Nancy Pelosi tells Wisconsin Democrats ‘everything’ is riding on them this November

Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told members of Wisconsin’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention that the stakes for them are highest of all this election cycle.

“Everything’s riding on Wisconsin,” she said Wednesday morning during the delegation’s breakfast meeting. “Everything, everything, everything is at stake in this election.”

Pelosi highlighted efforts to elect Vice President Kamala Harris for president as well as maintain a majority in the U.S. Senate, which Pelosi said requires reelecting incumbent Tammy Baldwin.

Democrats cannot be accused of understating the significance of battleground Wisconsin this year. After a bruising 2016 defeat, Democrats nationally learned a lesson about taking the state for granted, and have aggressively courted Wisconsin voters this year.

That’s been clear during the convention, including at morning breakfast meetings where delegates gather to network and hear from speakers. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the vice presidential candidate, was a surprise guest on the first day, signaling the state’s high placement on his roster.

Other high-profile Democrats have passed through the daily breakfasts. Earlier this week, delegates heard from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Arizona U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly.

On Wednesday, they also heard from New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.  

Wisconsin has also been host to the most visits from the Harris-Walz campaign in its short existence. Harris held the first big campaign rally of her candidacy in West Allis just two days after former President Joe Biden stepped down from the ticket. She trotted out newly-minted running mate Walz in Eau Claire two weeks later.

And with a mid-week rally in Milwaukee Tuesday night, she completed her third Wisconsin visit in under a month, making a point of filling the same arena that former President Donald Trump had addressed during the Republican National Convention there in July.

Wisconsin’s congressional races in the spotlight

Democrats hold a majority in the Senate so slim that Harris has, in her capacity as vice president, cast a record number of tie-breaking votes. Pelosi urged Democrats to fight for the Baldwin campaign as part of a broader push to increase their strength in that chamber.

But Pelosi said Democrats also have an opportunity to pick up seats in the U.S. House of Representatives by way of Wisconsin. Two races this fall are seen as competitive.

In the southeast, former Wisconsin Secretary of Revenue Peter Barca is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Janesville. Steil has held that seat since 2018, consistently winning reelection by comfortable margins. But the district is seen as newly competitive under new maps.

And in western Wisconsin, Rebecca Cooke, a business owner from Eau Claire, recently won a bruising three-way Democratic primary to take on Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Prairie du Chien.

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Town of Vermont, is one of just two Wisconsin Democrats already representing the state in Congress. He also addressed delegates, asking for their help in giving him more Democratic colleagues in Washington, and once again hammering on the state’s significance.

“Wisconsin is going to be the deciding state for Democrats with the White House this year, and we can do it with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz,” he said. “We have a ticket that’s real and authentic and as upper Midwestern as you can get, with the right values and the right moral compass.”