Sara Rodriguez makes campaign stop in Fort

By Kim McDarison

Democratic Party candidate for lieutenant governor Sara Rodriguez was a featured speaker Saturday at an after-canvass rally sponsored by the Jefferson County Democratic Party. The event was held at Paddy Coughlin’s Pub, Fort Atkinson. 

Canvassers, who had spent the day knocking on area doors in support of Assembly District 33 candidate Don Vruwink, and other members of the public assembled in the afternoon for what Jefferson County Democratic Party Co-Chair Shauna Meyer described as a “thank-you” party, social occasion and rally. 

Meyer noted that on Saturday, some 30 canvassers engaged with area voters between 9 a.m. and noon, and a group of 20 went door-to-door between 1 and 4 p.m. Five volunteers operated from a stationary location near Walgreens in Fort Atkinson. 

During the after-canvass event, canvassers, candidates and supporters packed the pub to a nearly standing-room-only capacity. 

Sharing the floor with Rodriguez, the group heard comments from Jefferson County Democratic Party co-chairs Meyer and Kelli Rowley; Gary Goyke, principal of Goyke and Associates, a Madison-based public relations firm; Ann Louise Tetreault, a Wisconsin chapter board member of the healthcare Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Vruwink.  

Canvassers at the event told Fort Atkinson Online that they were well-received by voters. 

Rally attendee and canvasser Steve Bower said he and others had spent the day knocking on doors for Vruwink, but also gathering information from voters about candidates “up and down” the Democratic ticket. 

“There were a very few people who were not happy to see us,” Bower said, adding that the group targeted individuals identified as those who didn’t always vote during the Midterm election. 

“We encouraged them to get out and vote,” Bower said. 

Vruwink, who was among those canvassing, said several people offered to place his signs on their property. 

“People were really receptive,” he said, adding that most in the area know his name, and, he said, “appreciate that I’m not negative.” 

In an Assembly district were 54% of the voters have traditionally voted for Republican candidates, he said he was polling at 50%. Vruwink, who is the representative in the 43rd Assembly District, is running for a seat in the 33rd district for the first time after legislative redistricting, undertaken earlier this year, displaced him from his district. He is running against Republican candidate Scott Johnson of Jefferson. Vruwink lives in Milton. 

Speeches 

Making remarks from the floor, Rowley, thanked Goyke, whom, she said, “got the ball rolling for this day for Don. Along with the SEIU, he and Leslie DeMuth (Jefferson County) worked hard to get it started, and Cynthia Holt (Fort Atkinson) organized the canvass today.” 

Addressing the crowd, Goyke described Sunday as “an incredible day.” 

“Freight rail workers in the state of Wisconsin and the Amtrak workers, there are many retirees, in Rock County, in Jefferson County, who have endorsed Don,” he said. 

He next introduced Tetreault, describing the speaker and a group of retired nurses, who arrived in Fort Atkinson Saturday to man a stationary location near Walgreens as “heroes.”  

Tetreault described herself as a representative of her union, adding, “many of us came from Madison, and we were in Watertown last weekend, and we so much enjoy the people in your town here, and all you guys who came out … for democracy.”  

Meyer next said a few words, thanking the canvassers for their efforts, and calling Vruwink “an inspiration when it comes to hard work.”  

Addressing the group, Vruwink said: “All my life all I wanted to be was a good person.”  

Retired, he described his career as a teacher in Milton working with students, saying that young minds “are going a mile a minute, and they need someone that they can grab onto. That’s what I wanted to do; I wanted to be able to help people.” 

Describing the appeal for him to serve in the Assembly, he said: “I just want to do the right thing. I don’t want to play the party politics. I want to do the right thing.”  

Addressing the canvassers, he said: “I feel a lot of pressure to win because you guys have been so supportive. I just want you to know, I’m trying my hardest every day. 

“Jefferson County needs a Democratic representative,” he said. He talked about the importance of supporting Gov. Evers, noting: “We can’t let the Republicans get the supermajority; that’s not how government should work. It should be a balance.” 

Vruwink noted his concern over partisan politics, citing what he said is the importance of discussing policy concerns over creating and fighting culture wars, further citing discussions based on “critical race theory, talking about gender and bashing teachers,” as moving away from discussions about policy. 

Taking the floor, Rodriquez told those in attendance that she is the representative in the 13th Assembly District, which, she said, includes the western suburbs of Milwaukee. 

“I flipped that district from red to blue. I live in Waukesha County, so if you can do it in Waukesha County, we can do it this November,” she said. 

Describing her motivations to run for office, she said “I have spent most of my life in healthcare, really focusing on service. At my core and in my heart, I’m a public health nurse. And that’s the lens that we should bring to government. It’s one of prevention, and it is one of investment for our kids and communities.” 

Defining healthcare, she said “medicine and procedures” are a “tiny fraction of how well we are. 

“It is really about where you live, the air you breathe, the water you drink, and whether you have a good-paying job to put food on the table, and actually pay for those medications.” 

She next asked: “So why did I want to run for lieutenant governor? Why was that so important to me? Because I can think of nothing more important to our day-to-day lives than reelecting Gov. Evers and Don Vruwink this November.”

She cited achievements of the Evers administration. She said: “Gov. Evers has really invested within our communities over a billion dollars in small businesses and family farms; over a million and a half in training programs and apprenticeships, resulting in good-paying, family-sustaining, union jobs. He has cut taxes, putting money back in our pocketbooks, and I would be remiss if I didn’t say it: he’s fixing the damn roads.” 

