Midwest
'The left has perfected this': Conservatives take page from Obama's playbook in battleground Wisconsin
WISCONSIN— One conservative group taking Wisconsin by storm is tapping a strategy previously emphasized by former President Barack Obama in order to win the 2024 presidential election for Republicans.
“It’s narrowing down our organizing to the ward and then mobilizing,” Turning Point Action National Enterprise Director Brett Galaszewski told Fox News Digital in an interview.
The group’s ballot-chase program involves “neighbors talking with other neighbors.”
‘DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS’: WISCONSINITES TALK HARRIS’ MIDWESTERN RUNNING MATE, TIM WALZ
Turning Point Action has made a large investment in contributing to pro-Republican ground game efforts in Wisconsin. (Reuters)
He explained that there is more value in approaching people as their neighbor or someone they have a relationship with than as a stranger who may not be from the area.
“It’s the community organizing model that Obama talked about in 2008,” Galaszewski said. “You know, we laughed at Obama in 2008, as conservatives, when he said, ‘I’m a community organizer.’”
But that strategy, he said, is “going to make a huge difference here.”
FOR WISCONSIN DEMS, A 2024 WIN IN THE BATTLEGROUND STATE IS YEARS IN THE MAKING
Obama emphasized his past as a community organizer on the campaign trail. (Michelle Gustafson/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Obama stressed his past as a community organizer during his presidential campaign in 2008, cutting an ad in which he referred to his experience organizing after winning the Democrat nomination that summer.
As Galaszewski noted, Republicans at the time ridiculed Obama’s emphasis on his community organizing as a credential in his bid to be commander-in-chief.
Turning Point Action is running a robust ground game operation in key states, such as Wisconsin, alongside various other groups, hoping to supplement the Republican Party’s efforts. The group has the largest such operation in Wisconsin, as many expect the state to be crucial in deciding the presidential election.
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Trump and Harris are each fighting to win swing state Wisconsin, which has gone both Democrat and Republican in the past two elections. (Reuters/IStock)
The all-hands-on-deck approach is beneficial for Republicans to make up some of the financial disparity between the former President Trump campaign and Vice President Harris’ and the Democrats’ war chest.
As Turning Point Action begins its on the ground ballot-chasing, they aren’t racing to knock as many doors as possible. Instead, they are targeting specifically identified people. The group has determined that the best way to turbocharge turnout is to focus on “disengaged and low-propensity conservatives.”
“We no longer see this as a war of persuasion among swing voters,” said Galaszewski.
TRUMP, REPUBLICANS VENTURE TO BLUE AREAS IN WISCONSIN TO BOOST GOP TURNOUT
A woman dons a cheese hat with an American flag on it in Wisconsin. (Reuters)
Many people don’t value their votes as much as those heavily involved in politics, he explained.
“That’s something that we know the left has really homed in on — targeting those voters with low-ballot value and making it work.”
Conservatives who may not be planning to vote are the ones Turning Point Action thinks can pave the path to a Republican win. “It’s a numbers game in Wisconsin,” he added.
The group has hundreds of ballot-chasers working statewide in Wisconsin to turn out these potential voters. Some of them are salaried employees, whose full-time job is “to chase ballots in these territories.”
Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
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Utah wildfire burnover kills three firefighters near Colorado border
Three firefighters were killed and two were injured in a Utah wildfire burnover as the Snyder Fire grows past 28,000 acres.
One of three firefighters killing fighting a Colorado wildfire on Saturday, June 27, was a southeast Michigan woman, department of Interior officials announced on Monday, June 29.
Emily Barker, 38, of Clinton Township, was assigned to the U.S. Forest Service Rifle Helitack crew. She died from burns while engaging in the initial attack on the Knowles Fire in Mesa County in western Colorado near the Utah border.
The two other fallen firefighters were identified as Nick Hutcherson, 27, of Glendale, Arizona, assigned to the USFS Kaibab National Forest; and Sydney Watson, 27, Warrior, Alabama, assigned to the USFS Rifle Helitack crew.
