Another Democratic presidential hopeful is keying in on Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker made a campaign stop Tuesday at Coffee Makes You Black in Milwaukee where he held a roundtable discussion on gun violence.
“Milwaukee is in many ways struggling in a way that Newark is struggling, or Camden is struggling,” the senator told reporters. “We see gun violence not happening in just these painful, punctuated mass shootings, but it’s an everyday reality that so many families live with.”
The issue is one that anti-violence advocates in Milwaukee are happy to be seeing addressed by a presidential candidate.
“Any time a call for prevention can be amplified on this level I think is critically important,” said Reggie Moore, Director of the Office of Violence Prevention in Milwaukee. “I don’t think it’s by accident [Senator Booker] identified this issue as the topic he wanted to discuss in Milwaukee.”
There’s still over 11 months until Wisconsin’s 2020 primary, but with his visit to Milwaukee, Booker becomes the fifth Democratic candidate to campaign in Wisconsin.
“As someone running for president, [Milwaukee] is an essential community,” Booker said. “This is a state that I will be showing up in a lot, trying to earn the support of voters here. I believe there’s no pathway to the nomination without going through this great state.”
Democrats are hopeful to win Wisconsin back in 2020. President Trump’s victory in 2016 was the first win for Republicans in the presidential race since 1984.