Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Left Out Loud is a progressive political podcast breaking down the biggest stories shaping our democracy. From up-to-the-minute political news and midterm election coverage to in-depth interviews with grassroots Democratic candidates, the show spotlights the voices and movements fighting for real change. Smart, informed, and unapologetically loud, Left Out Loud pairs sharp analysis with humor and plain-spoken commentary, cutting through the noise to focus on what actually matters. If you care about elections, organizing, and the future of the Democratic Party—and you like your politics with a little personality—this is the podcast for you.
Ally: Hey, Seth.
Seth: Hey, Allie.
Ally: So today is our first
midterm candidate interview.
Right.
And when we talked about doing this
podcast, one of the things that
was really important to both of
us was focusing on the midterms.
Right?
Right.
Focusing on, um.
Finding the progressive grassroots
democratic candidates that we feel
good about, um, interviewing and
platforming because it's not gonna
be enough just to win the midterms.
We gotta make sure we have
the right people in there,
Seth: right?
And so it all starts with the primaries.
The primaries, of course, uh, is where
each party decides within its own self.
Who's the, who's the face that
we're gonna put out there.
Mm-hmm.
And, uh, and this, uh, for Democrats
is incredibly important because
we, again, we wanna platform
the right kinds of Democrats.
Not every Democrat is your friend.
Uh, not every Republican is your friend.
Ally: They're not all created equal.
Seth: Yeah, exactly.
And so, you know, and, and, and right now
in our country's history, and I know you
feel the same way, is that it is time.
This is our moment to get some
grassroots pu uh, pardon me, uh,
progressive candidates in there.
And, you know, it, it kind
of started with Bernie.
It has continued through Zora Momani is
the latest, uh, you know, example of it.
And you gotta strike
where the iron is hot.
These populous views,
absolutely progressive views.
They're looking real good in
the face of the current disaster
That is the Trump administration.
Ally: I can't agree more.
I mean, we need to clean out
these status quo Democrats.
We need to, first of all,
reject them out of pocket.
We don't want to primary that we don't
want to vote for them in the midterms.
We are looking for the
cream of the crop, right?
People that are not afraid to
say, I am a progressive Democrat.
I am a Democratic socialist.
And I hope eventually we can weed
out all of those corporate dems,
those status quo dems from the party.
But midterms is where it's really
gonna start, and I think it's an
opportunity to really shape reshape the
Democratic party starting in November.
So today we've got, um, we've got
an interview with Mike Hyden Rech.
He is running for Congress in Wisconsin,
in Wisconsin's sixth district.
We've met with him
before we, we've met him.
He's, he's come up on your live, right?
Right,
Seth: that's right.
And Mike,
Ally: oh, great guy.
Seth: And he's been, uh, you know,
he's been going around different
lives, kind of getting the word out.
And I mean, he's just, just, just
the, I love Mike 'cause he is just
like a down home guy, normal guy.
There's nothing fake about Mike.
You know, Mike is just,
just giving you who he is.
And I really hope that, that everybody
sees that, uh, in our interview with him,
uh, just how down home he is and how, you
know, especially if you're in Wisconsin.
You gotta look, you gotta
give this guy a look.
And if you know people in
Wisconsin, y'all, like, even if
you don't live in Wisconsin, like
look, they're, they're 50 states.
We're gonna go state by state.
So if you know some people around
there, you know, some friends,
you know, you have some family in
Wisconsin, tell them to give Mike a
look because he is, he's the real deal.
Ally: Such an authentic guy.
Um, lifelong career working in the union.
He's been volunteering in
politics for years, starting with
the, uh, first Obama campaign.
Um, and now he's reached a point in
his life where, you know, he feels
like the only way he can really make a
difference is to put his hat in the ring.
So really looking forward to
this conversation and, um.
See you on the other side.
Seth: Can't wait.
Ally: We've got Mike Hyden Reich.
He is running for Wisconsin Congress.
The sixth district, right?
Mike?
Mike: That is correct.
Ally: Welcome.
Mike: That is correct.
Thank you.
Ally: So Mike, first tell us
a little bit about yourself.
So what's your background?
What made you even want to do this?
Mike: So many things, but, um,
my background is, well for the LA
I've been lifelong Wisconsinite.
I have lived here my whole life.
I haven't ever really wanted to go
anywhere else, but I, I love it here.
And I, uh, moved around the Madison area
for some time until I got my current.
Position, uh, at a power plant on south
of Portage, and I have worked there for
the last 17 years, uh, 14 at the power
plant, uh, 17 with the union in total.
I've been a union worker
for that entire time.
But before that, one of the, the
interesting coincidences was when I, um.
I got really involved in
politics right after high school.
Like right out of the gate I
was doing political canvassing
in very, very red districts.
Um, I was the guy they sent out
in Washington County because
they're like, eh, no one's gonna,
you know, take a shot at him.
He looks too nice.
Ally: Right.
Mike: And, and I literally
would go to like.
I go to Republican congressman's
houses and like try and sell
'em on the Democratic Party.
They're like, you know who I am?
It's like, no, I was an 18-year-old kid.
What would I know?
But I, I loved it.
I loved it because I genuinely believed
in what I was talking to people about.
And the Obama campaign came
around and it felt like.
It wasn't just hope, it was, Hey, this
is your opportunity to do something
to make the world a better place.
And we're not gonna tell
you what that thing is.
We're just gonna give
you the tools to do it.
Go out and make it work.
And by God, we did, uh, we ended up, I
think we had like 300 some volunteers
under us just in that one little precinct.
And, uh, we, towards the end
I was celebrating in a union
hall and it was my union.
Oh, that's so that I later so
cool that I would later join.
I was like, this is a really nice place.
