I'm Running For Governor

Wisconsin needs a true fighter to join America's fight to save Democracy

Hi Folks,

Kirk Bangstad here from the Minocqua Brewing Company, and I’m writing today to tell you the rumors are true.

5 minutes before I started writing this essay, I filed papers to become the next Governor of Wisconsin.

I’m running for Governor because I believe Wisconsin needs a battle-hardened fighter to join the rest of America to save our Democracy from Trump’s regime, and that person doesn’t exist in the crowded field of Democrats currently running in Wisconsin’s Gubernatorial primary.

Believe me when I tell you that I spent a year reaching out to people in Wisconsin that I think would make great candidates—folks who are electable in a our divided state, who understand how high the stakes are to protect our Democracy, and whose convictions are as strong as their spines.

This group included State Senator Chris Larsen, attorney/former Eau Claire Assemblyman Dana Wachs, Milwaukee attorney and current Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Mark Thompson, journalist Pat Kreitlow, American Federation of Teachers Wisconsin President Jon Shelton, and Fighting Oligarchy/ Bernie Sanders Organizer Simon Rosenblum-Larsen.

I believe they’d all make better candidates than me, because:

1. I generally despise politicians and really don’t want to become one.

2. None of them are quite as pugilistic as I am, which can be a turn-off to many voters.

3. All are way more adept at coalition-building than me.

I was repeatedly disappointed when each one told me they weren’t going to run, so I kept searching. I reached out to progressive candidates Francesca Hong and Kelda Roys. While I think the former is too politically naive and unelectable in a general election, and the latter has been in office so long that she thinks more about which coalition of voters she’ll piss off before checking in with her heart to saying what she believes—I knew both were true progressives.

I reached out to Hong’s campaign first, because I admire her courage to bear the Democratic Socialist flag against the feckless Corporate Democratic wing of our party. I told one of her advisors that I’d endorse her if she came out with an election protection plan, because I believed deep in my heart that Trump’s regime would unleash an “October surprise” that would try to steal elections across the country and keep his goons in control of Congress. He said he’d bring my proposal back to his team and get back to me. Two weeks later, he informed me that he’d been let go by the campaign, and gave me the number for her campaign manager. I called it and never heard back from the Hong campaign.

So I called Senator Roys a few weeks ago and told her I’d endorse her if she came out with an election protection plan. She told me that she believed Wisconsin’s elections would be safe, and thought that if she scared voters with these alarming worries about an “October surprise,” then they might not come out to vote at all.

After hearing Kelda’s excuses for not talking about the literal “elephant in the room” that scared so many progressives like me, I got quiet on the phone with her and knew in my heart that she didn’t have the guts to fight an existential battle to save our Democracy when that battle inevitably comes to Wisconsin.

Then last week happened.

After posting last Saturday that “Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle,” I was disavowed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Mandela Barnes, and Francesca Hong. The first two didn’t bother me because:

1. I’ve been skewering Governor Evers, Attorney General Josh Kaul, and the Corporate wing of the Democratic Party for years; because so many of them are incapable of meeting the moment, standing up to Trump, disavowing AIPAC/JStreet for supporting Israel’s genocide against Palestine, and fighting for the working class instead of for their campaign donors.

2. Mandela Barnes is career politician who puts his finger up to see which way the wind blows before deciding what to say. When his campaign released light-weight commercials that showed him making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while Ron Johnson was airing racist ads against him in the U.S. Senate race a few years ago, I new he didn’t have the stuff it takes to fight and win.

Unfortunately, when Hong disavowed my post, my fear that she was too politically naive for this moment in American history proved to be correct. I’ve had beers with Francesca and think she’s got a great political career in front of her, but it’s obvious to me that she’s still learning how to find her own, original political voice.

She took the bait from Republican propagandists by disavowing my post, along with the rest of the Corporate Democratic Party, because she probably listens more to her high-paid political consultants than to her own gut—a mistake typically made by naive politicians.

What Hong should have said, and what she probably would have said if she wasn’t in thrall to her handlers, was…

“Of course political violence is bad, but given that Trump’s regime lies to us daily, and given that he and his party’s rhetoric are the real reason America has seen a rise in political violence, I’m going to suggest you ask them about why the Secret Service has mysteriously gone to the dogs and about their hypocritical fake outrage over Bangstad’s post, instead of trying to get a quote out of me.”

Will I forgive Hong for her naivety? Of course—I think she’s great. BUT…that doesn’t mean I believe she can hold her own against Trump at this stage in her career.

The messaging mistake Hong made, as well as Barnes and the rest of the Corporate Democrats, spilled progressive blood into the water that created a feeding frenzy against me, my fiancé, and my company. Trump’s propaganda machine and the corporate media that continuously fails America with its cancerous “bothside-ism,” came after me with full force; and that led to me being interrogated and intimidated by the FBI and the Secret Service.

After those two agents left my taproom on Thursday night, I told my lawyer Fred that I was going to run for Governor. Since I couldn’t trust the Democratic Party to have my back nor the current slate of gubernatorial candidates—and because I have a social media reach that dwarfs them all—I might as well stand up for myself and the rest of the working class, who I’ve been standing up for with my loud voice for the last 6 years.

Now, the first thing I gotta do in this campaign is raise some money so I can hire a campaign staff. Believe it or not, Actblue, the fundraising platform for the Democratic Party, wouldn’t allow me to join their platform. I’m CERTAIN this is because someone in the Corporate Democratic Party told them to box me out because they’re completely scared that that I’ll win and put them out of business. Not to worry, however, we've bypassed Actblue and are now working with a completely trustworthy donation platform called Stripe. All of your donations will be tracked and reported appropriately to Wisconsin’s campaign finance folks, but you won’t see the typical donation layout that you’re used to. Here’s a link to donate. Remember, you can’t give me more than $10K. that’s a joke!

Next, because I jumped in this race so late, I only have until June 1 to collect 2000 signatures and get on the ballot. Since I don’t have any campaign staff hired yet, I gotta collect all these signatures through social media outreach. Here’s the link to download the signature form.

I’m hoping my supporters living in Wisconsin can download this form, sign it, get a few others to sign it as well, and then return it by mailing it to our Madison Taproom at:

Minocqua Brewing Company 2927 East Washington Avenue Madison, WI 53703

If you want to have more fun returning these sheets to us, then come on by and have a beer. We can’t get mail at our Minocqua location, but you can always drop them off in person at 329 Front Street in Minocqua.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking with the Minocqua Brewing Company and me.

Together, we’ll “Make Wisconsin Great Again, One Beer at A Time.'“

Although I’ve been called the “Trump of the left,” I’m absolutely sure that I’m the the smartest candidate in the field, and will be the best executive to lead Wisconsin out of these tumultuous times.

Kirk Bangstad, aka the closest candidate Wisconsin has had to "Fighting Bob La Follete” in 100 years