In July, GROWW members voted to support the campaigns of Kevin Knoke in AD 30, Jeremiah Frederickson in AD 92, and Senator Jeff Smith in SD31.

Dear Neigbor,

If you’ve been paying attention to Wisconsin politics over the last few decades, you’ve probably noticed something.

No matter who’s in office, it often feels like the people with the deepest pockets have the loudest voices.

That’s not because regular people don’t care. It’s because some of the biggest corporations and wealthiest interests in our state have spent decades organizing to shape the rules in Madison. They’ve built relationships, invested in elections, hired lobbyists, and worked year after year to advance their agenda.

The consequences show up in our everyday lives.

Family farmers are squeezed while corporations consolidate throughout our food system, reshaping our land, our water, our economy, and our health. Working people struggle to see a doctor when they’re sick and local hospitals struggle to stay open while for-profit insurers and big pharmaceutical companies rake in record profits. Communities lose local control over decisions that affect their water, housing, and future. Now, western Wisconsin is facing proposals for massive data centers that could reshape our region for generations.

None of those things happened overnight. They happened because powerful interests organized patiently, strategically, and over the long term.

At GROWW, we’ve reached a simple conclusion: if organized corporate power helped create these problems, organized people can solve them.

Over the last several years, we’ve watched that happen.

We’ve watched neighbors in Pierce County defend local control by passing Operations Ordinances. We’ve watched Menomonie residents organize over a year to win the SHIELD ordinance and stronger protections for renters. We’ve seen Wisconsinites win fairer legislative maps after years of persistence. We’ve watched thousands of people across western Wisconsin show up for town halls, public hearings, trainings, deep canvasses, neighborhood gathers, and community events because they believe our communities deserve better.

Every new member. Every difficult conversation. Every local victory. Each has expanded what feels possible for our future.

That’s why GROWW members made an important decision this July.

For the first time in our organization’s history, our members voted to work to elect candidates to the Wisconsin Legislature: Kevin Knoke in AD 92, Jeremiah Frederickson in AD 30, and incumbent Senator Jeff Smith in SD 31.

Over nearly ten months and across western Wisconsin, more than 350 of our members played a role in the process to make that decision.

Some people have asked why GROWW members, committed to building local, independent people power, would get involved in partisan races sending folks to Madison.

The answer is simple.

We can’t build the Wisconsin we deserve without passing our legislative agenda – and that means wielding power in our state capital.

Our members didn’t ask, “Which candidate do we like best?” They asked a different question: Which races give organized people our best opportunity to build enough power to win the changes we need? Every endorsement was part of a broader strategy to strengthen our ability to negotiate after Election Day, not simply to influence Election Day itself.

That distinction matters.

And let’s be clear: We aren’t looking for politicians to save us.

We’re organizing to build the power we need so that in 227 our representatives in Madison have to work with us, and answer to the people they represent.

Our families, our communities, our issues, and our organizing are the center of our work, now and always. Election Day will never be a finish line for us. Electing a candidate may be on step in a much longer journey of organizing with out neighbors, developing leaders, and holding every elected official accountable, whether we supported them or not. Because the success we’re chasing isn’t change at the ballot box, it’s change in our lives and the lives of regular people across Wisconsin.

Over the next few months, you’ll see GROWW members knocking doors, hosting conversations, sharing stories, and inviting more people into this work. We’ll be organizing in communities across wester Wisconsin because every new relationship and every new member strengthens our ability to negotiate for the future we want.

And that future is worth organizing for.

We want communities to have a real voice before billion-dollar data centers reshape our water, energy system, and farmland.

We want to keep rural hospitals open and make healthcare affordable.

we want every family to have access to housing that is safe, healthy, and affordable.

We want policies that strengthen family farms, protect local control, and invest in thriving rural communities.

Those aren’t promises someone else made to us. They’re commitments we’ve made to one another.

Our hope is that when the Wisconsin Legislature gavels into session in 2027, we won’t simply be asking elected officials to do the right thing. We’ll be sitting across the table from them with thousands of organized people, real relationships, and the power to help set our state agenda.

For decades, corporate special interests and political pundits relied on something besides money. They’ve relied on their ability to spread lies and distractions to divide our communities by anything they can think of: geography, race, political party, or even who lives in a city and who lives in the country. Our division makes it easier to buy influence, rig the rules, and convince us that our neighbors are the problem instead of the people profiting from the status quo.

We won’t accept that anymore.

We know not everyone will agree with our decision. Our members don’t all come fro the same backgrounds, vote the same way, or see every issue the same way.

What holds us together isn’t agreement on everything.

It’s a shared belief that regular people deserve a voice as much as billion-dollar CEO’s, shareholders, or special interests. That our neighbors are worth organizing alongside, and that we should measure the success of Wisconsin politics by how it delivers for the people who call it home. Us. Our families. Our Neighbors.

If you’ve been waiting for politics to feel different, we’d love to invite you into this work.

Come to a meeting.

Volunteer.

Become a member.

Bring your story.

Because the future of western Wisconsin won’t be built by one election, one candidate, or one organization.

It will be built by neighbors who decide to organize together.

I hope you’ll join us.

In solidarity,

GROWW members, Board, and Staff

Words by Reba Krueger, GROWW Senior Communications Manager