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The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

Frederica Freyberg:

Resignations make way for new leadership as the midterm elections near. Milwaukee secures the bid for the Republican National Convention. And inflation hits a new high.

I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here & Now,” outgoing Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke on the party’s future. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson on the 2024 Republican Convention. Consumer inflation hits hard for families on a budget. And U.S. Senate and Third Congressional District candidates continue appeals to voters. It’s “Here & Now” for July 22nd.

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Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

As the speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly parries back and forth with Donald Trump over the 2020 election, the second in command is taking his leave. “Here & Now” senior political reporter Zac Schultz sat down with Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke.

Zac Schultz:

Majority Leader Steineke, thanks for your time.

Jim Steineke:

Absolutely.

Zac Schultz:

So you were one of the highest-ranking Republicans in Wisconsin to be a never Trumper or anti-Trump in this time. There’s a lot of people saying that’s what’s pushing you out of office. What does that have to do with your time and your decision to leave?

Jim Steineke:

It really doesn’t have much, if anything, to do with my decision to leave the legislature. Really, it is just kind of a natural progression. You come in and I’ve spent now 10 years in leadership, eight years as majority leader. And I just feel like it’s time to move on and let other people rise to the top and take their turn at the helm of things.

Zac Schultz:

Do other elected Republicans have similar views to you of the former president? Are they just scared to speak their mind as freely as you did?

Jim Steineke:

Yeah, I’m sure it kind of runs the gamut, right? Just like the public, there’s probably some really hard-core Trump supporters in our caucus and then there’s the opposite end where I tend to be, and I think everybody is somewhere in that range. Everybody’s got to make their own decisions on that, and you know, I was vocal in the beginning and tried to support the president when I thought he was doing good things, but also being vocal when I thought he wasn’t. And I think that’s important for everybody to do. You know, just have your own perspective and not always just follow the party line, no matter whether we think things are going well or not.

Zac Schultz:

We’ve seen Assembly Speaker Robin Vos try to placate some of the Trump crowd and Trump himself, especially with Michael Gableman’s investigation. It’s racked up a million dollars in taxpayer fees and looks to be more of some settlement issues with the courts right now about open records laws. What’s your opinion of that investigation?

Jim Steineke:

The Gableman investigation, I think the grade is incomplete at this point because there are the lawsuits out there that we’ve got to settle on, subpoenas and other things, so we’ll have to wait until that’s completely wrapped up before we stamp a final grade on it.

Zac Schultz:

What insight can you give us as to how much the speaker has had to move between to try and placate those who want more and those who understand that the elections were real and valid, but not to the level of the fraud that’s being alleged?

Jim Steineke:

I think that’s a really tough position to be in, because there are people that truly believe that the election was stolen. I think most people understand that that’s not likely to be the case, but there were things that happened in that last election that shouldn’t have. And I think this effort has always been one to get to the bottom of what exactly happened, what laws weren’t followed to the tee, and what we can do to correct it. And that’s what I think the legislature really needs to do, and what we’ve tried to do in this last legislative session is put forward bills to correct issues that even non-partisan Legislative Audit Bureau has found in the last election.

Zac Schultz:

We’re in the middle of a heated Republican primary for governor. And the candidates are — some of them are seeming to try to tread the line of placating some of those Trump believers that say the last election was stolen and those that understand that’s probably not the case. What are you seeing from your perspective in terms of their rhetoric and what that might mean if they come into office and have to stand behind that for the next presidential election?

Jim Steineke:

Yeah, I think anybody that’s focused on 2020, the 2020 election, whether it’s in the primary or in the general, is probably doing themselves a disservice because I think a vast majority of people have moved on from that issue. Although there are, as I said earlier, there are concerns over how the election was administered in some ways. So I think those things are appropriate to look at. But if we’re talking rigged or stolen elections, I don’t think that’s going to help anybody running for office.

Zac Schultz:

But there’s been a lot of language used that hedged the bets. Even you earlier just said “likely was valid.”

Jim Steineke:

Right.

Zac Schultz:

As opposed to “valid,” which every other legitimate organization has said so far.

Jim Steineke:

Yeah, and I believe it was valid. I do. I haven’t seen any evidence at this point to prove otherwise.

Zac Schultz:

Once they’re in office, though, would you have concerns about whether a Republican governor would sign the electoral votes in 2024 if there are uproars from Republican base voters saying it’s rigged?

