Quick recap about what happened on Tuesday night:
Wisconsin Democrats won a special election Tuesday in a state senate district that President Donald Trump carried by 18 points. Democrat Caleb Frostman, a former head of the Door County Economic Development Corp, defeated Republican Rep. Andre Jacque by 800 votes in a district outside Green Bay. It’s the first time a Democrat has won the seat in 41 years.
While Republicans held on to an open assembly near Madison that was also on Tuesday’s ballot, the defeat was a major rebuke to Republican Gov. Scott Walker. As energized Trump-era Democrats won special elections in unexpected districts across the country earlier this year, Walker had refused to schedule the elections until three different judges ordered him to do so.
The seats became open in December 2017 after two Republican members of the legislature joined Walker’s administration. Walker said he wouldn’t schedule elections to replace them, claiming it would be a waste of money because the legislature was set to adjourn in the spring. A Democratic group led by former Attorney General Eric Holder sued Walker, and on March 22 Dane County Circuit Court Judge Josann Reynolds ruled that the governor had a “plain and positive duty” to hold the elections. Republican legislative leaders then attacked Reynolds as an “activist Dane County judge,” even though she was appointed by Walker in 2014, and announced they would reconvene to pass legislation allowing the governor not to schedule the elections.
And The Nation is exposing why Walker was scared of Tuesday’s results that he tried to stop this special election from happening:
The Wisconsin flip was particularly sweet for Democrats, as it represented a huge setback for Walker and his Republican allies in a State Senate that has rubber-stamped the governor’s assaults on unions, voting rights, the environment, and public education. Carolyn Fiddler, who tracks legislative races for Daily Kos, described the result as “Walker’s worst nightmare,” and that’s a fair assessment.
After eight years of dominating the state, Walker is running for a third term in 2018 and trying to retain control of a Senate chamber that has been the key legislative battleground during his tenure. But, suddenly, the Republicans look vulnerable—so vulnerable that even the governor has begun to fret about the prospect that a “blue wave” might sweep over the state this fall.
That’s a far cry from 18 months ago. The 2016 election left Walker’s Republicans with a daunting 20-13 advantage in the Wisconsin Senate.
In January of this year, however, Democrat Patty Schachtner flipped a Republican seat in a special election in northwest Wisconsin. The GOP advantage fell to 19-14 and Walker admitted the result was “a wake-up call for Republicans.” The governor knew that another special election loss would put GOP control in jeopardy this November, when several swing seats are up for grabs.
Walker had already signaled that he would not call a special election to fill the District 1 seat—and another for a vacant State Assembly seat. Following Schachtner’s win, Walker dug in his heels.
Media outlets, public-interest groups, and Democrats in the legislature ripped Walker’s plan to leave almost 250,000 Wisconsinites unrepresented for the better part of a year—arguing that the governor was blocking elections that Republicans might lose. Walker dismissed the objections.
Residents of the unrepresented districts raised legal and constitutional concerns about the governor’s failure to respect state statutes that require legislative vacancies to be filled with prompt special elections. Walker refused to respond to those concerns.
And Eric Holder gets a lot of praise for making these special elections happen:
State law requires the governor to call special elections for vacancies that take place before May in an election year, but Walker had refused to do so. He planned to keep them vacant until the regular elections in November. The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a group led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, sued Walker ― and won.
Walker reluctantly called these special elections in March, knowing full well that Democrats had a real shot at flipping the seats.
In January, Democrat Patty Schachtner also had a surprise victory in a state Senate special election, succeeding in another district that had been held by Republicans and went to Trump by 17 points. At the time, Walker called the results a “wake-up call” for Republicans that there was a potential blue wave of Democratic wins coming in November.
“Scott Walker and his Republican allies gerrymandered this district for their own partisan benefit,” said Holder on Tuesday night, “but the citizens of Wisconsin are clearly speaking out this year to demand a state government that better represents their values.”
And Holder is only getting started:
A group headed by former President Barack Obama's campaign officials said Tuesday it plans to help defeat Gov. Scott Walker, elect a Democrat to replace Paul Ryan, and put Democrats in control of the state Senate.
Organizing for Action, a nonprofit group that evolved from Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, said Walker's defeat and the election of Democrats to a number of seats this fall are among the national group's top priorities — which include races in nine states.
The group is also working with the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a group led by former Attorney General Eric Holder that earlier this year sued Walker successfully over his decision not to immediately call special elections for two vacant seats.
"(Walker's) already proven his affinity for partisan political tricks — even refusing to hold special elections to fill vacant legislative seats until ordered to by multiple courts — and the governor holds veto power over proposed congressional and state legislative maps in Wisconsin. We can’t let him maintain that power," the group wrote on its website.
Wisconsin is a big target for this year’s race. Not only is Walker vulnerable and there’s a crowded Democratic field, we also have a big U.S. Senate race and some key congressional pickup opportunities. Let’s help the Blue Wave hit Wisconsin hard. Click below to donate and get involved with the Democrats running for Governor along with U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin’s (D. WI) re-election campaign and Randy “Ironstache Bryce (D. WI-01) and Dan Kohl’s (D. WI-06) congressional campaigns:
Tony Evers
Matt Flynn
Mike McCabe
Mahlon Mitchell
Andy Gronik
Kelda Roys
Paul Soglin
Kathleen Vinehout
Tammy Baldwin for Senate
Josh Kaul for Attorney General
Randy “Ironstache” Bryce (D. WI-01)
Dan Kohl (D. WI-06)