Gubernatorial candidate Burke visits campus in campaign’s waning days
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke made an hour-long stop at UW-Green Bay Wednesday (Oct. 29), greeting students, talking with news media and taking a campus tour just six days before the November election.
Flanked by campaign staff, Burke arrived on campus around 11 a.m. and shook a few hands before a brief meeting with members of the local news media in the Gathering Room of MAC Hall. Burke made no statement but went directly to answering questions from the press, which ranged from the latest Marquette Law School Poll (due out just as she was leaving campus) to recent allegations she was fired from Trek Bicycle (“baseless”) to campaign funding and the importance of higher education in the state.
“Our university system is at the heart of Wisconsin’s future,” Burke told a half-dozen reporters who were on hand.
After the 5-minute media Q and A, Burke took a brief campus tour led by Assistant Prof. Alison Staudinger, Democracy and Justice Studies, along with Student Government Association leaders and others. She stopped in the SGA offices to greet students there, and posed for selfies and other photos with students outside the University Union as she prepared to depart.
Burke’s visit was the latest in a series of Northeastern Wisconsin campaign stops for the candidate and her opponent, Gov. Scott Walker (who was last on campus Sept. 9). The region is widely considered to be politically important due to its reputation as a critical swing area.
“Every voter is important in this race,” Burke told media as the visit began. “It’s going to be tight.”