Chippewa Valley Residents Join Statewide Protest After Primary

Chippewa Valley residents gathered in downtown Eau Claire on Wednesday afternoon as part of a statewide protest.

Indivisible and other grassroots groups organized the event following Tuesday’s primary election. It sought to unify participants across the state under one message, that Wisconsin residents deserve better than Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany’s MAGA Extremism. Stacey Brehm, an organizer with Chippewa Valley Indivisible, also highlighted some of the individual issues motivating local residents to get out and voice their concerns.

“I see a lot of ICE, but I also see a lot of healthcare,” she said. “People are very worried about the healthcare that’s been voted against, taken away. With the healthcare, rising cost of insurance. I also see a lot of protests though against the war. Our veterans are very concerned. We have quite a few veterans that show up to these protests, they’re very active.”

Chippewa Valley Indivisible first launched the weekly protest outside the federal building in Eau Claire over one year ago. While most focus on persistent issues like healthcare affordability and the impacts of tariffs, some like Wednesday’s feature a more targeted and timely focus.

In addition to serving as an opportunity for Chippewa Valley residents to rally behind the Democratic primary winners this week, Wednesday also marked the 75th consecutive week of the protest in downtown Eau Claire. Brehm highlighted the dedication of the protestors who show up every week to make that happen, as well as those who may just be passing by but decide to stop and pick up a sign.

“I’m just so proud of our members and anybody in the community, they’re all welcome,” she said. “We have some younger people that have gone by and said hey what are you doing, we’ve welcomed them in. We have a ton of signs people can just grab and we have a gorgeous group of drummers over there that come every week, rain or shine, to keep things moving and happy and exciting and I’m just proud of everybody.”

Similar protests also took place in Green Bay, Milwaukee, DeForest, and Mosinee this week with Congressman Tiffany officially becoming the Republican nominee for Wisconsin Governor in the November election.