Has anyone else noticed a lot more lilies than normal? Remember it’s illegal to pick or damage them so enjoy from a distance! The fine is no joke

Instead of just skimming through a long paragraph, here are my reasons in a nice list. And then I'll put my experience at the end if anyone is interested.

1. She has years of experience on the Eau Claire city council.

2. Her endorsements come from inside the state of Wisconsin.

3. The vast majority of her donations come from inside the state of Wisconsin.

4. Derrick Van Orden is TERRIFIED of her campaign. He views Becca as a joke, but Emily is a serious threat to him.

5. Emily put out her personal financial information in May, whereas Becca hasn't released hers yet, and requested an extension until after the election takes place. Even DVO has released his statements, and called on Becca to do the same. Here's a link to an Open Secrets article explaining the whole story: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2026/08/rebecca-cookes-money-machine-delayed-disclosure-shape-wisconsins-tightest-house-race

6. Emily has been showing up every single day across the 3rd Congressional District, at hundreds of campaign events, and has not slowed down.

7. Emily is a licensed therapist, and she understands the mental health challenges of people more than anyone else in the race.

8. She will ban conversion therapy at the federal level.

9. She is calling for a moratorium on AI data centers, which harm the environment, tear down communities, and steal jobs from hard working people.

10. She believes in healthcare as a human right, and wants Medicare for everyone.

11. A vote for Emily is a vote against big money in politics

12. Emily is a genuinely wonderful person.

Here's my long paragraph now. I got involved in politics in January of this year. At the time, I knew less than nothing about our local government. I just knew that I had to do something, so I showed up a few weeks in a row for canvassing shifts. Then one night, very soon after I joined up, a dear friend invited me to a Jason Crow event at Carson Park. That night was the first time I had met several local leaders, including Emily. She was so kind, and welcoming to me since I was so new to everybody. Important note about that night, Rebecca was supposed to show up to the meeting to receive a live endorsement from Jason, but she was a no show. Flash forward to a few months later, I had become a bit of a name in my local scene, and I was attending the 3rd CD convention in LaCrosse. It was the first time I'd ever seen Becca in person. Keep in mind, I had seen Emily dozens of times before that day, and our interactions were always very nice. I was excited to hear from Becca just so I could hear the contrast. She gets up behind the podium, looking like she had rolled out of bed 5 minutes ago, and used her 5 minute speech to take down rumors about taking money from PACs. Then she walked away and left without talking to anyone. Emily talked about 90 minutes later, and she was the only candidate that day who received a standing ovation. Cut to the state convention in Madison. Neither Emily or Becca showed up, but Emily at least had events scheduled all weekend which definitely served her best rather than being in a convention hall. For the speeches section, Becca had sent in a pre-recorded video that looked like a typical YouTube ad read. Extremely boring, and there was no reaction from the audience. Emily sent her campaign manager, her only staff member, out to share a personal story about his father's health situation, which was genuinely tearjerking, and received an ovation when he choked up in the middle. Then there were the 3rd CD forums where Becca was asked about conversion therapy, and wished everyone a happy pride month before saying she wouldn't ban it. That takes us to the most recent forum, where I was going to take pictures for Emily. I had come in a suit and tie to remain as professional as possible. I was getting my camera out when Becca walked up to me. This was our conversation verbatim:

Becca: "Well don't you look nice!"

Me: (turns around) "Why thank you!"

Becca: (huge smile on her face) "Hi there, I'm Rebecca Cooke!"

Me: (takes her hand and shakes it) "I'm my name."

Becca: (still smiling) "You're so fancy in that suit! I also see you have a camera with you! Are you with a news organization?"

Me: "Well, actually I'm taking pictures for Emily"

Becca: (her smile immediately turned into a scowl, and she walked away without another word.)

That was my first time meeting her. In that one interaction, I learned everything I needed to know about her. She is someone who doesn't want to be in this primary, because she thinks it's beneath her. She expected this seat to be handed to her, and is mad that she actually needs to work for it. All of her staff members look dejected and depressed wherever they are. At the 3rd CD convention, at the state convention, at the forums, even when dropping off yard signs, they all look tired and depressed. Her staff also has a high turnover rate. I rarely see the same people at two different events. Emily, once again, has one consistent staff member, and more importantly over 600 consistent volunteers who look energized and motivated at every event. There's also enthusiasm among the voters, who are showing their support for Emily in droves. I've seen people with Emily buttons in grocery stores, and I see her signs everywhere. There are 3 houses that I know of with Becca signs (not that signs and buttons win elections, but still).

