The Democratic Voice Podcast

Republicans have, once again, thrown three very manipulative and confusing "yes-no" constitutional amendments on the fall ballot. 

Everyone on the state will see them on their ballots and you should vote no. We get into why.

Also, city of La Crosse residents will see a Community Healthcare Action Plan question to create a healthcare committee. Around 5,000 residents signed a petition to get it on the ballot. 

That one is a vote yes. 

It reads: “Shall the city establish a citizens advisory health care action committee to develop a biennial health care action plan and provide a public process for community input on health care?”

Back to the three GOP constitutional amendments, they were written by Republicans to confuse you enough to both not quite know what they're saying but also somewhat sway you to think you should vote yes. None of them had Democratic input. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Derek Van Orden is flailing in Congress and rapidly losing support from Donald Trump.

As House Republicans bail on Washington again to avoid doing their job, Wisconsin’s 3rd District Congressman finds himself isolated, underfunded, and making continuous public blunders.

We break down how Van Orden managed to insult two distinct communities outside the Capitol in a single TMZ clip, drawing direct condemnation from La Crosse's mayor, and we expose the fuzzy math behind his rural healthcare claims after he voted to slash $1 trillion from Medicaid — all after flying to Texas to suck up to Trump during a 6-minute speech.

Episode Highlights:

• TMZ Blunder Sparks Outrage: Off-the-cuff Capitol comments managed to insult both Black and LGBTQ+ communities, drawing swift backlash from La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey.
• The $1 Trillion Healthcare Scam: Van Orden touts a $50 billion rural hospital grant package, but hides the fact that he voted to slash $1 trillion from Medicaid.
• Trump Cuts Cash, Elon Sends Scraps: Trump's Super PAC is stiffing Van Orden, leaving him to settle for a few thousand bucks in mailer scraps from Elon Musk's America PAC to keep his campaign afloat.
• Punishing Hungry Families: Van Orden brags about "saving" SNAP after voting for new restrictions that cut off 30,000 district families.
• Hiding from Voters: Instead of meeting constituents, Van Orden fled to a D.C. fundraiser while local Democrats connected directly with hundreds of voters at the Brad Pfaff Corn Roast.

• Sneaky Campaigning on Your Dime: How Van Orden uses official, taxpayer-funded cabinet visits like RFK Jr. to cover up his lack of actual legislative work in Washington.
• Massive Recess Dodge: Van Orden and House GOP leadership abruptly called off scheduled voting days to avoid a disastrous vote on impeaching Pete Hegseth.

The Democratic Voice is hosted by 3rd Congressional District Democratic Party Chair William Garcia and WIZM’s Rick Solem.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, we open looking at what the GOP priorities are in the US House, including bills to defund universities that boycott Israel, condemning socialism/communism and e capping Supreme Court justices.

Episode Highlights:

• House GOP Priorities: Republicans push symbolic floor votes on condemning socialism, Supreme Court caps and defunding universities while ignoring pocketbook issues.

• Labor Day Shift: A massive coalition of state unions unites behind David Crowley for governor to push a landmark worker-rights reset.

• Repealing Act 10: How overturning Scott Walker's legacy policy would restore collective bargaining rights for public sector employees.

• The $15 Goal: David Crowley’s plan to raise the minimum wage and eliminate low base pay for tipped workers.

• The PRO Act: How federal legislation could weaken right-to-work laws and shield workers from anti-union pressure tactics.

• Contrast on Unions: A look at Tom Tiffany’s legislative track record on labor compared to current union momentum.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 State Treasurer, Godlewski addresses the pressing costs facing working families — from skyrocketing healthcare premiums and hospital closures in the Chippewa Valley to closing corporate tax loopholes like the "dark store" loophole.

She also talks about being 1st Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Godlewski shares why a competitive Democratic primary strengthens the ticket against extreme opponents, how the party maintains strict neutrality while building statewide infrastructure, and why the best way to listen to voters might just be a statewide supper club tour.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dylan Helmenstine joins to tells us why he’s running for Wisconsin state treasurer what he feels is and isn't happening with that position and the experience he brings to take on that the job.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 started under GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson and how all the Democratic governor candidates are hoping it can be renewed next year with control of the government.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yee Leng Xiong joins to tells us why he’s running for Wisconsin state treasurer, helps us understand the role of that office, plus he shares the incredible story of how his family made it to Wisconsin after Vietnam.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 easily passed on both side of the Assembly. But no Democrats and three Republicans killed it in the state Senate. And all but one candidate for Wisconsin governor supported it. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, Rodriguez talked about her plans for big tech and protecting kids from the harms of social media and holding those companies responsible.

Later, we talked about the recent deal by Gov. Tony Evers and the two retiring Republicans leading the state Legislature to spend $1.8 billion of the budget surplus and Rodriguez's thoughts after it failed to pass. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 — shifting from the current 6-5 split. We discuss the irony of Republicans complaining about the move in a war that began when Trump told Texas Republicans to redraw their maps — with no vote by its citizens.

NOTE: Since this episode was recorded, Florida's GOP-led Legislature approved a new map from Gov. Ron DeSantis, also without a vote from citizens — shifting their 20-8 GOP advantage to 24-4. The move effectively bypasses Florida’s own voter-approved constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering by unilaterally declaring those protections unconstitutional.

We dive into the legislative response from Democrats with bills in both the House and Senate designed to ban mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering once and for all — bills that have of course been stalled by Republicans in leadership.

We also talk about the ripple effects this has and the high stakes for Wisconsin with Gov. Tony Evers' push for a nonpartisan commission before the 2030 census likely drops the state to just seven House seats — a special session that has been all but ignored by the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Closer to home, we take a look at a "civically illiterate" graphic from the La Crosse County Republican Party that fundamentally misses how elections actually work.

And, we break down Wisconsin's political landscape and how statewide candidates for governor will affect the rest of the ballot. An unpopular candidate — like, perhaps U.S. House Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is the GOP candidate for governor — won't do any good for someone like Derrick Van Orden in the 3rd District, or vice versa.

Meanwhile, Democrats have a field of candidates for governor with much more fanfare that could bolster those U.S. House and state legislature races on their side of the aisle.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.