Here & Now

The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production. "Wisconsin Women Vote" is a special edition of "Here & Now." I'm Frederica Freyberg. We're standing in Washington, D.C. to tell a story of firsts-- from Wisconsin to Washington and back-- a story about strong women today and in history. Funding for Here & Now is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg

The year was 1919. After a protracted struggle against male power brokers, suffragists in our state pushed forward and Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to ratify the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing all women the right to vote.

1920s dance band music

Frederica Freyberg

This year's 100th anniversary of the federal passage and ratification of that democratic right brings us to the seat of democracy and a story of firsts.

door opens

Frederica Freyberg

Hello, hello! How are you? Wisconsin's first female U.S. Representative and first woman elected U.S. senator in this state is also the first openly gay woman elected to the United States Congress. Tammy Baldwin says, "We stand on the shoulders of our foremothers." We met with her in her Washington office. I think about, first of all, the idea of role models and inspiration. I don't know that I would've thought of say, running for office, if I hadn't seen women do it before and be successful and change the world. So, I've had so many moments in my life where I've read about or met a woman who has perhaps shattered a glass ceiling, perhaps... perhaps it was something that was less visible, but something that I felt was inspiring. All of those opportunities, for me, have spoken to me in a way to say, "You can do it. "You can reach for that goal. You can reach for the stars." And I definitely feel every day that I stand on the shoulders of others who went before. You are the first female from Wisconsin elected to the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, but also the first openly LGBT person elected to either office. What is it like for you to be a role model to other women and girls? Well, first of all, I like to remind women that we all have the capacity to be role models. I am lucky because every so often, someone will write me a note or a draw to my attention that I inspired them in their reaching for their goals, but we all have that capacity, and we should recognize that and own that. I can't tell you how touching it is to get a communication from somebody who perhaps, as a member of the LGBTQ community, question whether they could still pursue their dreams or their goals when they came out, when they came out to themselves, or when they came out to others, if it was for some reason a negative experience. And so, there's lots of questions, and then, when they can find an example of a leader in whatever field they're interested in, or just a leader 'period,' they say, "I can do it!" So, I wanted to ask you, going back to the 19th Amendment, that you sponsored the bill creating the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission to recognize and celebrate the 100th anniversary. Why did you do that? I think this is a really big deal. And I think that, you know, when we don't have a generation still living that was a part of that movement, it is so important to reintroduce, especially young people, to how recent it was, how far we've come, but also recognizing that there's still-- there still remains work to do. What would you think the foremothers a hundred years ago would think about the state of women today? I think that there would be, first of all, a satisfaction that a lot of what they predicted would happen when women got the vote has begun to happen in terms of legal equality, in terms of the beginnings of women running for office in larger numbers. But I think they'd also step back and say, "It's a hundred years. "Ah, shouldn't there be parity "in, you know, "in business, "in government? "Shouldn't there be absolute legal equality "in the areas where we haven't achieved that? And shouldn't there be a woman president by now?" What advice do you give young women or women or girls who would like to step up in the same way that you have and others have? So, I would say, roll up your sleeves and just do it and to recognize that there's many opportunities to do that that will prepare you really well for the day that you might actually put your name in to run for office or be involved in somebody else's campaign. So, it's one of those things where, uniquely, you can be a volunteer and get to experience all aspects of trying to address a community challenge or working on a campaign or jumping in, and depending on how old you are, interning in an office and seeing what goes on and there's so many different aspects. We're lucky we live in a democracy, where it really is about people talking to people and so, I felt in my own case when I had just graduated from college, I, you know, would drop by a county board meeting or a city council meeting and say, "What are they working on?" And then, I worked on some campaigns, a school board campaign. I demystified it. Now, I'd studied government in college, but there's nothing like rolling up your sleeves and just figuring out what it's all about, firsthand. All right, Senator Tammy Baldwin, thank you so much. My pleasure.

Emily Flood

So, my family has always kind of gone to vote together, once everyone gets home from work, and normally, it's just my parents going out, but this year I get to accompany them and I've gone with them to the polls before just to see the whole process because it's excited me for a long time, but to be able to go there with them and actually be able to do it is very, very exciting to me.

Gwen Moore

Oh, that's awesome. When are we rolling this out? Another first in Wisconsin brings us to U.S. Representative Gwen Moore of Milwaukee. In 2004, she became Wisconsin's first African American woman elected to Congress. Moore says she's proud Wisconsin was the first state to ratify a woman's right to vote. I am so proud that Wisconsin was the first state to ratify the woman's right to vote. Wisconsin has been so progressive in so many areas and, of course, they were the first to ratify women's right to vote. I mean, it's a place where, in our storied history, we've been the first state to lean into the whole question of emancipation of slaves, of former slaves having the right to vote, organizing the first unions, looking at, you know, the first kindergarten in our state and so, Wisconsin, this is just yet another first in our state. For you, personally, what kind of drive took you from being a single mother in college on welfare to a member of the House Ways and Means Committee? You know, I'd have to attribute a lot of it to my own mother, who was a driven woman. She was very intelligent. She raised us as a single mom but really showed not only a strength of character but just that intellectual prowess. She was a prolific writer,

