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Frederica Freyberg:
Looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced this week he’s running for reelection to that office, not for governor. Where does this put the crowded race on the Democrats side and the not-so-crowded field of Republican candidates? We check in with our political analysts, Republican Bill McCoshen and Democrat Scot Ross and thanks for being here.

Bill McCoshen:
Thanks for having us.

Frederica Freyberg:
So, Scot, first to you, would it be fair to say that Josh Kaul would have been considered the front runner?

Scot Ross:
Oh, absolutely. He’s a statewide elected official who’s won twice in tough environments. So yeah, he would have been, he would have been a great candidate. He’ll be a great attorney general candidate again. And I believe that if some changes are made in terms of the environment, that he’ll win again. But, you know, Democrats have an embarrassment of riches. They have some really, really good candidates. They have some candidates who are still talking and thinking about it. But, you know, to run against, you know, what I would argue is the front runner in Tom Tiffany, who is, you know, basically an extension of Donald Trump and everything you dislike and fear about Donald Trump is embodied in Tom Tiffany. So but again, it’s about the, it’s about the environment. And I think Democrats have to do some things to change that environment.

Frederica Freyberg:
Bill, what is the reaction on the Republicans’ part to Josh Kaul not running?

Bill McCoshen:
I agree with Scot. I think he would have been the front runner the day he got in. He’s run and won statewide twice before. He’s got a record. He’s got a base, a statewide base. So it’s big news for us that one of the top tier candidates got out of the way. So that leaves Democrats — I think their bench is a little bit short. Right now, the top tier is David Crowley, Milwaukee County executive, Sarah Rodriguez lieutenant governor, and they are waiting to see whether or not former lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes gets in. That would be their top tier. And I feel pretty good about our chances against that.

Frederica Freyberg:
So this leaves Tom Tiffany, you think, who has announced his run in good shape?

Bill McCoshen:
Yeah, there’s no question Tom Tiffany is the frontrunner. I mean he’s a sitting congressman. Congressmen all have districts with 760,000 people. He’s got a base and it’s a very red base. Where he’s less known is southeastern Wisconsin. And as I pointed out, the last time Scot and I were on your show, the deficit for Tom has always been fundraising. He wasn’t very good at it. He’s already raised more than $1 million in the first two weeks in the race, including $250,000 at a single event last week. So he’s going to be our frontrunner. But I think Josh Schoemann is going to stay in the race. Josh is a — you know, he’s got a couple advantages. Josh is a younger man. He’s 24 years younger than Tiffany and he’s got geography on his side. All of the votes in a GOP primary come within 100 miles of where Josh lives.

Frederica Freyberg:
I just want to stay with you a minute, Bill, and ask you your reaction to your former boss, Governor Tommy Thompson, once again saying he’s seriously considering a run.

Bill McCoshen:
I think he’s misunderstood on that. I love Tommy Thompson. I wouldn’t be where I am without him. I think what he really was saying was, if these guys don’t get out of the blocks, I’ll be available. I’ll be in the bullpen warming up, and that would be next spring. And I don’t expect that to happen, but I love — I hope I have half the energy he has when I get to be 83 years old, and I don’t expect him to be a candidate.

Scot Ross:
He’ll be ready there to wish youngster Joe Biden a happy birthday, right? I think they — did you know that they’re born on — basically on the same day?

Bill McCoshen:
Pretty close.

Scot Ross:
Right? Yeah, but the former governor is a year older. I mean, I think the great news about Tom Tiffany being the front runner and he is the front runner, and I expect that he will be their nominee, is that that nationalizes this race because he is so tied to Trump. And, you know, the definition of fascism is an authoritarian political ideology defined by a dictatorial leader, centralized governor, and suppression of opposition. That is part and parcel of everything that has happened in these, you know, what seems like ten years, but is really nine months of Trump being in office. They have control of everything. They have control of the Supreme Court. They have control of Congress. They have control of the executive. And they are running the fascist playbook up and to and including — I watch something on Friday where they were, they were calling the march planned for October 18th, a peaceful march, saying “no kings” as a terrorist outfit. This is, this is not what America is about. And I would say to my Democratic friends, if you don’t start treating fascism like fascism and calling it out, you can’t expect people to see that America is in crisis and that we need to step up and do something about this so that we can stop it, restore the Constitution, restore our civil liberties, and stop things like marauding ICE Gestapo disappearing kids in the middle of the night.

