Citizen Action Weekend ’26 Newsletter, Friday, September 25th
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin today!
Sign up to speak to a Citizen Action organizer. We want to talk to you!
Are you a new member, RSVP for our next New Member Orientation Meeting, Wednesday, October, 7th, 6pm.
Our New Member Orientation is an opportunity to learn who we are, our history and how we organize and build power for change.
Participants will learn about Citizen Action’s history, values, current work, and campaigns while getting grounded in the fundamentals of community organizing how everyday people build relationships, develop leaders, identify shared interests, and build collective power.
We’ll also introduce our key issue areas, including healthcare and BadgerCare expansion, healthcare affordability and access, climate justice and the impact of data centers, utility rate caps, and movement politics. Whether you’re new to Citizen Action or ready to deepen your involvement, this orientation will give you the foundation to take your next step as an engaged
Encourage a new member to join Citizen Action of Wisconsin.
Citizen Action Statewide Healthcare Action Team Update
Building Our Healthcare Power This Fall
Fall is a busy time for all of us. Between the election cycle and the growing demands of our healthcare campaign, it has been challenging to find a time for our full statewide healthcare team to meet. Rather than try to squeeze another meeting onto everyone’s calendar, we’re going to use this time to build relationships, listen to our members, and grow our power.
We will not hold our regular statewide healthcare team meeting on Tuesday, October 6. Instead, we’re asking our statewide team members to join our staff and other members that Tuesday Night at 5PM to Phone Bank.
On October 6, we’ll be connecting with members through Mass Listening conversations, identifying the issues that matter most to them, and having electoral endorsement conversations where appropriate. These conversations are an important part of understanding what our members care about and developing the leadership and relationships we need to move our healthcare agenda forward.
You don’t need to be an experienced phone banker to participate. Training will be provided! We encourage members of the statewide healthcare team to join us and help reach out to other members or people who have interacted with us in the past during this critical time.
Political Education: October 13
The following Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00 PM, we’ll come together for a Political Education Presentation on our healthcare issues.
This is another important opportunity for our statewide team to lead. We want to be able to introduce new members and others interested in our work to the healthcare issues we’re organizing around — and, just as importantly, help them understand how they can become part of building the power to move these issues forward.
Our statewide team has done a tremendous amount of work building our healthcare campaign. Now is the time to bring more people into that work.
- October 6: Phone Bank – Listen. Connect. Build relationships. Please RSVP Here
- October 13: Healthcare Education Presentation – Educate. Engage. Build power. Please RSVP Here
I hope the statewide team and all members consider joining us for both these important events!
For more information or to get involved, contact:Kristie Tweed, Healthcare Action Coordinator; 📞 608-317-1331; ✉️ kristie.tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Are you ready to defend democracy in Wisconsin this November?
Join us for a Democracy Defenders Training next Wednesday, September 30th, 6:00PM
This special training will start to equip Citizen Action members with organizing plans to confront possible scenarios the Trump regime might employ to disrupt the midterm election and how we are preparing to respond to ensure every vote is counted.
Milwaukee G20 Rally: Fair Trade for Working Families, Wednesday, September 30th, 10:00am – 11:30am
Next week, as trade officials from around the world gather in Milwaukee for the G20 Trade Ministerial, join Wisconsin working families demanding fair trade policies that finally put the interests of people and communities ahead of greedy corporations.
Please join Citizen Action, labor and civil society organizations outside the G20 meeting to call for a new trade model that creates good-paying jobs, raises wages, enforces worker rights, strengthens family farms, protects the environment, enables A.I. accountability and otherwise puts people over profits.
Rally Location: 941 E Wisconsin Ave
Attend Working Families vs. Oligarchs: The Stakes of the G20 Trade Summit In Milwaukee.
Join us Tuesday, September 29th, 6:00 pm, 175 Curtin Hall, 3243 N. Downer Ave., Milwaukee.
On the evening before the G20 trade ministers hold their summit in Milwaukee, join experts and activists speaking about the global trade regime and a real alternative.
Multinational corporations and Wall Street investors created the global trade regime, which has devastated workers, farmers, the environment, and democratic governance.
For the first time in decades, a new forward to an alternative ordering of global trade rules is possible. But only if working people name it and organize around it.
This teach-in will feature a panel discussion led by John Nichols, Washington editor of the Nation Magazine, associate editor of the Madison Capital Times, interviewing Wisconsin and international voices.
Please RSVP in advance.
Attend $20 Minimum Wage Town Hall in Stevens Point or Eau Claire
Join the Wisconsin Living Wage Coalition, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, and other allies. Hear from local residents about their daily struggle to make ends meet at less than $20/hour. Learn more about the current state legislation and find out how you can get involved and help make $20 a reality in 2027!
RSVP for Stevens Point, Wednesday, October 7th, 6pm
Create Portage County, 1300 Marina Drive, Stevens Point.
RSVP for Eau Claire, Thursday, October 8th, 6pm
Join Representative Christian Phelps, Forage, 403 S Barstow St. Eau Claire.
Learn more about the legislation and take action, urging your state legislators to support the bill.
Citizen Action is excited to be partnering in the organizing of these exciting events with Francesca Hong.
Join us and allies at a “We Make Better Possible” event near you.
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Jeff Santos Show to discuss the latest on the midterm elections and the fight to save democracy.
Watch and Listen Here (@ 1 hour 36 minute mark of the video)
The Boston-based Jeff Santos Show airs weekdays from 2 PM to 5 PM statewide in Wisconsin on the Civic Media radio network.
Listen to “How Does Ideology Impact Elections?” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
Much of the media debate about the 2026 elections presumes voters are making ideological choices between moderate and progressive Democrats, and democratic socialists. This presumption that voters bring strong ideological commitments to the ballot box is refuted by over 70 years of voting research.
In this Special Edition of Battleground Wisconsin Podcast, Robert Kraig interviews political scientist Nathan Kalmoe, the Executive Director of the Center for Communication and Civic Renewal at UW-Madison, on what truly influences the voting behavior of most Americans.
Kalmoe is the co-author of Neither Liberal Nor Conservative: Ideological Innocence in the American Public.
