Hey team,
Derrick Van Orden has talked a lot about being raised by a single mother in poverty as a child. He’s discussed being a SNAP recipient and surviving on government food assistance. He’s discussed how, from that, he was able to join the military and build a career.
That’s exactly what the government is for. The government should support the folks who need it the most, and help empower them to create the futures that they want.
Derrick Van Orden is a SNAP success story, and a testament to the power of government assistance. He has also consistently promised not to cut SNAP benefits.
However, Derrick Van Orden voted for Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” which included a historic and unprecedented cut to SNAP – and now has gone on to lobby the Wisconsin state legislature to make them pick up the slack and fund the program themselves.
Derrick Van Orden used the ladder, and then pulled up the ladder behind him.
Asking the state of Wisconsin to pick up the slack is not leadership, it’s passing the buck. Our community deserves someone who is committed to solving problems – and has the experience solving hard problems. I’ve spent 8 years leading our district’s largest city doing exactly that.
We deserve better, point blank, period. We deserve someone who won’t run from tough problems, and who is committed to working together to solve them.
In solidarity,
Emily
