Thread by @benwikler

THREAD: My first term as the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin concludes this June. I’m running for another term, alongside Vice Chairs @LadyHawkeLesia & @SnodgrassforWI. This thread lays out our values, our record, and our plan for what’s next: BADGER. Let's do this.

In 2019, First Vice Chair (and Milwaukee County Supervisor) Felesia Martin @LadyHawkeLesia and Second Vice Chair (and now State Rep) Lee Snodgrass @SnodgrassforWI and I ran together on a ticket. We’ve worked together every step of the way ever since.

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1098805380166103040

Our platform—and the core of our political value system—spelled out FIRE: Fight, Include, Respect, & Empower.
An homage to, and expansion of, the Obama campaign’s REI mantra, adding in the Fight.

The FIRE values have informed every aspect of our @WisDems work for the last two years. Particular fights change; values endure. FIRE keeps burning. For the last two years, as I laid out in 2019, our five big fights spelled out WISCO:

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1188881127232155648

W meant Win the spring Supreme Court election—and use it as a dress rehearsal for the fall. 3.5 weeks before that election, COVID hit. This thread tells the story of that wrenching, hyperintense period—ending in a 10pt landslide for @@judgekarofsky.

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1249869235683196928

So many folks were involved in that spring election to elect Jill Karofsky to our state Supreme Court. This thread names some of them—and you can see some of the stories vividly recounted in the @RehearsalDoc short film.

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1296608849156280324

The I in WISCO stood for “Inspire, recruit, and train thousands of volunteers at the Democratic National Convention.” We partnered with @arenasummit, @demconvention, and @teamjoe to run Campaign Academy 2020—and train 18,000 volunteers. training.win

S stood for Save The Veto. Goal: work with @GovEvers, @assemblydemswi, and @wisenatedems to prevent Wisconsin’s Republicans from winning supermajorities in the state legislature via their ultra-gerrymandered districts. Success!
savetheveto.com

If the GOP had won state legislative supermajorities, they’d be overriding Gov. Evers’ vetoes to pass Georgia-style voter suppression laws at this very moment. Instead, the people’s will is carrying the day in Wisconsin.
madison.com/wsj/news/local…

The C in WISCO stood for Cancel Trump’s Second Inaugural. Trump visited Wisconsin ten times in 2020. His turnout jumped 15%. But the groundswell for Biden and Harris overtopped the GOP—an 18% D spike and a 20,621-vote victory.

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1324417167564197892

It took an unprecedented wave of organizing to pull it off—and a zillion other efforts as well. Biden/@WisDems volunteers made 20 million phone calls to Wisconsin voters and sent 10 million texts. Relational organizing, seas of signs… you name it, we tried it. And it worked.

As it turned out, beating Trump at the polls was necessary but insufficient to cancel Trump’s second inaugural—we also had to beat his lawsuits to overturn the election results. But because his pick lost the state Supreme Court race in spring, Trump lost 4-3.

O—organize for the long term—is where we are now. Wisconsin just held a statewide election. Grassroots Dems built on last year’s momentum and completed more volunteer shifts *this* spring than they did in the 2020 spring election. 16-point win.

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1380300767362482180

That was the WISCO plan. We laid it out, and, together we did it. Every single step.

Ever since Nov 4, we’ve been debriefing, analyzing, listening to our grassroots & partners—& mapping out what’s next. The result: the BADGER plan for 2021-23.

B in BADGER is for BUILD: Build the bench, and build the party. Support local candidates. Grow membership. Support & train county parties, neighborhood teams, CD parties, caucuses. Deepen our coalitions & partnerships movement-wide.

We’re building out our organizing, coalitions, training, and party support operations, because a strong party built from the ground up year-round is essential to our success on election day. And our digital, communications, ops, data, & other teams are prioritizing local support.

Democrats only win when we’re a multi-racial coalition. We only win when we engage and listen in rural areas, suburbs, and cities alike. We only win when people of all genders, generations, geographies, ethnicities—all identities—have power and voice. That’s how we build.

“A” stands for ADVOCATE—for democracy, and for our agenda. Against voter suppression. For fair maps. Against GOP service cuts and giveaways to mega-corporations and the rich. For Governor Evers’ Badger Bounceback agenda & Biden’s rescue plan & jobs act.

Organizing year-round on issues that matter to voters is how we turn electoral success into policy change that changes lives. Showing up demonstrates that we’re not just asking for votes, we’re partnering for change. Because our impact on lives is the one true measure of success.

“D” is for DELIVER a second term for Governor Evers. @GovEvers has led a remarkable turnaround for our state. We’re a national leader in vaccinations. Historic investments in education, health care, transportation, veterans, equity. And Evers believes in democracy.