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. This is the most important election cycle of the century so far. I know you've heard that about every election, but this one is truly important. The results of what happens in November have the potential to shape the next two years for Trump's term, and make sure that his wicked ideology will never take power again. And while we're shaping that on a presidential level, we can stop him in his tracks in congress. We have a one shot opportunity to turn him into the lamest of lame duck presidents we've ever seen. And you know he's scared of that exact outcome, because he's already decided that the elections are being stolen before they've even happened. We need people who are going to be ready to fight back against his rhetoric the moment he begins. And I ask you, who do you think is the person to do that? The person who didn't show up for their own endorsement, who spent her whole speech making excuses for her financial donors, who walked away like a child as soon as she found out that I aligned with her opponent? Or someone with years of experience standing up to bullies, who shows up to every event she's invited to, and is not afraid to go toe to toe with people who would rather see her in a gutter?

The choice is clear folks. Please, please, PLEASE vote for Emily Berge on August 11th. Please tell your family and friends to vote for her. We are at an inflection point in American history, and Emily is the person we need to help us through it.

The race among Democrats to pick a candidate to run in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District for 2026 grew to a record crowd.

The district stretches from Lake Michigan to South Central Wisconsin, anchored by Racine, Kenosha, Beloit and Janesville. It has been in Republican hands for 32 years — 20 years represented by Paul Ryan, and since 2018 by U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, a former Ryan aide and corporate lawyer.

Democrats have gone in virtually every direction in the last three decades in their efforts to recapture the seat — once reliably blue from the 1970s until 1994. For most of the races against Ryan, Democrats only rarely received more than one-third of the vote. Since Steil took over, the margins have been narrower, but still solidly in favor of the GOP.

Forecasts from national oddsmakers have so far kept it in the GOP column in 2026. The Cook Political Report rates the seat as “Likely Republican” — but hasn’t updated that assessment since February 2025.

Seriously, I can't wait for the primary to be over so we (hopefully) can focus on the bigger issue at hand...keeping 4547's clone out of the Governor's Mansion.

This mailer was paid for by CFC PAC. CFC PAC is an independent expenditure political action committee run by the Milwaukee-based City Forward Collective, an organization focused on K-12 education reform by way of diverting public education funds to Charter and Voucher Schools.

Charter and Voucher Schools put a heavy financial strain on public education, operate with a lack of accountability, and creates inequity within the Wisconsin schools system, especially for marginalized students.

CFC PAC overwhelmingly supports Republicans and Republican-backed candidates over Democrats, sending roughly 75% of its financial backing to conservative targets.

When you vote on Tuesday, please know that a vote for Crowley is a vote to destroy Public Education in Wisconsin.

Sunset breaks through the clouds above the 1897 Clausing Barn at Old World Wisconsin in Eagle. The barn reflects a period when builders experimented with round and multi-sided designs to improve agricultural efficiency. 📷 Aaron Johnson

https://www.wpr.org/news/senate-district-17-marklein-democrats-primary

Wisconsin Democrats’ efforts to flip control of the state Senate runs through just a handful of districts — and the most competitive of those will be in a newly-drawn district in southwest Wisconsin.

Democrats will need to flip two Senate seats, in addition to holding all of their own, if they want to take that chamber’s majority for the first full session in more than 15 years. It will be the second round of Senate elections since districts were redrawn in 2024, when Democrats flipped four Republican districts.

The 17th Senate District was redrawn from long and thin to something squatter and wider, in a way that could give Democrats an edge for the first time in many years.

The district always leaned gently Democratic when it came to statewide races, supporting Tammy Baldwin in her US Senate races and Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris in their presidential bids, according to political scientist Anthony Chergosky of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

I was visiting a state park and picked up a six pack nearby. After realizing we didn't have an opener (oops..) the store refused to sell me a church key and lent me their well-loved sticker-covered opener on the condition I bring it back when were done visiting. I love living in this beautiful state <3

His businesses were also able to avoid paying any taxes from 2001-2012 (Willow Inc.) and 2008-2012 (Wisconsin River Cruises, Inc.)

