Citizen Action Launches Rural and Small Town Organizing Strategy Print
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Written by Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Jolie Lizotte   
Saturday, 28 April 2018 10:46

caw-ruralState group teams with national People’s Action to target “pivot” counties that voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then went to Trump in 2016.


MILWAUKEE, WI - This week Citizen Action of Wisconsin leaders attended the People's Action Rural & Small Town Organizing Summit in Washington, D.C. The summit launched a major 10 state initiative in rural and small-town America, to counter right-wing populism with a progressive populist movement built from the bottom up.

The “Rural and Small Town Organizing Strategy” will target 72 counties, including many in Wisconsin. Trump carried 62 of the counties; 28 were “pivot” counties that voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then went to Trump in 2016.

Citizen Action was represented by Joel Lewis, organizer with the North Central Organizing Co-op, and North central co-op Steering Committee member Chrysa Osten, and Robert Kraig, executive director. Citizen Action was joined by organizers and member leaders from Iowa, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Maine, North Carolina, Alabama, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Missouri, Michigan, and the Native Organizers Alliance.

In addition to a public media launch at the national press club, the purpose of the gathering was to build a learning community of People's Action member organizations and our movement allies around how do powerful race-conscious organizing in rural communities and small towns and build a powerful multiracial, urban-rural alliances that can transform our country.

The project started by listening to rural voters in many of the states. Volunteers completed 2,500 individual conversations through phone banks, door-knocking, and in-person surveys at events. The results are found in the report “The Promise of a Progressive Populist Movement.”

The project will launch with in depth surveys in all the states, including Wisconsin. If you are interested in helping the project launch in Wisconsin contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Read more about the public launch in the Nation.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 May 2018 13:53