If Republicans win the governorship in '22, they’ll pass their voter suppression laws in '23 to try & turn WI red & grab the White House in '24. Wisconsin Gov Tony Evers is, in a very real sense, democracy’s last line of defense. Let’s win this reelection.
crooked.com/articles/wisco…

Governor Evers always says “what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state.” I want my kids, and every Wisconsin kid, to grow up in a state that believes in free and fair elections. Gov Evers beat Scott Walker in 2018 by 1.1%. Let’s grow that margin in 2022.

“G” in BADGER is for GROW Democratic strength down-ballot—everywhere from local races like county sheriffs, to state legislative offices and Congressional seats with newly redrawn districts, to statewide offices that the GOP is aiming to grab.

One Wisconsin Congressional race in particular will be high-stakes: Rep. Ron Kind is 1 of only 7 Dems to win districts that Trump carried in ‘20. The GOP just needs to flip five of those to get a House majority. We’re going to fight & win again in WI-03.

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1380198048450629633

In our state legislature, we’ll know a lot more about the possibilities once the new maps are drawn. But one thing is absolutely certain: we can’t let Republicans get supermajorities in either legislative chamber. They’re 1 Senate & 5 Assembly seats short.

The “E” in BADGER? END RON JOHNSON’S POLITICAL CAREER.

Ron Johnson is unfit to serve. He has disgraced Wisconsin. He’s an embarrassingly bad senator—arguably @TheWorstSenator. And he has to go.
nytimes.com/2021/03/21/us/…

Want to keep track of Ron Johnson’s awfulness? Follow @TheWorstSenator. We’ll keep you posted.

https://twitter.com/TheWorstSenator/status/1374851208817557510

On the Democratic side, there is now a four-way primary, and it might yet grow. The primary election (in which the party is Constitutionally required to be neutral) isn’t until August 17, 2022. We’ll emerge with a dynamite nominee. Let’s lay the groundwork for their victory.

In 2020, our strategy was to build a presidential-caliber in-state operation and then merge it with the nominee’s once the primary was complete. It’s the same idea in our Senate race. Chip in monthly to help make it happen: wisdems.org/Donate-Defeat-…

And then there’s the R in BADGER: Rally for the long term. The 2023 spring election will determine the majority on Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court. In 2024, we’ll be the most likely tipping-point state yet again, and Tammy Baldwin will be up.

In other words, to use @kenmartin73’s adage, we not only have to build to win—we must build to last. Organize to defeat the GOP *and* lay the groundwork for fights to come after. And do it all firmly rooted in our values.

None of this work happens in a vacuum. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is one strand in the broader progressive fabric of our state. Organized labor, grassroots groups, candidate campaigns—and the many unofficial networks & activists working for change.

By intentionally working to strengthen that fabric, by listening to and learning from and interlinking with it, we build resilience and strength. If you want to go far, as they say, go together. We want to go far.

Wisconsin at its best has been a progressive bastion. It has a rich and deep history of social movements. And it has a painful history of right-wing backlashes, including the one that led to eight years of GOP hegemony under Scott Walker. It’s a contested state.

As a result, WI is the nation’s most closely-divided electoral battleground. Four of the last six presidential races here have had under 1% margins. No other state has had as many; in fact, only 3 states have had two such nailbiters since 2000. No state has had three.

Because of gerrymandering, Republican-tilted electorates lead to GOP trifectas here, while Democratic-tilted electorates yield divided government. But this year’s redistricting process could usher in a dollop of democracy.

We have to expect the 2022 elections to be extraordinarily tough—and yet, if we do all we can, winnable. And it’s not an exaggeration to say that, once again, democracy itself is at stake. We know what the GOP will do if they get trifecta control here, or majorities in Congress.

And what we’ve seen over these two years is that we win when we lead with our values. Fight, include, respect, and empower—every day, and in every way. Across race and place. Building people up, ensuring small-d democracy is the heart of Democratic politics.

So: don’t just sit on the sidelines. Get in the fight. Are you a Wisconsinite of at least 14 years of age? Join the Democratic Party of Wisconsin now. Start going to your county party’s meetings. Plug in locally. wisdems.org/joinus

If you’re a member (long-standing, or just-signed-up), register your interest in becoming a delegate to our virtual state party convention this June 5-6 by signing up on this form:
wisdems.org/become-a-conve…

If you’re a delegate to our state party convention: Felesia, Lee, and I would be grateful for your support for another term. We’re asking for your vote.

And most critically of all, plug into our hundreds of neighborhood teams and dozens of county parties as we execute the BADGER plan. You can register your interest in volunteering right here: wisdems.org/volunteer

These last two years have been intense. Serving as chair of this state party—working with some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met, linking arms with leaders in communities all across the state—has been a profound honor.

I’m grateful for all those who have helped power the work over these last two years, from the cast of the Princess Bride to high school students and retirees spending nights and weekends calling voters. And I’d be grateful for the chance to work with you for another term.