Here & Now

Kathy Bernier on Keep Our Republic and Voting in Wisconsin

Frederica Freyberg:

In election news following conspiracies on steroids in the 2020 presidential race as a formidable swing state, Wisconsin is now gearing up for 2024. With that, a new chapter of the group called Keep Our Republic launched here this week. It’s a bipartisan advisory council designed to build trust, respect and confidence in the Wisconsin election system. Members in Wisconsin include former Democratic lieutenant governor Barbara Lawton, former representative David Bowen, a Milwaukee Democrat and former governor Tommy Thompson. Director of the Wisconsin Keep Our Republic is former Republican state senator and long-time county election clerk Kathy Bernier. She joins us now from Chippewa Falls. Thank you for being here.

Kathy Bernier:

You’re very welcome. It’s my pleasure.

Frederica Freyberg:

So how do you build trust, respect and confidence in the Wisconsin election administration and system?

Kathy Bernier:

Well, it starts with education and building knowledge among the average electorate and so that is our mission, to go around the state and educate individuals and community leaders on how the election system works. Where the checks and balances are and the confidence that they can hold that everything in the state of Wisconsin is backed up on paper.

Frederica Freyberg:

Why did you feel it was important to not just join this group but now be its director in Wisconsin?

Kathy Bernier:

As you know, I was a vocal critic of people who questioned the election officials in the electoral system, and a friend of a friend contacted me to ask me if I would consult and advise Keep Our Republic. I looked into their mission. I spoke with the executive director, and I thought this was a really good fit for me. And so we are just off and running.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what do your fellow Republicans across Wisconsin think about this group?

Kathy Bernier:

Well, nothing different than they thought about me. They appreciated my honesty and my openness and this is truly a bipartisan group and it’s not just me. I really want to give kudos to my advisory council. When I contacted Democrats and Republicans asking them to serve on this advisory council, they were eager. Both Democrats and Republicans have questions about our electoral system in general, that election denial is not unique to January 6th people. It’s gone on since, clearly, 2016, and everyone wants to dig in and say once all eligible voters have voted, once the votes have been cast, once they’ve been counted, we all need to respect and accept the election results.

Frederica Freyberg:

As you noted just a bit ago, you pushed back on these conspiracies in the 2020 election. What in your mind was the most egregious of those?

Kathy Bernier:

I think — there were so many things. I think the individuals that came to the Capitol and the individuals calling to decertify the election and for the blazing gun that they found, the smoking gun, that this was an issue and that was an issue when, in fact, all they needed to do is to go to an election official, ask them questions about the information that they think they have or the Wisconsin Election Commission, and get the factual information behind what they were saying. That was the most frustrating thing, is they weren’t eager to find out the facts and the truth. They were just going to disseminate misinformation. It was very frustrating.

Frederica Freyberg:

How do you expect to educate people across the state of Wisconsin about how elections work in Wisconsin?

Kathy Bernier:

Well, one of the first things I had to do in the first two months that served in for Keep Our Republic is set up an advisory council and then I had to create a plan. So Pennsylvania, Michigan are also creating plans on how to educate their public. In Wisconsin, local government is very important to our communities and to the voters of the state of Wisconsin. So the first thing I did is create a plan that involved county clerks, poll workers, municipal clerks and others within the community to come together and once we have the conversation, educate each other on the electoral system, then they can then disseminate factual information to the voters.

Frederica Freyberg:

With just about a minute left, as former president Donald Trump winds into his re-election campaign, what are your concerns for Wisconsin?

Kathy Bernier:

My concerns are always the same personally. Keep our Republic doesn’t care who is on the ballot. We are bipartisan and non-partisan, and so whoever is on the ballot, here’s what we plan to do, but it doesn’t really concern me who is on the ballot. If Donald Trump has his legal issues, if Joe Biden or his family have their legal issues. Good, that is what our media and our justice system is supposed to do. What we need to do is just listen and watch and learn from all of the candidates running for office, Democrat and Republican, and we want honesty and integrity in the information you give us. That simple.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We leave it there. Kathy Bernier, thanks so much.

Kathy Bernier:

Thank you.