On Monday, Dr. Jill Biden and Mrs. Gwen Walz rallied educators in La Crosse for Vice President Harris and Governor Walz. Dr. Biden and Mrs. Walz are both lifelong educators who spoke to the Vice President’s New Way Forward agenda, contrasted with Donald Trump’s extreme Project 2025 agenda that will rip away Wisconsinites’ freedoms, eliminate the Department of Education, and give Trump unprecedented and unchecked control over our daily lives.

On the Airwaves:

WQOW (ABC) – La Crosse

Reporter: “And in La Crosse tonight, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Governor Walz’s wife, Gwen Walz. They spoke to voters at a rally at the La Crosse Center. It was their first campaign event together.”

WEAU (NBC) – La Crosse

Reporter: “First Lady Jill Biden and Gwen Walz are both campaigning in La Crosse. Biden and Walz took the stage in front of many educators and other voters to discuss issues such as women’s health care, housing and grocery costs, Social Security, and Medicare. Biden and Walz also encouraged those in attendance to vote, vote early, and convince others to vote because they say democracy in America is on the line.”

Gwen Walz: “We know that words matter, so when we say everyone, we don’t mean some of us. We don’t mean only those who vote for us. We mean all of us. We mean everyone. “

First Lady Jill Biden: “We need you to knock on doors, sign up for volunteer shifts, make sure that your friends and family have a plan to vote early.”

Reporter: “Jill Biden said this election will come down to just a few votes in battleground states, like Wisconsin.”

WKBT (CBS) – La Crosse – WI

Reporter: “First Lady Jill Biden and [Minnesota’s First Lady] Gwen Walz rallied supporters at the La Crosse Center. The former educators spoke about the election’s impact on teaching careers. Wisconsin teacher salaries currently fall $7,000 below the national average, with state budget cuts and bargaining laws driving many away from the profession. One La Crosse teacher says having Walz as vice president is crucial for Wisconsin educators’ future.”  

Local Teacher: “Having a public school teacher beside [Kamala Harris] in the White House, I’ve never seen anything like that. So, knowing that our voices are going to be represented in policy discussions, you can feel the change coming — it’s so exciting.”

Reporter: “Members of the national and La Crosse Education Associations spoke before the First Lady and [Gwen Walz] took the stage.”

WSAW (CBS) – Wausau, WI

Reporter: “Last evening, Walz’s wife, Gwen Walz campaigned in La Crosse with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden after a stop in Michigan earlier in the day.”

Online:

La Crosse Tribune: ‘It’s pass-fail’: FLOTUS Jill Biden and Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz rally La Crosse educators

[Gavin Michaelson, 10/28/24]

Bright royal blue shirts reading “Educators for Harris-Walz” filed into the La Crosse Civic Center on Monday evening as local voters and educators awaited the arrival of U.S. First Lady Jill Biden and Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz.[…]

“It’s nice to be here with family,” said Biden, looking into the sea of educators before her. “Thank you for using your teacher voices to make sure people know what is at stake in this campaign.”[…]

“It’s very special for me to be on the trail with Gwen as educators who see the possibility of a bright future for our students, but also as moms,” said Biden. “This election will have a profound effect on women, our ability to make our own health care decisions, to buy homes and to put food on our tables and to live in a country where we celebrate that our differences are precious, and our similarities are infinite.”[…]

WEAU: Campaign visits in Wisconsin continue as Jill Biden, Gwen Walz visit La Crosse

[Dashal Mentzel, 10/28/24]

We have just a little over a week left before the 2024 presidential election. Gwen Walz and First Lady Jill Biden are both campaigning in La Crosse.[…]

Biden and Walz also encouraged those in attendance to vote, vote early, and convince others to vote because they say democracy in America is on the line.

“We know that words matter, so when we say everyone, we don’t mean some of us. We don’t mean only those who vote for us. We mean all of us. We mean everyone,” says Gwen Walz.

“We need you to knock on doors, sign up for volunteer [shifts], and make sure that your friends and family have a plan to vote early,” says Jill Biden.

Jill Biden says this election will come down to just a few votes in battleground states, like Wisconsin.

WXOW: Educators for Harris-Walz, first ladies make La Crosse campaign stop

[Heather Armstrong, 10/28/24]

La Crosse welcomed a pair of first ladies Monday evening campaigning on behalf of the Democratic presidential ticket.

Dr. Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States and Mrs. Gwen Walz, the First Lady for Minnesota, spoke with supporters — many of whom were teachers-about the Harris-Walz plan to support education.

Both are longtime educators who have continued to teach throughout their husbands’ service in office. 

Dr. Biden says she thinks a Kamala Harris presidency will make improvements for more than just teachers.[…]

A Logan Middle School teacher who addressed the crowd this evening said he is afraid what could happen to public schools if Trump is elected next Tuesday.[…]

Martinez says he believes that having an educator in the White House will also help make ending gun violence a priority.

WKBT: First Lady Jill Biden, Gwen Walz speak to educators in La Crosse

[Grace Monk, 10/28/24]

The First Lady and Minnesota First Lady rallied Democrats together at the La Crosse Center tonight. […]

“As president she’s going to make life easier for families all across America, lowering the cost of things like housing, and groceries, and prescriptions,” said Biden.[…]

“Having a public-school teacher beside her in the white house, I’ve never seen anything like that. So, knowing that our voices are going to be represented in policy discussions, you can just feel the change coming,” said Logan Middle School teacher Jesse Martinez. 

Several speakers took the stage before Biden and Walz including members of the national and la crosse education associations. 

WIZM: Jill Biden and Gwen Walz bring messages about politics and education to La Crosse Center event

[Brad Williams, 10/28/24]

The First Lady of the U.S. and the First Lady of Minnesota — both career educators — took the stage Monday at a pro-education election rally inside the La Crosse Center.

Dr. Jill Biden and Gwen Walz campaigned together, urging the audience to vote for the Democratic ticket, led by Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.[…]

Walz described Jill Biden as ‘America’s teacher,’ and said the country can turn the page to a new vision.

The two women were preceded on stage by La Crosse Mayor Mitch Reynolds, along with other educators, including Jesse Martinez, co-president of the La Crosse Education Association, who talked about educating children about politics.

“It’s more important that they understand what it means to be an active participant in democracy,” Martinez told WIZM. “Not who to vote for, not what they should be voting for, but how to participate in democracy. How do you register to vote. How do you go and actually cast your ballot.”

On her second campaign trip to La Crosse in as many months, Gwen Walz played upon her teaching experience to give the audience the “ultimate group project,” to elect the Democratic ticket, calling it a “pass/fail project.”

Gwen Walz also discussed reproductive freedom, saying women “do not take kindly to bullies telling us when, if or how to start our families.”[…]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email