Democrats Gather For State Convention, Hoping 2014 Will Finally Mark Walker’s Ouster

Democrats are gathering in Wisconsin Dells for the state party’s annual convention, where gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke will tell grassroots activists that she can beat Gov. Scott Walker.

Ever since 2010, Democrats have used their annual state convention to attack Walker and try to mobilize activists to defeat him. So far, it hasn’t worked.

Democrats approach this convention with a new candidate in Mary Burke who’s running for her first major office. A recent string of polls have shown the race between her and Walker to be close.

State Democratic Party spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said the party’s base is excited and convinced that this is the year they’ll successfully vote Walker out of office.

“I think the difference now is that people have had almost four years to see Scott Walker’s failed policy in action,” said Baldauff, citing Walker’s record on job creation as an example.

Walker said he expects his name will be frequently mentioned at the convention.

“I would imagine that just as it was two years ago, that their whole theme is ‘We Hate Scott Walker.’ To me, that’s not much of a message for people of this state. I think the people of this state want to go forward, not backwards,” said Walker.

He also said Wisconsin residents don’t want to go back to tax increases, budget deficits, or job losses, and criticized Burke’s record as state commerce secretary under Gov. Jim Doyle.

Burke is scheduled to speak to delegates on Friday night, along with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and other Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation. Delegates will also hear from a pollster for President Barack Obama.

State Rep. Brett Hulsey, who is also running for governor, wasn’t invited to speak at this weekend’s convention, but Hulsey said he’ll be there. He turned in his nominating petitions earlier this week, although several of them were formally challenged by the chair of the Dane County Democratic Party, who is seeking to keep Hulsey off the ballot.