Thread by @benwikler

Wisconsin’s election on Tuesday for Superintendent of Public Instruction will determine the leader of the public school system in our state—and it'll shed light on what we’ve learned in recent years, and how we’ve strengthened & grown. 1/

As a party and as a progressive movement, we’ve poured ourselves into the race to elect Jill Underly (@underlyforwi).
urbanmilwaukee.com/pressrelease/w…

The volunteers of the mighty neighborhood teams & county parties of @WisDems, supported by our year-round organizing team, have had tens of thousands of conversations with voters across the state.

Our year-round voter protection operation has worked to ensure that GOP pressure wouldn’t result in rollbacks to voting rights, and our crack data and elections teams have ensured that we’re delivering the right messages to the right people.

With organizing, direct financial contributions, and in-kind support, we’ve invested intensively in ensuring that a champion of public schools helms the Department of Public Instruction.

And, critically, the party has just been one element of a movement-wide mobilization.

It’s been all hands on deck—from organized labor to grassroots groups, with so many allies working collaboratively to lift up Underly’s vision & leadership and prevent the likes of Betsy DeVos & Scott Walker from installing their chosen candidate in a key statewide office.

Jill Underly is a terrific candidate and will serve with distinction. She and her campaign team and supporters have not only made all of these efforts possible, but they’ve also made them deeply worthwhile.

Those three legs of the three-legged stool—a great candidate and candidate’s campaign; a strong party; and powerhouse independent efforts—are the ingredients for victory in an election.

But until the polls close, take nothing for granted. Work like we’re one point behind.

This year’s mobilization reflects the painful lesson of 2019. That year, conservative Brian Hagedorn was running a lackluster campaign for a spot on the state Supreme Court. Internal polling on both sides suggested not only that he was going to lose—but lose badly.

But in the final 8 days of that election, an out-of-state right-wing dark-money group leaped into the race and poured in a $1.3 million blitz of digital & TV ads targeted to right-wingers, radio spots, mail, and text messaging.
rslc.gop/how-the-rslc-j…

Their candidate surged—making up an 8-point polling deficit and winning by a bare 5,962 votes.
jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

In the wake of that defeat, WI progressives took a deep look at what had & hadn’t worked. We rewired our infrastructure, across the board. 2020’s results were a testament to that effort. Our hope & intention is that this Tuesday's results will reflect those lessons as well.

As we sprint through the finish line, I welcome you to jump on the phones yourself—we’ve got virtual phone banks running, and you can sign up for one here: wisdems.org/volunteer-unde…

Send an encouraging text to any local candidate you’re supporting! Democrats are helping with a terrific array of local races and state legislative special elections all over the state. Don’t sleep on @WinkerforWI’s great campaign for State Senate.

And to the many people who've played key roles in the ongoing strengthening of our party, campaigns, & allies—thank you. Politics is a team sport. Whatever happens on Tuesday, we’re stronger than we would've been because so many people of goodwill chose to pull together & fight.

Let’s pull out all the stops in these final days—and then get to work reelecting Governor Evers, defeating Ron Johnson, building Democratic strength down-ballot, and organizing and advocating for justice in all our communities year-round.