Of the governor’s opponent, Republican Tim Michels, and his campaign, she asked: “What are they focused on? Radical divisive, out-of-touch policies. They want to lower the funding for public schools — defund our public schools. They want to put firearms on school grounds. I’ve got two kids, 13 and 15, that terrifies me. … and it terrifies the kids that they talk about. And he keeps talking about how he’s a businessman. He’s going to bring that ethic to the Wisconsin state government. But what has happened in his businesses is that he has multiple complaints of sexual harassment and abuse within his businesses. I don’t think that’s a culture that we want here in Wisconsin.” 

According to Rodriguez, “We are at the highest rate of favorability of unions that we have ever been since the 1960s.” She noted that the favorability rate for unions is at 71%. She compared the rate to the favorability of hot dogs, which, she said, was at 70%.  

“The unions are more favorable than hot dogs,” she said, adding: “We are on the right side of history, but here’s the thing: if we reelect Gov. Evers and we do not reelect Don Vruwink, we’re going to have a problem in the Assembly. If they (Republicans) get a supermajority, they can overturn the governor’s vetos.

She noted that Gov. Evers has vetoed more than 120 bills. 

“And the bills that I just talked about — guns on school grounds, lowering funding for public schools — those are bills that he has vetoed that Michels has said he would sign, and the Assembly will likely overturn those vetoes next session. So that’s what’s on the line this November.”  

Fort Atkinson Online interview with Rodriguez 

During the rally, Rodriquez sat down with Fort Atkinson Online. Questions posed by our reporter and the candidate’s answers follow.

Q: All indications are the race for governor and lieutenant governor concluding in November will be tight. If the Democrats lose the governor’s seat, how will that impact the statewide politics over the next two and four years? 

A: This election really is critical. If the Democrats lose the governor’s seat, (his opponent) Michels, has indicated that he is going to pass almost all of the over 120 bills that Gov. Evers has vetoed. This includes really out-of-touch, radical policies that do not reflect the values of Wisconsinites, including putting firearms on school grounds, as well as disrupting public schools with reducing the funding of public schools, defunding public schools. These do not reflect what Wisconsinites want, and so this is really important for us to reelect Gov. Evers not only for some of these policies that affect our daily lives, but also because this is going to affect voting rights as we move forward. He’s also indicated that he would pass some of this legislation that would make it even more difficult to vote, particularly for people with disabilities. 

Q: If elected, what will be your top strategies for helping the governor achieve his and your goals, which have been reported to include prioritizing public health, education, the economy, reproductive freedom, and climate and the environment?

A: I am really ready to be a partner to Gov. Evers in the lieutenant governor role. I have spent most of my life within healthcare, whether that is as a Peace Corps volunteer, working on HIV, AIDs or reproductive health, all the way to being an executive within a large healthcare system where I managed large teams and multimillion dollar budgets. I believe I can be a good partner to Gov. Evers in something as large and complicated as the Wisconsin state government. The areas that I want to focus on are making sure that health is accessible, affordable to everyone. I offered the bill to expand Medicaid or BadgerCare within Wisconsin. This would help low-income folks be able to get the medicine that they need and be able to get back in the workforce, if that’s what they need to do, once they can get their healthcare under control. By helping Gov. Evers with the public school system — we’ve moved from 18th in the nation to 8th under Gov. Evers — we want to keep his leadership around education strong. In terms of reproductive freedom, I’m a nurse, and I know that these decisions should be made between the patient, their doctor, their family, and their faith. And when we add politicians to that discussion — you know, their physicians cannot make the type of decisions that they need to make to be able to save people’s lives and save their reproductive health. 

Q: Wisconsin is considered a very partisan state. Nationally, many say, as reported by national news organizations, that they would like to see bipartisanship restored. If elected, how will you work to achieve that goal?

A: So I represent a purple district today; I represent District 13 within the Assembly; that’s the western suburbs of Milwaukee, and I live in Waukesha County, which has always been considered a red or Republican county. I have friends, I have family members who often vote Republican and we have good, solid, policy-based discussions. That’s what I would like to see in the Assembly, and the Senate, along with the governor’s office. That’s what Wisconsinites want to see, and I’m going to continue to work towards that moving forward.  

Q: As we near Nov. 8, what strategies have you developed to widen the gap and bring victory to your Democratic team? 

A: Really highlighting radical, divisive and out-of-touch policy in what Tim Michels is interested in enacting within Wisconsin. That doesn’t match the values of Wisconsinites, but, as well, making sure that people are aware of major successes that we have had under an Evers administration. This includes over a billion dollars towards small businesses and family farms, over a million and a half dollars towards education for new jobs and apprenticeship trainings, and he’s reduced taxes by 15%, and putting money back in middle class families’ pockets. These are big successes that we have had in Wisconsin, including moving the school system, the public school system, from 18th to 8th in the nation. We need another four years of Gov. Evers to make sure we can continue with these successes. 

Q: From your perspective how important is this race? What are the top three most concerning issues at stake? 

A: This race is critical for the future of Wisconsin. If we want to move forward, we need to reelect Gov. Evers this November. The top three things that I’m really worried about are things that most Wisconsinites are worried about: we’re worried about making sure we have the freedom to make our own healthcare decisions; we’re worried about the cost everyday of food and gas, and Gov. Evers has a plan to address inflation, and, you know, we’re worried about a good public school system. We want to send our kids to school where they are getting a good education and they are safe. And those three areas, I think, Gov. Evers has shown amazing leadership on, and we should continue for four more years.