Citizen Action Weekend ’26 Newsletter, Friday, August 14th
Work for Citizen Action of Wisconsin
Be a Citizen Action of Wisconsin member. Join today.
Listen to “Primary Election: What happened & the roadmap forward” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
Following our weekly tick report, we do a deep dive into the stunning primary election outcome in the race for governor.
We unpack why the Francesca Hong campaign was so successful, why it fell barely short, and a brief road map on how David Crowley can engage the progressive base that worked so hard for Hong.
Read an excellent Wisconsin Examiner article by Ruth Conniff on what the Democratic primary for governor means for progressive politics?
Listen to the show
Attend $20 Minimum Wage Town Hall in Milwaukee, next Wednesday, August 19th, 6pm
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin North Side Rising, the Wisconsin Living Wage Coalition, members of the Wisconsin Legislative Black Caucus, Citizen Action North Side Rising, and other allies next Wednesday, August 19th, 6pm in Milwaukee for a $20 Minimum Wage Town Hall to hear from Milwaukee residents about their daily struggle to make ends meet at less than $20/hour.
Learn more about the legislation and find out how you can get involved.
Kuumba Juice and Coffee, 274 E. Keefe Ave. Milwaukee.
RSVP for Milwaukee Town Hall
Click here for RSVP links for all the town hall events.
Dump Big Tech Rally in Green Bay, Saturday, August 15th, 4:30pm
Join us in Green Bay on Saturday August 15th at 4:30 PM on the City Deck to rally against Big Tech!
Citizen Action Northeast Organizing coop is joining with allied organizations and people all across the country for “dump big tech week”. Join us for a week of action to demand that our elected officials stand with the people – not Big Tech billionaires.
Our energy bills are through the roof. Across the country, we’re facing droughts and water shortages as AI data centers take over our countryside. While our families suffer and taxpayers foot the bill, tech corporations are raking in billions – and making huge donations to try to buy our elections.
Instead of creating jobs, big tech is building AI to take jobs away, mess with our kids, and drive up energy costs. Our communities should have a say in what happens in our neighborhoods and towns. And we all deserve an America that we can afford, where our rights are respected, our kids are safe, and our local economies are thriving. We deserve technology that makes our lives better, not worse. We deserve electeds who are not in the pockets of corporate giants.
Congratulations to Citizen Action endorsed candidates on their Primary Election victories!
Citizen Action Driftless Region Update: This One Stings! But the Work Goes On…
Tuesday night was a hard one for the Driftless region. We worked hard for Francesca Hong in the governor’s primary. Phone banking, door knocking, showing up, and she lost a squeaker in a historic upset. And Emily Berge ran a campaign that meant so much to so many people in Western Wisconsin. She brought real energy and genuine grassroots spirit to this race, and losing her as our candidate is genuinely hard. It’s okay to be disappointed. You should be. The people in this region who gave their time, their energy, and their belief to these candidates deserved a different result. Take the weekend and let yourself feel that.
And then let’s get back to work.
Because here’s what didn’t lose on Tuesday night. The BadgerCare Public Option is still very much alive, and we still have a high likelihood of getting it over the line in 2027. Our climate work continues. Our affordability listening campaign, talking to 15,000 Wisconsinites about what they’re struggling to pay for, is still underway and needs your help. as well as the other state assembly and senate candidates who we will be endorsing in the coming weeks. The trifecta is still the goal.
The work we have done together this year is not diminished by Tuesday’s results. The relationships built, the doors knocked, the calls made, the people brought into this movement are all real, AND it compounds over time. This is what building power looks like. It doesn’t always feel good in the moment.
I want to specifically recognize the Driftless region members who showed up and did the work talking to Citizen Action members in the final days of this primary: Steven Manson, Peg Isola, Suzanne Morgan, Kelly Liebold, Lori Toso, and any others I may have missed.
Sincerely, thank you!. Now let’s keep going. The Driftless is organizing. Stay tuned.
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Jeff Santos Show to assess what happened in the chaotic Democratic primary for governor and what the even division of the primary electorate means for how David Crowley must lead to unity the party and defeat MAGA.
Watch the interview here (at 1 hour 35 minute mark of video)
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was interviewed for Ruth Conniff’s excellent analysis for the Wisconsin Examiner of the road map forward after an unprecedented Democratic primary for governor and the razor thin result.