Jim Steineke:

No, I don’t believe any sitting Republican governor would subvert the will of the people. I just — I don’t believe that’s the case. Wisconsin has one of the most secure systems of voting in the country. That’s what we have to remember. Even with some of these issues, with drop boxes and clerks filling out absentee ballot — parts of absentee ballots, those are the things that are problematic, but I don’t think that it leads to the level of, you know, fraud that would overturn the results of an election.

Zac Schultz:

You won’t be in office next year, but what would you like to see the legislature do when it comes to abortion? Does there need to be a law updating the 1849 law?

Jim Steineke:

Yeah, personally I’ve always been in the place where I’m pro-life. I do believe in exceptions for rape and incest. I’ve got a 12-year-old daughter at home and if, God forbid, something like that were to happen to her, I can’t imagine forcing her to continue that pregnancy for nine months. It would be a decision that I think she would have to make, because that’s not something somebody enters into willingly. And I think that’s the distinction I make. If you make the conscious choice to have sex with somebody and you become pregnant, well, that’s your choice. You might not have wanted the pregnancy, but you understand the risks. Somebody that doesn’t have that choice and is forced through rape or incest, they’re not making that choice.

Zac Schultz:

What about more clarity for the life of the mother? We’ve already seen some examples in Wisconsin about doctors not knowing at what point they can intervene in the case of a miscarriage or other illnesses.

Jim Steineke:

Yeah, I think that’s something that the legislature is going to have to wrestle with. I’m not sure exactly how that language would be drafted to make sure it wasn’t something that could be used in just about any case. So I’ll be interested to see what the legislature does in the coming session.

Zac Schultz:

All right. Representative Steineke, thanks for your time.

Jim Steineke:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

In an interview with WISN in Milwaukee, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said former president Donald Trump called him last week, pressuring him again to decertify Wisconsin’s 2020 election after the state high court ruled absentee ballot boxes are illegal. Vos says he, once again, told Trump, decertifying is not legally possible, and that the court ruling doesn’t reach back, but forward. Trump subsequently posted on social media: The Democrats would like to sincerely thank Robin and all of his fellow Republicans In Name Onlys for letting them get away with murder. That’s who could be coming to Milwaukee for the 2024 Republican National Convention, after the city got the nod over Nashville for the event. The Republican Convention represents an economic windfall for Milwaukee and Wisconsin. We check in with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson for his reaction. And thanks for being here, mayor.

Cavalier Johnson:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what is your reaction to the news that Milwaukee is almost certainly a lock for the RNC convention in 2024?

Cavalier Johnson:

Well, as I’ve been saying for weeks and months perhaps, even, I think this is a win for Milwaukee for a host of reasons. One, winning the second presidential nominating contest in as many presidential cycles just shows the fact that people are starting to pay attention to Milwaukee, but of course we didn’t have the opportunity to fully execute the Democratic National Convention. Now we’re having the opportunity to execute the Republican National Convention. And when convention goers come here, when an event actually happens, I think it will open up the eyes of the country and the world to this best-kept secret in the Midwest that is Milwaukee. It will generate opportunities — I’m sorry.

Frederica Freyberg:

What kind of financial windfall does it represent?

Cavalier Johnson:

Certainly millions of dollars of economic impact. You’ll have tens of thousands of individuals who descend upon Milwaukee, staying at our hotels, eating at our restaurants, so it will be a boon to our convention as well as our tourism industry here in Milwaukee, putting money into the pockets of people who have been mostly battered over the course of the last two years due to the pandemic.

Frederica Freyberg:

Is the infrastructure still in place from the planned DNC convention of which you just spoke though that was mostly remote?

Cavalier Johnson:

Yeah, there were plans obviously for it to be in person before it turned to be a remote-mostly event, but the police department did all of its planning for the event. I feel they’re still in a strong position to be able to work with the plans that they put in place, build off of those for 2024 to have a safe event. Obviously, we’ve expanded our capacity for hotel space since 2020, and we’ll continue to do so leading up until 2024 as well. We’re in a really good spot to host the convention.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you’re a Democrat and mayor in a democratic city that won the state for Joe Biden in 2020. Do you have misgivings about highlighting the other side of the aisle, especially in these extraordinary contentious times?

