Bernie Sanders headed to Wisconsin to campaign in districts held by Republicans
MADISON – Bernie Sanders will meet voters in Kenosha and western Wisconsin next week as part of a national tour targeting battleground congressional districts won by Republicans in 2024 to boost Democratic turnout in contests ahead.
The Vermont senator who won the Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary in 2016 will land in Kenosha on Friday evening for a rally at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and then head to Altoona High School on Saturday morning for a second rally.
The events come a month ahead of Wisconsin's first major election since President Donald Trump swept the state and was returned to the White House for a second term.
On April 1, Wisconsin voters will decide control of the state's highest court and whether to give the Democratic state superintendent another term overseeing the state's education agency. The spring election will be watched nationally as a poll of how voters are feeling about Trump's first few months in office.
In a statement, Sanders' campaign said he is holding the events to push back against "the takeover of the national government by billionaires and large corporations, and the country's move toward authoritarianism" and pressure Republican U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden to "vote against any cuts to Medicaid, housing, nutrition, education and other basic needs."
Aides to Van Orden and Steil did not immediately react to Sanders' planned visits.
More: New DNC chair Ken Martin visits Wisconsin, calls Supreme Court, DPI races first big test
"Today, the oligarchs and the billionaire class are getting richer and richer and have more and more power. Meanwhile, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and most of our people are struggling to pay for health care, childcare, and housing," Sanders said. "This country belongs to all of us, not just the few. We must fight back."
Sanders is a popular figure in Wisconsin among Democrats who have often favored him more than the party's presidential nominees. In 2016, he defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary and during the 2020 presidential contest, he outpaced his Democratic rivals — including Joe Biden — by double digits in popularity, according to a February 2020 poll by the Marquette University Law School.
A spokeswoman for Sanders said he would not be campaigning for liberal Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford at next week's events but would be discussing the Supreme Court race against conservative Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, a former Republican Attorney General.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bernie Sanders headed to Wisconsin to campaign in Republican districts
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
32 minutes ago
- New York Post
Trump shows he called Newsom during LA riots as California gov claims there wasn't ‘even a voicemail'
President Donald Trump hit back at Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's claims that the president did not recently call him, telling Fox News he spoke to the governor for about 16 minutes on Saturday. Trump told Fox News Tuesday while traveling to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, that Newsom did not pick up his first call over the weekend, but that he picked up the second call and the pair spoke for about 16 minutes on Saturday. 'I told him to, essentially, 'Get his ass in gear,' and stop the riots, which were out of control,' Trump said Tuesday. 'More than anything else, this shows what a liar he is – said I never called.' Trump provided a screenshot of the phone call dated June 7 at 1:23 a.m. White House director of communications Steven Cheung added in comment to Fox Digital Tuesday afternoon: 'The President called Gavin Newsom to tell him to get his ass in gear. The Governor has clearly decided to disgustingly side with the violent rioters instead of protecting Californians. The only liar here is Newsom who continues to fail his state as he prioritizes doing interviews with leftist media to gaslight the public instead of helping his state.' 4 US President Donald Trump speaks at Fort Bragg to celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary at Pike Field at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, USA, 10 June 2025. STAN GILLILAND/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Earlier Tuesday, Trump held an event addressing wildfire response and prevention from the Oval Office, where he fielded a handful of questions from the media regarding the ongoing anti-ICE riots in Los Angles, telling a reporter he spoke to Newsom 'a day ago.' 'A day ago. I called him up to tell him (he's) got to do a better job. He's done a bad job,' Trump said. In a response post on X, Newsom claimed Trump did not call him or leave a voicemail in the past day. 4 Trump announced Saturday that he was deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to help quell the violence. Toby Canham for NY Post 'There was no call. Not even a voicemail. Americans should be alarmed that a President deploying Marines onto our streets doesn't even know who he's talking to,' Newsom posted to X Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by video of Trump in the Oval Office. 'This call is from 3 days ago,' the governor's press office added on X following the White House's pushback on Newsom's claim that Trump did not call. Newsom's office added in an email to Fox News Digital Tuesday that: 'The Governor's comment is clearly in regards to the President's comment this morning of 'a day ago,'' adding that Newsom had already confirmed his Saturday phone call in a media interview on Sunday. 4 Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during an address on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. AP Newsom spokesperson Izzy Gardon added in a comment to the Sacramento Bee Tuesday: 'I just personally looked through the governor's phone. No missed call. No voicemail. Nothing. The last time they spoke was Friday when the governor called him.' Los Angeles descended into violent riots Friday when federal immigration officials converged on the city to carry out raids targeting illegal immigrants. Local leaders such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Newsom, however, quickly denounced the raids in public statements while offering words of support for illegal immigrants in the state. Protests over the raids soon devolved into violence as rioters targeted and launched attacks on federal law enforcement officials. 