World Series: Vote that saved baseball in Milwaukee

We're counting down to game four of the World Series and sharing some of your incredible stories. I'm going to bring in our reporter, Brian Poulsen. Brian, go ahead and take it away. Well, boy, that's awfully loud in my ear. I'm going to turn that down. So I was talking about what can we talk about on the last day, what could be the last day of the season as the Brewers are set to potentially sweep the World Series. And you really think about the fact that the Brewers are still here in Wisconsin, And there were a couple of times where that wasn't certain. And, in fact, if you go back to the 1990s when there was talk of County Stadium being outdated and the Brewers wanted a new stadium, they needed something that was more up-to-date. They needed that right there. They needed Miller Park, now American Family Field. Well, that was going to require some taxpayer money, and that was highly controversial. And it all came down to a middle-of-the-night 16-15 vote in the state Senate And a senator from Racine County, George Petak, cast that deciding vote. It was a highly controversial vote, and in fact, it cost him his job in the Senate. But because of that vote, Miller Park was built, and the Milwaukee Brewers stayed here in Milwaukee. George Petak died a couple of years ago in 2024. His son, Brian, is here with us, and I think we've got him over Zoom right now. Brian Petak from the Colorado Springs area in Colorado. Brian, thank you for being here with us on Fox 6 Now. Good to be with you, Brian. Go Brewers. I've just recognized I can't hear you, but it sounds like you can hear me. So I'm going to go ahead and ask questions. Just recognize I won't be able to hear what you're saying. But this is what I want to ask about, Brian, because if you go back to 1991, I believe is when your father was first elected to the Senate in Racine County. and it was four years later that this sales tax was being discussed. And the question was whether it would be a four-county sales tax or would Racine County be added to that one-cent sales tax. And initially your father said, no, I don't think Racine County is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Our taxpayers should not be subject to this tax. He was going to vote against it. But when it came down to it and there was a middle-of-the-night debate in Madison, and it was on him to break that tie, and he did. He switched his vote. You were, I think, probably in your 20s at the time, Brian. Do you remember all of that, and what are your memories of what happened at that time? For sure. I was about 25 years old when that vote happened, and my dad has been a Milwaukee Brewers fan for as long as I can remember, but he ran for his Senate seat on a fiscally conservative platform, and was not supportive of new taxes. And when it seemed that the political winds were blowing and including Racine County in that taxing district, that's when my dad was originally saying no to the new tax, but was always very supportive of the stadium being built and the public funding to build that stadium. And so it seemed at first that he was going to be able to vote no because of the tax and the Brewers would still get that stadium vote passed and and then build the park but there were some political things that happened and it they kind of shoehorned Racine County into the taxing district uh for sure and then so my dad was going to for sure vote no until it looked like the bill wasn't going to pass and so like you said in the middle of the night i think it was 5 a.m he finally switched his vote he couldn't stand the idea that Wisconsin would not have a baseball team that the Brewers would leave and go somewhere else and Major League Baseball would leave Wisconsin likely forever so he switched his vote and was glad to do so and who would have known that that uh opposition would would get enough signatures to run a recall campaign the next year but they did and uh and my dad lost that fateful uh recall election but in you know in the grand scheme of things and over you know the last number of decades, my dad was glad to have lost his Senate seat if it meant keeping the Brewers in Wisconsin. I'm who thought of your dad as a traitor, but after all these years, so many people look at him as actually the savior of the Milwaukee Brewers. Bud Selig, of course, called your father a hero. That was one of those votes that, as you pointed out, the politically easiest thing for him would have been to be able to vote no, but still have it passed because his heart wanted to keep a baseball team in Wisconsin, but politically he knew there would be a concern about him supporting that tax. He had to make the difficult vote. Can you talk about what that was like to make such a tough choice? It cost him effectively his political career, but it sounds like he went with his heart with that vote. Yeah, absolutely. And of course, when he cast the vote, no one would have predicted that there would be a recall election, though he knew it would be a politically costly vote. It would be at least controversial. And I think the people that called him a traitor were squibbling over the one-tenth of a 1% increase in estate sales tax, which most people would not even notice in purchases, 5.0% to 5.1%. And so that's the source of George P. Tech is a traitor because he vowed to not raise any taxes. But when it came to the issue of baseball in Wisconsin, he is a hero. And I would say, I would venture to guess that many people that even drummed up the signatures, held the recall election against my dad, and many people that voted against my dad have enjoyed many, many baseball games in Miller Park and that American family field over the last two and a half decades and so uh even though the the traitor piece is in the rearview mirror and it's it's 30 years ago the hero piece is front and center because uh there would be no world series in 2026 if there was no stadium for the brewers to play in and so i think everybody's focusing on the hero part not the traitor part thinking about that piece right there where you said they might have enjoyed games over the last you know 20 something years or so the reality is I'll bet a lot of those very same people who were upset with your father back in 1995 have been really enjoying these last couple of weeks, especially this run here in the World Series. For you and your family, what has this World Series run been like? I know you're in Colorado, but from all accounts, you are diehard Brewers fans. We're all wearing our Brewers paraphernalia hats. This is actually my dad's hat that he gave me, and actually this was his shirt from 2018 when we uh went to the division series and and that was yelich's first year i believe and um so i'm wearing my dad's shirt too and uh we're all cheering on the brewers uh just you know it's it's uh there's an empty spot on the couch next to me where my dad would would be he'd be you know cheering the Brewers on to victory and it looks like you know with a three zero lead over the Rays um you know we don't