Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette Democratic Congressional Candidate Kyle Blomquist, talks with Hancock residents Pat Bacon and Christy Michaelson before his town hall at the Orpheum Theater Wednesday evening. 

HANCOCK — First Congressional District Candidate Kyle Blomquist held a town hall meeting Wednesday at the Orpheum Theater in Hancock. Blomquist wanted to give residents a chance to meet him and ask questions regarding his policies in advance of the Aug. 4 primary.

Blomquist (D-Iron Mt.) is running for the Democratic nomination in an effort to unseat incumbent Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet). Blomquist is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, a bloc making big gains in the Democratic Party with recent victories in primaries in New York and Colorado.

Blomquist opened his stump by explaining why he’s running and who he’s running for. He said his wife, Megan, and his two twin boys have been a key reason for the campaign. “They’re really the reason I do everything,” he said.

Blomquist say he is a fierce critic of capitalism and the current political machine. He positions himself as an outsider candidate, having only served on Iron Mountain City Council for 11 years — six of which as mayor pro tem.

“This moment in time is uniquely necessary,” Blomquist said. “The systems that exist in our country have been built by both Republicans and Democrats. These systems are in need of a full tear down.”

Blomquist’s biggest message is that he wants Democrats, Republicans and Independents to support his campaign because he said he polices are widely popular across the political spectrum. Policies including: Medicare for All, supporting working class Americans, anti-Data Centers, getting money out of politics and calling for a war powers resolution.

“If you believe like I do, in a real working class movement … then I invite you to work with me to build a country where the needs of the working class are met,” he said. “This is not radical, this is necessary.”

More than 50 people gathered to ask questions of Blomquist. Self-identified left-leaning Democrats, Independents and even supporters of other Democratic candidates came to the Town Hall. Education, healthcare coverage, AI, climate change, foreign wars, energy and electability were topics residents wanted to discuss.

On AI, Blomquist said the public should have a stake in AI companies. “Whether it’s education, healthcare, housing or AI, there should be public ownership of it,” he said. “AI should not poison our workforce and environment.”

Blomquist said he’s calling for a federal moratorium on Data Center development and for it to be regulated. “I’m going to say: not one more data center.”

Climate change and energy, including the Copperwood and White Pine mines were discussed Wednesday. Blomquist said he believes the United States should invest in clean, renewable energy through a Green New Deal — guaranteeing energy jobs to Americans. “It [the Green New Deal] would also give us the ability to give us more control in our lives,” he said.

The Copper Country has a deep history with the mining industry. The Copperwood mine project, while in its infancy, has drawn the ire of climate activists across the state and beyond. Blomquist said since President Trump gutted the Environmental Protection Agency, he is having a hard time trusting the sustainability and safety of the project.

“I am not immediately against mining because of my environmental position. I need you to prove to me that it’s safe,” he said. “I see [Copperwood] as a very high risk operation. If public dollars go in I believe there needs to be some public ownership.”

Nuclear energy was also brought up and Blomquist said he likes the idea if it is regulated, although it is not his first choice.

On education, Blomquist is calling for public schools to be fully funded and for public, four-year colleges to be free. “My wife and I left college with a tremendous amount of student loan debt,” he said.

He said he agrees with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, also a self-described Democratic Socialist, that teachers need to be paid a minimum, competitive salary.

Yoopers for Ukraine activist, Nadja Packauskas asked Blomquist about his stance on the war in Ukraine. Blomquist was skeptical of direct U.S. involvement in Ukraine, but said he supports working class people around the world, including those fighting in the conflict. He specifically called out Republican incumbent Bergman. “Jack Bergman gets a lot of campaign funds from weapons manufacturers and contractors,” he said. “I want to see an end to violence in Ukraine. However, my fear is how we will create forever wars.”

Other residents asked what his stance on national security and foreign policy was as well. Blomquist said capitalism incentivizes imperialism and the pillaging of other countries resources. “We’re taught everything is a national security threat,” he said. “Our system grows in a similar fashion to cancer. This is why we have that incentivized violence abroad.”

Finally, Medicare for All was a popular topic at the Town Hall. One woman, who identified herself as a supporter of Blomquist’s primary opponent Callie Barr questioned Blomquist’s electability over Barr’s and said she has issue with pitting Medicare for All and the Universal Healthcare stance against each other. “You’ve got to actually get elected, we cannot take another election where Jack Bergman walks away,” she said. “We will have neighbors that will suffer if you lose.”

After some back and forth, the situation escalated with expletives being thrown around from the balcony and from where most of the audience was seated. An impassioned Blomquist said the reason he his declared candidacy was because of the violence children were facing because of the war in the Gaza Strip.

“I was sitting in Channing, Michigan and I was looking at my phone and saw kids [in Gaza] getting put in body bags,” he said. “I believe I am a better candidate because I am the only candidate to stand up and call a genocide a genocide.”

Conflict in the Middle East has been a key issue the DSA bloc and mainstream Democrats have disagreed on. Blomquist said he aims to put an end to the conflict and violence abroad. Raucous applause from the audience followed the declaration.