State Democrats Gather For Convention In Green Bay

Wisconsin Democrats will gather in Green Bay on Friday night and Saturday for their annual state party convention, where leaders say they plan to emphasize “unity” even as their candidates for president continue a lengthy primary battle.

While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds a significant delegate lead over Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, both campaigns are still very active. On top of that, party activists will vote on a resolution this weekend calling for the end of superdelegates. It’s being pushed by Sanders supporters who are frustrated that most superdelegates have backed Clinton.

State Democratic Party Chair Martha Laning said the primary won’t hurt Democrats because they’re strongly united behind their party’s platform.

“That’s a real benefit to all of us, and that’s what I really emphasize is that this is exciting to have such a unified group of people behind our platform,” she said.

Laning also said Democrats won’t be shy about pointing out what she calls the “dangers” of likely Republican nominee Donald Trump.

At the state GOP convention three weeks ago, most Republican leaders never even mentioned Trump by name, choosing to spend their time promoting other candidates.

Laning said Democrats will focus on their candidates and their agenda, but they’ll also target Trump.

“We’re just going to be pointing out our deep concerns about having someone who is just in it for himself in the Oval Office,” she said. “Because he puts our kids’ lives at danger, he puts our economy at danger, he puts everything at danger. He’s a huge risk for our country.”

Farther down on the ticket, Wisconsin Democrats hope their candidates can win seats in both houses of Congress and chip away at GOP majorities in the state Legislature.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story featuring Associated Press content has been updated with original reporting.