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Ben Wikler: “Wisconsin had a free and fair election in 2024.”

Featuring: Ben Wikler, Democratic | Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin

The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show

Published July 28, 2026 | Video Starts at 52:03

And because of him and Lori Palmeri in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Governor Evers was able to veto the Republican attorney attack attack laws trying to threaten democracy. And Wisconsin had a free and fair election in 2024. All these different parts that add up to the system of who gets to write the rules of our democracy, which then dictates in whose interests our democracy actually works. (52:03–52:06)

CLAIM

Asserts that Wisconsin's 2024 election was free and fair.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ben Wikler

“It was the fifth of the last seven presidential races that came down to less than 1 percentage point [in Wisconsin].”
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“This is the only year on record where the ruling party, regardless of whether it was left, right or center, lost ground.”
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“Republican super PACs [were] funding avowed anti-Semites in Texas.”
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“A North Carolina state Supreme Court race that the Democratic candidate lost by 401 votes led to the re-gerrymandering of the state.”
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“The United States Republican House majority [was affected by the North Carolina state Supreme Court race].”
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“Kamala Harris lost Wisconsin by less than a percentage point.”
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“Harris had done better than she had in any other battleground state in terms of how she did versus how Biden did.”
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“We actually gained 14 state legislative seats and won the U.S. senate race at the same time as we lost the presidential.”
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“The overwhelming issue in races all around the world and with the voters who actually shifted their vote choice between 2020 and 2024, one…”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 03:25-03:36
“There are Republicans who think Democrats are too liberal, there are Democrats who think Democrats are not fighting hard enough for change.”
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“There's a third category of people who feel like all of politics is messed up, that they can't trust either party.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 05:10-05:16
“I would not expect for Democratic Party approval ratings to bounce back until people can see tangible results.”
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“Democrats are the party that wants to make government work for people.”
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“Our government, in so many ways, is set up to meet a million different goals other than delivering great public services.”
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“There's a ton that gets in the way right now of having a government that's capable of being responsive and effective.”
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“It's never been more urgent to have a government that is both responsive and effective.”
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“Democrats can rebuild trust in government and in themselves by being excellent and actually delivering.”
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“There were times in American life when parties were a huge part of your daily and monthly and weekly existence.”
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“When you became a naturalized citizen of the country, the local Democratic Party and sometimes the Republican Party was there to greet you.”
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“If they [Republicans] had won that super majority, they could have destroyed the Wisconsin Elections Commission and guaranteed future…”
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“It's in the state party's constitution that it is neutral in primaries.”
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“It's also part of that tradition to have the public get to call the shots.”
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“Wisconsin was the state that created open primaries.”
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“In 1948, there was this watershed moment. Joe McCarthy had just become the Republican senator in Wisconsin and the Democratic Party of…”
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“There is a essentially unified message this election cycle around affordability.”
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“Our federal government works for a cabal of far right billionaires and not for working people.”
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“Republicans in Wisconsin in the governor's race had a contested primary, and then it evaporated when Donald Trump tapped his favorite…”
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“I've seen Republicans running as Democrats in order to become spoilers.”
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“Maybe 90% of voters already know who they're going to support even before they know who the candidates are.”
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“The GOP has announced they're going to run a campaign of hate, that Axios had this report that they're going to run a campaign trying to…”
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“Ron Johnson won by 1 percentage point [in 2022].”
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“Ron Johnson holds teletown halls all the time.”
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“Ron Johnson is a huge vaccine skeptic and COVID vaccine skeptic.”
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“There are five candidates for governor in Wisconsin right now, and they represent kind of the. A big part of the range of the Democratic…”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 36:32-36:43
“Wisconsin has almost perfectly evenly divided voters across the two parties.”
The Democratic Party Needs Change | The Ezra Klein Show | Uploaded July 28, 2026 | 37:07-37:16
“It often comes down to the final ballots that are counted through the Milwaukee Central count system.”
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“It comes down to the margins in red rural counties that have voted 70% for the GOP, but this time they vote 68% and you're able to win.”
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“There are voters all across our state who are furious about the way things are right now, who have not yet been reached by any message from…”
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“Nancy Pelosi has a three item list for what it takes to win elections. She says it's message, money and mobilization.”
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“The Scott Walker loophole, a Wisconsin law that allows the state parties to fund state candidates to an unlimited degree.”
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“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin can receive big donations and then make big donations to state candidates.”
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“The US Supreme Court has changed federal laws to allow the national parties to play a bigger role with their money than they did before.”
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“Those limits [on party organization contributions to candidates] have been obliterated.”
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“In a lot of elections, voters find out who the candidate is when they walk into the polling place for state legislative races.”
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“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has built hundreds of neighborhood teams across our state.”
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“There are people in New York and California and across the country who go through a training with our state party and learn how to staff the…”
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“Slay has made a difference in Wisconsin and a whole bunch of other states.”
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