Uh, I mean they got the, the table
was all engraved and it was their
old, it was nine, six, fives old
location, uh, across from where I lived.
And we were working out of
there for quite some time.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
Mike: And it was just.
It was so rewarding and I shortly
after got my job and it, it was the
kind of job you work all the time.
You, you just work, work, work.
And so I thought, Hey, I, I think I can,
you know, the Obama was firmly in office.
I was like, I feel like I can
actually take a breath and earn
some money, support my family.
And so I did that for about eight years,
nine years, and that Trump got elected and
I saw what was going on and I was like.
I, I need to get at least
re-involved as a volunteer.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Mike: But also start thinking about
maybe I need to do something more.
Okay.
And Biden got into office, COVID happened.
Everyone was, uh, life
altered a lot and when.
When it looked like we were going
towards one of the more politically
turmoil filled eras in our life, I said,
okay, I, I need to get re-involved.
Re-involved.
Mm-hmm.
It, it also helped that they
got my work pretty fully
staffed up so I could actually.
Take time off.
Take the time.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Whereas, whereas before, you can't
do that when you're working 60 plus
hours a week, almost every week.
But now that I actually have that
time, I said, I'm gonna help.
And so I helped, uh, one of my neighbors
and one of my neighbors from down the way.
Um, they got, uh, the state assembly
and state senate seats in this area.
Mm-hmm.
And they're doing great.
Uh, Maureen and uh, Sarah are.
Amazing state, uh, rep and state senator.
I couldn't be happier for them.
And that was the 24 election.
And I mean, we all know
how that turned out.
Yeah.
And I was like, literally the only
thing we didn't win as Democrats
in what was previously a pretty red
district was the presidential election.
Mm-hmm.
It was the only thing we lost.
And I realized we
Seth: see this a lot.
We've seen that, we saw that a
lot with a lot of swing states.
Mike: I thought very strange.
There were Trump voters who
voted from the state senator.
I was helping get elected.
I was like, that doesn't make sense.
Ally: It
Mike: happened
Ally: all over the country.
It was bizarre.
Mike: I, I can't really answer
why I, I have some theories, but
what it comes down to is they.
It's the thing that I have been talking
about now in my election for some time.
A lot of politics comes down to,
do you know who the heck that is?
Yeah.
Do you recognize their name?
Do you recognize their face?
Can you identify anything?
Even if you dislike them,
do you know who they are?
Ally: Right?
Mike: Because a lot of people, especially
people who politics, does not matter
as much about, like, it's not really a
part of their lives on a daily basis.
When they get in the voting booth,
a lot of times they just look at
it and go, uh, um, who's that?
I don't know who any of these people are.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: And we forget how often
politics does not penetrate to someone
who doesn't care about politics.
We're we're in it.
Right.
We, we are involved on a daily basis.
Yeah.
I, I get more political news than I know
what to do with, but someone who isn't.
Isn't necessarily fine
hearing about any of this.
That's why some of the things that
happened in Minnesota changed so
much because it didn't matter if
you were aware politically or not.
You saw that.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: That got through and that's the
kind of thing that we're starting to see.
Oh, people are actually paying attention
because it's getting through the noise.
Right.
I, I really wish it didn't have
to get through that way, but yeah,
Ally: I know.
Me too.
Me too.
I am, I'm glad that they're starting
to pull out of Minnesota now.
I hope, um, sooner than later they'll all
be gone and let that community rebuild.
It's been, uh, I'm, I'm struggle
and an inspiration both.
Mike: I'm hopeful and yes, it has been.
Uh, but by the way, Bravo to Minnesota.
Yeah.
Like you guys got it done for the Midwest.
And what I'm concerned about is there's
been some, it's looked like one of the
next areas on their list was Wisconsin.
And so we were, there's been a lot of
people saying, okay, what do we do?
Mm-hmm.
If this BS crosses the border, what
do we do to support our neighbors to
make sure this doesn't affect them?
Because, uh, we saw how
it was beaten back there.
Right.
And it was by everyone banding
together and saying, no, you're
not going to kidnap our neighbors.
Mm-hmm.
You're not going to
destroy people's lives.
We are going to fight you tooth and nail,
and we're gonna do it in a way that it
makes it obvious who the bad guys are.
Ally: It was really remarkable.
Makes obvious how they came together.
It was beautiful and an example and
taught, I think all of us so much
about resistance in a peaceful way.
I mean, they were peaceful.
Um, think that
Seth: was, I think that
was the biggest thing.
Like
Ally: yeah,
Seth: Trump went in there
absolutely telling them, Hey,
do whatever you gotta do.
And then he may not have said it
directly to them, but in the back
of his mind he is like, I'm trying,
I'm trying to institute martial law.
Ally: Yeah,
Seth: that's why he defended them after
the first murder, the second murder, and
it didn't matter, you know, he was looking
to get Minnesota for an excuse, such a
tizzy so that they responded violently
to the violence and they should be given,
um, so much credit for not giving in when
they rightfully could or should have.
Ally: I heard they were nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize and wow, I deserve it.
I know it's kind of early to be thinking
about that, but I mean, they definitely,
I would love to see that happen.
Mike: There's nothing that
unifies, especially people from
the Midwest, like when you start.
Doing things to our neighbors.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: That we would find this despicable.
Ally: So, Mike, talk to me, talk to
Seth and I about, um, you're running
for the sixth district in Wisconsin.
What is the sixth district?
What, what area does that make up?
Mike: So the sixth District is one
of the bigger districts in Wisconsin.
Uh, and I'm actually, I pull it
up on a map all the time just
to look and see, Hey, is that.
Is my understanding of it.
Uh, perfect.
Uh, as to how it's going.
And it is basically, I'm the far
southeast or southwest corner.
Okay.