4 Serious disorder takes place in downtown Los Angeles hundredsof law enforcement are deployed as are National Guard. Toby Canham for NY Post Trump announced Saturday that he was deploying 2,000 National Guard troops to help quell the violence. The Trump administration also deployed hundreds of U.S. Marines to respond to anti-immigration chaos on Monday evening as the violence continued. 'If I didn't 'SEND IN THE TROOPS' to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now,' Trump posted to Truth Social on Tuesday morning.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump backs Idaho Gov. Little for reelection — before he's said he'll run
Idaho Gov. Brad Little received President Donald Trump's endorsement Tuesday for another term, nearly a year ahead of the Republican primary — and before the two-term incumbent governor has even announced a bid for reelection. 'Brad Little is the strong and highly popular Governor of Idaho,' Trump posted on Truth Social, the president's social media platform. 'Brad Little has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!' It is unclear whether Little, 71, an Emmett sheep and cattle rancher, will seek a third term, or which candidates may consider challenging him in the May 2026 primary. Idaho's 33rd governor thanked Trump on the social media platform X, without stating whether he will run for reelection. 'It is an honor to have the support of President @realDonaldTrump,' the post read. 'Idaho will continue leading the fight to Make America Great Again!' Little's campaign did not immediately respond to a request from the Idaho Statesman on Tuesday evening. This year, Little has taken several trips to Washington, D.C., including to visit with Trump. In January, before Trump was sworn in as president, Idaho's governor also traveled to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private resort in South Florida. Trump, the 45th and 47th U.S. president, remains popular in Idaho, a deep red state. In 2024, he earned nearly 70% of the votes in the presidential election — up from about 64% in 2020 and about 59% in 2016. Nationally, Trump's favorability rating has declined with Americans since he took office, according to recent polling. Little first won election to become Idaho's lead executive in 2018. The sitting lieutenant governor ran in a crowded GOP field and defeated his closest challenger — Raúl Labrador, now Idaho's attorney general — by about 5% points. He sailed to victory over his Democratic rival in the general election that fall. When Little sought a second term in 2022, Trump — out of office after losing the 2020 election to Democratic President Joe Biden — endorsed the governor's main challenger in the Republican primary, Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin. 'I am giving Janice McGeachin my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of Idaho,' Trump said at the time, a near carbon copy of the endorsement he issued Tuesday for Little, right down to the arbitrary capitalization. 'She will make a fantastic Governor, and will never let you down!' Little easily overcame Trump's backing of his rival and beat McGeachin in the primary by nearly 60,000 votes. Six months later in the general election, Little easily earned a second term with nearly 61% of the vote, with his nearest contender winning about 20% of votes. A former four-term state senator, Little was appointed lieutenant governor in 2009 by then-Gov. Butch Otter, a fellow Republican. Little then won two terms as the second-in-command executive role before running to replace his predecessor. In Idaho's 2026 gubernatorial race, only Democrat Terri Pickens, of Boise, has announced her intention to run. She previously ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2022. 'We need Idaho Gov. Brad Little to tell the Trump Regime to stay out of Idaho and stay away from the Idaho National Guard,' Pickens said in a statement released earlier Tuesday. 'Gov. Little, we need you to find your courage and stand up for our freedom.'
43 minutes ago
Newspaper executive and former West Virginia lawmaker Doug Skaff Jr. dies in highway accident at 48
CHARLESTON, -- Doug Skaff Jr., a West Virginia newspaper executive and former Democratic legislative leader, died Tuesday following an accident on Interstate 79. He was 48. Skaff was president of HD Media, which publishes the Charleston Gazette-Mail, the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington and several other state newspapers. The Gazette-Mail announced Skaff's death on its website Tuesday night. Details of the accident, which the newspaper said occurred in Lewis County in north-central West Virginia, weren't immediately released. An operator who answered the telephone for the Lewis County state police office said she had no further information. Skaff served in the supermajority-Republican state House of Delegates for nearly 11 nonconsecutive years representing Kanawha County. He resigned his seat in 2023 and switched to the GOP before a failed campaign for secretary of state in 2024. Skaff also was interim executive director of the West Virginia Press Association and recently was part of an ownership group that purchased a popular restaurant in Charleston. Skaff planned to run for state Senate next year, according to the secretary of state's website. 'I am heartbroken to hear about the passing of our friend Doug Skaff,' Gov. Patrick Morrisey said on the social platform X. 'Doug was a longtime state legislator, the Minority Leader of the West Virginia House of Delegates, and omnipresent in the Charleston community. He will be greatly missed by many.' Skaff is survived by his wife and three sons. 'Doug Skaff was more than just a colleague; he was a friend to many of us, even after he left the legislature," West Virginia Democratic Party Chair Mike Pushkin said in a statement. 'His humor was infectious, and his dedication to his family, particularly his love for his children, was evident in everything he did.'