Bill McCoshen:
Nobody on the Dem side has Tiffany’s record. He was elected to local office, to state office, state Assembly and state Senate and now Congress. So he’s eminently qualified. He is a strong, consistent conservative. So is Josh Schoemann. I think we have an embarrassment of riches on our side, and it’s going to play out pretty well.

Frederica Freyberg:
Scot, the one candidate that we’ve mentioned that has not yet entered the race on the Democratic side is former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes. What’s your take on his entry into the race?

Scot Ross:
Well, his supporters tell me that he would be the most experienced, best campaigner to get in the race if he got in the race and that he spent — since he left office, working to restore democracy, protect democracy and lift the lives of others. You know, and I think that, you know, all of the candidates in this race have some claim to that, whether it’s David Crowley or Sarah Rodriguez or Kelda Roys. You know, they all have that claim that they have stood up for democratic values. Again, the question for me is who is going to tell it like it is and step up to this threat that America faces, because I don’t think we can win the race if we’re defined by the feckless politics of Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. You know, what is going on is — it’s unprecedented in American history. And we have to look at it that way, and we have to treat it that way because the people want nothing less than to, than to make sure that the Constitution is being upheld.

Frederica Freyberg:
So, swinging back to the race, Bill, what do you think about how formidable Barnes might be?

Bill McCoshen:
You’ve got to remember, 2022 was one of the best midterms for Democrats since Bill Clinton was in the White House in 1998, and Mandela Barnes lost. This was the first election, statewide election post Dobbs. He’s one of the few statewide Democrats to lose that night. So we’re not afraid of Mandela Barnes being their candidate. And to you — if you think Tom Tiffany is too conservative, is he more conservative than Ron Johnson who beat Mandela Barnes? I don’t think so.

Scot Ross:
I mean the thing is that Schumer left Mandela Barnes high and dry for three and a half weeks after the primary where there were no TV ads from DC coming for Barnes. You know, you know, I don’t want to relitigate that campaign but if you, if you allow your opponent to — if you allow your opponent to define you, you’re in a lot of trouble.

Bill McCoshen:
No question.

Scot Ross:
And that’s what happened in that race. I think it was, you know, again, it was a — it was a tough loss for sure, but it was one that’s explainable beyond Mandela’s.

Bill McCoshen:
The last statewide candidate in Wisconsin that came back from a statewide loss and won statewide is Bob Kasten in 1980. It’s been a long, long time.

Frederica Freyberg:
Indeed.

Scot Ross:
Oh, that’s a deep cut. Nice.

Frederica Freyberg:
I wanted to ask you both about the government shutdown and which party you think goes down as being blamed for it, and whether or not that has any kind of political legs.

Bill McCoshen:
It will. I mean, next week is payday for a lot of federal employees, and it needs to get solved. If Republicans think they’re not going to get blamed for this ultimately, they’re in charge. And I understand the filibuster rule. Frankly, I would do away with the filibuster if I were John Thune, and I would pass the C.R. today. I think that’s their best move. And I would be ready with a health care reform bill in the next two weeks.

Scot Ross:
I mean, yeah, I think — Bill’s right. You know, the Republicans are in charge of things and the Republicans own this. But again, let’s see what’s you know, again, back to my point too: centralization of government. On Friday, we started to see illegal firings of union and nonunion employees in federal government. Those employees will be replaced by Trump partisans. And again, remember all this — a part of this is about — it’s taken the ability of the House to vote to release the Epstein files. They’re one vote short. You know, Johnson won’t appoint, you know, won’t sit a congressperson who won a special election so that that deciding vote will make this happen. So again, it’s all about this — it’s about protecting dear leader and it’s about consolidating power.

Frederica Freyberg:
We need to leave it there. Scot Ross, Bill McCoshen, thank you very much.

Scot Ross:
Thank you.