Politics & Government

PHOTO GALLERY: Thousands Attend Racine Tea Party Rally In Caledonia

Speakers - Paul Ryan, Van Wangaard and Rebecca Kleefisch -- encourage Racine Tea Party attendees to get out the vote and head to the polls.

Fired up and ready to vote, thousands of people—including some from out of state—attended the Racine Tea Party rally Caledonia Saturday morning.

Traffic was backed up and people parked along side Nicholson Road after overflow parking lots filled with people ready to: Go to the polls on June 5 to vote for Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and state Sen. Van Wanggaard.

The crowd was loud and had a lot of energy, cheering raucously for each speaker. Made up of people of all ages, it was also split pretty evenly between men and women, but only a handful of people of color came out.

Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Darryl Henderson of Franksville said he was there because most rallies are held at times when he can't attend, since he works at night.

"I'm for smaller government, less government," he said.

Find out what's happening in Caledoniawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Once the Racine Tea Party rally started at 10 a.m., Kleefisch, Rep. Paul Ryan and Wanggaard reinforced the reasons why people should not only show up to the polls on Tuesday to support the GOP candidates, but to get out and encourage others to vote.

"Do we want to keep going forward or do we want to go backward?" Kleefisch asked the crowd. "Forward means keeping taxes down, more money in classrooms and our sons and daughters living their American dream. That's why you need to call everyone you know so they vote on Tuesday."

Ryan said Walker, Kleefisch and Wanggaard winning the recall will save Wisconsin so voters can then save America in November.

"This recall is about liberty and freedom, the stuff that makes America great," he told the crowd. "This is a big deal. There are two futures in front of us and how we want our state and nation to look."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here