Here & Now

La Follette and Bradley Face Off in Secretary of State Race

Frederica Freyberg:

On this November’s ballot you’ll also be voting for Wisconsin’s secretary of state. The functions of that office include maintaining the official acts of the legislature and governor, and affixing the great seal of the state of Wisconsin to all official acts of the governor. The challenger to the long-time incumbent wants to expand the role of the office. Tonight we hear from the two major party candidates. They are Democratic incumbent Doug La Follette, who’s been secretary of state since 1983. He also served a term in the mid-’70s. His opponent is Republican Julian Bradley, active in the Republican party and a telecommunications manager in La Crosse. And welcome to you both.

Doug La Follette:

Nice to be here this evening.

Julian Bradley:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

I want to turn first to you, Secretary La Follette, and ask you why you want voters to elect you to another four-year term?

Doug La Follette:

Well, I guess I like my job, and I like the people of Wisconsin, so I’ve been honored to be elected by them several times. And I like traveling the state and helping people when they ask me questions. I’ve got a great staff of people. I like walking into work in the morning. I like my job and I like doing it.

Frederica Freyberg:

To you, Julian Bradley in La Crosse. Why do you want to become secretary of state?

Julian Bradley:

I’m running for this office because I want to bring some value back to the office. We’ve seen an elimination of duties and responsibilities over the last three or four decades now. I'm running because I believe I can bring the leadership necessary to get some of those duties and responsibilities returned, and to bring true value back to the taxpayers here in the state of Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

What functions specifically would you like to return to that office?

Julian Bradley:

Immediately, I think we should start by returning the duties that are associated with corporations. The secretary of state in most states is a liaison between companies that want to do business with the state and the state itself. That’s where I’d like to start. There are other functions, such as the notaries, and of course, elections has been talked about quite a bit. And I think that’s something that the secretary of state should handle as well.

Doug La Follette:

It’s interesting to have a Republican who agrees with me for a change. I’ve advocated for years that to make Wisconsin really open for business, and this whole campaign of the governor’s level is about jobs, if we want to encourage people to start businesses and bring jobs, the secretary of state's office in Wisconsin needs to be like the rest of the country, and that includes, like Julian said, corporations, notaries, trademarks, the uniform commercial code systems. I don’t agree about elections. I think keeping elections on an independent board of judges is probably than better than having an elected Democrat or Republican do it. But those business functions, which by the way, were taken away by Republicans and I fought that all the way. And now maybe we can get a chance to restore those duties and have Wisconsin be competitive.

Frederica Freyberg:

Because there’s also been talk of eliminating the office altogether. What’s your reaction to that?

Doug La Follette:

I think it’s a mistake for two reasons. One, I believe people have a right to elect their leadership, whether it's school board or governor or secretary of state. The more people that get involved in elections, that makes democracy work. And second, like I said a minute ago, having a secretary of state with those important functions makes us like the rest of the country. Right now we stick out like a sore thumb and people wonder, how can I do a corporation? How can I get a notary public in Wisconsin?

Frederica Freyberg:

Julian Bradley, it’s interesting that Doug La Follette can say this is something you both agree on, whereas there have been candidates in the past that have said that the office actually should be eliminated. So has the Republican majority at all made assurances to you that if you were elected, they would in fact expand the office back and restore some of the duties?

Julian Bradley:

We have not discussed any assurances or guarantees should I win, but I think it should be noted that the stripping of responsibilities and the notion of eliminating that office is not partisan. Governor Jim Doyle supported elimination. Many on the left support elimination. And that’s why I’m running. What we’re seeing is a failure in leadership. We’ve had all of these duties and responsibilities removed over the last 36 years. In the private sector if you’re losing your responsibilities and duties, your job is in danger. Yet Secretary La Follette continues to be re-elected. I’ll trying to provide an alternative, a quality alternative. Whether the position is eliminated or not will go through the legislature. One of the most important duties of any elected official is to be an ambassador for whomever they are elected by. That act– That only takes an act, rather, of the voters on November 4. It’s the unofficial duties. I’d like to prove as a secretary of state, as hopefully, the next secretary of state, what it is this office can do, earn back the trust of the people and legislature, and then– Excuse me. Then we can start expanding on the duties and responsibilities.