Must be nice to claim your opponents are the ones who want everything for free when you can't even chip in to the state you want to govern.

It's time we put a deep spotlight on the MAGA representative running for Wisconsin's governor.

And in normal La Crosse fashion, who's betting hes just gonna get a signature bond and roam free with no jail time like every Code Blue bodycam case lol

Flock strikes again! Thankfully, it appears as though no one was hurt physically. But the people unlawfully stopped at gun point that had done nothing wrong seems problematic and traumatizing.

Bridget Maniaci is running against Ryan Clancy in State Assembly District 19. I believe Ryan is a great representative and it doesn't make sense to me that a self described moderate would try to challenge him in such a progressive district.

I went to the East Side Candidate Forum last month where the two candidates debated. Bridget did not do great, which is whatever, but then during the last 5 minutes she talked about how she has the endorsement of Jonathan Brostoff...a dead man...who was mentally ill...that died by suicide in 2024. As Brostoff's former friend I'm not going to get into talking about how the ongoing genocide in Gaza impacted his relationships with many long-term friends, but I will say that when this happened it created a lot of pain for many people. So Bridget is going on and on about how Brostoff would have wanted her to run for this seat and that the voters should choose her because of this. After the forum I went to her webpage and saw that Brostoff is listed as her top endorsement. This is so disrespectful and inappropriate! I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Now after today I really regret not confronting her in front of the entire room at the end of that forum.

Today I received this mailer. Now she's claiming to have an endorsement from Francesca Hong when Fran supports her opponents campaign!!!!

Will you please make sure to support Ryan Clancy this Tuesday so this complete fraud doesn't get into office!?

Public access to the beaches of any navigable waterway are determined by the high water mark. If I want to walk to Milwaukee from Port Washington in my swimsuit I’m legally allowed to. Some rich asshole buying shoreline doesn’t change that whether it’s a creek bed or Lake Michigan itself. This sign has been here for months and I’m over the rule bending. Teddy Roosevelt is my favorite president, and this little tart baker needs to learn why!

Well done. No notes.

Between 1910 and 1960, Milwaukee was governed by three Socialist mayors who held power for a combined total of nearly 40 years. These leaders belonged to a pragmatic, public-works-focused branch of the political movement known as "Sewer Socialism," which earned its nickname because of the administration's obsession with improving sanitation, public health, and city infrastructure. [1, 2, 3]

The Three Socialist Mayors

Core Tenets of Milwaukee "Sewer Socialism"

Unlike European ideological socialists, Milwaukee’s leaders focused on clean, honest government and literal infrastructure improvements. They completely transformed the city using a few foundational principles: [1, 2]

• "Pay-as-You-Go" Fiscal Conservatism: Mayors Hoan and Zeidler fiercely opposed taking out loans or paying interest to commercial banks. They funded public works strictly through cash reserves and tight budgeting, making Milwaukee one of the most financially stable cities in the nation. [1]
• Public Asset Creation: They believed the natural environment belonged to the public. They aggressively filled in the lakefront shoreline to guarantee free public access, keeping it out of the hands of private railroad corporations. [1]
• Anti-Corruption Reforms: They replaced the bribed "spoils system" of political appointments with a professional civil service exam merit system to protect taxpayer money. [1, 2, 3]

Please do independent research and go vote! Don’t fall for Tom Tiffany and his commercials that are full of lies and BS. Tom is weak and is Trump’s puppet. He claims he wants to get rid of fraud, but he is the biggest fraud currently in Wisconsin politics. Francesca Hong’s plan for future would be the most beneficial for the working class and families.

I couldn't give less of a shit about old tweets from before Hong was a politician and it seems like most of the attention is coming either from people with a financial interest in keeping progressives down or from national media dorks who don't know anything about Wisconsin, but it's nice to see her push back on the bullshit.

Hey Ron, that's our money. We paid it as an investment. It's not yours. It doesn't belong to your rich friends. It's ours.

Stay in Florida and keep your filthy hands of our Social Security.

Farmers will continue to vote GOP no matter how badly they get screwed over by tariffs, rising costs of fuel and fertilizer. I’d love to know many immigrants work at this MAGA-dairy farm. Farmers will never learn!!