On Tuesday, February 21, Wisconsin voters will cast the final ballots in the four-way primary election that will choose the state’s candidates for its highest court.
Help fund our all-hands-on-deck turnout effort.
In 126 hours, the polls will close for the primary of Wisconsin’s Spring Election. It will have a major impact on the general election on April 4—and by extension, the next two years in the country, and the next decade in the state of Wisconsin.
There’s an open seat on Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court. This race will fill it. It will determine the majority on the court: 4-3 conservative, as we are now, or a switch to a 4-3 progressive majority, which could change everything.
If we lose, we'll have the 4-3 conservative majority that banned unstaffed ballot drop boxes.
The majority that chose some of the most gerrymandered legislative maps in the country.
The majority that upheld the GOP’s lame-duck power grab in 2018.
The same state Supreme Court majority that came within one vote of taking up Trump’s lawsuit to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
If we lose, in short, Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court remains an implacable foe of democracy in the nation’s must-win battleground state.
But if we win—then our near-total abortion ban, which may come before the Court (it's working through the courts now, thanks to Attorney General Kaul and Governor Evers), could be invalidated.
A well-warranted legal challenge to the constitutionality of our gerrymandered maps could result in the maps getting struck down. Wisconsin is in a doom loop of undemocratic GOP control. Fair maps could break the cycle.
At present, Wisconsin lives under constant threat of Republican supermajorities in the State legislature, due to gerrymandering. With fair maps, both parties would have to vie for majorities in both chambers of the legislature. Wisconsin, in other words, would become a democracy.
This election, in other words, could transform Wisconsin politics. A turning point, after a long winter of anti-democratic GOP manipulation of our system.
In 2010, Wisconsin flipped from a blue trifecta to a red one. The GOP immediately set about rigging the maps to lock in permanent control. It was like we’d been pushed off a cliff. But we grabbed a branch and started to pull ourselves up.
Democrats have now won 14 of the last 17 statewide elections in Wisconsin. But Republicans still have vast powers—thanks to the gerrymandered maps, which are a product of their hammerlock on the Supreme Court.
If we Democrats can end the GOP’s dominance of our state Supreme Court, we can do better than hanging off a branch on the edge of a cliff.
We can compete on a level playing field.
We know that if it's a level playing field in politics, we can win.
So that's the opportunity before us.
The primary is on February 21. Because this is a non-partisan race, the top two candidates to win the most votes advance to the general election on April 4.
There are four candidates running in this race: 2 ultra-MAGA conservatives, 2 progressives. WisDems is neutral between the 2 progressives.
But we MUST turn out as many Democrats to vote as possible and to vote for them. If we do, the math works out. Read more here.
That’s exactly what our organizing team has been doing, training volunteers to talk to voters about the stakes of this election—and encouraging them to go out and vote specifically for the progressives in the primary.
Volunteers at a canvass launch in St. Croix County.
You can check your registration status and polling place at myvote.wi.gov.
If you encounter any challenges, call our Voter Assistance Hotline: (608) 336-3232.
And if you want to help volunteer to protect the vote (and you’re in or near Wisconsin), sign up to be a poll observer.
St. Croix County Democrats meeting and planning their organizing tactics for getting the word out about the Supreme Court race.
If you’re not in Wisconsin, help us recruit poll observers. Poll observers are the eyes and ears of the WisDems Voter Protection team inside polling locations across the state, and the last line of defense against any problems voters might face.
Manitowoc County Democrats' new office opening!
This is year four of having a year-round voter protection program at the WisDems, and we know it makes a huge difference. Support this tremendous program and chip in now to help us keep it going and growing!
All over Wisconsin this weekend, our organizers and volunteers will be knocking on doors to help Get Out the Primary Vote. This matters. Chip in any amount to supercharge this program in the next five days—and rocket the nominee into the general election!
Ozaukee County Democrats with Democratic candidate for State Senate District 8, Jodi Habush Sinykin.
Our goal, 5 days out from the primary, is to raise $15,000 before midnight to catapult into our Get Out the Vote weekend.
And even if you can’t chip in today, please talk about this race. Share this thread. It’s a huge help! Thank you.