It goes all the way to Lake Michigan.
Okay.
All the way north to, uh, two rivers
and actually some other parts as well.
Uh.
I suppose two creeks would be the far
northeast, uh, corner, and then it
comes down around Lake Winnebago and
then back up all the way to Plainfield
in the upper left hand corner.
So it's basically like a big square.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Mike: That takes up, I'd say, I want
to say about a fifth of the state.
Uh, there's a, that's big.
That's very, there's a really, I
mean, it's 750,000 people and Okay.
We don't, we don't have that
many cities in it, so a lot
of them are very spread out.
So it's rural and Oh, it's very rural.
Yeah.
Um, uh, Oshkosh is probably one of the
bigger cities, fond Dulac, uh, Manitowoc
and, and, uh, Sheboygan and, uh, port
Washington and, uh, me one are in there.
Those are all not large cities.
Those are all like kind of suburban
areas and, uh, maybe, maybe Sheboygan
and, and Oshkosh being among the bigger
ones, but most of it's farm country.
Uh, rural, rural areas.
I've got a lot of places where,
uh, Marquette in particular,
we were just talking.
It's much easier to call around
because if you're driving, if you're
canvassing door to door, you're
basically in your car the whole time.
Ally: I bet.
Yeah.
Because of the distance, so.
Mm-hmm.
Um.
I mean, I think I have a good
guess, but since Trump took office
the second time around, what are
some of the biggest challenges that
you are seeing in your district?
Mike: Um, so we have a lot of farmers
and the farm industry in Wisconsin.
It doesn't matter what you were raising,
it doesn't matter what you were growing,
took a huge hit, um, with the tariffs,
which now of course, it's like, how
do you even go back and, and take
back all that now that the Supreme
Court said, no, you can't do that.
Mm-hmm.
And it, it's, it's like, I'm
not even sure how they're gonna
go about refunding all of that.
If they, if they even can.
Seth: It's a
Mike: disaster.
They even can, yeah.
It's, it's genuinely going
to mess up our trade.
Mm-hmm.
And, and some of those markets
aren't ever coming back.
Some of those markets
are not ever coming back.
Uh, especially the
soybean market especially.
Oh, they've been
Ally: decimated.
Yeah.
Mike: I mean, there are farmers
who literally cannot farm or
it's not profitable for them.
Right.
And.
That's just the farmers.
Uh, you look at literally anyone
in our area and there's no one here
who's like, yeah, this was great.
I mean, yeah.
Tourism.
Tourism is a big part of our area.
Um, we have Wisconsin Dells.
It actually like, kind of points
over and, and literally just the
city of the Dells is in my district.
Um, we've got all these national parks.
Do you know who our number one
visitor was to those national
parks besides people from Illinois?
Ally: Canadians.
Mike: Canadians?
Yeah.
They were a good, they were
a good third of our tourists.
Do you see any coming?
Why would, would they?
Seth: You know, it's funny because we
were talking about how the snowbirds
are not coming to Florida and people
miss out on the fact that they're not
supporting a lot of our border states.
And that, of course, that goes
into tourism, you know, and that
is, and that is a damn shame.
That's a damn shame.
It is all, it's all the unintended
consequences that people don't
necessarily know are gonna happen.
When you're in the moment and
you're like, yeah, tariffs.
Bring back the jobs, bring back
the, you know, better trade deals.
Look at our deficit.
Well, it turns out our deficit was made
worse by the tariff war also, so, yeah.
Mike: Do you know how scary our
situation as a country economically?
Right now.
Oh yeah.
'cause the, 'cause the rest of
world, we talk about it every day.
The world.
'cause the rest of the world is going,
oh, if the United States isn't going to
be the world leader in terms of securing
everyone's ability to trade, then we're
gonna have to find other people to do it.
Exactly.
Right now, Canada.
Is being led by a person who's
widely considered one of the best
economic economists in the world.
Mm-hmm.
And he, um, is basically
brokering deals between Europe
and China and all the other Yeah.
Uh, Pacific.
Trading partners that were
previously our trading partners.
Mm-hmm.
And they're basically saying, look,
if the US isn't gonna take part in
the world economy in a rules-based
economy, I believe is how he called it.
Yeah.
Then we have to, and so they're trying
to arrange it so people can transit
their goods through what previously
was the United States' ports and
the United States' currency and.
That's the underpinning
of our entire economy.
Ally: Absolutely.
Mike: And I don't think Trump
realized any of that or cared.
He probably just,
Ally: I don't think he cares.
Yeah.
He didn't, he didn't think
about the consequences or
care about the consequences.
Seth: Yeah.
Mike: Why would he?
Seth: Uh, yeah.
Let, let ask some, um, Mike, 'cause
you're a, you're a union guy.
You're a union guy.
I am.
And a lot of, a lot of union
people, they stick by their guns.
They vote Republican, uh, no matter
what, for whatever reason that,
that seems to be, uh, a problem.
A, a place where Democrats
miss a whole lot.
Can do you, why do you think
that Democrats in the, in the
unions don't seem to jive?
And, and what are, what are the,
what, maybe two or three issues that
are the most important to, uh, people
that you talk to in your unions?
Mike: You named one of them?
Uh, I'll tell you right now, guns
are a big one because a lot of people
who work in unions also own firearms.
I own firearms.
Mm-hmm.
Like we have, we have a culture
of hunting, a culture of
going to the range up here.
Yeah.
Like, it's not, it's not.
Like that was never a
thing that was known.
I, I think that it, it's been a years
long process of basically telling
union members, Hey, we recognize
we're gonna, you know, basically hurt
you economically every chance we.
But all this other stuff's more
important, so let's focus on how we
can, you know, hate this group, right?
Or how we can say, we're going to support
you on this thing, but actually not.
