REALLY HARD FOR UNDER THE LAST YEAR OF ME AS LEADER AND THE TWO YEARS BEFORE THAT TO BUILD A REAL TEAM AND TO PLANT SEEDS THAT WILL MOVE WISCONSIN FORWARD. STATE SENATOR MELISSA AGARD THIS MORNING ON CAPITAL CITY SUNDAY IN MADISON, A GUARD STEPPING DOWN AS SENATE MINORITY LEADER IN ANNOUNCING HER BID FOR DANE COUNTY EXECUTIVE GIVE A QUICK FLURRY OF JOCKEYING TO BECOME THE NEXT DEMOCRATIC LEADER. LATE FRIDAY, SENATE DEMOCRATS PICKED DIANNE HESSELBEIN TO BE THEIR NEW MINORITY LEADER. J.R. ROSS, EDITOR OF OUR EDITORIAL PARTNER WISPOLITICS.COM, IS TRACKING ALL OF THE INS AND OUTS. J.R., IT’S GOOD TO SEE YOU. HEY, THANKS FOR HAVING ME. IS ANYONE SURPRISED THAT SENATOR AGARD IS NOW RUNNING FOR DANE COUNTY EXECUTIVE? NO. I MEAN, IT’S A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE THE WAY JOE PARISI, THE CURRENT DETECTIVE, IS GOING OUT, HE’S RETIRING EARLY IN MAY, IS TRIGGERING A FALSE SPECIAL ELECTION, NORMALLY BE IN THE SPRING. BUT THIS IS HER OPPORTUNITY. SHE HAS GOOD NAME ID, SHE’S BEEN AROUND POLITICS IN DANE COUNTY FOR A LONG TIME. SHE’S BEEN IN THE SENATE AND THE ASSEMBLY, THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. THIS IS REALLY HER OPPORTUNITY. AND THE QUESTION FOR HER IS, WILL ANYBODY WITH HER EQUAL NAME ID AND ABILITY TO RAISE RESOURCES GET INTO THE RACE? RIGHT NOW, THERE’S ONLY A MEMBER OF THE COMMON COUNCIL THAT’S IN THE RACE AS WELL, NOT NEARLY AS WELL KNOWN. OTHERS COULD KICK THE TIRES ON A BID, BUT SHE’S IN A VERY STRONG POSITION BECAUSE SHE’S OUT EARLY IN THE RACE AND HAS THAT PROFILE. THAT REALLY GIVES HER A BOOST. ALL RIGHT. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE NEW DEMOCRATIC MINORITY LEADER. IT’S GOING TO BE A BIG YEAR, 2024, OBVIOUSLY. JOE, GIVE ME YOUR BIGGEST STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES AND THE IMMEDIATE CHALLENGE IS FOR THE NEW DEMOCRATIC LEADER, SENATOR DIANNE HESSELBEIN. SO SHE’S FROM MORE LIKE THE DEMOCRATS AREN’T REALLY NECESSARILY A CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS. A LIBERAL CAUCUS IS ALL FAIRLY LIBERAL, BUT DIANNE HESSELBEIN IS MORE OF KIND OF THAT MODERATE LIKE LIBERAL, BUT WORKS WITH OTHERS KIND OF WING. SHE CAN WORK WITH THE GOVERNOR, SHE CAN WORK WITH DEVIN LEMAHIEU TO GET SOME THINGS DONE. IF LEMAHIEU WANTS TO GET BIG THINGS DONE LIKE WE SAW LAST THIS PAST YEAR WITH THINGS LIKE A SHARED REVENUE BILL, THE BREWERS STADIUM WITH DEMOCRATIC VOTES, SHE SOMEBODY CAN WORK WITH TO GET STUFF DONE. BUT SHE ALSO HASN’T BEEN IN A BIG STATEWIDE RACE OR HAVE THAT KIND OF BACKGROUND TO HAVE BIG STATEWIDE FUNDRAISING CONNECTIONS. A CHALLENGE FOR ANY ANY OF THESE THREE IS HOW DO YOU RAISE THE MONEY, RECRUIT THE CANDIDATES AND MOVE FORWARD. SHE’S ALSO PROBABLY GOT A MAYBE A BETTER WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GOVERNOR THAN THE OTHER TWO THAT SHE HAD RUN AGAINST. SO THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY THERE TO WORK WITH HIM GOING FORWARD. AND MAYBE THE EASIER TRANSITION FOR HER THAN THE OTHER TWO. A LOT TO WATCH FOR IN 2024 AND 2025 AS WELL. J.R. ROSS, ALWAYS GREAT TO HAVE YOUR INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS. THANKS FOR BEING HERE. HEY, ANYTIME. UP NEXT, THE TRE