Here & Now

Newly Elected Leader Hintz Talks Next Steps For Democrats

Frederica Freyberg:

A big week for Governor Walker and a change for Democrats in one chamber of the legislature. The Assembly’s new Minority Leader is Gordon Hintz, Democrat from Oshkosh. He joins us from his district. Thanks for doing so.

Gordon Hintz:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

Before we go, we should say we asked Republican leadership to also join us tonight and they declined. But what is your response to Governor Walker’s budget and the vetoes he made? What stands out for you?

Gordon Hintz:

Well, it’s one of disappointment and really missed opportunities. The reality is the biggest challenge going into the budget, actually the last three budgets, is coming up with a long-term, sustainable funding solution to our transportation infrastructure. And once again, the governor and the Republican majority have punted resulting in delayed projects, crumbling roads, increasing costs to taxpayers and probably a budget in the next two years that'll be even harder to fix.

Frederica Freyberg:

As for your new position as minority leader taking over from Peter Barca, you’ve said the Democrats in the Assembly are not united. Why aren’t they?

Gordon Hintz:

Well, I think it’s been a challenging six years, just, you know, with what’s happened to Democrats nationally and certainly in Wisconsin under Governor Walker. We’ve had the most partisan redistricting maps. We’ve had changes to campaign finance law that’s really made it difficult for us to be as competitive. But we’re at a time where this is really about looking forward and figuring how we can best get the democratic message around the state so we can be competitive. And make sure the 2018 election cycle is one where we pick up seats and change the direction that Wisconsin has gone in the last few years.

Frederica Freyberg:

How do you do that? How do you pull out of the hole of that overwhelming GOP majority?

Gordon Hintz:

Well, I mean that's really the challenge. I mean part of it is by making sure all 35 of our members are invested in what we need to do to be successful. Serving in the legislature is not an easy job. We all have obligations with different districts, different constituencies. But you know, Democrats despite their diverse opinions, really unite around the values of opportunity, fairness, community and building off those shared values. And making sure not only that we’re holding Governor Walker and the Republicans accountable for their decisions but we’re offering an alternative vision about why Wisconsin can do better. And why there’d be more opportunity for people under Democratic agenda.

Frederica Freyberg:

How does that look different from what the minority has been doing since the election of Scott Walker?

Gordon Hintz:

Well, I mean, look. Part of it’s we’ve been playing a lot of defense. Our first role is to try to do what we can with Republicans to best serve our constituents. And there’s certainly been some bipartisan legislation. A lot of times we are trying to improve, fix, amend. And a lot of time we’ve been trying to stop bad things that undermine Wisconsin values from happening. I think there’s a recognition we also need to be better at reaching people with what our agenda is. And what a Democratic governor’s agenda would be. To counter that, we should be in a better place than we are right now after eight years of national economic growth.

Frederica Freyberg:

How do you get that message out?

Gordon Hintz:

Well, a lot of that, you know, media is a lot different than it was 20 years ago. News is more disbursed. People get their information from online, social media, cable news, some from traditional print. But I think we’re going to have to spend more time actually getting out to a lot of the areas where maybe we haven’t been doing so. And not guessing what things might be appealing, but making sure we are listening and that our message is resonating with people. And they understand what a future-oriented narrative would look like.

Frederica Freyberg:

So tell me then what your main message would be for those people? You have a soap box right here, right now.

Gordon Hintz:

Sure. Well I think Democrats are big believers in the fact that you need to invest in infrastructure unlike Governor Walker and Republicans. That that is key to an economy, especially in a manufacturing producing segment of the state here in northeast Wisconsin. We make things here. You need to be able to get them to market safely and quickly and efficiently. Second, we believe in investing in people. Whether that’s through education or higher education or recognizing there are 1 million student loan borrowers with significant debt that are unable to move forward with buying a home, being able to work in a job they might like better than one that has to pay more. And the last one is supporting small business development. The majority of new jobs are going to come from new businesses that are created and entrepreneurship. Not by throwing taxpayer dollars at a foreign company who has no investment or skin in the game in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

Very briefly, as we kind of close out, for his part Majority Leader Jim Steineke this week congratulated you. And said he stands ready to work alongside you to advance shared values. Now that is certainly conciliatory. But how can an outspoken critic of the Republicans such as yourself work alongside them?

Gordon Hintz:

That gets back to the balancing act that I said earlier. All of us are charged by our constituents to serve and try to get things done that benefit the state of Wisconsin. And that is always going to be our goal. I look forward to sitting down with Majority Leader Steinke and Speaker Vos. I’ve got some ideas on things that I think can be bipartisan. The speaker has been very good about creating some committees that try to address issues from foster care to the opioid epidemic. But again, it’s about work together when you can. Hold them accountable when you have to.

Frederica Freyberg:

Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, thanks very much for joining us.

Gordon Hintz:

Thanks for having me.