Mm-hmm.
And they've been doing this for years.
They've been telling, I, I've had
arguments with people in my union
where they said, you know, how can
you support that horrible president
who's gonna take your guns away?
And then just recently I was like.
You know, I never heard a
Democratic president say, you can't
bring a gun to a public thing.
Never once.
No, never.
But I heard Trump say it last Tuesday.
Mm-hmm.
I, I, I've never heard a, uh, you
know, any public official who was
a Democrat say that they were going
to arrest you for having a firearm
that you were legally allowed to own.
But I heard multiple members of
his cabinet say it the other day.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Mike: I, I, I know we get the idea
that Democrats are the, you know,
people who are against two A.
Ally: Coming for your guns.
Mike: Coming for your guns, right.
Never happened.
It was never, it was never about that.
Ally: No.
Mike: And, and I just think that a
lot of union members are starting to
realize that they've been getting kicked
in the teeth economically for years.
Because of promises that they
weren't actually even getting
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: Things that they were
told, oh, we'll never do that.
We're gonna make governments small.
We're gonna lower your taxes.
Ally: Right.
Mike: Taxes are, taxes are a huge one.
Yeah.
And this last, this last bit I had
to ask people, so what's a tariff?
A tariff's a sales tax on you?
On the purchaser.
On the person who's finally going
to purchase the thing because it's
charged to the person who's selling it.
Do you think they don't pass
those costs on to the customers?
Ally: Right.
Mike: I think they determine in
the final, like, and this was a
relatively uh, conservative think
tank, 94% of the tariffs costs
were passed on to the consumers.
Ally: Yeah,
Mike: and, and, and keep in
mind, we haven't even seen all
of the tariffs come through.
A lot of the stuff that happened
before was because of old inventory
that they had that they could
still sell at a reasonable rate.
So they've been slowly building that up,
so hoping that people won't notice, Hey,
it costs thousands more to do this now.
You can't get, uh, an automobile just
about anywhere for the near the same price
because everything's going up in price.
Ally: Yeah,
Mike: I, I know, I know, uh, in particular
how he treated Canada and Mexico.
I mean, I don't think people realize
in the last, um, last trade agreement,
we're a very cross border kind
of, um, automotive industry now.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Mike: Not just, not just
plants down there, but parts.
Ally: Yes.
Mike: So like, let's say the,
the factories in Michigan.
But the parts might, the
aluminum might come from Canada.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, this part might come from Mexico.
We had a very active border of the
automotive industry going back and forth,
and as soon as those tariffs went into
place, you can't have a a 50% increase
on anything and expect it not to vastly
increase the final products price.
Yep.
So we're, we're getting squeezed any
number of ways now in, in places that
union folks, actually it will matter.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Mike: But the one that doesn't, that
I don't think people realize is so,
um, you've all seen what he's done to
the National Labor Relations Board.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Mike: He's basically packed it with people
who don't look at unions, which just.
It makes me shake my head.
He is back to the people who don't look
at unions as worthwhile things to have.
Ally: Exactly.
He
Mike: wanted,
Ally: he's always been anti-union.
Mike: Always, always.
Ally: Right, right.
To work in his private career.
In his personal career.
Yeah.
Mike: And, and so he basically.
I mean, if you are right now going to
negotiate a contract or you are thinking
about doing a strike because you are,
you, your, uh, your company that you're
working for is not obeying the safety
rules or, or something, something's
going on where you think there's gonna
be a conflict, would you trust that that
national, uh, that labor relations board
is actually going to have your back?
Would you trust that this president is
gonna just not say no, you can't strike?
And, and this is the thing
that I think a lot of union
members are starting to wake up.
Ally: So do you feel if you, if
you become, if you win the primary
and you are elected into Congress
representing your district, do you
feel that that's kind of where your
mindset is as you enter your term?
Would you be thinking about, you know,
your neighbors, the working class,
your, your fellow union members,
and that's kind of informing the
Mike: only
Ally: what's
Mike: important
Ally: to you?
Yeah.
Mike: The only reason I'm doing this.
Is because I want to see people
who aren't in the top 1% mm-hmm.
Actually be able to continue to live.
Yeah.
I, I, I mean there's no one on this
app or, or any of these online apps
other than Elon Musk, maybe who,
who is in a position where Donald
Trump and by extension the con, the
Republican and Congress and Senate.
Benefit by the rules they put into place.
Seth: Mm-hmm.
Mike: We, we do not have any benefits.
I, I told people I didn't, I didn't
say I wanna run for Congress because
I want to be a Congress person.
I wanna run for Congress,
almost outta self-defense.
Because what they're doing is
going to squeeze everybody day
by day, neighbor by neighbor, so
that they cannot afford to live.
And, and that's gonna have
effects up and down the board.
And I can't just keep watching this and
going, ah, someone else will fix it.
No, they won't.
It's on us.
It's on
Ally: us.
Yeah, I completely agree.
So, okay, Seth.
Well, Seth, do you have any
questions before I move on?
Seth: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because, uh, so in the presidential
election, um, Wisconsin was actually
the smallest margin of victory four.
Donald Trump.
I know.
So, you know, and I mean that's, I
think that might surprise some people
because people look at Nevada and
they thought Nevada was gonna be a
lot more blue than it ended up being.
But it's actually, Wisconsin has the
shortest amount of ground to makeup.
So my question to you is, what
do you think will push, what
can push you guys over the edge?
Uh, in, just in the midterms
and really in general, uh,
when it comes to Wisconsinites.
Mike: I think we're there.
I, I think people.
I, I'm always shocked.
Yes, there are some people, maybe 30%
of the country is always going to be
very much pro uh, conservative mindset.
Very much pro Donald Trump.
