Citizen Action Weekly; Friday, June 10th
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Citizen Action of Wisconsin Endorses Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate
Listen to a special interview with Mandela Barnes about our endorsement and his campaign.
Citizen Action of Wisconsin and our national network People’s Action announced Thursday our endorsement of Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes to represent Wisconsin in the United States Senate. Barnes received overwhelming support from the Citizen Action Board in a vote last Friday.
Mandela Barnes represents one of the top opportunities for a progressive champion to win in Republican-held turf in 2022. We are excited about his strong positions on jobs, labor, and climate issues. Barnes is running a movement politics, people-powered campaign and will work to advance our platform once elected.
“As the son of a teacher and a UAW worker, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is one of us,” People’s Action Director of Movement Politics Brooke Adams said. “He’s the candidate who will unite everyday people of every race and background–rural and urban–in Wisconsin to defeat Ron Johnson in November.”
“We do not have to guess about Mandela’s values–we have been working with him since his early days as a social justice organizer,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “He was a founding member of our Southeastern Wisconsin chapter where he helped us build grassroots power and served on our Board of Directors. Most importantly, he supports our bold progressive platform, and will prioritize our two top issues: making health care a fundamental right and transforming the economy to avert runaway global warming in a way that dramatically improves economic and racial equity. If elected, Mandela would become the third former Citizen Action of Wisconsin board member in Congress, joining U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin and Congressman Mark Pocan.”
As a result of this endorsement, Citizen Action of Wisconsin and People’s Action will mobilize our members and volunteers on Barnes’ behalf, including using our proven deep canvass strategy to reach persuadable voters across the state, including building power in rural areas as well as urban areas. Bridging the urban/rural divide is a requirement for a winning Democratic senatorial campaign this year.
More about Mandela Barnes.
Mandela Barnes grew up in a proud union family in one of the poorest ZIP codes in Wisconsin. He’s a proven elected official, having served as lieutenant governor since 2018–the first Black lieutenant governor in Wisconsin’s history and the second Black statewide elected official. He serves as the chair of Gov. Tony Evers’ climate change task force. He also serves on the Governor’s Health Equity Council, Wisconsin Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, Wisconsin Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force, the Governor’s Council on Financial Literacy and Capability, and the statewide 2020 Census Complete Count Committee.
Barnes is fighting for “jobs we can support a family on, education we can build a future on, and health care that protects our health, not the wealth of corporations.” He’s standing up for family farmers who are under pressure from corporate ag and for manufacturing workers whose jobs are being exported overseas by hedge funds and big corporations. He’ll work for everyday people of every race and background in the U.S. Senate.
Make Phone Calls for Mandela Barnes! Next Wednesday, June 15th, 5-8pm
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin, People’s Action, and Knock for Democracy as we launch our deep canvass program in support of Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes election bid for US Senate.
The stakes could not be higher in this election. Thursday night this week, dozens of leaders and activists from People’s Action affiliates gathered on Zoom to plan for next week’s phone bank. We already have over 30 RSVP’s for next Wednesday’s first phone bank. People’s Action and Citizen Action will lead phone banks every Wednesday until the primary election on Tuesday, August 9th.
Join us Wednesday, June 15th, 5pm to deep canvass phone bank to elect a progressive champion in the U.S. Senate Primary!
WATCH the Citizen Action 3rd Congressional District Candidate Forum
This Wednesday night, the four Democrats running to replace Ron Kind in the U.S. Congress joined Citizen Action members and leaders for a candidate forum focused on questions from our platform. The forum was organized by 3 Citizen Action Organizing Cooperative and members from those coops asked questions.
Watch and take our member survey reviewing the forum and telling us what you think Citizen Action
should do in the election.
RSVP for Citizen Action Brewfest 2022! Wednesday, June 22nd, 6pm, Milwaukee Office.
Join us as we take an evening to celebrate! We’ll be giving our first ever Democracy Defenders Awards to two Milwaukeeans who have courageously stood against the right-wing conspiracy to end multiracial democracy in America.
There will be refreshments and hors d’oeuvres! We’ll have a variety of craft and union-made beers, and of course wine and soft-drinks too! Take the time to go out this summer for catching up with old friends, meeting new activists and leaders, and the inspiration to carry on the fight for justice.
Join North Side Rising this Saturday, June 11th at 12:30pm – 2:00pm to talk about solutions to Reckless Driving that address the climate crisis.
Reckless driving is a huge issue on the Northside of Milwaukee and the entire city. It turns out that there is a good way to address the issue that does not use the punitive criminal justice system, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
The Complete Streets proposal which was recently developed by the Milwaukee City-County Task Force on Climate & Economic Equity would also create streets which are much safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, and reduce greenhouse emissions. Please join us at a community meeting to discuss this exciting opportunity.
Mt. Lebanon Lutheran Church
4809 N 60th St
Milwaukee, WI 53218
Citizen Action in the news
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig discussed the gridlock in the U.S. Senate as the hidden threat to the future of democracy on the Jeff Santos show. Listen here.
Listen to “Mandela Barnes a Wisconsin story” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We welcome Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, Citizen Action’s newly endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate, to discuss his historic campaign and why Citizen Action endorsed in the hotly contested primary to take on Mega MAGA Senator Ron Johnson. We debrief our 3rd Congressional District Candidate Forum, which featured the 4 Democratic candidates running to replace Ron Kind in one of the nation’s most important House elections this Fall. Watch the forum for yourself and tell us if you think there is a candidate Citizen Action should endorse. Robin Vos appointed a new Wisconsin Election Commissioner (WEC), what does it mean? Will an insurrectionist lead the WEC? Meanwhile, the disgraced Michael Gabelman is forced to testify in court on Friday about his habitual shredding of public records. The Wisconsin Supreme Court finally rules against the WMC’s disturbing effort to block employer COVID outbreak data, and the shameful propaganda statement/dissent of Justice Ziegler and 2 other right wing justices. Are these actual legal arguments or Fox News propaganda masquerading as jurisprudence? We close the show discussing the liberal backlash against criminal justice reform in the San Francisco District Attorney recall earlier this week. What does it mean for BLM and the George Floyd moment when real reform seemed possible?
LISTEN to the show!
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