Note: It turns out that my computer was dying as I recorded this. The audio of Chris Larson came out great, my audio is slightly frayed. I apologize for that.
I first met Chris Larson in the summer of 2010. He was on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors and was running for the State Senate. Larson decided to challenge a Democratic incumbent, Jeff Plale, who was not a good ideological fit for the very progressive district, which ran from the town of Oak Creek, up through South Milwaukee, Cudahy, and the Milwaukee lakefront all the way up to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus.
For a variety of reasons, Chris’ campaign manager was not working out. I was brought on to run the campaign for the final two months. Against the odds, Chris won a landside victory and it remains one of highlights of my career as political consultant.
Since then, Chris has been a leader of the progressive caucus in the State Senate, especially on key issues like the environment, protecting public education, and sound economic development.
Wisconsin is a perennial battleground, usually won by just a couple of percentage points, sometimes by Democrats, sometimes by Republicans. It will be the same in 2026, where there will be an open race for governor and a heated battle to control the legislature.
