At DNC, Elizabeth Warren tells Wisconsin Democrats to ‘be proud’ of policy wins

Wisconsin Democrats have a record they can be proud to run on this November, Massachusetts U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren told members of Wisconsin’s delegation to the Democratic National Convention Thursday morning.

Her remarks capped off a week of morning visits to Wisconsin’s delegation from high-profile Democratic leaders eager to remind the group of their importance as battleground voters — and get them ready, the party hopes, to eke out a victory in a state where presidential races are frequently decided by less than a percentage point.

“Whatever else we talk about, when you get ready to knock on doors, when you get ready to talk to people in parking lots, you be proud as a Democrat to talk about what we got done,” Warren said.

That includes signature legislative achievements of Presidet Joe Biden, she said, and the tie-breaking votes that Vice President Kamala Harris took in the U.S. Senate to get them over the finish line.

Wisconsin’s importance has been the dominant theme of during week of delegate breakfast meetings, starting with a surprise appearance from Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on Monday. Other high-profile surrogates, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also spoke about Wisconsin’s key races down the ballot.

That includes U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s reelection campaign, which Democrats see as must-win in order to hold their paper-thin majority in that chamber .

Baldwin also spoke briefly Thursday morning about her race against Republican businessman Eric Hovde. She compared that race to the presidential fight at the top of the ticket.

“We get to decide between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and we get to decide between me and my opponent, and the stakes of that choice could not be higher,” Baldwin told the crowd.

Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock — no stranger himself to tight races in battleground states — called Hovde, who is chair and CEO of the California-based Sunwest Bank, a “carpetbagger” and said he and Baldwin have been partners in Washington as Democrats from states that have not expanded Medicaid.

“The people of Wisconsin didn’t choose not to have health care. The people of Georgia didn’t make that decision. That’s just a few confused politicians,” he said. “And so we’re going to get this thing done together.”

The convention will wrap up Thursday evening when Harris formally accepts the party’s nomination for president. Baldwin is also scheduled to speak from the floor.