want to be presumptuous because we still need to win one more game but it looks like unless there was a complete disaster the Brewers are going to bring home a World Series championship here over the next few days hopefully tonight in game four and sweep the Rays like they swept the Dodgers and then I believe I saw this stat last night then the Brewers would be the only team in Major League history to have won nine straight playoff games including the World Series and so I think right now they're tied with four or five other teams with eight straight wins but would be the lone team at the top of that leaderboard with nine straight wins and and if my dad was alive if if the brain cancer hadn't taken him down in 2024 he'd be here cheering on the Brewers and so you know as as myself and my boys my wife Heidi I have four boys uh my mom of course George's wife my mom Nancy were all watching the games and cheering and wishing grandpa George was, was still here. Uh, we do have his, uh, bobblehead. He had a, there was a bobblehead created for Senator Petak. And it, it even says, if you, I don't know if you can see that, but it says brewers on the, on the shirt inside, you know, as he opens up his shirt. And so, um, there, there are bobbleheads for all the brewers. You know, I think we have a, maybe a, maybe there's a Jackson Churio bobblehead out there somewhere, but we, uh, We have our Senator Petak bobblehead, along with lots of other paraphernalia. So we're all celebrating this World Series run. I think about for you, again, I say you were in your 20s, maybe around 25 years old, when the vote took place, when the recall took place. What was it like as the young adult son of a state senator who was facing the first ever, I believe was the first ever Wisconsin politician to be recalled while in the middle of a term? What was that time like for you as a young man seeing what was happening with your dad? Well, interestingly, I ran his first campaign. There was a whole team of people that helped with that campaign in 1990, but I took a semester off of college. I was going to UW Parkside at the time after a year at UW Milwaukee, and I helped run that 1990 campaign, which was a landslide victory over Joe Stroll in 1990. And then he won his next election in 1994 over Sally Hensel. And that was a landslide, even a greater margin of a landslide. And so I was still living there in Racine, Wisconsin, when the recall election was drumming up in 1996. Of course, I was living on my own. I had some roommates, but a young single man at the time. But I was living in the same town in Racine, Wisconsin, as my parents. And so I was very well aware of all of the things that were happening politically. And, of course, on that fateful night when my dad cast the deciding vote, of course, I got, you know, I think over the dinner table that night, you know, the rundown on how that that happened in 1995. But, you know, I've always been extremely proud of my dad, George Petak, Senator Petak, George Sonny, as many people know him because he's George Jr. So he's been known as Sonny over his life. And he was my best man in my wedding when I married Heidi in 2001. which was, of course, the same year that Miller Park was built. So he's been one of my closest friends until his passing, and he's proud of his family, and I'm proud of him. And so we've been very, very involved. Of course, I went on a different career path, so even when the recall election was going on, I was very, very involved, but I didn't run the campaign like I did in 1990 when I had more time on my hands. But we have been able to see the fruit of his faithfulness, his character, and his integrity. He never wavered on any of his principles and his character and integrity in the Senate or beyond. And then even when he went into lobbying following his political career, he's always been a man of integrity that people can count on. His yes is yes and his no is no. And he follows through on his promises and commitments. And so and now we have an amazing stadium to show for it and an entire state coming around this team, the Milwaukee Brewers. I mean, if you I'm sure you watched the game last night in Tampa Bay. I was not shocked, but so pleased and and maybe somewhat surprised that there were so many Brewer fans down there in Tampa, St. pete uh you know the post-game interviews there there there were thousands of brewers fans that traveled from probably wisconsin and other places you know to support the brewers and it's taking over the the entire state of wisconsin just the joy that happens when a state can cheer for their their hometown team the Milwaukee Brewers so uh we're we're cheering right along with them even though we live in Colorado we got the Colorado Rockies right down the street in in Denver And I guess I cheer for them, of course, when I go to their games. But if they're playing against the Brewers, I'm cheering for the Brewers. And I'm wearing my Brewer paraphernalia to the park in Denver. Well, Brian, I know that you pursued a life, you said, a little different from the campaign. You are in the ministry. You are a lead pastor there in Colorado. If you could call us in a favor tonight for game four, help us out here. We could use another win. Absolutely. I mean, you know, I, I, I would like to think God is a Brewers fan tonight and I think pull that there, you know, but there are a lot of people of faith on the Rays side of the equation as well. But I will say this, I'm, we're right here in my, in my pastoral office here at the Ascent Church. And, uh, I might be the only pastor in America that has a, uh, a baseball bat that is a shovel that is, uh, you know, it's, it's a, it's a ceremonial shovel from the groundbreaking in November 1996 for Miller Park and this was what my dad used you know to ceremonially dig into the ground there to for the groundbreaking for the Brewers Stadium and I have it here in my office and so when people come in for you know my staff team or you know somebody might come in for a meeting with the pastor or counseling and they ask a question about what's this baseball bat that looks like a shovel doing in your office, I have a story to tell and I proudly tell the story. And so as a man of faith and as a pastor, we're praying for the Brewers to win tonight because we just want to sweep the Rays and put them out of their misery and go on with our celebration. Well, Brian, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. Really appreciate it. And obviously we're on the same side here pulling for the Brewers tonight to pull off the sweep. Thank you. Go Brewers. Let's sweep the Rays. So Brian Petak, son of the former and late state senator George Petak, the man who saved Milwaukee baseball with his vote in the middle of the night in 1995. It cost him his Senate seat, but here we are in 2026 with the Milwaukee Brewers on the verge of their first World Series championship. Maddie? Yeah, Brian, it's a pretty incredible story for sure, just knowing the history behind the beautiful ballpark that we do have today. Thanks so much for joining us.