The Clark County Democrats held their annual dinner at Meadowview Country Club on Saturday, October 26, 2024 with about 60 people in attendance. Speakers featured both party representatives and candidates running for election.

Two of the speakers spoke before dinner. The first speaker of the evening was the Chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, Ben Wikler. He reminded everyone that it was only 10 days until the election, “a moment that will send the United States, either, frankly, kind of off of a cliff or towards a much brighter, freer, fairer, future..” Wikler added that, “What strikes me most about this moment is that if all of us had done a little bit less over the last few years, we would not have the opportunity and the hope that we do right now, as nerve wracking as this moment is, we know something, which is that if we win this election, it will stay won.” Wikler pointed out that in 2020 Trump tried to sue to overturn the election. He said he was an elector the day that the last Supreme Court decision came through. He said that it came down to one vote on the state Supreme Court. Justice Brian Hagedorn said that the problem with Trump’s lawsuit was that he waited until after he knew the results before objecting. Wikler said this gave Trump a roadmap for this year, when he has already filed 100 lawsuits challenging different aspects of the 2024 election. He said that after 2020 Republicans in the state legislature introduced multiple bills to undermine Wisconsin’s system of fair elections. Election deniers ran for governor and the Supreme Court. Wikler added, “The work that everybody here did in times when it seemed like it might be pretty rough sledding, the work we did to defy history for 60 years when there’s a Democratic president in the White House, Wisconsin has elected Republican governors. The last time we had elected a Democratic governor or re-elected one when a Democrat was in the White House was in 1962.” He spoke about the gerrymandered maps and the fight for fair maps. He also spoke about the most recent Supreme Court election as well as the one coming up next year.

Wikler said, “We finally have fair maps in 2024. We’re going to fight on those maps to win a majority in the State Assembly, to break the super majority in the State Senate, and we got a state Supreme Court majority that we know will not overturn the election if Trump tries to pull off another coup. It took all three of those victories to reach this moment now, and in this moment, this presidential election in Wisconsin is tied.” He said that Wisconsin has the opportunity to define majorities in the U.S. House and Senate and the presidency. Wikler said, “It might seem a little stressful. Might feel like a little pressure on your shoulders, but I want to tell you this, it is a gift. It is a gift because it means that in this final stretch, in these next 10 days, everyone in this room has more say about the future of our country, the future of personal freedom, of an economy that works for the working people, of American democracy itself, we have more say than almost anyone has ever had a say about the future of their society in American history.” He encouraged those in attendance to have conversations with their friends, neighbors, and family because those conversations make a difference. He went on to add, “It’s because of the presence that we have in our own communities here in Clark County and across the state, that I think in a toss up election where the polls say it is perfectly balanced between the two parties, I think we’re going to win because we are doing the work, because our values are Wisconsin’s values, because we believe that every person should have dignity, should have freedom, that we should have good public schools, that we should have a state that actually honors people, whether they live in rural areas or small towns or big towns or suburbs, that everyone should have a voice and have their own control over their own destiny, that those values used to be shared by Republicans and Democrats, and now Harris and Walz and Baldwin and Democrats down ballot, they’re the only people carrying that forward.” He said he feels the hard work that Democrats are doing is going to win the 2024 election. He thanked everyone for their conviction and commitment, and asked them if they were willing to do the work to get it done.

The next speaker was Roger Halls, who is running for the 69th Assembly District. He spoke about the Dobbs decision and his daughters. They asked him then “Why is this happening? Why isn’t anyone fighting for us?” That is what made him run for office and he has tried to get his daughters involved in the campaign. This has given them the chance to meet other candidates up and down the ballot. His daughters now see people fighting for them, including their dad, their mom, people in Clark, Chippewa, Taylor and Marathon counties, the Wisconsin Democratic Party, and people on the federal level as well. He said, “You are showing my girls that all of the women in the state have their back, and you all have their back too.”

Halls then spoke about spending time with his grandpa when he was young. He had fought in World War II. Halls’ tours of duty in Afghanistan shed a new light on his grandpa for him. His grandpa didn’t get treated for PTSD or have VA benefits, but “he was still a kind, compassionate, empathetic person, and he showed me that if you can make it through the toughest, harshest things the world can throw at you, and still have humanity and compassion that is a sign of strength.” His grandpa tried to teach him using three foundations. First, the world needs good people. Second, if you see someone in need, help them. Third, was a quote from an abolitionist in the 1800s, “All that I desired or sought has been to make me more efficient for good.” He said don’t only do good, but make good things easier for others to do as well. The people he has met during his campaign encompass what made his grandpa so special to him. He has heard different points of view that have helped him grow as a candidate.