and she taught me skills

writing and public speaking and researching, and she was very brilliant, and she wanted me to run for office. And then, 18 months after she died, my predecessor in the State Assembly, Dismas Becker called me up and said, "Gwen, I want you to run," and I had dreamed about it. My mom had specifically said, "Run for state representative," and so, it's sort of my destiny, Frederica. Other than your mother, what women have inspired you? Vel Phillips, the late great Vel Phillips. She was someone who talked me into running for the State Senate when I hadn't represented a single ward in the District. She was someone who was a honorary chair of my congressional campaign committee. And above and beyond that, there were women I never met like Eleanor Roosevelt. When I think of her, I feel very, very inspired. Is it difficult to reconcile centennial celebrations with how Black and white women suffragists clashed as they pursued the vote or how Southern states didn't see equity among all voters until 1965? Difficult to reconcile? It's reality. It's part of the history of the United States. You know, there's a lot of things that are hard to reconcile I mean, it's harder to reconcile that even Black men had the right to vote before women had the right to vote. And when, you know, all of us have been in some sort of pecking order that is totally anathema to our constitutional ideals. As to women seeking and winning office, in your mind, are we there yet? Are we to a place of equity? No, we're not in a place of equity, but I do think we're in a place where we have really energized and activated Black women. I think both parties, actually, in our country, both major parties have recognized that Black women are the most reliable voters that there are. What about women seeking office? You know what they always say, "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu" and so, often women's rights are on the menu, and I think it's because we have, what, 17%/18% representation in Congress, in legislative bodies, and we need to up that number so that there's never a question. When you were first elected to office, did you feel as though you belonged? Oh, my God, Frederica, when I first got there, my first instinct was to sort of pretend I was a man, you know, was to, you know, "I am not going to be stereotyped as a woman. "I'm gonna get in there and show them I'm just as good as the old boys." And that lasted about a day before I started seeing all the initiatives come down that were disquieting policies for women and children. And so that, that resolve slipped away right away. I had to be a woman and I had to be a Black woman. Do you feel as though you belong today? I absolutely think that this place would not be the same without me. What advice would you give to girls or women who might want to step up in the same kind of way that you have? We need you, young women. We need you to be at the table. Gwen Moore, thanks very much. Thank you, Frederica.

Christy Clark-Pujara

I grew up knowing that voting was something that my ancestors had to fight for, that it was something that was critically important. My dad was functionally illiterate, but the smartest person I knew. He always had three jobs, and he did what he could do to help the polls. So, he worked the polls anyway. And so, as a child at my elementary school, my parents were at the polls where they voted at. And so, I always understood that, as an African and as a woman, voting was critical. The Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission, created by Senator Baldwin's legislation in 2017, saw as its leader another Wisconsin woman appointed as its executive director in the lead up to the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

Rebecca Kleefisch

Oh, that's wonderful. Well, congratulations. Rebecca Kleefisch was lieutenant governor, alongside Governor Scott Walker, from 2011 to 2019 when Governor Tony Evers became governor. We sat down with her at the State Capitol. Now, you served as the executive director of the National Women's Suffragettes Centennial Commission in 2019 and the mission of that Commission is to ensure a suitable observance of the 19th amendment centennial. Why is that 'suitable observance' important? For women, in particular, it means robust and extraordinary, once in a lifetime because a centennial really is once in a lifetime. It's not every day that we get to celebrate 100 years of ballot box equality for women in America. Wisconsin's first Lieutenant Governor, Margaret Farrow, has said there will be a woman governor someday. In your mind, has that day come? So, that day has not come yet, but I sure hope to see it in my lifetime. Why would that be important? Because I am raising two little girls and I want them to grow up to be strong, confident women who see other women as role models, who know that they can achieve anything because they were blessed enough to be born in America with opportunities. It would be wonderful if one day my girls grew up and there just weren't a ton of glass ceilings left at all. They just kinda wonder how the glass all got on the floor. And when you won the race for Lieutenant Governor in 2010, the party establishment was reported to a favored a different candidate, a man, and through that campaign, you were battling cancer. Is this the essence of "Woman Strong?" -

laughs

Rebecca Kleefisch

I suppose, I don't know. So many people who I admire do so many extraordinary things, and it never makes it into the paper and it never gets reported on a TV show like this. And so, yeah, I had to go up against people who didn't like me. You know, your traditional mean girls, and yeah, I had cancer in my belly at the time, and yeah, I was raising two little girls, and then, after that, I had the recall, but there are a lot of people, unsung heroes, everyday heroes, who never get credit for the hard stuff that they have to march through who are inspirations to me and, you know, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger," and I think that's a credit to women everywhere across Wisconsin, that they're going through tough stuff and it's making them stronger and better examples for tomorrow's women every single day. How does the celebration of women's suffrage, fought and won so long ago, eclipse partisan political division? I don't know. It feels like there's practically nothing that can eclipse that these days. And when you ask, "How does it eclipse?" it's quite extraordinary, I suppose, that we can even talk about something that has risen above politics, particularly in a presidential election year, but isn't it wonderful that we get to celebrate together that it has risen above partisan politics, and that we can all together, not just women, but men and women, can celebrate together ballot box equality. Why, in your mind, is it important for everyone, men and women, to exercise their right to vote? The right to vote is an extraordinary opportunity to take your voice and your belief set, and your policy ideas, and impress them on someone you are hopeful will take your voice and your heart, your mind to the capital of Madison or Washington, D.C., and basically, embody all you believe this state and this country can be, but it's also, I think, a responsibility of voters to entrust their beliefs and their hearts and mind's eye to someone. You gotta be represented. Lieutenant Governor, thanks very much. Thank you.