There's a decent chunk of
people who are like that.
What I was shocked by.
Is the number of people who are coming
out, not just Democrats, independents,
and even very hardcore Republicans,
people who have been Republican, but
since before I was born coming out and
saying, this is, this isn't our country.
This isn't what we voted for.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: And I know that's, I know a
lot of people on my side are like,
well, yes it is what you voted for.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Mike: But not to them it wasn't.
Ally: Right.
Mike: And and I am absolute
such a, such a disconnect.
Ally: It's crazy.
Mike: Well, and, and we were
talking about this earlier,
not everyone's that political.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: Not everyone.
Yeah.
In fact, that's a great
Ally: point.
Mike: The, the majority of
people are not that political.
For the majority of people,
politics is something they don't
want, nothing to do with, they
don't really want to know about it.
It, it's been given this impression
of that's where bad people go or
that's where people who want power go.
I had someone who actually have to
answer on TikTok in just a little bit.
I I just remembered that, um, he asked,
you know, who's paying for your campaign?
Ally: Yes.
Mike: And the response that's of my
Ally: questions too.
Mike: I'm, the response I'm
about to give him is You are.
Mm-hmm.
Because if you don't pay for it,
I'm not taking corporate PAC money.
I'm not taking.
Money from, uh, special interest
pacs that are basically just
there to get me to do something my
constituents won't want me to do.
If, if a union wanted to give me money,
sure, I'm already supporting unions.
You know that, like,
that's not a surprise.
Um, if an organization that was
trying to organize for Universal
Healthcare wanted to give me money,
I wouldn't just take their money.
I'd say, Hey, guess what?
This organization gave me a ton of
money for Universal Healthcare because
it's something I'm already doing.
That's, that's the kind of
thing where it's like, yeah,
I, I wanna do those things.
I want to achieve those things.
And if you are telling me that the
thing you are trying to get me to
do is something I'm already doing
well yeah, I, I want to help do
better for my constituents, but it's
Ally: my cons.
So no corporate PAC money?
Mike: No.
Ally: No APAC money.
No dark money.
Right?
This is the thing.
What
Mike: would be the.
Ally: I, I, this is what I keep
trying to drive home, right?
And this is why we're doing these
segments and, and platforming candidates
that we believe in, because it is not
going to be enough just to flip the
house and potentially flip the Senate.
We have to make sure we are putting
the right people into those positions.
Otherwise, we will never,
ever claw our way out of this.
Mike: And
Seth: you've seen, not every
Democrat is your friend.
Ally: No.
Seth: Not every Democrat
is for the people.
Ally: No.
So
Mike: there's been an example in almost
every generation, my generation, it was
probably, uh, Manchin and Sine, and I'm,
I'm not even sure I say, and now, now
Ally: Federman
Mike: and now Federman.
Right.
I, I. I really don't wanna be like super
cruel to him because I'm relatively sure
know his flip was actual brain damage.
It
Mike: could be.
I mean
Ally: yeah,
Mike: that's, that's actually,
Ally: but that, but that in
itself is an issue, right?
Absolutely.
If you absolutely suffer that
kind of injury Absolutely.
While you serving constituents, you, you
should re, we should really reconsider.
How do you feel about term limits?
How do you feel about
Mike: Oh,
Ally: I mean,
Mike: absolutely I do.
Yeah.
I, I do not want to do this
for the rest of my life, right?
I, I, if I'm still in this at 80 years
old, we are not doing a good enough
job building the future of our party.
If I'm still doing this at 80 years
old, then we're not doing a good enough
job mentoring the next generation.
I'm, I'm right now talking to people
who are coming outta high school, going
into college, and I'm looking at them
and going, Hey, in a few years you
should think about running for office
because I love You've got the chops.
Yeah.
And that is the kind of thing we should
be passing on is a tradition of service,
a tradition of people who want to make
the world a better place and saying, okay,
if I'm gonna do that, how do I do that?
And
Mike: for the right
Ally: reasons.
Mike: Exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
You can't just.
I, I don't want to get into
office just to get into office.
Mm-hmm.
That I, I don't, I was very
happy working my union job.
I would've been happy to do that until
retirement retire and go fishing.
Like, I, I don't, I don't need, I didn't
need all the aggravation of running for
Ally: congress, especially these days.
Getting into politics in 2026 is not like
getting into politics when we were kids.
Right.
This is, this is so, um.
The discourse is, so, it's
extremely toxic at times.
It's very divisive.
Um, so I think you have to have, I
think you're either one of two things.
You're either looking at this as an
opportunity, not you, but in general,
people are looking at this as an
opportunity to enrich themselves.
And grab onto power for the wrong reasons.
Or you're willing to actually be a public
servant, which requires sacrifice, right?
Absolutely.
And stewardship and doing something
to make this country closer to
what we all believe it should be.
Mike: It it means that you are
willing to basically sacrifice
actual years of your life.
To, to go out and do this.
I, this is every moment of every day
that I have spare, and it's gonna be that
way probably as long as I'm doing it.
And if it weren't for the fact that I
don't see a way that our country can go
forward unless we keep changing the, we
need structural changes in this country.
There, there is not a way that
someone my kids' age can say, I'm
thinking I'm going to take part in
the American Dream and own a home
and go to college and get a good job.
Like they don't believe
that's gonna happen.
Ally: Why would they,
Mike: why would they?
Because it's out of reach for the
majority of people in America.
It's not even close to in reach.
Ally: Yeah,
Mike: and, and I'm talking people
who are making good money, but.
The housing market is so far out of
reach, most of them can't even dream that.
Ally: I think I
Mike: just turned just the rental market.
Ally: It's great.
All of it is is so, um,
is so insanely priced.
And I think I heard just recently
there was a statistic that.
