Schultz:
Is that more difficult when you don't actually hold seats, either in the assembly or the Senate in a large percentage of the rural parts of the state?

Melissa Agard:
Just because I don't represent a portion of the state of Wisconsin, it doesn't mean that I'm not allowed to go there and set up shop and hear from the people that do live there. And I imagine you're gonna be seeing more of us as the Democrats in the Senate traveling the state of Wisconsin and reaching out to people, asking them to come and share with us what it is that is working and not working for them.

Zac Schultz:
There's a very important special election coming up in the Senate as well. What are your outlooks for the possibility of taking that seat?

Melissa Agard:
As we crunch the data, Governor Evers did not win that Senate district but he came very close. We do anticipate that it will be, again, a spotlight race. It's gonna be the only state legislative race that's on the ballot at this point in time. That's what it appears. And with the suburbs around Milwaukee and the trends that we have seen, we believe that we have a good shot at being able to win that seed and come back with 12.

Zac Schultz:
Are you personally involved in the recruitment of any candidates for that race?

Melissa Agard:
So I've spent quite a bit of time this week on the phone calling potential candidates, talking to folks within communities about who they might know who could use a call, and answering questions for folks who might be considering. To be continued, but I am involved in that. It's important that we as elected officials, especially those of us that have gone through the path of making those decisions and running campaigns, that we're available to people as they are considering whether or not they're gonna take the opportunity to run.

Zac Schultz:
The courts are obviously very important to Wisconsin. There's a very important Supreme Court election coming up that could rebalance the ideological makeup of the court, and that could lead to the path back to the majority in redistricting. How important is the Supreme Court election that's coming up to all of the Democratic priorities that you've talked about?

Melissa Agard:
Absolutely. The Supreme Court election, I think we've heard time and time again, "Oh, this is the most important election of our lifetime." And then there's another one, "No, wait, this one is more important." This is a very important election for the state of Wisconsin, and historically, our spring elections have a smaller turnout associated with them. We do know that because of the split government that we have in Wisconsin and the history of laws being litigated up to the Supreme Court in Wisconsin over the last decade or more that the Supreme Court's makeup really does matter and does affect the everyday lives of the people of the state of Wisconsin. I do anticipate that not just folks in Wisconsin, but people all across our nation are gonna be paying attention to the Supreme Court election.

Zac Schultz:
This is one of the first times that we've actually seen a four-way primary for an open seat where there are two from each ideological camp and there is the statistical possibility that if either Republicans or Democrats dominate turnout in that primary, they could advance both of their preferred candidates. Is that a fear among Democrats that if they don't have the turnout for February, that they could see the two more conservative candidates advance to the general?

Melissa Agard:
Certainly that's something that we need to keep our eyes on, but we do know that in Wisconsin, you don't need to look farther than in November's election, people are passionate. They are paying attention to these races, and the fact that we do have four candidates means, you know, that this is a spotlight for people on both sides of the political aisle, so to speak, in our state. But I very much believe that we're gonna have the best candidate come forward out of the primary and we're not gonna have a problem having two conservatives. I would love to have two more progressive candidates come through, but that's typically not the Wisconsin way. Wisconsin tends to act like there's a knife's edge going through our political threads, and we're gonna be able to see what happens as we continue to build forward. It's clear that all four of these candidates are building strong teams to support the work that they're doing. Judicial races tend to be a little bit different than legislative races, certainly, but I also know that there are people not only in my caucus, not only in the legislature, but folks all across the state of Wisconsin that are getting ready to find their walking shoes and their mittens so they can be out knocking on doors and talking to the people about what matters most to them.