Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, the first Democrat to officially enter the race for governor after Tony Evers announced he wouldn’t seek reelection, said Evers gave her a heads-up before making his decision public.

“He did give me a heads-up that he was going to retire,” Rodriguez said on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “The conversation with him was, I’m just so grateful for his leadership. He has done amazing things for Wisconsin. He has set us up for success, and I can’t wait to just knock it out of the park with what he’s done.”

Rodriguez said she would “certainly welcome” Evers’ endorsement while adding, “That’s really going to be up to him.”

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“I do believe I’m the best candidate for the job,” she said.

Rodriguez called President Donald Trump a “maniac” in her campaign launch video and criticized the Republican-controlled Legislature.

“The proof’s in the pudding here,” she said. “The budget that they have put up at the federal government is hurting Wisconsin families. It’s hurting Wisconsin small businesses. It is hurting Wisconsin.”

The former lawmaker wouldn’t say whether she would have signed the recent state budget, as Evers did. The budget included a compromise with GOP leaders on key items like tax cuts, childcare and special education funding, and money for the Universities of Wisconsin.

“The governor did the best that he could with the Republican-led Legislature,” Rodriguez said. “The budget that the governor and I put out is not the budget that he signed. Eventually, he did the best he could.”

Dem Party Chair Devin Remiker says a Democratic primary for governor will “produce a stronger nominee.”

“I think that primaries are a healthy exercise within democracy and within our party,” Remiker told “UpFront.” “I think it’s going to produce a stronger nominee, and I think that at the end of the day, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, our candidates, are going to have the resources that we need to compete up and down the ballot next year.”

Remiker maintained, as the party historically has, that it will remain neutral during the process.

“We’ll be focused on what we’ve been focused on this entire time, which is organizing year round, communicating the message that reaches every corner in every part of the state — urban, rural and suburban — and making sure that we have a campaign operation that is ready to go as soon as we have the nominee,” Remiker said. “That’s up for the voters to decide. The party’s going to be neutral in this process. But we really look forward to working with whoever it is to deliver for working families in Wisconsin next November.”

Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette University Law School Poll, says one of the first big challenges for any emerging candidate will be name ID.

“I think the biggest thing is that anybody that gets in this race, now that Evers is out, is going to be far less well-known than Evers was as an incumbent governor,” Franklin told “UpFront.” “So all of these candidates that are either already jumping in or being talked about, or think about it, are going to have to spend a lot of time building name recognition because even if they are well-known in their city or county or legislative district, none of them are going to be well-known across the state.”

After Evers’ announcement, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, changed the governor’s race rating from “leans Democrat” to “toss-up.”

“I think in a closely divided state like we are, where statewide races are almost all within a one to three point range, it makes perfect sense that without the advantage of the incumbency, this starts as a toss-up race,” Franklin said.

Alex Lasry, the former Milwaukee Bucks executive and U.S. Senate candidate, is CEO of the New York-New Jersey World Cup Host Committee and says next summer’s World Cup “will be the largest event in human history.”

“It’s just the scale and scope of this is unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” Lasry told “UpFront.” “The last World Cup was viewed by the same amount of people as the last 13 Super Bowls combined.”

Matches in the U.S. begin in less than a year, and Lasry is in charge of the host committee that will see eight games and the final at MetLife Stadium.

“I look at our job as the host committee is kind of four pillars — security, transportation, fan engagement and economic impact,” Lasry said. “And so those four things, if we’re able to knock those out of the park, we’ll have a very successful World Cup. So, making sure the games are safe and secure, making sure transportation to the games or to our fan fest are seamless and efficient, ensuring that all the fans have a great time and feel engaged.”

Games will be held in 11 U.S. cities, with Kansas City being the closest site to Wisconsin.

“I’ve spoken with leaders even in Milwaukee about what we can do to ensure that people are coming to visit Milwaukee, to come to watch parties, to be part of the fever that the World Cup is going to have,” Lasry said.

Vice President JD Vance recently said, “Everyone is welcome to come and see this incredible event, but when the time is up, they’ll have to go home. Otherwise, they’ll have to talk with Secretary (Kristi) Noem.”

“I’ve been very focused on making sure that our region and the region that I’m running is ready to welcome the world,” Lasry said in response. “This World Cup can only be successful if we are welcoming the world to attend.

“I know that FIFA is working extremely closely with the administration and the importance of ensuring that people who want to come to the World Cup are able to go through the visa process and now have things hung up,” Lasry said. “For us, we want to make sure that we’re able to welcome the world here. This is only going to be successful as the world’s event.”

See more from the show.

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