Small-Town & Rural Seniors | Governor Candidates Forum | Briefing “STARS”
Small-Town & Rural Seniors | Governor Candidates Forum | Briefing
- editors note: This wonderful group was also very visible during the People for Pine Crest in Merrill.
At a Glance
- Saturday, July 25, 2026, 1:00-3:00 PM
- Ho-Chunk Convention Center, Baraboo, Wisconsin
- Expected attendance: 150 in the room; live streamed statewide via Civic Media;
strong media presence
- Confirmed candidates (as of 6/18/26): Joel Brennan, Francesca Hong, Andy
Manske, Sara Rodriguez, and Kelda Roys
- Pending confirmation: Mandela Barnes, Tom Tiffany, David
Crowley
- Who’s in the room: Organized rural and small-town seniors from across
Wisconsin, arriving by bus from the north (Tomahawk, Merrill, Wausau, Stevens
Point) and south (Walworth County)
- Hosted by: Small-Town and Rural Seniors (STARS), a project of Campaign for
Working Class Communities
Small-Town and Rural Seniors (STARS) of Wisconsin is hosting a Small-Town & Rural Seniors Governor Candidates Forum on Saturday, July 25, 2026, from 1:00 – 3:00 PM at the Ho-Chunk Convention Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
STARS brings together seniors from across rural and small-town Wisconsin. STARS leadership consists of seniors who have been organizing in their own communities for years: running listening sessions, convening regional summits, and building the kind of statewide networks that turn out voters. The issues they are bringing to the table reflect what they have heard directly from seniors across the state, including the attack on public nursing homes, housing, rural transportation, isolation, intergenerational care options, Medicaid and SNAP funding, care worker wages, and more.
According to a 2024 report from Forward Analytics, Wisconsin will need to add
approximately 33,000 beds in nursing homes and assisted living facilities by 2030 just to keep pace with demand.1 Meanwhile, seniors are the fastest-growing age group in Wisconsin. The 65+ population grew from 777,000 in 2010 to over 1 million in 2020 and is projected to reach 1.3 million by 2030.2
At the forum, we expect 150 people in the room, drawn from communities across the state. Buses will be arriving from the north (Tomahawk, Merrill, Wausau, and Stevens Point) and from the south (Walworth County) to make sure rural and small-town voices are well represented.
Civic Media will be live streaming the forum and publishing it as a video, extending the audience well beyond those in the room.
Candidates confirmed to participate include Joel Brennan, Francesca Hong, Andy Manske, and Sara Rodriguez. Invitations have also been extended to Kelda Roys, Mandela Barnes, David Crowley, and Tom Tiffany.
This is a rare opportunity to speak directly with a large, organized, and motivated bloc of active rural and small-town senior voters — in a setting that will be seen and shared statewide. For candidates who wish to demonstrate that rural seniors are part of their coalition, and that they take the voices of older adults seriously, this is the room to be in.
Candidates can reach the organizing team by contacting Tom Gaulke at
info@stars-wi.org, cell: 773.979.3383.
Small-Town and Rural Seniors is a project of Campaign for Working Class Communities.
1 Kevin Dospoy, “On the Brink: Probing the Coming Senior Care Challenges,” Forward Analytics (Wisconsin Counties Association), September 2024.
https://www.forward-analytics.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/On-The-Brink.pdf
2 Wisconsin Public Radio / Wisconsin Department of Administration projections, via Wisconsin Watch (March 2026):