First time home buyers
are now averaged age 50.
I mean, you're not even, you know, what
are the chances you're even going to pay
that home off and enjoy a mortgage free?
We never really own our homes
'cause we have property taxes.
So that's just my little, my little rant.
Um, but you know, just not having a
mortgage or a rent payment, if that's
the age of, you're just gaining access
to that dream, to that possibility.
We clearly have gone.
So far in the wrong direction.
Mike: I, I have to ask, why, why do
you guys, just, both of you, why do you
think your property taxes are so high?
Ally: Hmm.
Mike: I mean, I mean, legitimately,
why, why do you think your property
taxes are as high as they are?
There's a definite reason,
there's a, there a call.
I'm
Seth: gonna go, I'm gonna go
mismanagement at the local level,
Mike: misappropriation of
funds, but specifically.
They basically took a lot of the
funds that used to fund schools
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: Would come from federal
programs or would come from the
state through income taxes directly.
Mm-hmm.
Right.
So you, you'd have people who are
paying more in income taxes at the very
top that would directly fund schools.
Ally: Yes.
Mike: In 1994, they froze the
funding formula for schools in 1994.
Right.
So imagine that base price.
Ally: Mm-hmm.
Mike: And every increase thereafter
has had to been raised out of property
taxes with school referendum, after
school referendum, because guess what?
It doesn't cost as much as it did in 1994.
We're 30 years some years later.
Ally: Yeah.
Yeah.
Mike: So it's, it's basically
they just transferred.
From the rich who were paying
that, the lion's share of that,
as you know, they generally did.
Now it's being transferred to
what's left, to the middle class.
Wow.
And our property taxes have almost doubled
in the 15 some years I've been here.
Ally: Insane.
Seth: And really quick, you know,
uh, you talk about unrealized gains.
Ally: Yeah.
Seth: What are unrealized gains, if
not your property taxes going up?
Every year.
And yet these people wanna rail
against unrealized gains for
billionaires in the stock market.
So, once again, the rich have found a way
to distract away and to give themselves
even more money that they don't even need.
Mike: I, uh, we were talking about,
uh, all the people who are doing
their taxes right now and are like,
well, where's my, where's, where's
my tax refund for my overtime?
I work a lot of overtime.
Yeah, it me too.
I think it was next to nothing.
Yeah.
I think I got like, it's, I think
I got like maybe a hundred bucks.
Ally: Lemme tell you much.
He, he really bamboozled people
on the idea that, and now they're
finding out what it actually is.
Mike: It, it it, if you are going to
rely on the word of the Republican party.
The people who voted in Donald
Trump, the people who voted in,
people like Glenn Grothman, who's
one of his biggest cheerleaders,
then you are going to be scammed.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: And that isn't me telling you that.
That's their actions telling you that.
Mm-hmm.
That's their repeated
actions telling you that.
Ally: Absolutely.
So we're almost out of time,
but I want to, um, so you're
running for the Democrat seat?
Mike: Mm-hmm.
Ally: Um, you have four other
people right in, that are running
in the primary on the Democrat side.
Would you call, would you
label yourself a progressive?
Mike: Absolutely.
Um, absolutely.
I mean, I'm for universal healthcare.
I support unions.
Like, it was funny, I was filling
out a, uh, thing for a union
the other day and I'm like, wow.
Do I have to answer no to any of
these because I, I know this is a
real problem for a lot of the people.
I, I was actually trained how to work
through from the other side, the person
administering this, this, uh, it's a
questionnaire we give to candidates.
To see if their values are
going to align with the union.
Right?
And, and they were just talking
about all the progressive things that
we as Progressive Dems want to do.
And I'm like, yeah, um, can I
just say yes and, and be done?
Because it's, it's literally a
list of everything I'd like to see.
I'd like to see universal healthcare.
I'd like to see, um, uh.
Some method of actually making it
possible for people to own homes Again,
to actually not just say, we're going to
work on this, but actually work on this.
Mm-hmm.
There are so many issues in this country
that we can't just continue to, to say,
oh, we're gonna, we're gonna do that.
We're gonna work on that in the future,
Ally: kicking
Mike: the can
Ally: down the road.
Mike: We, we can't, the,
the can's been kicked.
We're, we're chasing after that can
right now because as it turns out,
our economic futures in that can,
and we kicked it so far down the
road that we're in a world of hurt.
And if we don't start rail, railing
that back and make actual structural
changes to our country, we are not
going to be able to continue as we are.
And, and everyone, I don't care
how rich you are or how poor you
are, everyone will suffer for that
if we do not make those changes.
And that's why I want to get elected.
Ally: Well, I'm Mike,
I'm a big fan of yours.
Um, I know Seth.
Thank you.
You really enjoy talking to Mike too.
Mike: So I'm on TikTok
with you guys a lot.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: And, um, uh, some of my daughter's,
classmates saw me on TikTok and one of my
videos early on at the end, it was right
before Packer came, I said, go, pack, go.
And they, they tease me about
that all the time now because.
The kids are way more politically
aware than I ever was as a kid.
Ally: Oh yeah,
Mike: for sure.
They're actually paying
attention to this kind of stuff.
Ally: They
really
Mike: are, and so they,
they were like, oh, cool.
Hey, how's your dad's campaign going?
Ally: I can't tell you how much I've
learned from my own kids about politics.
Mike: Oh, I, I
Ally: can't tell you how much my
views have evolved and changed
over time as a result of my kids.
Mike: I don't think my
views have changed, but.
I,
Ally: I might have,
Mike: it was moments where I'm
Ally: so much more progressive
than I ever, I mean, you can
call me a democratic socialist.
I'm good with it.
I would never have said that
even probably five years ago.
Mike: I think what, what made me realize
that my kids were growing up was.
