Frederica Freyberg:
As we continue our interviews with the candidates running in the Wisconsin primary election for governor, we start with current Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez. “Here & Now” senior political reporter Zac Schultz with more.

Zac Schultz:
Sara Rodriguez. Thanks for joining us.

Sara Rodriguez:
Thank you so much for having me.

Zac Schultz:
So for voters who don’t know who you are that well, tell us who you are and why you’re running for governor.

Sara Rodriguez:
So I am the current lieutenant governor here in Wisconsin, but I have spent most of my career in health care. I’m actually a nurse by background, and I’ve worked in so many different roles within health care. Whether it’s night shifts in the ER, all the way to being an executive within a health care system and one of my roles as lieutenant governor is that I get to go to all 72 counties, and I have done that every single year that I have been lieutenant governor. And when I talk to people there, they’re telling me the same thing, that they are doing everything right, but they’re feeling squeezed. And whether that’s accessible, affordable health care, cost of housing, cost of child care, we keep raising our taxes to pay for our public schools. I mean, these are the things that people are talking to me about, and these are the things that I would like to be able to address as governor.

Zac Schultz:
Is there a single issue that drives you as a candidate, or perhaps a lane within the Democratic Party that may define you?

Sara Rodriguez:
I think that I have so much experience within health care, which is a complicated space, and we’ve seen what’s happening now in Washington, where they’re taking away the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. So people who are going to get their insurance on the exchange. These are small business owners. These are farmers. These are people who are trying to make a living, and their premiums are going to double, maybe even triple in Wisconsin. And so having somebody who has that expertise in healthcare to be able to do that here in Wisconsin and actually make a demonstrable difference in people’s lives, that’s something that I’m really excited about.

Zac Schultz:
How much money do you think you’re going to need to raise in order to be successful in this primary?

Sara Rodriguez:
So — you know, I’ve been talking about this with so many different people, and it is going to be millions of dollars to be able to be successful in the primary. But I’ve got support all over the state. I’ve got endorsements in all 72 counties. I got the first statewide union endorsement. It’s AFSCME. It’s the public workers, municipal — municipality workers, and was just really proud and honored to be able to get that endorsement and excited about all the support that I’m seeing all across the state.

Zac Schultz:
When it comes to a competitive primary, how do you personally define the difference between negative campaigning versus defining differences between candidates?

Sara Rodriguez:
Well, we’re all going to have to make our arguments to the voters. We’re all going to have to say what we’re bringing to the table and what type of experiences we have that are going to make us good governors. And I would say for myself, I’m one of the only candidates – I am the only candidate in the race – who’s actually been able to flip a district from red to blue. I did that when I was in the Assembly. I’m also somebody who has extensive private industry experience but also has been in elected office. That’s a good balance between those two things. I know what it’s like to work shift work. I know what it’s like to be an executive within a large company and I know what it’s like to be an elected official. You’re going to need all those skills to make sure that you have a governor who’s going to be ready on day one.

Zac Schultz:
When voters are looking at all these candidates, should [they] be thinking more in terms of which candidate maybe has an issue they most closely align to or is it about electability?

Sara Rodriguez:
I think it’s both. I think you can look at the issues for all the different candidates and see if they align with your values, but then we also have to look to the general to see who’s going to be able to get across the finish line in November.

Zac Schultz:
Most of the candidates in this race have connections to either Madison or Milwaukee. What are you doing to reach the rest of the state, rural areas, exurban areas?

Sara Rodriguez:
Yeah, and I actually live in Waukesha County. And so that is not — that is very different than Milwaukee County. But what I am doing in the primary is I am again going to all 72 counties. We are doing listening sessions all across the state because I firmly believe you can’t lead unless you listen. And so that’s how I’m doing my outreach. I’m going to continue to do that tour all across the state, hearing what people want in their governor, hearing what’s going on in their communities, because all politics is local and we need to be able to listen to our constituents.

Zac Schultz:
What impact do you think Donald Trump will have on this election?

Sara Rodriguez:
You know, we see the chaos in Washington right now. And I think when we’re looking at who could possibly be the Republican governor candidate, that’s Tom Tiffany, there is very little daylight between him and Trump. And so if that chaos in Washington could absolutely trickle down into Wisconsin, if somebody is going to be electing Tom Tiffany as governor.

Zac Schultz:
Sara Rodriguez, thanks for your time.

Sara Rodriguez:
Thank you so much for having me.