Thread by @benwikler

IT’S THE FINAL DAY OF 2021. We’re closing in on our goal of 200 new recurring monthly donors by midnight TONIGHT. Why do we need support? Because we’re fighting for democracy on five fronts. Click to chip in, and read on for the final two in our countdown: secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…

We’ve talked about Robin Vos and the shamtacular Michael Gableman investigation. We’ve talked about Mike Gallagher, Derrick Van Orden, and GOP members of Congress. We’ve talked about (yikes) Ron Johnson. Now it’s time for #2: Wisconsin’s Supreme Court and Partisan Gerrymandering.

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court is officially nonpartisan. The reality, though, is that it’s a 4-3 conservative-majority body that is, at this very moment, working to lock in Republican control of Wisconsin’s state legislature for the next decade.

The biggest barrier to democracy in WI is our ultra-gerrymandered legislative maps. We’ve been called a “democracy desert”—one of the worst in the world. Republican state legislatures have total impunity, because their districts ensure their reelection.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

When the same party controls the governorship and the legislature, as in 2010, the legislature draws maps and the Gov signs them. In 2021, though, we have Governor Evers—and he vetoed the GOP’s attempt to re-gerrymander the next decade’s maps.
wpr.org/evers-vetoes-r…

Normally, the next step would be for federal courts to decide on final maps. Back in 2008, WI’s state Supreme Court *wanted* federal courts in charge. Justice Pat Roggensack: “Redistricting is inherently political. And I think, frankly, our court is pushed on enough politically.”

This was supposed to happen again in 2021.
wisconsinexaminer.com/2021/09/02/con…

But the court has changed. Last month, the court (including Justice Roggensack!) reversed itself—deciding that the state court should have original jurisdiction. And then promptly adopted an ultra-partisan approach.
wisconsinexaminer.com/brief/wisconsi…

Specifically, the state Supreme Court decided to take a “least-changes” approach—extending the impact of 2010’s ultra-GOP-tilted gerrymander by a decade. Its plan was explicitly to make the least changes to the 2010 map.
publicnewsservice.org/about/bestprac…

Wisconsinites overwhelmingly support free and fair elections. Over the last several years, 55 WI counties (almost 83% of Wisconsinites), have either held referendum votes or had resolutions approved by a county board supporting nonpartisan redistricting.
politifact.com/factchecks/202…

GovEvers has responded to the public’s demand for fair maps by going to bat for fairness with every tool at his disposal. Even after the state Supreme Court’s decision, he’s sent in a new map proposal using the least-bad least-changes approach possible.
wisconsinexaminer.com/brief/gov-ever…

Courts will decide on district lines early next year. One thing would make a massive difference: federal voting rights legislation. The Freedom to Vote Act would ban extreme partisan gerrymandering. The John Lewis Act would secure voting rights. The Senate must act.

But whether or not that happens, the fight for democracy continues in Wisconsin. Whatever our Supreme Court throws our way, we’ll figure out how to fight back—as we did in the 2020 spring election, when we won a state Supreme Court seat in a landslide.

In fact, Justice Roggensack—the one who reversed herself on whether the state Supreme Court should draw the maps—is up in 2023. How we organize now determines our power that spring.

When we win the seat occupied by Justice Roggensack, pro-democracy Justices will hold a 4-3 majority. The #2 threat to democracy in Wisconsin—our hyperpartisan state Supreme Court—reminds us: we must fight in every election. @WisDems are on it. Chip in. secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…

ICYMI: Here’s Threat #5 of “Top 5 Threats to Democracy”

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1475978789725298694

Threat #4 👇

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1476260858766446594

And here’s #3 of the “Top 5 Threats to Democracy” countdown:

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1476606110354354181

There are just 8 hours left in this year.

@WisDems are 117 monthly donors short of our end-of-year goal.

It’s time to unveil the #1 threat to democracy in Wisconsin: Rebecca Kleefisch—who wants to replace Tony Evers as governor. Chip in to help stop her: wisdems.org/2021

Rebecca Kleefisch, Scott Walker’s lieutenant governor, is running for governor in 2022 against Gov. Evers. If she wins, the validity of the 2024 presidential election is in immediate jeopardy. She’s a threat to democracy in Wisconsin—and nationwide.

If you’ve been following @WisDems, you know we’ve been calling her #RadicalRebecca. Why? Because she’s radical. In a bad way. Take a second to learn more at this handy page: radicalrebecca.com

On the day of #RadicalRebecca’s campaign launch, she said she’d sign all the voter suppression bills that Governor Evers has vetoed. And that’s just for starters.

Rebecca Kleefisch was asked if she’d sign a bill to let the state legislature overturn presidential election results. Her answer: it would be “premature” to comment. 🤔
wxow.com/news/politics/…

Meanwhile, in the middle of her run for governor, she has filed a lawsuit asking our right-wing state Supreme Court (see: Threat #2) to make it harder to vote.
madison.com/wsj/news/local…

Our state Supreme Court isn’t radical enough for her, though—her real aim is to put the state legislature in charge of election administration. It’s right there in her “1848 Project” campaign manifesto: 1848project.org/wp-content/upl…

Meanwhile, #RadicalRebecca has made it clear she’d do anything—even “hire mercenaries”—to win:

https://twitter.com/journalsentinel/status/1452995959550513158

Michael Gableman, running the sham “investigation” for Robin Vos (remember Threat #5?), has effectively endorsed #RadicalRebecca. The GOP knows that Kleefisch will make their wildest, most extreme voter suppression dreams come true. jsonline.com/story/news/pol…

And here’s a chilling thought.