Frederica Freyberg:

Doug La Follette, go ahead.

Doug La Follette:

I think I have the trust of the people. When I travel the state and talk to people, they agree with me. It’s just a small minority of Republicans, including two governors and some legislators. I had a number of Republican legislators who agreed with me, by the way, that the office should not lose these duties. But Governor Thompson wanted more control, and Governor Walker continued that. So I think I have the trust of the people. The trick now is, with a new governor, hopefully, and some legislators, Democrats and Republicans. And very few Democrats want to eliminate the office. And I talked to Jim Doyle, and that was a faux pas on his part and he admits that. So I think that that's the opportunity we have with my experience, with my leadership and experience. I’ve been a teacher, a state senator, an owner and operator of a successful business. My experience brings to that office a lot of important things.

Frederica Freyberg:

What’s your reaction to Julian Bradley saying that actually it’s your lack of leadership to maintain those functions that’s the reason they’ve been removed?

Doug La Follette:

Well, I don't know how you provide leadership when Governor Thompson was hell-bent to take over everything he could. And I fought that, and the Republicans agreed with me in joint finance. But Governor Thompson pushed that through. So if you have the governor against you, it’s pretty hard to show leadership. All across the state people agreed with me. And hopefully, with a new governor and both Republican and Democratic legislators, we can restore those important duties.

Frederica Freyberg:

Julian Bradley, anything to add on that?

Julian Bradley:

Yes, I would. First of all, I’ve spoken to many people across the state. I’ve traveled over 40,000 miles since January campaigning for this office, so we can shed some light on it. And sadly, so many people don’t even know that we elect a secretary of state, yet alone who it is. That doesn’t mean that you have the trust of the people. We need to make sure– One of the key components of my platform is rebuilding bridges. I’ve spoken to many legislators, both in the assembly and the senate, and, sir, many of them have not met you. And those that have can only recall one or two times that they have. Now, if you’re leading the fight to restore the duties to your office, you should be spending time at the hill, over at the Capitol, trying to talk to people and see what we can come up with to do this. That’s my plan, and that’s what I will do as secretary of state.

Doug La Follette:

Well, I agree, and talking to the legislators is something I’ve always been willing to do. This past time I thought talking to the governor was more important. So I did speak to the current governor and explained to him– I gave him a three-page document explaining why the Wisconsin jobs and business will be better if those duties were restored. And he thought about it, but he said, well, he doesn’t want to make changes at the moment. So changing the governor is important. And then I can talk to the legislators. But you don’t get anywhere without the leadership of a governor.

Frederica Freyberg:

Very quickly–

Julian Bradley:

You can get anywhere if you have leadership, sir.

Frederica Freyberg:

We have just about a minute left, and I wanted to address this one issue. And that is that you became front and center during the whole Act 10 controversy when you delayed publishing of that bill. Why did you do that?

Doug La Follette:

Well, I’ll tell you, there were hundreds of school boards and there were villages and towns whose employees and the boards were unsure what was going to happen. It was a very major change and they were concerned, plus, there were legal issues. So I thought about it carefully, and I decided to give them time, give the legal system time to think this through. I did the conservative thing rather than rush into something like that.

Frederica Freyberg:

I need to give Julian Bradley an opportunity to respond to that and delaying of that publishing of that bill.

Julian Bradley:

Thank you. That’s playing politics with the office, first of all. Second of all, he’s actually changed his story now. The secretary previously said he waited ten days on all bills, and now he’s standing behind it. I’m trying to provide consistent leadership, new, fresh ideas for an office that’s in trouble. This is one place were we can make a great difference coming up in November, and I’m looking forward to seizing that opportunity for the taxpayers.

Frederica Freyberg:

I think we need to leave it there. Julian Bradley, thank you very much, in La Crosse. And Secretary Doug La Follette, thank you.

Doug La Follette:

Good to be here.