WISDEMS Chair Candidate William Garcia Answers Our Questions
William Garcia has responded to the questions we sent him and the other two candidates for chair of our state party.
Find out more about him, including how to support him,if you’d like, on his website.
Click here to read our initial take on the race and candidates (we like Garcia) as well as instructions on how to participate in the election (claim delegate seat by 5pm Saturday, then go to Wisconsin Dells next month).
What is the core source of power for the Wisconsin Democratic Party?
The core source of power for DPW are our local, county parties and the organizers and volunteers who run them. These groups who volunteer their blood, sweat and tears day in and day out are the reason why the Wisconsin Democratic Party is renowned throughout the country. Supporting these local groups is why I am running. As chair, I will make sure County parties are at the heart of every organizing and messaging decision we make. I will make sure local party officials have a genuine seat at the table to decide how to best speak to voters in their area. Organizing needs to look different in different places, and it is the local party officials who are the experts in how to communicate to their neighbors.
A focus on local organizations also means strengthening and expanding our statewide caucuses. All people need to feel they have a home in the party, and caucuses are an important way we do that.I am proud of my work with the Latino caucus, and to have filled out the paperwork to help create the DPW Jewish caucus and the DPW Muslim caucus.
Most especially, we must grow and strengthen the Young Democrats of Wisconsin and the College Democrats of Wisconsin. It is not enough that we get young people to vote for us. They must be given a seat at the table and be empowered to speak out on the issues and policies they care about, not forced to line up lock step behind their elders. I am Chair of the 3rd CD, and have more college students in my district than anywhere in the state, and I worked hard supporting these College Dems how I could after DPW cut a significant amount of their funding in 2024. With my help, Young Dems in La Crosse County have established the only official chapter of Young Democrats in the state. As chair, I will build a strong infrastructure for young people to join and work with the party.
How will you galvanize and mobilize that power to help us win?
People are the power, and strong county parties are the engines that mobilize that power. That is why my campaign is so focused on ensuring county parties have the tools and infrastructure they need to better speak to voters in their area. This includes basic things like backend support for things like membership lists, treasurer reports and training on party operations. But it also includes genuine resources to help bring in new members, reach out to other local progressive organizations and assistance in developing actions (protests, listening sessions, town halls, etc).
Mobilizing our volunteers also means giving them a lot more power to build their own organizing strategies and messaging. The organizing that works in Milwaukee is not the same organizing that works in Menomonie, and the messaging strategy for Green Bay is not the one that works in La Crosse. We need to empower local volunteers to decide for themselves how to mobilize the voters in their area. That is how we mobilize, by giving our volunteers agency over their work.
What are the biggest challenges WISDEMS faces, and how will you change the party to meet those challenges?
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it is the disconnect between the state party and the county parties. Ben Wikler did an incredible job of building a powerful organizing arm with the money that comes from being the narrowest swing state in the country. That organizing structure was important and has led to many successes at the ballot box in the state. But, this organizing structure was built separately from the county parties, not alongside it, and this has created many logistical problems for local parties. Aligning the paid organizing staff with the county parties so that our paid organizers are working with our local volunteers, not against them, will develop a far more efficient organizing infrastructure.
We talk a lot about year-round organizing, which will be vital going forward. But DPW's belief that organizing means "doors knocked and phones called" runs counter to year-round organizing. Year-round organizing must mean bringing people into the county parties and empowering them to organize around the issues that matter to them. Why on earth would I knock on someone's door right now to talk about the 2026 election? We organize around the county parties now so that in 2026, we have a group of dedicated volunteers ready to canvass and work for our candidates. The county party must be the hub of activism.
The WISDEMS platform and party base speak strongly against genocide in Gaza, for migrants, for transpeople, against mass incarceration, and for other progressive causes, but these concerns have been downplayed or neglected by party leadership. How will you align your work as chair with the progressive values that motivate and inspire the party’s voters and volunteers?
As chair, I am responsible to the membership of DPW, who, as this question notes, have been unequivocal in their support for progressive issues. And as chair, it is my duty to stand up for these progressive issues. I do not want to oversell the power of the chair. I cannot convince every Democratic politician to support every progressive policy, even ones found in our platform and resolutions. At the end of the day, those decisions are the candidate's alone. But, I will work for the membership of the party, and when the membership of the party feels strongly about an issue, I will always stand up for them
On the road this last month, I have spoken a lot about how Democrats need to do a much better job demonstrating how our policies are both logical and moral, and that is often the tack I take talking about these issues. A ceasefire that prevents the deaths of tens of thousands, many of them children, is logical and moral. Changing our migration laws to allow for workers to come to the US and work is both good for our pocketbooks (Wisconsin agriculture depends on migrant labor) and compassionate. Gender-affirming care saves lives,full stop; logical and compassionate. As chair, I will be unrelenting in reminding people that the Democratic Party must protect all people, or else no one is truly free. We gain no electoral victory by ignoring the marginalized.
State actors of both parties have historically maligned and neglected Milwaukee. Our residents are othered, the shared revenue scheme exploits us, schools are lead-poisoned and under constant attack. In your role as state chair, how will you recognize and combat these attacks on our city?
As chair, the best thing I can do is support volunteers and candidates who see the inequities and are willing to fight to dismantle them. I can also combat the misinformation about how resources are distributed to help combat the issue. It is striking that, in other parts of the state, people feel that Milwaukee gets a larger share of the resources than they should. This is fueled by Republican misinformation around the state, especially in rural areas. Fighting this misinformation, actively fighting against the "othering" of Milwaukee, and highlighting the laws and procedures that actively harm Milwaukee residents will be a vital job for the chair.
Of course, we also know that, for Republicans, Milwaukee is synonymous with "person of color", which is what fuels their constant attack on the city. I will be unrelenting in calling this racism out and in educating people about the racial undertones of the attacks on Milwaukee.