LA CROSSE, Wis. — Wisconsin Democrats are gathering in La Crosse this weekend for their state convention.
Democrats are hoping to hold onto gains made in the 2018 election when Tony Evers beat Scott Walker for Governor.
Eight candidates are on the August 9 primary ballot to take on Republican Ron Johnson for the U.S. Senate seat. Johnson is seeking a third term.
Each candidate was given five minutes to talk with convention delegates and party activists.TMJ4 News was in La Crosse and has videos of all the speeches in alphabetical order.
Mandela Barnes is a Milwaukee native. In 2018, Barnes became Wisconsin's first elected African American Lieutenant Governor. Under Governor Tony Evers he chaired the Governor's Task Force on Climate Change.
Sarah Godlewskiwas born in Eau Claire. She was elected Wisconsin Treasure in 2018. As state Treasurer, she helped lift the state's ban that prevented staff at the state Board of Commissioners from advocating for climate change-related policies
Alex Lasry lives in Milwaukee and is currently on leave from his job as Senior Vice President of the Milwaukee Bucks. Lasry played a role in helping build Fiserv Forum and bringing the Democratic National Convention to Milwaukee in 2020.
Kou Lee is a businessman and the first Hmong candidate running for U.S. Senate. Lee's family escaped Laos when he was an infant. He moved to Wisconsin in 2010 to start his business.
Tom Nelson was raised in Little Chute, Wisconsin and currently is the County Executive of Outagamie County. Nelson says he supports "a blue-green coalition that unites the environmental and labor movements."
Steven Olikara is a Brookfield native and UW Madison graduate. Olikara is the founder of the Millennial Action Project, a nonprofit national policy advocacy organization.
Peter Peckarsky is a Milwaukee lawyer living in Milwaukee. Perckarsky says he supports "universal access to healthcare as a basic right."
Darrell Williams was the administrator for Wisconsin Emergency Management. Willaims was National Principal of the Year in 2013 by the National Alliance of Black School Educators.
TMJ4 is holding a Senate primary debate on July 17 at Marquette University for candidates who qualified based on multiple polling results and the number of campaign donors. So far that includes Mandela Barnes, Sarah Godlewski, Alex Lasry and Tom Nelson.
NBC's Moderator of Meet the Press Chuck Todd will join TMJ4's Shannon Sims and Charles Benson for the live one-hour TV debate.
To watch the debate in person,you can register for tickets.
