Sen. Dianne Hesselbein on Wisconsin Politics Going Into 2025

Frederica Freyberg:
Next up, Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, who says that because Democrats are no longer in the super minority, she hopes her party can work more closely with Republicans who need their votes.

Zac Schultz:
So you are new in this position. A year ago, you were not the minority leader in the Senate. What have you learned in your first year running this caucus, you know, few months in session and then the election?

Dianne Hesselbein:
Yeah. Well, conversations matter and treating people with respect matters. And I think that’s what I’ve always tried to do first elected to this in 2012 and I will continue to do that. I really feel that you can disagree without being disagreeable. That’s something that my whole, my whole caucus can lead with.

Zac Schultz:
So walk me through the election and the results for you.

Dianne Hesselbein:
I am so excited. I mean it was — I was just so disappointed on that night with what was happening with President Trump and his gains in so many states, including ours. But at the same time, during that same time, we were getting wins. And so we’d find out like, oh, Jamie Wall won Green Bay or this one won or Sarah Keyeski won. So at the same time when inwardly I was like, oh my gosh, this is terrible for the United States, the Senate Democrats, in a very tough Trump election year, we won. We wanted to win all five seats that we set forth to win, and we did it. And we flipped four of those.

Zac Schultz:
When the original narrative was, you know, Republican blowout, have you recalculated that? Have people started to reevaluate what actually happened in Wisconsin on election night?

Dianne Hesselbein:
I think they have. I think they realize that in a Trump wave, we were able to hold on to Tammy Baldwin, which is extremely important in the U.S. Senate, and then making gains in both the Wisconsin State Senate and the Wisconsin State Assembly is really huge. And I really think that’s because we finally have fair maps, and people finally had a chance at the ballot box to really vote how they wanted to.

Zac Schultz:
So we obviously have a budget coming up next year. What does the new makeup of the Senate mean in terms of Democrats maybe having a voice in the budget, as opposed to relying on Governor Evers and just protecting his veto?

Dianne Hesselbein:
So we’re now no longer in the super minority, right? The Republicans no longer have a supermajority in the Senate. And with 18 Republicans and 15 Democrats, I’m really hoping that we can work in a bipartisan fashion the entire way through the state budget. So maybe for the first time since I was first elected in 2012, maybe I can get to a yes to a vote for a budget would be really exciting. I think the Republicans are going to need our votes to get through. And certainly I have an open-door policy to try to make that happen.

Zac Schultz:
At what stage in the process do you think Democrats are most likely to be involved in that?

Dianne Hesselbein:
Well, I’ve already had a meeting with Senator LeMahieu and Senator Falkowski this week, and we’re going to continue to have those conversations starting in January.

Zac Schultz:
Because the original Joint Finance process usually takes quite a while, and that’s where a lot of the work gets done. But then there is that kind of free for all when it comes back to the floor. And you can offer some of your own amendments. Do you think by then it’ll be too late to change what’s already in the bill?

Dianne Hesselbein:
It might be but they also might need our votes to get things done, so we’ll see. I mean, we’re going to be talking the entire way through and hopefully get to a finished package that we can all live with, or at least the majority of us can live with and be happy about. But we’ll see. We’re certainly open to however we can maneuver so we can get something positive to the governor’s desk.

Zac Schultz:
In past budgets, Senator LeMahieu has been able to allow some of his more conservative members to vote no against the budget because he’s had that that flexibility in terms of his raw numbers. Now, he doesn’t. Do you anticipate that means he’ll be leaning more on them, or do you think he’ll be leaning more on Democrats?

Dianne Hesselbein:
I think it will be both. I think he’s going to have a hard row to navigate. But I know, like I said, I have an open-door process and I’m willing to help out where I can.

Zac Schultz:
Looking at the national perspective, there’s been a lot of money flowing from the Biden administration into Wisconsin. What shifts do you expect to occur with the Trump administration?

Dianne Hesselbein:
Well, I’m worried about what the Trump administration is going to do, but I’m hoping that we can continue working together and getting some things done for the people in the state of Wisconsin. I think Sean Duffy being in transportation is going to be — could be helpful for us. I don’t know him personally. I’ve never met him, but I think somebody that knows Wisconsin is good for us.

Zac Schultz:
There has been talk at the Trump level to eliminate the Department of Education altogether and, “return education to the states.” What would that look like and how would that play out in terms of the Legislature having to take some steps?

Dianne Hesselbein:
Yeah, I’m curious of how that would look, because certainly, you know, we get federal money from the federal government for education. And honestly, our IEPs that we do with federal protection for kids that have special needs and special disabilities to help them moving forward in their educational process. So I have a lot of questions if they return things to the states. I know that in our state, Superintendent Jill Underly is doing a really good job, but I worry about what’s going on in other states in Alabama and Texas and where their scores are really not doing well. And so I’m kind of worried what that would do.

Zac Schultz:
Senator Hesselbein, thanks for your time.

Dianne Hesselbein:
Thank you very much.

Frederica Freyberg:
For next week, we’re scheduling their Republican counterparts.