Cavalier Johnson:

No, look, I am a Democrat, and proudly so, and I campaigned very hard for Joe Biden to win the presidency in 2020 and will do so again in 2024, when he runs for re-election. This is a thing. We can be opposing parties but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to be welcoming. We can put on a great convention. Bring on, again, the eyes of the country, the eyes of the world to Milwaukee, to move Milwaukee from best-kept secret status to known commodity and a place where people want to go and do business category, having millions of dollars invested into our local economy, providing resources to thousands of workers in our tourism and hospitality industry, and still keep our principles. The Republican National Convention coming here presents Democrats here in Milwaukee and in Wisconsin with the largest stage in the world to combat the platform of the Republican Party. So I am a Democrat. I will continue to hold democratic principles, democratic values, and I’m going to campaign for Joe Biden to win re-election in 2024. That doesn’t change a thing.

Frederica Freyberg:

What if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, what will that be like for you?

Cavalier Johnson:

If Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, and I don’t know if Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee or not, that doesn’t change anything. I think that President Joe Biden has proven to not just residents of the state of Wisconsin, which he won, but to citizens across the United States that he is the person to lead the country. He characterized his campaign about the soul of America. And it was against Donald Trump. And obviously he was victorious in that election as well. This same thing will stand to hold true in the 2024 election. And so I’ll be campaigning with the president, with President Joe Biden, on that same basis, and I believe that we’ll have the same result we had in 2020, which is Joe Biden victorious in the presidential election and were Donald Trump to be the nominee, another loss.

Frederica Freyberg:

I know that there is one more vote to secure for sure the convention, and I believe that’s in early August. Do you expect that vote to also give to Milwaukee?

Cavalier Johnson:

I do.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. Good news. Mayor, thank you very much for joining us and congratulations on getting the convention.

Cavalier Johnson:

Absolutely. Thank you so much, Frederica, for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

Latest numbers show inflation has hit a 40-year high in the U.S., with inflation jumping to 9.1%. “Here & Now” reporter Nathan Denzin has more on how high costs are hitting Wisconsin.

Nathan Denzin:

People in the Midwest have grappled with higher costs for everything over the last year, as prices increased more than 9%. Low-income families have been hit hardest, as the price of essential products continues to increase. Take, for example, the price of ground beef. That’s gone up from about $4 per pound a year ago to $4.79 a pound today. The price of a gallon of milk has increased from $4 to over $5. Groceries in general have increased 15% to 18%. Price hikes that together take a toll. But high inflation has impacted transportation and energy costs even more. Gas prices have increased dramatically in the last year. Utility costs are also up between 17% and 36%.

1. Michael Collins:

As we talk about inflation, I think sometimes we hear about, you know, the price of houses or the price of big things, but it’s little stuff that really hurts low-income families, and you know, if you think about a extra $2.50 for a gallon of gas or an extra dollar for a gallon of milk, those things just start to add up because you buy them so frequently.

Nathan Denzin:

1. Michael Collins is a professor at the UW LaFollette School of Public Affairs studying consumer decision-making. He says both experts and the public have been surprised at the rapid rate of inflation, especially costs consumers can’t avoid like gas and groceries.

1. Michael Collins:

The problem for low-income people’s budgets is that they’re really good at managing their budgets so they were already sort of right on that line of being able to make ends meet. So it usually means some necessities have to go. It means not buying as much food, not buying the organic food, not buying the fresh food. It’s going to be economizing in different ways.

Nathan Denzin:

While the price of gas increases, vehicle prices have risen over 15% in the last year as well. That can add extra financial strain to households who need a vehicle for work, or for day-to-day activities.

Edmond Shoat, Jr.:

Madison may seem like a small place but it’s kind of big.

Nathan Denzin:

Edmond Shoat, Jr. recently moved to Madison and quickly realized he would need a vehicle to hold a job.

Edmond Shoat, Jr.:

I’m so used to the city life, so I needed a car to move around. Y’all don’t have no trains out here or nothing so I’m like, yeah, I need to get a car.

Nathan Denzin:

However, Shoat, Jr. also quickly realized almost all the vehicles at local lots were unaffordable.

Edmond Shoat, Jr.:

I went to a few car lots. They turned me down, ran my credit score. Most of them wanted ridiculous prices for cars so I’m like, what am I going to do. I just moved out here. So I need a car to move around.

Nathan Denzin:

After some searching, Shoat, Jr. found a program called Work-n-Wheels, which offers zero percent loans for eligible drivers in Wisconsin. With the loan money and his personal funds combined, Shoat was able to find a car.

Edmond Shoat, Jr.:

So I’m like, that’s awesome. I never in my life experienced but it was like a god send, blessing, because I needed my car.