I'd have to be like, oh, okay.
They may have a point exactly what they're
saying might actually, that's what I mean.
Be, Hey, maybe I should think
about this a different way.
Mm-hmm.
And it was generally the same idea,
Ally: right.
Mike: But a consideration,
a, a thing that, and
Ally: taking
Mike: it
Ally: a little
Mike: bit
Ally: further about, yeah,
I've had the same experience.
And I, I love that.
Um, I love being able to see,
Mike: it
Ally: gives me hope, everything
through a different lens.
It gives me hope as well.
It
Mike: gives
Ally: you hope.
Um.
Uh, listen, it's been a pleasure.
Can you tell everyone how to support you?
Mike: So I, I tell people across this
country, there are a huge number of
candidates right now making the choice.
Can I continue on and.
The ways to support me are the ways
that any politician would need support.
We need your time.
We need your money, and we need
you to actually talk about us
to your friends and neighbors.
Now, if, if you can do all three, great.
If you can do one of them, great.
Right now, everyone has the responsibility
to actually do what they can.
If you have the means at hand, you have
the responsibility to act, and this
is the time to act because you want to
talk about, you know, having the kind of
politicians you actually want in office.
You can't do that in the general election.
By then, they've already been picked.
So you want to see a progressive
Democrat in office one way
you could make it happen.
Donate to my campaign.
Um, I have the links to my, uh, act blue.
We'll put, we'll put them
right here all over the place.
We'll put 'em right here.
Um, you can also go to my website.
It's hiden rech, the number
four congress.com, and the
contact information on there.
If you're in my district and want to
volunteer, if you're even just a little
bit outside my district and want to
volunteer, we'll still take you and I'll
even point out who in your district you
should be supporting in your district.
I, I've, I've had talks with people
who are just outside my district.
They're like, can I still support you?
Of course you can.
In fact, I want you to support
all the other candidates who
are doing the same thing I am.
Who you think are actually
going to support your values.
You should be looking at the, you know,
Congress person down in North Carolina
who might be trying to actually run a
campaign that agrees with your values.
The only way a person like me or a
person like them is gonna get into
office is the support of people like you.
Because the other option
is corporate money.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: Like my, my opponent has
probably 3 million in the bank.
You can look up where his money came from.
Ally: Oh,
Mike: you can.
Oh,
Seth: we will.
Mike: Oh, yeah.
I mean, and, and I, there's a large
number of really good ways to do that,
but just look at the FEC, it'll tell you
where everyone gets their money from.
Ally: So in post-production, we
will be looking into your, uh,
your opposition and digging into
that, and happy to share that.
Um, but Seth, any final words?
Seth: I, I would just say y'all,
to our audience, look at what Elon
Musk and the billionaires did.
When you're thinking about, you know,
supporting a candidate, am I gonna
give money to a candidate like Mike?
Like, like anybody?
Think of it as an
investment in your future.
Mike: Doesn't
Seth: look at the, look at what,
look at what Elon Musk has benefited.
I mean, the ROI, I mean
300 million is nothing.
This man just.
Arguably made another $50 billion.
So the investing in your local
politicians can reap benefits 10 a
hundred fold, and really think about that.
Your $20 could go a long way and it
could come back and really help you out.
So that's what I would
say to our audience.
Mike: Wisconsin, our
primary is not until August.
So if a candidate like me wants
to get elected, I cannot wait
till the primary to decide whether
or not I'm gonna have support.
If I don't have support right now, until
August, people aren't gonna know who I am.
Ally: Yeah.
Mike: So that's what I need you guys.
Any money, any volunteering, any support.
The earlier you do it, the more effective
it will be because it will generate
that neighbor of yours who suddenly is
going to be one of my best canvassers.
It'll generate that, that relative
of yours who's like, yeah, I could.
I could give some money to them.
That builds and it builds and it
builds, and it creates something
that can actually achieve something.
No one thought was even
possible, which is.
Democratic Congress that'll actually do
something about what's going on right now.
And I'd love to be part of it.
Ally: Love that.
Mike.
Listen, it was so nice talking to you.
Um, stay in touch.
We'll connect again because I
wanna see how things are going.
And, um, in the meantime, we're gonna
put all your information up here.
Um, but, you know, help out.
Mike.
He's a good one.
Mike: I, I would appreciate it.
You're not gonna get a candidate
unless you support them.
Because I'm not taking corporate
PAC money, so literally my only
method of support is you guys.
And, and that's, that's
how we gotta, and that's
Ally: what we want.
Mike: That's how we gotta do it.
That's what
Ally: we want.
Yeah.
Mike: Yeah.
Ally: Absolutely.
Thank you, Mike.
Thank you so much.
Seth: Yeah.
Thank you for your time, Mike.
Thank you so
Mike: much.
I appreciate you guys so much.
Thank you very much.
Absolutely.
For your inaugural,
uh, your inaugural, uh,
Ally: our inaugural interview.
Mike: Yes, sir. I really appreciate it.
I am honored.
Ally: Thank you Mike.
So Seth, what did you think about
that conversation with Mike?
Seth: Oh man, that was
just a breath of fresh air.
Uh, Mike is the kind of guy that
we're looking to platform, right?
I mean, in the primaries
you can be a little bit more
choosy with your Democrats.
You can kind of go with like your ideal,
your dream candidate, if you will.
And this is almost,
it's like speed dating.
I mean, there's a lot of people
to consider love, love that we
wanna tell a lot of people, uh, you
know, you wanna find out a lot of
information a about a lot of people.
And depending on what state you're
in, there's, you got a month, you
could have four or five months.
I mean, it is really, it really
is wild ally, like how widespread.
The, these states have their primaries.
And until I started
digging, I know into it.
I didn't realize it.