Once the votes are counted and the chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission signs off on the results, the final person to certify under Wisconsin state law is… the governor.

Governor Evers executed this duty faithfully. Would Kleefisch?

Imagine it’s the night of the 2024 election (and *shudders* Kleefisch is governor). It’s close—once again. As in 2020, none of the battleground states have been called yet. Wisconsin is shaping up to be the tipping point—3rd time in a row. But then the gov says there’s a problem.

Experts and nonpartisan observers are crying foul, but Fox News and right-wing radio are giving huge airplay to a Republican governor who says there’s something suspicious happening—and that she’ll refuse to send Wisconsin’s electoral college votes to D.C.

It’s not hard to see how quickly that could spin out of control. It’s not hard to see how fragile the fabric of our democracy really is.

Rebecca Kleefisch wants a system that allows Republicans to overturn elections if they don’t like the results.

If she wins the governorship, her path is clear.

So we’ve got to stop her from getting there.

We *must* reelect Tony Evers.

The New York Times called Governor Evers’s reelection campaign—and the Gov races in MI & PA—the “sea wall” for voting rights. That’s exactly right. The GOP is trying to drive a red tide. Democratic governors can stop them.
nytimes.com/2021/10/06/us/…

For all their sound and fury, Robin Vos and his sham investigators can’t rig election laws if Tony Evers is governor.

He’s our last line of defense. And he’s absolutely unwavering in defense of democracy.
crooked.com/articles/wisco…

There’s a GOP primary for governor. Maybe the dynamics will shift. (Trump is trying to convince reality-show Tea Partier Sean Duffy to run against Kleefisch, for example.)

But for now, it’s #RadicalRebecca vs Tony Evers—with everything on the line.

And that’s why Rebecca Kleefisch, Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor, running to replace Gov Evers in 2022, is the #1 Threat to democracy in Wisconsin. And thus nationwide.

We’ve been organizing to defeat her since before she announced her candidacy. On the day of her campaign launch, we launched a site laying out her record on public health, education, helping the rich get richer—and of course—attacking our freedom to vote.
radicalrebecca.com

Apparently, Kleefisch couldn’t stop thinking about RadicalRebecca.com. Soon, she was talking about our website at campaign stops. She’s watching what we’re doing. She’s probably reading this very thread. Hi, @RebeccaforReal!

We’ve got 11 months left to make sure Rebecca Kleefisch never makes it to the Governor’s residence. And as soon as we hit 2022 (in just a few hours!), things move into higher gear. We need your help to sustain a sprint from now until election day.

We’re organizing in rural, suburban, and urban Wisconsin. We’re organizing across lines of race, ethnicity, Tribal Nation, language, gender, generation, and geography. We’re organizing everywhere. And your help makes it possible. Become a monthly donor: secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…

Monthly donors are a game-changer for state parties. Recurring contributions (no matter how small!) help us plan far in advance, hire new staff, budget projects to make sure we win big in 2022. This work requires long-term investment. It takes you.

If you’ve supported @WisDems before (maybe donated once or twice), consider changing it to monthly. If you were a monthly donor before and had to pause, we welcome you back. All you have to do is start a recurring donation of any amount here: secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…

Our goal is to hit 200 new monthly donors by midnight tonight, in these final hours of 2021. This wasn’t an “off-year” here at WisDems. Monthly donors allowed us to spend our year gearing up for 2022. Help us supercharge: secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…

The Washington Post says Wisconsin is the front line in the war over the 2020 vote. It’s only going to get more intense as we approach 2022—and then 2024. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is here to fight for democracy. Be a part of it.
washingtonpost.com/politics/wisco…

In these final hours, if you step up to join our work, post about it so you can help inspire others to do the same. Post a reply or quote-tweet this thread, and I’ll retweet you. Your commitment can help ignite others to do the same. Thanks for being a part of this fight!

⏰🚨⏰🚨
5 HOURS LEFT
If you’re not a monthly donor yet, NOW is the time! Chip in before midnight TONIGHT: secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…

If you signed up to become a monthly donor (or have been a long-time monthly donor!), let me know below—I want to thank you!

🚨 4 HOURS
If you can’t become a monthly donor today there’s another way you can help: Quote-tweet my thread (the first tweet!) and tell your followers why they need to care about Wisconsin. I’ll retweet you, too!

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1476956786393559040

3 HOURS LEFT (and 48.5% to goal!)
3 hours until the clock strikes midnight and it’s officially 2022. This is the year we do it all, but not without your help!

Chip in any recurring amount NOW to become a monthly donor: secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…

⏰⏰ 2 HOURS
In just 2 HOURS we can change the course of 2022 and fight back against GOP threats to our democracy. We need your help: we're 63% to our goal before midnight! Join us as a monthly donor here: secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…

STATUS UPDATE: 70.5% to goal Double exclamation mark

Let's ring in #NewYear2022 (Central Time) with a celebration. In this last hour before midnight, start a recurring donation (of any amount) to join our monthly donor family—we got this! Pass it on: secure.actblue.com/donate/eo21?re…