(C) Wisconsin Watch
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Wisconsin Democrats search for answers as fear of autocracy galvanizes grassroots [1]
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Date: 2025-06-16 16:15:00+00:00
Reading Time: 4 minutes
On a day of high drama and chaos — Donald Trump’s military parade, nationwide street protests and a political assassination in Minnesota — Wisconsin Democrats convened in Lake Delton to try to forge a way forward.
The theme of the party’s state convention was “the road to 2026,” with elections for governor, the Legislature and Congress at stake.
But how to counter Trump and his ascendant brand of smash-mouth politics was front and center for attendees interviewed Saturday at the Chula Vista Resort.
“When you’re dealing with a ruling party that is not interested in actual governance, that’s a problem,” said Victor Raymond of Madison, referring to Republicans controlling the White House and Congress. “So, there needs to be more efforts made to establish an actual resistance.”
Raymond, who was not a delegate, said he was attending his first state party convention “because I’m concerned about the encroaching fascism in this country.”
He said more Democrats must resist the Trump administration the way U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla did last week because “what the right wing wants is for everyone to be intimidated.”
Padilla, a California Democrat, interrupted a news conference Thursday held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to try to ask a question. He was forcefully removed and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about the administration’s immigration raids.
“There’s a need for the Democrats to show just how extreme the Republicans are and how it’s not even close to the values that they say they’re supposedly upholding,” Raymond said.
Gov. Tony Evers did not tip his hand on whether he will run for a third term in 2026 at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention in Lake Delton on June 14, 2025. (Patricio Crooker for Wisconsin Watch)
Another first-time attendee, Dane County delegate Christie Barnett, said she is becoming politically active for the first time because she believes the country is sliding into autocracy.
Barnett acknowledged that the day felt heavy, particularly after a gunman shot and killed one Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and wounded another in separate incidents. But her focus was on trying to counter Trump.
“If people like me are getting involved, who haven’t been, maybe that’s the hope right there. I don’t know,” she said.
Eleven Wisconsin Democratic lawmakers were named in a list police obtained from the suspected gunman’s vehicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Police officers were stationed outside the convention center, and they periodically walked through the halls. After a manhunt, the gunman was arrested and charged with murder on Sunday.
At the state GOP convention last month, rank-and-file Republicans cheered the sheer speed of Trump’s actions since starting his second term and yearned for further moves to the right.
Last week, Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, who represents the Green Bay area, introduced legislation that would direct the Justice Department to publish a list of state or local governments that are “anarchist jurisdictions.”
That’s the mood in Waupaca County, which voted for Trump by a 2-to-1 margin in November, said Democratic delegate Wendy Skola. “You bring up anything to do with Democrats, you’re shot down,” she said.
Skola said Trump’s presidency led her to participate in a recent protest and attend her first state party convention. She said she feels the need to stand up because, the way Trump has governed, people feel “we can all do whatever the hell we want.”
More than 700 delegates and about 150 guests attended the convention. That included delegate David Shorr, a former Stevens Point alderman who also voiced fears about autocracy.
“The country’s in trouble, very, very dangerous, dark times,” he said. “You have a president who demonizes a lot of people …. He’s been very comfortable for many, many years talking about violence should be used against these people.”
But how to counter Trump is unclear, Shorr said.
“There is no easy answer,” he said. “I don’t have any easy answer, except that we can’t give up.”
Delegates at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention in Lake Delton on June 14, 2025, were galvanized by increasing worries about the direction of the country. (Patricio Crooker for Wisconsin Watch)
In reflecting on the weekend’s events, including Trump’s military parade in Washington, D.C., the “No Kings” protests that drew millions of demonstrators across Wisconsin and the U.S., and the Minnesota shootings, delegate Sophie Gloo of Racine said the antidote is kindness and taking care of each other.
“I don’t think we should kid ourselves into saying that everyone’s getting along really well because clearly there’s a lot of clashing,” Gloo said. “I think the best way to continue to do good work is to stick together and just make sure that you’re supporting one another.”
That extends to elections, said Gloo, who has worked on state legislative campaigns. The Democratic Party needs to be visible away from campaign season by attending events and knocking on doors year round, she said.
“I think, as a party, you have to be consistent about showing up for people. People who lean one way or the other might not feel like the Democratic Party has been listening to them,” she said. “They’re upset that we only come around when the elections happen.”
More outreach was a theme of the three candidates who ran to succeed Ben Wikler, who stepped down after six years as party chair.
Delegates chose senior state party adviser Devin Remiker of Reedsburg, who was endorsed by Wikler, over Milwaukee-area communications consultant Joe Zepecki and La Crosse-area party leader William Garcia in Sunday’s election.
“I think we have a lot of trust building to do, and that is going to be a major focus of mine, is showing up,” Remiker told Wisconsin Watch last week. “Not to ask people to vote for us, but just to ask them to keep an open mind and rebuild those relationships of trust that have been damaged.”
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