Thread by @benwikler

🧵 There’s a lot of rightful focus on insurrection supporters and democracy deniers like Ron Johnson and Tim Michels. But in the GOP, the rot goes all the way down. Take a look, for example, at this Wisconsin Assembly race—which could affect the 2024 presidential election.

Context: Republicans in Wisconsin are gunning for supermajorities in both chambers of Wisconsin’s state legislature. On the Democratic side, meet Laura Gapske @laura4assembly. On the Republican side, the nominee is Angie Sapik—an insurrection fan.
gapskeforassembly.com

The 73rd Assembly District, in the very northwest corner of the state, is home to Superior, which (with Duluth, MN) is half of the Twin Ports, one of the largest cargo ports in the country.

Since 1973, this district has been solidly held by Democrats. But now it’s at risk.

Democratic State Rep. Nick Milroy was unchallenged for four elections in a row. But in 2020, the GOP came for him—and he won by just 139 votes. This April, he announced he wouldn’t be running again.

The GOP needs to flip 5 seats to get a supermajority. Let’s hold the 73rd.

Meet the Republican candidate: ultra-MAGA Republican Angie Sapik.

A good way to get to know her is to look at the Twitter account she deleted. Here’s a tweet from Jan 7, 2021.

Angie Sapik, the Republican candidate for Wisconsin’s 73rd Assembly District, cheered on the violent, criminal insurrection on January 6, 2021. She should not hold public office.

Angie Sapik, whom the @wisgop has not, to date, disavowed, was thrilled as her fellow MAGA extremists stormed the Capitol and beat police officers as they attempted to hunt down and slaughter elected leaders in order to overturn a presidential election.

This tweet from January 6—“#DCRIOTS #imwithyou”—says it all. And here she is campaigning with Eric Toney, Wisconsin’s Republican nominee for Attorney General. @EricJToney, do you support Angie Sapik? Are you with the D.C. rioters too?

When, on January 6, 2021, far-right troll Michael Cernovich wrote “enough is enough” and called for peace between Trump and Biden, here’s how Angie Sapik responded. Oh, and here she is with her Republican Congressman, Tom Tiffany.

Angie Sapik’s public support for political violence isn’t confined to January 6. She also wrote that the couple who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protestors “should have started blasting.” This is who the @wisgop wants to send to Wisconsin’s Capitol.

Although she deleted her whole Twitter account, there’s a lot more there. You can check it all out for yourself here: bit.ly/angiesapik

This seat is open. Let’s beat Sapik—and elect Laura Gapske.

Laura’s dedicated over 17 years to working toward ending violence against children and women. Currently, Laura works as the Director of Programs at Men As Peacemakers. She’ll put our families first.

Laura’s served the Superior community throughout her life. She’s currently in her second term on the Superior School Board and was appointed to serve as Chair of the City of Superior Mayor’s Human Trafficking Task Force Commission.
wpr.org/superior-creat…

Laura’s absolutely prepared to serve the constituents of Assembly District 73 in a manner befitting a democracy. Angie Sapik is the exact opposite.

And here are the stakes: if Republicans get supermajorities in both chambers of Wisconsin’s legislature, they can pass whatever election subversion bills they want, overriding Governor Evers’s veto. (We have to reelect him too, by the way!)

Wisconsin was the tipping-point state in 2016. We put Trump over the top. In 2020, we were the tipping-point state again—the state that got Biden to 270 Electoral College votes. We’re poised to play the same role in 2024.

In other words, if the GOP gets state legislative supermajorities in Wisconsin, they could overturn the presidential results if Trump (or DeSantis) loses here two years from now. And that could tip the nation. So we have to stop the GOP in these local races, NOW.

As we get closer to November 8, it’s absolutely critical that we throw our full support behind Laura Gapske and ensure that Angie Sapik doesn’t get into public office. Chip in what you can to help elect her, and share this thread: secure.actblue.com/donate/laura-g…