AB

One hundred percent. I am a union president in one of the most progressive, grassroots unions in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA). We’re building a grassroots, movement-based campaign that is talking to regular people directly. Most candidates for office will try to get themselves in “the club” of elected officials and power brokers, so they can get political endorsements — thinking that is the only way to win. We’re doing the opposite — we are focusing on reaching working-class Milwaukeeans with a platform that will excite them to vote in this race. In addition, we also have a number of progressive elected officials who have endorsed this campaign. Groups are getting behind my campaign, too — Milwaukee DSA has endorsed me, and we anticipate several unions will support us once they begin their processes.

We won’t win this unless we change the way politics happen in this city. It’s why appealing to the real conditions of alienated nonvoters is key to what we’re doing. We don’t have the resources of my two opponents, but we have bodies on the ground. Since the last financial disclosures, we have easily ten times as many donors as anyone else in this race, but if we’re going to win it’s going to be because we have people putting their time into the campaign.

We’ve built a great base of supporters, and we’re lucky enough to have grassroots organizations like Milwaukee DSA helping us out as well.