Thread by @benwikler

DEADLINE: Democracy is under attack—and Wisconsin is the key. We’ve got to beat Ron Johnson AND reelect @GovEvers. @WisDems are ratcheting up organizing, but need 104 more monthly donors by midnight Wed to hit our end-of-quarter target. Can you sign up? secure.actblue.com/donate/defend-…

Plan A is to defend democracy through federal law. But to do that, as we saw from last week’s GOP filibuster of the #ForthePeople Act, we need to protect & expand the Dem Senate majority—and the most vulnerable incumbent in the Senate is WI's Ron Johnson. washingtonpost.com/politics/senat…

There are already six Dems running against Johnson. A very strong field—but the Democratic Senate primary isn’t until *Aug 9, 2022.* Until then, it’s up to the @WisDems to build the statewide campaign operation needed to defeat Ron Johnson.

In the House, meanwhile, Wisconsin is home to one of just 7 Congressional districts that went for Trump *and* a Dem Rep. The GOP only has to flip 5 to win a majority. So we *have* to reelect Ron Kind. Running against him? A Stop-the-Stealer.

https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1409144888042610689

Meanwhile, till we get federal legislation that protects voting rights, the policies that matter most will be set by the states. In GA, AZ, FL, etc, Republicans have the governorship + state legislature & are passing suppression bills. But Wisconsin has a Dem Gov: Tony Evers.

Tony Evers is our last line of defense against voter suppression. He won in 2018 by a hold-your-breath 1.1% margin. And the GOP knows that if they can turn WI red in '22, they’ll get the White House in '24. So the GOP is obsessed with beating Tony Evers.
jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

We’re #AllinForTony. Reelecting Gov Evers is, of course, a critical priority for Wisconsinites. But for anyone in the country who believes in democracy, you need Gov Evers’ veto pen at the ready for GOP attempts to take away our freedom to vote. crooked.com/articles/wisco…

Republicans in Wisconsin, like their national counterparts, are hell-bent on restricting voter freedoms. Just last week, they sent bills to the governor, aimed at limiting access to absentee ballots and attacking Wisconsinites’ right to vote. apnews.com/article/donald…

Meanwhile, Speaker Robin Vos has launched a taxpayer-funded investigation to perpetuate Trump’s Big Lie about the 2020 election—all to sow doubt in our election system & attempt to justify these voter suppression bills. I spoke about this on @Maddow:

Most recently, after being hammered by Trump for not doing *enough* to overturn the election, Robin Vos announced far-right former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to oversee the sham investigation: wpr.org/following-warn…

And of course, are you even in the GOP if you didn’t cheer for Arizona's bogus attempts to overturn the will of the voters? WI Republicans jumped on the bandwagon when 6 GOP lawmakers got Vos’ blessing to head to AZ to “observe” how to dismantle democracy. jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

For now, the GOP’s laws can’t pass. Because of local organizing in 2020 & the great Save The Veto partnership between @Tony4WI, @WisDems, & legislative Dems, these R's simply don’t have the votes to override a Gov veto. But danger is around the corner. madison.com/ct/news/local/…

Rebecca Kleefisch, Scott Walker’s Lt Gov & GOP extremist who’s likely to run for Governor, has already endorsed every single attack by the state GOP on Wisconsinites' freedom to vote—using the same Big Lie dog-whistle that Trump Republicans are using across the country.

It’s clear that if @RebeccaforReal becomes Governor, she will attack Wisconsin’s democracy. She wants to be elected in order to prevent Wisconsinites from having the freedom to elect our leaders. And it’s all of our job to make that a disqualification from public office.

So we’ve got menaces to democracy in Ron Johnson, Derrick Van Orden, Robin Vos, Rebecca Kleefisch—oh, and dozens of other Republicans who will be running for office under new maps post-redistricting. If they win, Wisconsin could determine the next presidential race.

All of this is why the party is so centrally important at this moment. @WisDems is fighting on each of these fronts at once: defeating Ron Johnson, reelecting Tony Evers, and engaging downballot. And the key to victory next year is ramping up *early*.

We’re in the process of hiring and training organizers working in every corner of the state, across lines of race and geography, urban, suburban, and rural, at this very moment. Your monthly donations make that scale-up possible.

This summer, this fall, we’re showing up. We’re building relationships with voters and training teams of volunteers who will connect with communities year-round. This is how we beat the historic curse of midterms—by keeping our feet on the gas.

Don’t take my word for it. Listen to what our volunteers and supporters have to say about the @WisDems organizing program:

Monthly donations are set-it-and-forget-it. It's a great way to chip in even when you don’t want to think about politics—and they make a HUGE difference for us. Again, we’re just 104 donors short of our goal this quarter. Will you become a monthly donor? secure.actblue.com/donate/defend-…

And whether or not you’re giving every month—can you help amplify this thread? That’s how we hit our goals—and you’ll also help spread awareness of the strategic opportunity in Wisconsin in a moment that feels frightening for a lot of people. With a strategy, there’s hope.

Our democracy is in danger. But there are things we can do about it. And in Wisconsin, we’re doing them, right now. Chip in as a monthly donor and help keep our democracy strong. secure.actblue.com/donate/defend-…

If you become a monthly donor today, will you please let me know? I'd love to thank you personally for helping us defending democracy here in Wisconsin! 👇

🚨 We just need 24 new monthly donors to hit our end-of-quarter goal by midnight tonight! 🚨

Can you sign up as one of our new monthly donors? If you already are one, can you share my thread that lays out our organizing strategy and what's at stake?

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1409906988738396163

‼️5 HOURS LEFT‼️

We’re 85% to our goal! Can you help us supercharge for the next few hours?!

Keep quote-tweeting & retweeting this thread, it DOES make a difference.

And if you haven’t already, become a monthly donor. *ANY* amount counts—even $5: wisdems.org/democracy