The Democratic Voice Podcast

On this Labor Day weekend, we break down why Wisconsin could be on the cusp of a major labor union surge, while Republicans in the US House cut their month's work down to four days and focus on "trolling" bills.

With new legislative maps in play, we look at how a potential Democratic trifecta could clear the path to repeal Act 10, restore prevailing wage, and overhaul worker rights across the state.

Before we got to that, however, ...

Wisconsin Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor candidate Sarah Godlewski joins for a quick-hitting dive into the state’s political landscape.

(This interview happened before Mandela Barnes dropped out of the governor's race)

Godlewski breaks down why she’s seeking the Lt. Governor’s office to serve as an effective economic partner for Wisconsin's next governor.

Drawing on her financial background as former S...

For 37 years, the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program has helped protect Wisconsin’s land and water.

A program that’s been renewed every two years as part of the state budget — until now. 

Republicans in the state Legislature are letting it expire. They stripped it from the last budget to pass as a standalone bill and then never passed it out of the Senate.

We dive into what the program does, how it got starte...

We break down the endless angles to a failed bipartisan deal to spend $1.8 billion in budget surplus property tax relief, rebate checks, education funding and no tax on tip/overtime. The deal was negotiated behind closed doors by three retiring politicians — Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican leaders of the Legislature (Robin Vos and Devin Lemahieu. It was rolled out on a Monday and a vote was taken three days later. It easil...

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez stopped in La Crosse to discuss why she's running for governor of Wisconsin and some of the issues happening in the state and beyond. We got to know some of Rodriguez's backstory in the healthcare field and discussed some of the things she's both seeing with healthcare and wants to do about it. We also discussed matters dealing with childcare and her plans to help in that industry.

Sticking with children, Ro...

Donald Trump's gerrymandering war intensified last week and the fake outrage by Republicans is deafening. Democrats keep fighting back against the GOP rigging the 2026 election and Republicans don't know how to take it.

In a recent special election, Virginia voters approved a constitutional amendment to enact new US House maps that could lead to a 10-1 Democratic majority — sh...

Joel Brennan joined to talk about why he's running to be the next governor of Wisconsin. We get to know a little about where he came from, how he got into politics, his time in government and beyond, and then policy. We hit on things like the budget surplus and how to spend it, as well as big policy dilemmas like healthcare, childcare, housing and education. Brennan is one of nine Democratic candidates for governor, though that num...

We dissect why Republicans in Wisconsin's 7th US House District of aren't happy about the White House picking their candidate. Donald Trump has endorsed 26-year-old Michael Alfonso, who is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's son in law. Duffy, a former US House member, is also funneling $1 million of his campaign money to Alfonso. Meanwhile, half the other GOP candidates in the race just moved to the district to run.

See omnystudi...

Wyatt Molling, the new La Crosse County Democratic Party chair, stops in to tell us about himself, how he got into politics and what he'd like to do with his new position. We also get into a recent complaint the party filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission over illegal campaign finance use by the La Crosse Republican Party in this upcoming spring election. Along with that, we discuss some of the complaints that have been asked ...

Wisconsin candidate for governor, David Crowley, joins. The Milwaukee County Executive discusses his motivations for running, his vision for the state and the importance of addressing key issues like affordable housing, education, and healthcare. We ask Crowley how he can bridge the rural-urban divide and he talks of uniting Wisconsin around shared values and goals. Crowley also shares his personal journey, highlighting the challen...

A bit of a precarious position Republicans have put Democrats in with the ICE killing of Alex Pretti — a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA and a lawful gun owner from Green Bay. To defend Pretti's death, the GOP has abandoned the one thing they claimed to be most loyal to — the 2nd Amendment and the idea that it exists specifically to prevent the government from treading on U.S. citizens. So now it's Democrats...

They fly under the radar until they end up on the ballot. The 2026 midterm elections will see three more Wisconsin Republican constitutional amendments for voters, trying to rile up their base with culture war nonsense. We discuss the absurdity of each amendment, the word salad written by the GOP to manipulate voters into confusion, and how this is just another reason why Democrats need to take control of the Legislature. In 2023 a...

Following the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis mother by an ICE agent on Jan. 7, the federal harassment of Minnesota residents has only intensified. We discuss the ongoing military-style occupation of Minneapolis, the administration’s racially-profiled focus on the Somali community, and the growing dangers to both citizens and refugees, as President Donald Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act.

See omnystudio.com/liste...

We talk with public education advocate Kristina Reser-Jaynes, who pulls back the curtain on Wisconsin’s private school voucher system.

While Republicans frame the recent property tax spikes as "the Evers 400-year tax hike," this conversation digs into a much more complex reality — a systematic shift of public funds into private hands that is leaving local taxpayers to pick up the tab.

We talk th...

Viroqua native Missy Hughes joined the Democratic Voice podcast, with La Crosse County Democratic Party chair William Garcia and WIZM’s Rick Solem, to discuss why she’s running for governor of Wisconsin. 

The Democrat discusses what sets her apart from the dozen candidates running on both sides, plus her top priorities for the state if she were governor.  That list includes education, childcare, healthcare and...

Wisconsin state Sen. Kelda Roys was recently in La Crosse and took some time with us to discuss her bid to be the next governor. We deep dive with Roys on funding education, helping with childcare and buying into the state's healthcare and pension plans. We also discuss how control of the Legislature and governor is on the line and how some Republican legislation is changing, including on IVF, which Roys explains is hypocritical &m...