Democrats Cooke, Pfaff, Billings hit UW-La Crosse to meet young voters

Close to an election, you might see local candidates in public just about anywhere, such as a college campus.

A week after the Vice President held a rally at UW-La Crosse, three area Democrats on the ballot this November gathered there Wednesday to greet students around the stadium.

Third District US House candidate Rebecca Cooke told reporters what issues are on young people’s minds.

“They’re concerned about abortion access, they’re concerned about IVF, they’re concerned about access to birth control,” said Cooke, who was part of a town hall earlier in the day at the La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce.

Cooke is challenging Republican Congressman Derrick Van Orden, who also had a town hall with the Chamber on Monday.

Cooke added that 3rd District voters also worry a good deal about money.

“It’s tough for folks to be able to go to the grocery store, and fill up at the gas pump, and pay their rent or make a mortgage payment and have a little left over at the end of every month,” Cooke said, “and that’s really due to corporations that are price-gouging consumers and they’re doing that off the backs of their workers.”

Wisconsin state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) hears students talk about their career plans.

“They want to make sure that they have opportunities going forward,” Pfaff said. “We’re listening, and at the same time, we seek to build partnerships.”

Pfaff is up against Republican candidate Stacey Klein for District 32.

Assembly Rep. Jill Billings (D-La Crosse) is urging students to vote early to avoid missing the chance to cast a ballot on election day.

Billings, who’s being challenged by Republican Cedric Schnitzler, added that a lot of students she met Wednesday are “really engaged with the election,” Billings said. “Some have already voted absentee, but it was exciting to hear people who have voted, or intend to vote.’

The candidates were stationed in the early afternoon outside the UWL student union, near tables where campaign souvenirs and pizza were available to students.