Thread by @benwikler

Tomorrow—6/30—is one of the most crucial fundraising deadlines of 2020.

What we raise by then will either embolden Republicans as they try to derail democracy in Wisconsin—or it will scare the bejeezus out of them.

Let’s aim for the latter.

DONATE & RT: wisdems.org/Deadline

What are these fundraising deadlines and why do they matter?

One is the Federal Election Commission or “FEC” monthly deadline. We're required to disclose how much money we’ve raised and spent to influence federal elections.

fec.gov/about/mission-…

The second is a state reporting deadline. This is where we disclose how much money we’ve raised for local & state races. This will be one of the first times in 2020 where we open up our books and share how much money we’ve raised for these crucial races.

ethics.wi.gov/Pages/Campaign…

The media and the GOP is going to be paying very close attention to these numbers. They shape coverage for months.

Let’s surprise the world!

Wisconsin is a must-win state for Democrats this November, at both the national and state levels. The future of democracy hinges on it.

Due to rigged maps, GOP has majorities in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate.

This year, they’re pushing *hard* for supermajorities in both chambers so they can override any veto by our Democratic Governor.

madison.com/wsj/news/local…

GOP supermajorities would let Wisconsin Republicans write and pass any budget that they want--without any input from Democrats.

These are the same Republicans who wanted to give our schools nearly $1 billion less than @GovEvers just last year.

wpr.org/gop-school-bud…

Supermajorities would let the GOP draw gerrymandered legislative maps to lock in control of Wisconsin for the next decade.

That's what happened in 2011. The GOP rigged election maps in their favor to give themselves huge majorities in a state where the public is closer to 50/50.

Because of Republican gerrymandering, Democrats only ended up with 36% of State Assembly seats even though we won 54% of the popular vote (!)

isthmus.com/news/news/dems…

Supermajorities would give Robin Vos - the Republican Speaker of the Assembly - ultimate control in the state.

This is the same Robin Vos who blamed “immigrant culture” for an outbreak of COVID in the state.

milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/rob…

This is the same Robin Vos who forced an in-person election during a COVID peak… and then told reporters it was “incredibly safe to go out” on election day—while wearing full-body PPE.

(We put up this billboard about it in his district.)

This article by @nicholsuprising sums up Vos’ extremism and why we can’t allow him to have a veto-proof majority in the Wisconsin Assembly.

Read and share:

madison.com/ct/opinion/col…

So how can we prevent it? By investing heavily in key Wisconsin Assembly and Senate races—to save the veto.

If we stop supermajorities, @GovEvers can veto rigged GOP maps, strike out language in bad budgets, and prevent an anti-democratic Vos coup.

savetheveto.org

Here’s a snapshot of the WI state legislative races the GOP is paying attention to. As you can see, November will be a knock-down, drag-out fight.

We know that Republicans are going to throw everything they can into killing the veto by winning supermajorities in Wisconsin.

The GOP Senate Majority Leader is on the record dreaming how it “would change the dynamic of everything.”

madison.com/wsj/news/local…

Wisconsin Dems are all in to Save the Veto.

This Saturday & Sunday, we ran a massive organizing weekend of action—with thousands of volunteers making hundreds of thousands of calls.

Here’s the @WisDems 2nd Vice Chair taking part:

https://twitter.com/snodgrassforwi/status/1276927924969648130?s=21

Republicans might have the backing of corporate America, but we have the people.

One-on-one conversations and relationship-building are how we’re going to #WinWisconsin, save the veto, and, yes, take back the White House from Trump.

Team Trump sees Wisconsin as pivotal. They’ve said “if we lose Wisconsin, we lose the election.”

Both Trump & Pence were in Wisconsin just last week doing events to distract voters from their horrible record on pandemic response and the economy.

So--let’s show the GOP, Robin Vos, and team Trump that Wisconsin isn’t going their way this year.

Let’s show them that we’ve got explosive momentum—and that our historic virtual ground game is matched by massive investment from the grassroots.

Contributions between now and midnight on June 30 will count towards our state and federal finance reports. Help us make a splash.

Chip in. Share this thread. Reply and tag people who should see it.

Let’s smash this fundraising deadline, together!

wisdems.org/Deadline