Nathan Denzin:

With a new vehicle, Shoat has been able to pick up multiple jobs to help take care of his young child.

Edmond Shoat, Jr.:

It worked out with me getting to work. It worked out with me trying to get multiple jobs too. Just the city transit, about a 30-minute wait or 45-minute wait, but really if you drive, it’s a 10-minute wait.

Nathan Denzin:

While Shoat, Jr. was able to find a car, others in Wisconsin don’t have that disposable income.

1. Michael Collins:

This winter is going to be a tough one for low-income families because food prices probably aren’t going to start coming down. You know, they’re probably not going to ever come down but they’re not going to be growing as fast over the winter hopefully, but fuel prices, heating in a place like Wisconsin is going to be hard.

Nathan Denzin:

So as governments stare down a winter that will be difficult on low-income families, some tools are being used to drive down inflation. The federal reserve system has implemented a hike in interest rates on loans with the hopes of driving down consumer spending. However, experts like Collins worry about potential stagflation in the U.S. economy.

1. Michael Collins:

Stagflation is really when you have two things happening simultaneously: high prices and high unemployment. Right now we have really low unemployment, almost record low unemployment. People can get jobs if they want them, but that’s resulting in prices getting spurred up. The idea of stagflation is the fed or the government tries to both reduce unemployment and reduce prices at the same time and it’s really, really hard to do.

Nathan Denzin:

To fight rising gas prices, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issued an executive order that banned price gouging on gasoline. President Joe Biden has asked Congress twice to suspend the 18 cents per gallon federal gas tax, though that tax is still in place. Despite relatively little action taken, gas prices have dropped in the last month after their peak at $4.92 in mid-June. As for prices in the rest of the economy, time will tell if the government is able to curb inflation.

1. Michael Collins:

We do expect prices to start coming down closer to what wages are doing, but that could take a year and that could mean a tough fall and a tough winter with fuel prices and food prices high and wages not keeping up.

Nathan Denzin:

For “Here & Now,” I’m Nathan Denzin in Madison.

Frederica Freyberg:

With prices continuing to rise, the fed is expected to raise interest rates again next week in an effort to further contain consumer spending.

In congressional news, the U.S. House this week passed the Respect for Marriage Act, legislation that would require the federal government to recognize the validity of same-sex and interracial marriages. U.S. Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin’s Second District was a sponsor.

Mark Pocan:

This is a simple bill. Whether or not you support current law on marriage in this country, which includes for the LGBT and interracial couples across the nation. My friend from Ohio said this bill is unnecessary. This bill is very necessary, because the extremist-packed Supreme Court recently took away a half a century of law on Roe and in that decision, Justice Clarence Thomas said they should revisit it on marriage equality. We have people in this House and in the Senate like Senator Ted Cruz who’ve said the exact same thing. Here’s what I want. I want to make sure my husband Phil can visit me in the hospital should I have to go back again like when I had a triple bypass a few years ago. I want to make sure my husband has my earned benefits for retirement and social security. I want to make sure my husband is taken care of just like your spouses are taken care. If I was the entity on the other side of the aisle, I’d be more concerned with my own members accused of having cocaine-fueled orgies than worrying about the morality of my marriage. I yield back.

Frederica Freyberg:

First District Representative Bryan Steil was the lone Wisconsin Republican who voted in favor of the bill. It now goes to the Senate where Tammy Baldwin is a sponsor.

In “Here & Now” 2022 election coverage, interviews with eight Democrats and one Republican running against incumbent U.S. Senator Ron Johnson can be seen on the news page of PBSwisconsin.org. Tonight we share excerpts of two of those candidates starting with Sarah Godlewski. She currently serves as the Wisconsin state treasurer. She also worked as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense. “Here & Now” reporter Steven Potter sat down with Godlewski.

Steven Potter:

So you’re currently the Wisconsin state treasurer. Why do you want to be a U.S. senator?

Sarah Godlewski:

When I was looking around Wisconsin this past year, I was seeing we were number one in farm bankruptcies for three years in a row. I was watching our democracy be attacked. At the same time, families were struggling to pay their bills while corporations were making record profits. It’s clear working families in Wisconsin needs a voice at that U.S. Senate table, someone who’s going to fight for whether it’s the cost of childcare or lowering the price of gas or making sure we have affordable senior care or taking care of the environment. And those things are not happening with Ron Johnson and I want to change that.

