Here & Now

Dale Schultz on His Retirement from Legislature

Zac Schultz:

Finally tonight, a long-time Wisconsin state senator has announced his retirement. Frederica Freyberg talked to Republican senator Dale Schultz this week about his career and future plans, first asking why he’s not running for re-election.

Dale Schultz:

You know, there’s something about sitting in a deer stand and having the air clarify your thinking, as it was the case on opening day this year. But even more importantly, spending time with your families over the holidays really helps you bring in focus what’s important to you. And I really have a desire to spend more time with the most wonderful woman in the world, somebody who’s been an outstanding, tremendous mother to our two children, somebody who has a distinguished career as an educator and just a wonderful life companion. And people shouldn’t wonder whether I’m going to be happy in the future. You know, that’s a lot like dying and going to heaven, but you get to live.

Frederica Freyberg:

That’s a good line. Now, you are often described, of course, as the most moderate Republican in the legislature, having voted against Act 10 and also the new mining law. Did you become more moderate or did your Republican colleagues veer right?

Dale Schultz:

I think the party has clearly responded to the changes in the political process and has moved to the right, just as I believe the Democrats have moved to the left. Maybe the Republicans have moved further to the right. I think I’m pretty much the same person I always was. I’d like to think I’ve matured and improved, but I think politically I’ve always been a little right to center. My voting record largely reflects that.

Frederica Freyberg:

I was going to ask, did both sides kind of double down on partisanship?

Dale Schultz:

No doubt about it. And I think it’s been egged on also by the advent of the great recession. There’s a lot of pain out there. Many, many people have had a real rough go of it. And we’ve had this whole industry spring up that has sort of appealed to the worst in folks, sort of picked at the scab of the economic carnage that we know as the great recession, and that sort of just amplified the trends and made it even more partisan than what it needed to be. We won, elections have consequences. Get over it. Both parties have done it, and I think the public is, fortunately, getting sick of it and is going to deliver that message in this election.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you don’t feel as though your kind of legislative philosophy of compromise and cooperation is old-fashioned in this high-stakes, big money world of politics?

Dale Schultz:

Not at all. It may be a little more rare than it once was. But in my part of the state, south central and southwestern Wisconsin, people are natural cooperators and collaborators. We have to be. It’s sort of a hard scrabble existence for many folks. We know that we have to work with our neighbors. That isn’t going to go away. That common sense, which is common outside of this building, not so much inside the building, is still there. And, again, I think people have seen what it looks like when you make things partisan. They don’t like it. And I just try to be a good reflection of the people who sent me here. And I hope they agree.

Frederica Freyberg:

You will have served 32 years–.

Dale Schultz:

Boy, that sounds long.

Frederica Freyberg:

In this building when you leave the senate. What’s your proudest accomplishment?

Dale Schultz:

Without a doubt, it’s having the opportunity to form the relationships that I have over those years. I’ve had a chance to work with some of the most wonderful people in the world, passionate, caring, energized folks who want to make their profession better, their community better. And I’ve had a chance to be on so many teams where so much has been accomplished. This is not about me, it’s about we. And when we work together, there’s no end to what we can accomplish.

Frederica Freyberg:

In state politics then, who have you most admired?

Dale Schultz:

Well, anybody who knows me and knows me well, that when I ask that question to kids, they never can guess. And the answer is the late senator, Tiny Krueger, whose sole qualification for being a legislator was that he was an ex-fat man in a circus. He had an unbelievable compassion towards his fellow man. And if you’d suffered the humiliation that he did in his life, that would be so. He was a kind, thoughtful person who was a good studier of issues, you know, a life-long learner, we say today, and, you know, really cared about people. So that’s who I’d identify. I expect there’s a lot of your listeners don’t even know who he is, but it’s worth looking him up.

Frederica Freyberg:

What about after these years of service, perhaps your deepest regret?

Dale Schultz:

Oh, I’d have to think about that, but I know you won’t let me off the hook. Let me just say this. I wish I’d spent more time with newer legislators in the last session or two, because there are an awful lot of people who have gotten caught up in the whirlwind of partisan politics and they don’t know how it used to be. The thing that bothers me the most with this sort of generational change we’re seeing this session, with Senator Cullen and Jauch and I all leaving at the same time, is that institutional memory is going to disappear. The new people that come certainly have all the right stuff to do a good job. But the process has to be here, and it has to be guarded. And a little perspective of how important that process is and why it has evolved over time to be what it is is critically important. I wish I’d spent more time with younger colleagues educating them about that.

Frederica Freyberg:

Senator Dale Schultz, thanks very much.

Dale Schultz:

Thank you very much. I’ve really enjoyed the relationship, and I just want to say thank you to all my friends and neighbors around the state. It has been a real privilege, and I will always carry it in my heart as something that I was very fortunate enough to be able to do, serve these 32 years.