House candidate Shankland joined by Parkland school shooting survivor Hogg at La Crosse rally

On the last weekend before Wisconsin’s August primary, one area candidate for US House is traveling through the large 3rd District to get out the vote.

State Rep. Katrina Shankland kicked off a four-day campaign blitz in La Crosse’s Riverside Park on Saturday morning.

Shankland was joined by David Hogg, who was a student attending Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida and hid with others inside the building during the deadly school shooting in February of 2018.

Hogg is now the co-founder of a progressive political group called Leaders We Deserve.

Hogg told a crowd of around 40 at the riverfront rally that students in Parkland lobbied for new gun laws, after the shooting, despite criticism from adults calling them a “bunch of dumb kids” who wouldn’t get anything done. “Because we had the audacity to hope and believe that change was possible, we raised the age to buy guns in Florida to 21,” said Hogg.

Hogg added that Shankland has a record of getting work done as a Wisconsin legislator.

Shankland says area voters are “about to make history” in the 3rd District race.

The Stevens Point area Democrat says the 3rd is the “number one swing district” in Wisconsin, which is a top swing state.

Both Shankland and Hogg criticized so-called “dark money” efforts by interest groups to influence the Congressional race.

In the August 13th Democratic primary, Shankland faces Rebecca Cooke and Eric Wilson, both from the Eau Claire area. The primary winner will challenge Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden, who’s seeking his second term in Congress.

They were also scheduled to campaign in Wisconsin Rapids and Stevens Point on Saturday, with six more campaign events in the district on Sunday and Monday.