Dana Wachs spoke after dinner. He represented the 97th Assembly District, was on the UW Board of Regents, and ran for governor. He talked about his involvement in politics beginning with his mother telling him to turn off the TV and that he was going to lick stamps for Hubert Humphrey. He worked for a Congressional candidate, he worked for Ted Kennedy, and he has served in the legislature. He said, “We hear politicians talk about values, and in this year, we’ve got a guy running for president who has no values.” He asked, “What is it that brings us all together? Why do we spend lifetimes working hard on these campaigns? What are the values that we really have?” He then told a story about the movie Fences. The entire movie takes place in the main character’s backyard, where he is building a fence. Wachs said what the character learns is that “Fences really don’t protect you from the outside and they don’t necessarily keep people inside. Fences are to exclude and confine.” He added, “But as Democrats, I think the thing about a fence that’s most important is the gate, the communication between two sides. There are too many fences in this society. The message is the most important part of the fence is that gate. We’re Democrats because we love people. We’re Democrats because we have compassion and we care about people. We see injustice. We try to do something about it. We see people being othered through some fence, through some false rumor. We try to fix it. We have as our core value, love.” He then read a quote from James Baldwin talking about love. Wachs said you could be that impoverished person. You could be the person without adequate health care. You could be that monster or that cop. You could be the victim. He added, “You have to decide not to be, you have to decide to care about others. Based on that, we believe there should be health care for all. Based on that, we believe there should be education for all. That is all based on love. This is what Democrats are all about. So we carry on. We march forward, we do our best to serve justice and love.” He then told the story of how Carl Sagan convinced NASA to point the cameras on the Voyager spacecraft toward Earth back in the 90s. It was just a tiny blue dot that is home, “that contains everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you’ve ever heard of, every human being that ever was.” Wachs added, “We believe love is everywhere. That is why we’re here. We don’t want to other people. So what we’re doing is about as important a thing as you can possibly do. We’ve got a lunatic running for president. He has no values, no compassion, and he would other all of us if he could.” He said Democrats have to forge forward.

Jeff Smith, who is the Senate Minority Leader and is from the 31st Senate District, was the next speaker. He said he has been around a long time, winning four elections and losing four elections. He spoke about his two daughters who were just entering their teens when he ran and how that is what it was about for him. He became a political organizer after losing and eventually ran again. He spoke about starting his day at the Hmong New Year celebration in Eau Claire. He talked about the Hmong community first getting established in Eau Claire 45 years ago. His wife was a teacher just beginning her career. He said her classes were influenced by the Hmong students and better for being part of a mixed community. Smith said, “We are all better when an immigrant culture moves in and makes us a better community. We’ve always been that way.” We’ve always been hard on new immigrants, whether that be Italians or Poles, or Jews. Smith added, “Every migrant community in this country has had a rough time because there’s always that terrible bias, racism, fear that people have of people who are different. And we always end up better for them being here. Always. You cannot find any time in history when they have not made us a better country and better people and human beings.” He talked about what is happening now and how 45 years ago people in Eau Claire were told to protect their pets when the Hmong community moved in. He talked about how we can’t let that attitude permeate our country.

Smith then talked about work ethic and how his 95-year-old father-in-law is currently living with his family and part of his job is to keep him entertained. So they watch history shows on TV. He has learned from those shows that it is all about work ethic. He said it was work ethic that won World War II and put us where we are today. He said, “Fences and walls don’t work. They just keep out and close our minds.” He spoke about how the Democrats are going to flip four seats in the senate this year, which will put the Republicans at 18 and Democrats at 15 seats. He said you need 17 votes to pass legislation, this means that everyone will have to work together. He also spoke about when Barack Obama became the first African-American president. He asked them to hang on to what they felt then as this election takes place and help get out the vote.

The vice-chair of the Clark County Democrats spoke saying they have knocked on over 400 doors in Clark County and he is hoping to set up a phone bank.

Then Kyle Kilbourn, candidate for the 7th Congressional District, spoke. He explained his vision for the 7th District. Kilbourn said “It’s got three parts. First, economically empower working families and communities. Second, celebrate our rural way of life. And then third, commit to good governance for all.” He said that means empowering working families, having fair wages, and expanding unions. Rural infrastructure is also important, things like post offices, housing and hospitals. He said, “I’m tired of seeing two things. Empty schools and empty storefronts. The heart of our communities are being extinguished one by one. Our care infrastructure is being shut down and privatized all across the district. You know, for me, that makes me wonder about our most vulnerable.” He wondered who is going to take care of older folks, who is going to take care of us, who is going to take care of the next generation. He said we have a tradition of caring for our neighbors, our landscapes, our animals. Kilbourn feels we can grow the economy and still preserve our land, air, and water.

Kilbourn added, “Let’s elect leaders who actually believe in upholding our health care rights, including reproductive freedoms. Let’s elect leaders who will strengthen our community’s access to resources. Not those who show up during election year with empty promises.” He also spoke about his opponent, Tom Tiffany, and how he is becoming a new person, saying he won’t support things like raising the retirement age when he signed on to a plan to do so. He asked what Tiffany has done in the last four years about the cost of living. He is also outspending Kilbourn, who asked that everyone talk to their neighbors and friends, particularly the undecideds and independents. He said they need to make sure that these people know who is on the ballot and what it means to them.

Kirk Rodman spoke about efforts to do ads and billboards across Clark County. He was introduced as a guy who doesn’t know the meaning of the word no. He pointed out, “We have 167 million people in our workforce. The other guy wants to take and send back 10 million or more people. So we will lose one person out of every 17 people in the workforce. That means that we will not have people to work in our dairy industry. It means you won’t have people picking your strawberries. It means we won’t have plants producing our food. The price of food won’t go up because there won’t be any.” He also talked about handing out flyers and the rides to the polls that will be available in Clark County. He recruited volunteers to drive people who need rides.

The final speaker of the evening was Bryce Luchterhand. He is hosting a family from Ukraine. He said his family took a chance on them and they have been here about a year and a half. They are employed, their kids are in school, the wife is holding down two jobs and taking classes to become a registered nurse. He said that is typical of immigrants. He spoke about his mother being a teacher of English as a Second Language working with Hispanic immigrants. One of those families came here illegally and started working at the pork plant in Curtiss. Bryce and his wife helped them out and it took seven years for them to become legal citizens. He said they now own three properties in Curtiss. They both have good jobs. Bryce said immigrants don’t come here for a vacation, they come here because they want to make a living.

The evening ended with a raffle drawing.