“We mourn the loss of three firefighters who answered the call to protect others and made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their fellow citizens,” U.S. Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy said in a June 29 announcement. “Our thoughts are with their families, loved ones, friends and crewmates as they face an unimaginable loss. These firefighters embodied the courage, professionalism and selflessness that define the wildland fire service. Please join me and my family in keeping our thoughts and prayers with the families of the fallen and our injured firefighters and their families.”
Barker was a graduate of Grosse Pointe Academy and alumna of Northern Michigan University with a degree in ski area business management, the school said in a 2020 Facebook post.
The firefighters from the U.S. Wildland Fire Service and U.S. Forest Service were battling the Knowles and Gore fires near the Colorado-Utah border June 27 when the incident occurred in Colorado, the U.S. Department of the Interior stated in a June 28 news release.
The firefighters were killed and injured during a burnover, which occurs when fire behavior changes and unexpectedly overtakes firefighters. The firefighters had deployed their protective shelters, according to a U.S. Forest Service news release June 28.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer shared her condolences with Michigan firefighter’s family in a Facebook post.
“I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Clinton Township native, Emily Barker, who lost her life while fighting a wildfire in Colorado,” Whitmer said on Facebook on June 29. “My condolences go out to Emily’s loved ones. Her bravery in the face of danger kept people safe and will not soon be forgotten.”
As of Tuesday, June 30, the wildfire, known as the Snyder Fire, had consumed 30,163 acres, according to Map of Fire.
The blaze began Saturday, June 27, during a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service due to strong winds, low humidity and dry fuel. The fire prompted evacuations.
The state is facing several other wildfires and is covered in red flag warnings as of Tuesday morning, June 30.
Contact Sarah Moore @ smoore@lsj.com
A St. Cloud Tech ninth-grader won the Minnesota State High School League Clay Shooting championship on Friday.
Allie Lauer won the title with a score of 99 and reverse run of 83, while second-place finisher Isabella Blaz (Rosemount) also scored a 99 but a reverse run of 54. LeRoy-Ostrander’s Kimberly Volkart finished in third place with a score of 98.
MSHSL:
“I was nervous coming in because the other girls are older,” Lauer said. “It was nice weather today and things worked out well. Your average (score) doesn’t really matter. Just keep a good mindset and don’t focus on the scores.”
BOYS CLAY SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP
Proctor sophomore Lane Graves took home the championship after a grueling three-way, two-round shoot-off against Rushford-Peterson’s Colton Ronnenberg (second place) and Prior Lake’s Jack Benedict.
After Benedict was eliminated in the first shoot-off, Graves outlasted Ronnenberg with a 9-7 win in round two.
TEAM CLAY SHOOTING CHAMPIONSHIP
The Bemidji Lumberjacks took the team title with a total score of 487, one ahead of Lakeville South and five better than both Stewartville and Spring Grove.
St. Cloud’s Stanley Cup Champion Nate Schmidt [GALLERY]
Former St. Cloud Cathedral and University of Minnesota standout Nate Schmidt will bring the Stanley Cup to St. Cloud on August 25th. Here’s a look at his career through photos.
The Kansas City Chiefs selected linebacker Nick Bolton in the second round, 58th overall, of the 2021 NFL Draft. The University of Missouri Tigers star is a two-time Super Bowl champion and can now add Hall of Famer to his resume after a special reveal from head coach Andy Reid after a recent team practice.
“You guys know I’m a Missouri Tiger at heart; I had a chance to coach there, for you that didn’t know, before I got in the NFL. We got a couple of Missouri Tigers here, but we got one that’s real, real famous right now. Not only for his play here with the Chiefs, but also what he did at the University of Missouri,” said Reid. “He did great things there. We know him as kind of a team guy. He’s Nick Bolton, right? We know him as a team guy, the ultimate team guy, but today you’re going to get an individual award, bud. Today you’re going into the University of Missouri Athletic Hall of Fame.”
During his college football career at Missouri, Bolton was named First-Team All-SEC in 2019 and 2020 and Second-Team All-American in 2020.
Bolton had another impressive season in 2025, leading the Chiefs with 154 total tackles, along with a sack and an interception. He was selected as an alternate for the 2026 Pro Bowl Games.
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