Angela Lang

I think the word that comes to me when I'm in the polling booth is 'responsibility.' I feel like it's a big responsibility. I'm making my voice heard in one particular way, and then also acknowledging, that I have work to do the day after the election day, making sure that I'm engaging with people on a year-round basis. So, I feel a sense of pride and also a big responsibility and that, when I cast my ballot, I also know that there's a lot of people

that either

one, don't now the power of their vote or people that haven't been able to vote. So, I also feel sometimes a huge responsibility that I'm also voting on their behalf, as well. -

excited happy cheers

Freyberg

In the 100 years since women got the legal right to vote, the number of female voters has eclipsed the number of men who vote. But the number of women who hold congressional office in Washington has not kept the same pace, hovering around 25%. The percentage of women in the Wisconsin Legislature is just a couple of points higher. Our next guest is among just 10% of GOP women in the State Legislature and Wisconsin's first Hispanic Republican representative. We met with Representative Jessie Rodriguez in her capital office. Jessie Rodriguez I was an immigrant child. My parents were poor. We lived in a very predominantly Hispanic community, mostly for people from the Caribbean. I think the experience of being an immigrant to this country certainly made me more independent and the reason that occurred was because at a young age, I was able to learn the English language before my parents could. And so, right when I was eight years or nine years old, I was able to translate for them and I found myself thinking, "Oh, my gosh. I can do something that my parents can't do." And that gave me a sense of feeling that I could do anything as long as I put the time, the effort, and as long as I had a people around me who are willing to help me along the way and that definitely has been the driving factor for me. That's been what's pushed me on, even in times where I've feared, you know, stepping forward or stepping up to, you know, a new challenge. It's that belief that deep down, you know, if you just try, try really hard, you may succeed. I know also that when your family left, El Salvador was in the midst of a civil war. When your family got here and then became citizens, how dearly did you hold the kinds of constitutional protections that we enjoy here in the U.S.? There's a piece that was published by the Legislative Reference Bureau last year on the 19th Amendment. And there was a quote, something to the effect that these suffragists were meeting with legislators, talking to them, and one of them said, "They meet with us, "they're courteous, they're nice to us, "but our concerns are ignored because they know that we can't vote." And so, if you can't vote, your voice is ignored and I think, you know, for many people who are not exercising that, I think they're leaving behind something that's very powerful, can be very powerful. What do you think about the women a hundred years ago who forged their way toward getting the vote for women and where it allowed you to be today? Definitely, there's more to be done, but let's not forget what we've accomplished thus far. I mean, those suffragists, you know, for decades, were working together, you know, building a coalition and trying to get their voice heard, talking to legislators, to their fathers because they could vote, trying to persuade them that was important to them, to the females, and so I think we need to remember that because I may not be sitting here and other female legislators would not be sitting in our floors, the Assembly floor, for the Senate floor, if those women hadn't made those courageous and compelling arguments that women should have that right. Do you feel as though this issue, right for women to vote, kind of transcends partisan politics? Oh, yeah, it's certainly does. I've noticed it in my interactions with other women from the other side of the aisle. We have a lot that we can share and that we have in common, being female and being females who ran for office, candidates, and also legislators. And so, we can, you know, come together and kinda share those stories and they're very similar stories. They have the same struggles that we had, you know, being candidates and sometimes being questioned whether or not you should run for office because maybe you're a mom or do you have-- do you know enough about politics. So, what advice would you give to girls or women who would like to run for office? I would tell them get to know your community, know what you stand for because once you come to this building and you become elected, whether it's at the local level, you know, at the common council or even school board, or even here in the Legislature, you are gonna be tested in many ways and you need to know deep down how you feel about certain beliefs like core beliefs because that should be your guiding principle. Many times people will disagree with you and you can just tell them, you know what, my experience and my personal belief, whether it be religious or just a conviction, you know, I can't support something. And they will respect you for saying that. So sometimes, there's a lot of pressure at times to support certain types of legislation that deep down, you just don't feel that is the right solution, it's the right answer and you have to, you know, have those principles in order to be able to fall back on that and be able to speak up and say why I can't, you wouldn't be able to support that. All right, well, we leave it there. Representative Rodriguez, thanks very much. Thank you very much for having me. The question none of us today can answer is how the state of women's rights and equality and political participation will look 100 years from now when America celebrates the 200th anniversary of the women's right to vote. One thing is certain. Even then, the work and the courage of the suffragists, including those important voices from Wisconsin, will forever be enshrined in the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I'm Frederica Freyberg. Thanks for watching. Funding for "Here & Now" is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.