City Council president Austin King and supporters gathered Wednesday at the Red Gym to endorse Lauren Woods and officially kick off her campaign for the District 8 alder seat.
King, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, and several other alders publicly stated their intentions to endorse Woods.
King said he supports Woods because of her ability to present an organized platform, her experience and her ability to get things done.
""She has that kind of depth and vision that her opponent just doesn't have,"" King said. ""[Her opponent's] body of work pales in comparison to Lauren's body of work.""
If elected, Woods would be representing the campus area as the first African-American woman to serve on Madison's City Council.
As a UW-Madison senior, she has gained diverse political leadership experiences and skills in extracurricular activities. She is the former president of the Wisconsin Black Student Union, has experience at City Hall and with Mayor Dave Cieslewicz as well as served as a legislative aide at the Capitol.
""Madison is a great community with enormous potential,"" Woods said. ""And I will fight to ensure that all of its citizens—students, the poor and communities of color especially—can share in that prosperity and high quality of life.""
Many of her goals involve working to protect student rights, which has given her a lot of support from campus.
UW-Madison senior Azza Gasmekseed said she supports Woods because she has a strong, organized campaign and stands behind worthwhile issues.
Woods' four core issues are campus safety, tenants' rights and affordable housing, expanding civil rights and economic justice.
She laid out plans to expand campus safety by increasing foot patrol, changing the system of reporting sexual assaults to protect the victims from embarrassment and improving street lighting.
""This campaign is about real issues. It's about real people,"" Woods said.