I mean, you got people with, you
got states with primaries in March.
You got people with, you got
states with primaries in August.
Yeah, two or three months.
This is in August before
the real election.
So I'm just like, how.
How is that, you know, how is that mean?
But
Ally: I don't, I don't know.
It's wild.
I, I see that Jasmine Crockett
is out there in Texas.
Mm-hmm.
Um, meeting with constituents and the
community encouraging early voting
in her, you know, in, in Texas.
And then you've got Mike
on the other end of this.
He's, his primary is not until
August, which gives him a full.
Two, two and a half months.
Yeah.
Um, if the spring and
the summer the primary,
Seth: like
Ally: Yeah.
Seth: Wow.
Ally: It's wild.
It's wild.
It's, yeah.
And we'll, we'll go through all
of those timelines as we go state
by state because we weren't aware.
And other people may not be aware
either that your primaries are not
set in stone across the country.
Um, midterm voting is.
But primaries are all over the place,
but I, I really enjoy talking to him.
Yeah.
I think he's such an authentic,
solid, kind, um, hardworking
guy that really wants to get
into this for the right reasons.
Seth: Yeah.
Like you can feel how genuine he is
when you talk with him, and I hope that
everybody kind of got that same vibe.
Uh, from him.
I mean, the guy's rocking
his Green Bay Packer stuff.
I mean, it doesn't get
more w Wisconsin than that.
Like he's, he's, that, he
is that through and through.
He's a union guy through and
through almost 20 years in unions.
I mean, this is a guy who is
authentic, who lives his message
and you know, not only d does he
speak it, but he lives it right.
And he put, he puts it behind
and he, and he stays, uh,
connected to those union guys.
Mm-hmm.
And he feels their plight and even,
and you know, and we know a lot
of people who work in unions and
they are, and they vote Republican.
They vote on the right side and Exactly.
And they, even to the point
where, you know, they vote
against their own self-interest.
And Mike is a guy who can really
reach across the aisle and mm-hmm.
And, and reach those voters
that you desperately need.
Because like I was
saying in the interview.
Wisconsin was the closest
to electing Kamala Harris.
Yeah.
There's, you know, there's, you know,
ano 20,000 votes one way or the other.
Swings the election and as we know,
hundreds of thousands stayed home.
You.
Mm-hmm.
And that's why we have Donald Trump.
So y'all get out there, get,
take a look at Mike, take a
look at the other candidates.
We'll be bringing you others.
But like, you know, that this is
who can reach across the aisle in
a moment where we are so divided
and so you need guys like Mike.
Mm-hmm.
Ally: Yeah, I agree.
And so I think it's safe to say that Seth
and I both, um, are looking for Mike to
win that sixth district in Wisconsin,
and if we're putting him on the Chuck
Bernie scale, I'm gonna, I'm gonna slide
him all the way over to the Bernie side.
Seth: All the way
Mike: to the left.
All the way to the left.
Yeah,
Seth: absolutely.
I mean, uh, you know, Bernie
kind of got this thing started.
Uh, Mike is, you know, uh,
very, he has that Bernie spirit.
Um, just a man of the
people and, you know.
Progressive is where we want to go, right?
I mean, we want our ideal candidate.
We want a candidate.
Mm-hmm.
That's gonna speak for us, speak
to our values and put, at the very
least, put pressure on the other
candidates to come to the table.
Yeah.
And to start adopting.
Some of these progressive views.
'cause we've already seen, I mean, the
way that Trump was just enraptured with,
with Zoran that, I mean, he even dressed
like him, just charmed to death with him.
I mean, wild.
This is what we're talking about.
Like people like Mike, people like
Zoran, they can reach across the aisle.
They have ideas that are
immensely popular in a time where.
Nothing Trump is doing is popular at all.
So, you know, y'all
really think about this.
Like it is not out of the realm of
possibility for these guys for so long.
I understand it has not really been
an option, but now is the time.
And if not now, then when.
So I'm really a hundred excited that
we, that we got Mike, he's all the
way on a sliding to the Bernie side.
And, uh, and that's,
and that's what we want.
You know, that's who's gonna fight for us.
Ally: Agreed.
Look into Mike.
There's lots of ways that you can
support his campaign, whether you're
in Wisconsin or outside of there.
We have his information right here.
Check out his website.
Um, follow him on social media.
I'm really hoping he is a breakout,
uh, candidate in this primary.
I'd love to see him get him.
Seth: No doubt, no doubt, really.
And good luck to Mike.
I know he is.
Got a few more, uh, months to
go, so y'all sign up to help.
You don't have to live in
Wisconsin to help Mike out.
You can throw 'em a little bit of
money, every little bit helps, um,
when you're running against more
centrist candidates, um mm-hmm.
You know, and, but, you know,
get, you know, give him a look
if you feel great about 'em.
Volunteer a little bit of your time.
Like I said in the interview,
it's about, uh, investing.
Yeah.
At this point you're investing
time, investing money, and
you're, and what you're trying
to get is a return on investment.
Somebody who will represent
you, uh, to the fullest extent.
Ally: Exactly.
So, thanks everybody for, for
joining us on this inaugural episode.
Hey, we've got more to come.
We're gonna have more interviews.
When we are unable to meet
with a candidate, we will.
Still deep dive into our favorites.
Mm-hmm.
And we are also speaking of
deep dives, going to do other
episodes of this podcast.
To deep dive into stories, um, that might
be getting glossed over in our news.
Yeah.
So stay tuned for that.
But Seth, it's been, it's
been great to see you.
It's great to talk to Mike
and, uh, go, go find Mike.
He's our guy
Seth: for sure.
All right, ally.
Ally: Alright, love you.
Take care.
Appreciate you.
Love you.
Bye.