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Joel Brennan: “My father was born to a single mother in 1927 in Manitowoc.”

Featuring: Joel Brennan, Democratic | Candidate, Governor of Wisconsin

Who's Joel Brennan? He might be Wisconsin's next governor

Published June 21, 2026 | Video Starts at 44:46

Not many of them live in Wisconsin, unfortunately, but I have deep roots. I'm a fifth generation Wisconsinite. There are Brennans who I don't know. Some other time we'll tell you. My father was born to a single mother in 1927 in Manitowoc. And so there are lots of Brennan's up there who I don't know. My mom grew up in Milwaukee and East Georgia, Troy. So like there are some Pretty deep roots. (44:46–44:51)

CLAIM

Asserts that Joel Brennan's father was born to a single mother in 1927 in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

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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Joel Brennan

“The legislature didn't meet for something like 300 days during [the COVID-19 pandemic].”
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“Wisconsin measured 33rd out of 38 in math and 30 out of 35 in reading [in studies measuring recovery from COVID in the K12 space].”
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“A state that's a 50, 50 state that has a 6 to 2, you know, Republican domination and only one seat that's competitive really in most years…”
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“Wisconsin's like this, you know, one of only six states that hadn't spent any money, any state money on childcare.”
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“Statewide, 25% of daycares are in danger of closing.”
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“We lose $40 million at the border to Illinois [due to marijuana legalization].”
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“Conservatively we can say that we're losing $100 million or more, you know, somewhere 100 to $150 million every year [due to marijuana…”
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“They built submarines there in World War II. It was the only place that was not on the sea that was making submarines at that time.”
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“I kind of was responsible for helping run the executive branch and that's kind of what the governor does.”
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“It's human resources for 35,000 people doing the state budget procurement, IT, the executive residents working with local governments.”
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“Doing things like negotiating the compacts with the Native American tribes around Indian gaming.”
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“For 20 years, I've had nothing but executive experience running complex organizations.”
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“I did that especially in state government during the time of COVID.”
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“I took an unpaid leave to do this job.”
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“I started spending money on my own television advertisement a week ago.”
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“Governor Evers decided not to run again. I thought he had a clear path to winning.”
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“He's the most popular in the Democrat, you know, running statewide.”
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“I was the head of the Greater Milwaukee Committee.”
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“The most important experience I ever had in government was during COVID when there were family farms, when there were small businesses…”
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“For 11 years. I was the CEO at the largest science and technology museum in Wisconsin.”
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“I ran a department that had 1500 people in it. I made policy for 35,000.”
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“The Milwaukee to Chicago line is one of the most popular for Amtrak.”
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“The biggest single gift that Tony Evers is leaving to the state of Wisconsin is a legislature that looks like the state.”
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“I expect we're going to have a Democratic majority in the Senate.”
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“You would probably find a half dozen or 10 or 15 Republican legislators whose cell phones I have and who have mine.”
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“We came out of COVID stronger than we had gone in.”
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“We've lived with gerrymandered maps over the last 16 years.”
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“We better be prepared to stand up and ensure that early voting is still a possibility.”
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“I would do what Governor Evers did in 2020, which is call up members of the National Guard and ensure that they are there on Election Day.”
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“We should, after the census, ultimately, we need to get to the Iowa model [for redistricting].”
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“If we have fair maps, we have everybody able to participate. We have, you know, more people participating. Guess what? Democrats win.”
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“Democrats are bound to be more successful than the maps that have been built in order to protect a Republican majority here.”
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“I will ensure that the governor has strong rights to a line item veto.”
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“The power has been checked and restrained, as you know, over the course of the last 30 years.”
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“Legislative Fiscal Bureau had said that, you know, you do all this stuff and, you know, it's likely you start the next biennium with a $3…”
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“This is a surplus that they say will exist next June 30, one year and two months from now.”
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“Those 300 or $600 checks they don't go to people who are living on a fixed income.”
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“We have lived for 16 years under the damage that Scott Walker did starting in 2010.”
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“We spent $110 million of state money on early childhood [in the last year].”
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“We did the same thing and got $200 million more savings in the second year of the biennium.”
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“I think you would see that in the report that came out on December 31st. I think he had already given the max and my sister had given the…”
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“I'm a fifth generation Wisconsinite.”
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“There are nine of us left, so we've lost two over the years. But every one of us is a Democrat.”
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“I have a sister who runs a federally qualified health center in Massachusetts.”
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“I have a sister in New York City who works in law enforcement. She's the chief special narcotics prosecutor for all of the five boroughs of…”
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“These are communities that's probably been there for 75 years or maybe 100.”
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