Thread by @benwikler

NEW: A *great* Dem just announced for Wisconsin's perhaps most hotly-contested state legislative seat. Brad Pfaff, @pfaff4senate, lifelong fighter for farmers, led @GovEvers Ag Dpt until GOP fired him for speaking out on farm suicides. READ, DONATE, & RT: secure.actblue.com/donate/pfaffdpw

Brad Pfaff is running for WI's 32nd Senate District. His predecessor, our great Senate Dem leader Jen Shilling, won by just *61 votes* in 2016. That year's Republican candidate is running again this time—Dan Kapanke, who pushed in-person voting on Apr 7.

https://twitter.com/DanKapanke/status/1243711053378314241

To his core, Brad is a public servant—and a champion for agricultural communities across the state. Grew up on a farm in rural La Crosse County. Spent his life sticking up for rural Wisconsin, through thick and thin. Follow: @pfaff4senate Read more:
bradpfaff.com

Brad Pfaff—last name pronounced "PAFF"—met his wife at a 4H luncheon when they were teenagers. Served in the USDA's Farm Service Agency. Proudly led Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection—until the GOP made him a partisan target, and went after him.

His opponent, Dan Kapanke, is one of the hyper-partisans that has made Wisconsin infamous even in an era of national hyper-partisanship. He backed Act 10, and was defeated in a 2011 recall. Elected to state Assembly, Kapanke constantly supported assaults on working Wisconsinites.

As the NYT reported, "A brutal type of scorched-earth political warfare is flaring in America’s Dairyland." Last fall, Pfaff was their target. The GOP fired him—the first time WI's state legislature rejected a cabinet nominee since records began in '87.
nytimes.com/2020/04/11/us/…

Whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent, supporting Brad Pfaff for Wisconsin's State Senate is a way of fighting for democracy itself—and for rural Wisconsinites who've been double-slammed by a farm crisis and, now, coronavirus. Chip in:
secure.actblue.com/donate/pfaffdpw

And why, you might wonder, should non-Wisconsites care about what happens in Wisconsin state legislative races? Here are three reasons.

Wisconsin is 2020's tipping point state. Whoever wins here will be our next president. And Brad Pfaff's district—a razor's edge swing district—is a bellwether within a bellwether. Helping him run strong can tilt the entire presidential election.

washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/all-…

Wisconsin is so intensely gerrymandered that, despite losing the WI popular vote in 2018, the GOP is only 3 votes shy of a supermajority in each legislative chamber. If they get it, they kill @GovEvers's veto & re-gerrymander for another decade. Our job: savetheveto.com

And third, Wisconsin's Republicans—including Dan Kapanke—forced in-person elections here on April 7 now tied to dozens—at least—of coronavirus infections. If we want that to stop nationally, we have to make it backfire here. So let's step up to this fight.

We need a legislature that serves actual people, not just money and GOP power. We need public servants who understand the crises people face. We need Brad Pfaff in the Wisconsin state Senate. Chip in now and help to launch his campaign:
secure.actblue.com/donate/pfaffdpw