SAUK CITY, Wis. (AP) 鈥� They came to vent and to cry and to exhort.
The overflow crowd of frustrated Democrats who met this week in a small Wisconsin city's library voiced anger over President Donald Trump, his billionaire adviser and the direction of the country. One person called for riots. Another said he was embarrassed to be an American.
But their barbs weren't limited to Republicans.
Some Democrats who gathered under St. Patrick's Day decorations in the Sauk City library's meeting room questioned their own party's messaging and expressed fear about losing a high-stakes upcoming state Supreme Court election.
The April 1 election will be a litmus test early in Trump's term in a . Control of the court is on the line as it faces cases over and reproductive rights, the strength of , voting rules and .
Sauk County, home to small towns like Baraboo, Prairie du Sac and the tourist city Wisconsin Dells, has voted for the winner of the past five presidential races, including Trump in 2016 and 2024 and former President Joe Biden in 2020.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler called it 鈥渢he most bellwether county in the most bellwether state.鈥�
More than 170 people turned out for the Thursday night event as a 鈥淧eople v. Musk鈥� town hall. They held signs that said 鈥淒on't Let Elon Musk Buy Wisconsin鈥� and 鈥淭rump is Weak on Musk.鈥�
One by one they took the microphone to cajole, rage and commiserate. One transgender woman begged fellow Democrats to 鈥渘ot forget about us.鈥�
鈥淲e won't!鈥� someone in the crowd shouted back.
The town hall was the first of several planned to generate excitement for the Democratic-backed candidate running in the state Supreme Court election, . She is running against , a former Republican state attorney general supported by Musk.
have poured more than $5 million into the race, casting the election of Schimel as imperative to protecting Trump鈥檚 agenda.
Wikler, who presided over the meeting, put the stakes of the race in stark terms: 鈥淲e are in a fight for democracy itself.鈥�
Here is some of the attendees had to say:
Maureen Oostdik, 77, retired public health worker from Lodi
Oostdik, a lifelong Democrat, told The Associated Press that she鈥檚 frustrated with the Supreme Court campaign and previously called the Democratic Party to tell them 鈥渢heir PR is horrible鈥� and 鈥測ou guys are going to lose.鈥�
鈥淵our ads, they鈥檙e not good,鈥� she said of those for Crawford. 鈥淚t鈥檚 basically all about abortion, but there are a lot of people who are crossover voters. They鈥檙e not necessarily in one camp or another. They don鈥檛 have a broad strategy for capturing what other people may be interested in.鈥�
Oostdik said she didn鈥檛 think the traditional ways of running campaigns, like going door to door to talk to voters, were effective anymore.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what the gameplan is, but it feels like we鈥檙e on the heels of a big loss and I don鈥檛 have a lot of hope for April,鈥� she said.
Laurel Burns, 40, customer service worker from Sauk City
Burns, a single mother of two teenagers who works part-time in customer service for an insurance company, was born without arms and gets about half of her income from Social Security. Burns said she came to represent other disabled people who are scared about possible cuts to and .
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very scary time for a lot of people,鈥� Burns said.
That鈥檚 why Burns thinks Democrats will be motivated to vote in the Supreme Court race.
鈥淚 feel like we鈥檝e been sleeping behind the wheel a little bit,鈥� she said. 鈥淗opefully people do the right thing.鈥�
Tracey Baggot, 68, massage therapist from Wisconsin Dells
鈥淚'm really upset,鈥� Baggot said before the town hall began.
Upset about what?
鈥淭he obvious. Trump,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat's the first time I've said his name in a long time.鈥�
Baggot a 鈥渏oke.鈥�
鈥淗e has no right being involved in any of the government, politics or decision making at all,鈥� she said.
Baggot said she came out to Thursday's meeting because Democrats 鈥渞eally got to increase our energy.鈥�
Despite her concerns, Baggot said she was optimistic about the Democratic-backed Crawford winning the upcoming Supreme Court election.
鈥淚 really feel that she has a great chance,鈥� she said. 鈥淚'm feeling really positive about this. I thought the same about Kamala, but it didn鈥檛 work out. But I feel so much is changing now.鈥�
Susan Knower, 71, therapist from Baraboo
鈥淲hat I see in Sauk County is we are angry and we are afraid,鈥� Knower, who chairs the Sauk County Democratic Party, told the audience.
Knower said she was 鈥渢hrilled鈥� that Democrats were .
鈥淚t鈥檚 so important that we make sure everyone knows Brad Schimmel is going to promote these MAGA-extreme policies," she said.
Knower referred to a Marquette University Law School poll of Wisconsin voters released this week that showed virtually all Democrats had an unfavorable opinion of Musk.
鈥淢ake sure when you鈥檙e talking to people we connect Elon Musk to Brad Schimel and to Donald Trump,鈥� she said.
Schimel endorsed Trump and has said he would welcome Trump's involvement in the court race. In addition to the money Musk has poured into the race, he also posted on his social media platform X that it was 鈥渧ery important鈥� to elect a Republican.
Timothy Hinton, 72, retired doctor from New Lisbon
Hinton said he doesn't know much about the court race, other than that he's voting for Crawford.
鈥淚 saw her interviewed on television," he said. "She made a lot of sense.鈥�
Hinton said the country is 鈥渋mmersed in complete and utter chaos,鈥� but he's not sure if fellow Democrats will feel motivated to express their concerns by voting in the state Supreme Court election.
鈥淚 think if Democrats show up, they will win,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f they don鈥檛 show up, she will lose. It鈥檚 that simple, in my mind.鈥�
Scott Bauer, The Associated Press
