Dear fellow Wisconsin Democrats,

The battle is joined.

Following Tuesday’s election, we’re in full general-election mode up and down the ticket, and the choice is crystal clear at every level: the Republican nominees are a rogue’s gallery of extremists and hard-right MAGA radicals, and the Democratic candidates are common-sense problem-solvers ready to do right by Wisconsin’s working families.

Let’s review.

For governor, it’s Tony Evers and Sara Rodriguez—huge congrats, Sara!—versus Tim Michels and Roger Roth. Sara’s background as a public health nurse and State Representative perfectly prepare her to partner with Governor Evers on moving Wisconsin forward. Meanwhile, Michels and Roth have broadcast their intentions to drive our state over the far-right cliff. Go Tony and Sara!

For Senate, Mandela Barnes is now the official Democratic nominee, squaring off against Ron Johnson—in our view, the worst Senator in America. Ron Johnson is only out to serve himself and his biggest donors, as this new ad beautifully illustrates. Mandela Barnes is fighting for families in every corner of Wisconsin—who, he knows, work as hard as he and his family have always done. “No matter what zip code you live in,” Mandela says, “we all have more in common than we’re ever going to have with an out-of-touch, self-serving politician like Ron Johnson.”

For our other state constitutional offices,

• Attorney General Kaul is facing off against Eric Toney—an incompetent, opportunistic far-right political ladder-climber who is fanning the flames of the Big Lie
• Fitchburg Mayor Aaron Richardson is our nominee for State Treasurer (congrats!), going up against John Leiber—a Republican party activist who seems to want the state treasurer to go back to doing as little as possible for Wisconsin.
• In the Secretary of State race, stalwart Doug La Follette faces off against Amy Loudenbeck, an extreme Big Lie candidate who wants to take over—and then mangle—election administration

Meanwhile, the primary in the 3rd Congressional District went to State Senator Brad Pfaff, who is already in high gear to ensure that insurrectionist Derrick Van Orden doesn’t get to return to Capitol grounds as an elected official after his visit on January 6, 2021.

There are so many more new nominees for other offices, as well as Democrats like Ann Roe in WI-01 who didn’t face primaries but now move to critical general elections. If you haven’t already, check who won up and down the ballot in your area, and give the candidates a call to let them know you’ll have their back.

And if you’re in an area with a contested primary, do another thing as well: contact the folks who ran but came up short, and let them know that you’re proud of their courage and dedication in putting their names on the ballot. We saw an array of positive, high-integrity primary contests this year—in sharp contrast to the divided and bitter GOP. Everyone who ran made untold sacrifices for an opportunity to serve our communities. They all deserve our gratitude and support.

As we thank and appreciate everyone who ran for our party’s nomination, we turn to the fight to come. It’s going to be intense. It’s already intense. No matter how good or how bad the polls might get, this is Wisconsin—and we have to organize and fight like we’re one point behind and can prevail only by doing absolutely everything. We’ve faced moments like this before, and we’ve risen to them. We know the stakes. Let’s move.

Forward!

Ben

This Wednesday, Gov. Evers and Lt. Gov.  Mandela Barnes joined a slate of Democratic leaders and WisDems for a Unity Rally in Milwaukee’s Deer District to celebrate four years of progress for Wisconsin and highlight all that’s at stake this November. Featuring remarks from Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Attorney General Josh Kaul, Rep. Gwen Moore and Lt. Gov.-nominee Sara Rodriguez, speakers emphasized the importance of winning races for Democrats up and down the ballot while spotlighting how Democrats are already united—while the GOP scrambles to heal from a divisive and messy primary.

While Gov. Evers meets with voters across the state this week, Tim Michels—the Trump-endorsed winner of Tuesday’s divisive and messy GOP primary for governor –  seems to be hiding from the press and from Wisconsinites.

Apparently desperate to hide from the far-right positions he took throughout the primary, Michels even briefly scrubbed his website of any mention of an endorsement from Donald Trump – before quickly putting it back up after getting caught.

Unfortunately for Tim Michels, there’s no escaping the past several months of right-wing pandering.

Since Michels’ campaign for governor began he has:

• said the 1849 ban on abortion that doesn’t include exceptions for rape or incest is “an exact mirror” of his position;
• confirmed that he still believes in restricting the rights of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, as he did in 2004;
• called continuing to increase education funding the “definition of insanity”;
• opposed a bipartisan package of reforms that included background checks for people under 21 purchasing guns; and,
• said that “everything will be on the table” when it comes to decertifying the 2020 election.

Oh, and when Tim Michels was asked if, if Trump lost in 2024, he would certify the election result as legally required, he refused to answer.

All of this is so profoundly out of step with Wisconsin values, it’s no wonder he’s hiding from the public.

The fallout continues for Ron Johnson after he doubled down on his threat to put Social Security and Medicare on the chopping block by converting these critical programs – which Wisconsinites have spent decades paying into – to discretionary spending programs, opening the door for Congress to make cuts.

Johnson has constantly complained that he’s “only doubled” his multi-million dollar fortune since coming to the Senate and single handedly fought to include a tax cut in the GOP’s 2017 tax bill that benefited himself and his biggest donors. Yet, Johnson doesn’t seem to mind opening up Social Security and Medicare to cuts, putting millions of Wisconsinites’ livelihoods at risk.

Read more about Johnson’s out-of-touch position here.

Sheboygan Mayor Ryan Sorenson was featured last week on NBC Nightly News. Mayor Sorenson discussed the housing crisis and the expansion of affordable housing in Sheboygan. You can watch the feature here.