Milwaukee, WI – At three early voting sites in Milwaukee on Wednesday, giant calendar displays depicted scenes from the past year’s genocide, with a death toll in Gaza that rose from over 7,000 in October of 2023 to an estimated over 200,000 in October of 2024. Anti-genocide voters flyered on UW-Milwaukee’s campus and in Oak Creek, and ended with a rally at Milwaukee City Hall, threatening to continue withholding their votes from any candidates, Vice President Harris in particular, that continue to support the ongoing genocide and refuse to take action to stop the war or to stop arming Israel.
In Milwaukee, Listen to Wisconsin hosted the rally as part of the “Ceasefire First, Votes Next” campaign, which is gathering signatures of anti-genocide Wisconsin voters pledging they cannot in good conscience support Vice President Harris or any candidate that does not act to end the genocide or commit to an arms embargo.
Listen to Wisconsin ran the “Uninstructed” protest vote campaign in the April Democratic Presidential Primary and garnered over 48,000 votes, more than double President Biden’s 2020 margin of victory in Wisconsin. The pledge campaign is part of efforts across swing states, including Pennsylvania and Georgia as well, to uplift the ongoing massacres in Gaza and Lebanon, and to highlight the voices of anti-genocide voters in this election.
“If a candidate cannot align with an anti-genocide agenda, you cannot guarantee our votes—no matter who you are, what your stated values are, or who you’re running against, unless you can fight right-wing fascism abroad as well as in the U.S,” said Listen to Wisconsin organizer Halah Ahmad. “We’ve made our voices heard as anti-genocide voters, and we will continue to do so. That’s our job. It’s our leaders’ job to listen.”
“I have a question to pose to the Democratic Party,” said Waleed Nassar, a student leader at UW-Milwaukee, “Why has the United States and the Biden Administration over the past year approved $22 billion dollars in military aid to Israel while there are families in North Carolina that are struggling to get their electricity back on? I can’t be complicit in genocide, and you have to earn our votes.”
Endorsements
The “Ceasefire First, Votes Next” campaign has been endorsed by a number of area organizations, including the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison Students for Justice in Palestine and other campus-based groups, the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine made up of over 80 state-wide organizations; the Teaching Assistants Association (TAA), one of the oldest graduate worker unions in the country; and Black Leaders Organizing Communities (BLOC). These groups represent thousands of voters that feel they do not have a viable pro-peace candidate for President and who continue to be horrified and alienated by Israel’s ongoing massacres and unconditional U.S. support for war crimes.
While the pledge campaigns are taking place across several states, including a related nationwide “No Votes for Genocide” pledge, the Swing States Day of Action took place in both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, where margins between Vice President Harris and Donald Trump are closer than ever, and where it is likely less than 1% of votes will determine the outcome of the election.
Campaign activity
The Listen to Wisconsin “Ceasefire First, Votes Next” campaign is continuing its outreach to ensure anti-genocide voters can be heard before election day through the signature campaign, while also encouraging these voters to participate in the election.
In collaboration with endorsing organizations like Milwaukee DSA, Listen to Wisconsin has hosted twice-weekly phone banks, weekend phone and text banks, and weekend canvassing efforts. The campaign has also run a 15-second TV ad calling on voters to use their power as swing state voters to speak up against the genocide now, regardless of how they vote. In addition to a TV ad, the group continues to gather signatures via social media testimonies and ads, as well as a mailer.
Polling
Recent polling shows anti-genocide voters represent the views of the vast majority of Democrats and a majority of Americans, and that Democrats stand to gain votes by committing to an arms embargo. A Cato poll in September found 61% of Wisconsin voters support ending weapons to Israel. A recent NBC poll found 8% of Gen-Z voters rank ending Israel’s violence as Gaza as their most important issue. In May, over a third of potential Democratic voters in Wisconsin said a ceasefire, full entry of humanitarian aid, and an end to the siege in Gaza would be the minimum set of policy changes needed to secure their votes. This data complements the over 48,000 “Uninstructed” anti-genocide votes from April, and a resolution passed at the state Democratic convention this year, calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.