Steven Potter:

If elected, what would your legislative priorities be?

Sarah Godlewski:

We need to look at the economy. You know, we’re one of the worst states when it comes to personal income growth. We need to make sure that families are able to pay their bills, own homes, make sure that they can afford childcare and senior care. We care about our environment. I mean, we are the state of Earth Day. Senator Gaylord Nelson started that holiday here, and yet we are seeing PFAS, these forever chemicals that are poisoning our lakes and our rivers. Only 20, 20% of our state runs on green energy, the rest runs on brown energy and as a leading state for manufacturing, we have real opportunities to create jobs and actually lead when it comes to the clean economy.

Steven Potter:

Ron Johnson has been elected to this seat twice. Why are you the candidate who can beat him in November?

Sarah Godlewski:

I am the only candidate in this race that has run and won two successful statewide campaigns. The first campaign I ran was to save the state treasurer’s office and led that constitutional amendment where we took 62% of the vote. And then when I ran in 2018 for state treasurer, I was a political nobody from Eau Claire. I had never run before, and everybody told me there was no way I could win. But in 2018, I actually flipped more Trump counties and took more of the vote share than the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. So just like I’ve done my entire life supporting our state and serving for the public good, that’s exactly what I want to do. And why I want to serve in the U.S. Senate for Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

Next up is a candidate from northeast Wisconsin, Tom Nelson is the Outagamie County executive. Before that, he served three terms in the state Assembly, serving District 5 in Kaukauna.

Steven Potter:

You’re currently the Outagamie County executive. Prior to that you were a state legislator. Why do you want to be a U.S. senator?

Tom Nelson:

My story is a lot like most Wisconsinites. I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood in my case on Carolyn Drive in Little Chute and on that block all the dads worked at paper mills except for my dad. I like to say he wore the white collar. He was a Lutheran pastor. So at a very young age, I learned the two lessons, that it’s important to serve your neighbor and also there are a lot of people who work hard, play by the rules, pay their taxes but they can’t get ahead because there’s too much money and too much power concentrated in just a few hands. So that’s been my grounding in the state legislature and a s county executive —

Steven Potter:

Let me ask you this, if elected, what would your legislative priorities be?

Tom Nelson:

Number one, I would focus on economic security. Specifically raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, passing the PRO Act, getting rid of the bad trade deals that have shipped Wisconsin jobs overseas and get corporate power under control. And the second area is healthcare. I always say that what good is a good job or economy if you don’t have your health? And so I believe in Medicare for all. I believe that everyone needs to be covered. I have — my wife and before my mom both had cancer, and the one thing they had in common is they had access to good health insurance. And 30 million Americans cannot say that, and that’s wrong. And then third, climate change. I believe we need aggressive action. I support a Green New Deal, and though those goals are quite bold and aggressive, we have no choice.

Steven Potter:

You know Ron Johnson has beat Russ Feingold twice. Why you are the candidate who can beat him in the general election in November?

Tom Nelson:

I’m the only candidate from a red part of the state who has won election and re-election six times: three as a legislator, three as a county executive. I think what makes the difference in this case is I come from the Fox Valley. All parts of the state are very important, though, but in particular it seems like a lot of statewide races come down to who does well in the Fox Valley, and no one can match my record of winning there six times.

Frederica Freyberg:

We do have an invite out to incumbent U.S. Senator Ron Johnson for an interview. Democratic candidates for the Third Congressional District made their case to west central Wisconsin voters this week. Debate partners included Wisconsin Public Radio. The seat is up for grabs following Ron Kind’s announcement that he’s stepping down. Take a listen to moderator Anthony Chergosky explain the race.

Anthony Chergosky:

Out of all the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, this upcoming election in this seat here in Wisconsin is absolutely one of the most closely watched in the nation. Congressman Ron Kind has announced his intention to retire at the end of his current term in office, and Derrick Van Orden is the only candidate in the race on the Republican side to be his party’s nominee in this November’s election. All of that brings us here today to the campus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. We have the four Democratic Party candidates with us who are competing in the upcoming primary election on August 9th. And each candidate is seeking to be the Democratic Party’s nominee in the November election. The candidates joining us are Rebecca Cooke, Mark Neumann, Deb McGrath and Brad Pfaff.

Frederica Freyberg:

You can hear the entire debate at WPR.org/election22.

For more of our coverage on candidates and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBSwisconsin.org and then click on the news tab. That’s our program for tonight. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.

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Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.