Today is our end of month deadline. One thing I’d be thankful for: your help by donating to WisDems, as we gear up for our pivotal spring Supreme Court election. Our end-of-November goal: 100 donations by midnight. Can you be one of them? Chip in here.
In challenging times, we can draw strength from—and give thanks for—what we DID accomplish on November 5.
Learning from what went right, as much as what didn’t, can help us draw our road map for what’s next.
We should be thankful for the reelection of Senator Tammy Baldwin to a third term. Tammy Baldwin has always fought hard for all Wisconsinites. Republicans threw $100 million at her, including a flood of vicious anti-trans ads. She overcame them and won.
In 2016 and 2020, not a single Democrat won a Senate race in a state Trump won.
In 2024, Dems won four.
Be thankful for that. Trump had weak coattails.
Yes, we didn’t regain the House majority.
But Dem House candidates in purple districts ran ahead of the ticket.
Representative Gwen Moore and Representative Mark Pocan (congrats on reelection!) are part of a Democratic caucus with a very clear path to a majority in 2026.
A tiny and divided GOP majority in the House means that there’s a good chance we’ll repeat the dynamic from 2017-18, where Republicans can’t muster the votes to move must-pass bills—giving united Dems serious leverage in negotiations.
So, give thanks for Leader Hakeem Jeffries and everyone who went to bat in tough House races. And get ready to fight to win in House special elections wherever they pop up.
Trump’s win is painful. But be thankful that, in a year when every incumbent government in the world lost vote share, Trump’s win was narrow.
We’re in a hole, and it’s deep in its effects, but politically, it’s a shallow hole. We will climb out.
None of this is to sugarcoat how hard and painful this new Trump era will be. He’s already moving to execute Project 2025. But while Trump’s goals are bad, his execution is also bad. He’s going to screw things up. And we’re going to fight back.
A toast to Wisconsin’s fair maps. A years-long movement for fair maps culminated in a state Supreme Court decision and a signature from Governor Tony Evers—and now, Wisconsinites no longer live under an oppressive GOP gerrymander. Wisconsin’s a democracy.
Fighting on fair maps at last, Democrats—led by Senator Dianne Hesselbein—flipped all four of our targeted state Senate seats, ending the GOP’s supermajority, and setting the table for a Democratic majority in 2026.
Meanwhile, thanks to Leader Greta Neubauer, Democrats flipped ten state Assembly seats flipped from red to blue. Flip five more in 2026 and Dems win a majority in the Assembly—ending Robin Vos’ abusive reign as Assembly speaker.
It wasn’t just Wisconsin. There are so many downballot victories to be thankful for. Yes, we had tough losses as well. But this was not a wipeout. We fought. And in many places, we won.
Let’s share gratitude to every Democrat who ran in the 2024 election, whether they won or came up short—from Kamala Harris to all the Wisconsin downballot races.
In a year with enormous headwinds, they fought for core American values: opportunity, freedom, democracy, and justice.
Give huge thanks to everyone who worked for the cause of Democrats in the 2024 election cycle, from party staffers to the thousands of volunteers who put in tireless hours organizing and canvassing, to all the generous donors to WisDems and allies nationwide.
And be extra thankful for our loved ones—the friends and family who are always there for us, who we’ll lean on as we soldier through another perilous Trump administration, and who will be by our sides as we gear up for the next electoral fight.
That fight has already begun.
In 122 days—just four months from now—the first critical election of the second Trump term will happen right here in Wisconsin, on April 1, 2025, as we elect a new justice to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Thanks to the election of Justice Protasiewicz in 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ended the partisan gerrymander, restored voting rights, and reined in the worst impulses of Robin Vos’ state legislature. Life got better for all Wisconsin voters.
With the retirement of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley after 30 years of service, the balance of power in the state Supreme Court is now equally divided, 3-3, between progressive and right-wing justices.
Whoever wins on April 1, 2025 will cast a deciding vote in 4-3 cases.
The far-right candidate in this race, Brad Schimel, served a disastrous tenure as Scott Walker’s Attorney General and, if he wins, he’ll wreak similar havoc in the state Supreme Court.
For more on him, go to bradschimel.org.
Schimel’s many failures as AG include attacking reproductive freedoms, calling WI’s 1849 abortion ban “valid,” and ignoring scores of untested rape kits, denying justice to survivors of sexual violence.
Should abortion access be on the docket, we know how Schimel would vote.
Meanwhile, the candidate endorsed by WisDems, Judge Susan Crawford, has been a tireless public servant, a prosecutor who prioritizes public safety, and private practice attorney who’s defended workers, voters and reproductive rights. Read about Susan Crawford here.
We’ll be organizing not just in the Supreme Court race, but also in our Superintendent of Public Instruction race and a vast array of local, downballot contests, from mayoral races to school board.
From now until April 1, 2025, WisDems will be all gas, no brakes on spreading the word to all Wisconsin residents about Susan Crawford, and why she’s the best choice for the state Supreme Court.
You can be a part of that effort. Volunteer at wisdems.org/volunteer.
Wisconsin’s April 2025 election will be the test case for how elections will fare under the new Trump administration. Even if you live outside Wisconsin, take heed and get involved.
Let’s show the MAGA extremists we’ve just begun to fight—by defeating Brad Schimel and electing Susan Crawford to the WI Supreme Court. And then on to Virginia, New Jersey, and so much more.
Be a part of WisDems’ grassroots, year-round statewide organizing. Your donations will help us reach out to voters in all corners of Wisconsin.
Won’t you chip in here?
