Follow this newsletter to keep current on the events shaping our state and the work our party is doing to win in 2020 and beyond. |
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| Dear fellow Wisconsin Democrats,
In an election that never should have taken place in person in the middle of a pandemic, an election in which Donald Trump personally got involved, an election in which a flood of dark money spread lies about our Supreme Court candidate, Jill Karofsky, and the GOP won victories in the Wisconsin and United States Supreme Courts in order to disenfranchise voters…
… WE WON!
There’s so much to celebrate. You can read about some of it below. And we have a huge fight on our hands to change our electoral system to make it safe during the time of coronavirus. But it’s worth taking a moment to savor the victory—to celebrate what we did together.
This was a people-powered win. The nation, the world, watched what we did—what you did. And people who believe in democracy everywhere are profoundly inspired.
They’re feeling an unfamiliar thing in these dark times: Hope.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being a part of the massive wave of virtual organizing to put Justice-elect Jill Karofsky on the Supreme Court of our state—and for all of the other critical downballot races last Tuesday. The future looks just a touch brighter. We fought with our values front and center—including, respecting, and empowering voters in every community across the state, 100% focused on helping people cast safe absentee votes. All while fighting for safe voting options in court.
Now, it is with great relish that we can mark off the first in our five-fight plan for 2020: |
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| Stay safe out there.
With gratitude,
Ben |
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FIGHT on the Issues & FIGHT to Win
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| In the wake of Justice Jill Karofsy’s win, there was plenty of good news looking forward to November. Karofsky’s decisive 10.6% victory over Dan Kelly, who was backed by President Trump, shows that Wisconsin voters are continuing to move away from the president.
Additionally, Dan Kelly received 692,956 votes while Trump only received 617,116 votes in his primary. This means that tens of thousands of conservative voters could not stomach voting for Trump while they voted for the Republican Supreme Court candidate. The fight for the presidency starts now, and our Democratic nominee Joe Biden is already in a strong position to beat Trump in Wisconsin. |
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| School Referenda Across Wisconsin |
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| Across the state, voters overwhelmingly approved referenda to raise property taxes to fund their school districts. More than 80 referenda passed, approving more than $1.7 billion in investments in our schools. These funding referenda will allow schools to make substantial investments in the education of the next generation of Wisconsinites. |
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| In other judicial news, the liberal Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Neubauer defended her seat from a conservative challenger. Right-wing special interest groups spent a lot of money this cycle trying to appoint more judges that would give them favorable decisions, and in a win for democracy, they were soundly defeated.
Similarly, three judges that were appointed by Scott Walker — Judge Dan Gabler, Judge Paul Dedinsky, and last (but not least) Justice Dan Kelly were all defeated by at least double digits. Governor Walker built up a judicial bench that worked against the interests of Wisconsinites everywhere. The extremely important work of loosening that conservative stranglehold on our democracy is working. |
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| New Mayors in Appleton and Wausau |
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| In Appleton, Jake Woodford defeated James Clemons for mayor after long time Mayor Tim Hanna endorsed his crisis management skills in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. In Wausau Katie Rosenberg beat incumbent Robert Mielke in a contentious race, marking an important shift in power across the state. Congratulations to our new generation of progressive leaders! |
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| Disenfranchisement Disproportionately Affects Voters of Color |
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| When they allowed in-person voting to happen on April 7, Republicans knew that scores of voters of color would have their vote suppressed. The warning signs were there all along — in Milwaukee where the virus is disproportionately affecting Black residents, the number of polling places went from 180 to 5 in the days leading up to election day, creating long lines to vote during the middle of a deadly, contagious pandemic.
There is no doubt that Republicans weaponized this pandemic to make it harder for people of color to vote. Going forward, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin will be examining legal options to avoid disenfranchisement on May 12 and in November. We have to ensure that this does not happen again and that all voters are protected, especially those who are most vulnerable to voter suppression efforts. |
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| Newly Elected Leaders of Color |
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| Wisconsinites elected leaders of color in all levels of government this cycle. Candidates like David Crowley, the new Milwaukee County Executive, Anthony Gray, the new Dane County supervisor, and William Harris, the new member of the Marathon County Board, are model leaders in our state. Wisconsin communities are better off with strong, representative leaders in charge. |
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| National Delegate Trainings |
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| If you are interested in being a National Convention Delegate or just want more information you can follow this link.
Because of coronavirus, delegate trainings will no longer be held in-person, but the links to join our upcoming digital trainings are here.
They will be held on April 15th, April 16th 2020, and April 17th. |
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| Volunteer to Win the 7th Congressional District |
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| We have another election coming up that you can help make a difference in! The race for the 7th Congressional District is vitally important to show that the GOP is not as strong as they think they are here in Wisconsin. Support our incredible candidate, Tricia Zunker, and sign up to volunteer at: https://wisdems.org/get-involved/volunteer/ |
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