LOCAL 1245 MEMBERS ON THE GROUND IN WISCONSIN FOR CRITICAL RECALL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS
Eight members of IBEW Local 1245 are on the ground in Wisconsin, lending support to a critical fight to defend working people.
“We are Wisconsin” is a nationally-watched campaign to unseat state legislators who voted earlier this year to strip Wisconsin public employees of collective bargaining rights.
Jennifer Gray, left, is leading the Local 1245 team in Wisconsin Senate District 10.
“We’re the only local in California, and the first local in all of IBEW to send people there. They are just blown away,” said Local 1245 Organizer Fred Ross Jr.
The Local 1245 teams, which arrived in Wisconsin on July 21, received a warm welcome at the airport organized by Dave Boetcher, head of the IBEW state council in Wisconsin.
There are two Local 1245 teams:
Senate District 10, River Falls: Jammi Angeles, Ean Charles and Donchele Soper, led by Jennifer Gray.
Senate District 14, Madison: Erika Barron, Lloyd Cargo and Eric Sunderland, led by Graciela Nunez.
Jennifer Gray’s Report:
Upon arriving we hit the phones contacting potential volunteers to canvass and confirming volunteers for the kick-off event with guest speaker Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to recruit for Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV), held July 23. Jammi and Donchele along with 25 volunteers hit the neighborhoods of River Falls. We have been canvassing daily.
Ean and Jennifer went up to Zone 5, the Village of Siren (Burnett County), to ID voters. Burnett County will play a vital role in winning the election due to the lack of knowledge and involvement in politics in the community. We had our first SD 10 staff meeting tonight
(July 24) to get to know all of the crew around our district. Ean and Jennifer are leaving the River Falls office to launch the new office in New Richmond and will be working there from this point. Jammi and Donchele will continue to work in River Falls and will lead the call out campaign to recruit volunteers for GOTV. The group is excited and off to a great start.
Lloyd Cargo IV’s Report:
Hello from Wisconsin! We’ve adapted well to the area and the task at hand. Our days have consisted mostly of canvassing routes to gauge support and making phone calls to supporters to try to fill the needed 800 GOTV shifts.
Lloyd Cargo IV at work in Senate District 14.
The person we are trying to get elected is Fred Clark who is in the state assembly. He is running against incumbent Luther Olson, senator of District 14, who has not had anyone run against him in at least the last eight years. The number was down to 500 shifts that
needed to be filled as of today (July 25), and the focus has changed completely to filling shifts.
Tuesday is our staff meeting in the afternoon and Wednesday Eric and I have been invited to a meeting at the IBEW Local 159 office in Madison. We were told that representatives from other IBEW locals will be there and we will have an opportunity to gain support and hopefully a couple more volunteers.
I think we have a good chance in what has been described as being the closest and most pivotal race in the state. The entire 1245 team has only one thing on our mind and that’s leaving Wisconsin with a victory!
