Thread by @benwikler

GRATITUDE THREAD: Janet Protasiewicz (@janetforjustice) defeated Dan Kelly for Wisconsin Supreme Court. Democracy in Wisconsin, near death, can be reborn, and freedom can reemerge. Up and down the ballot, history changed. A note on what happened, and to thank those who did it: 1/

Let’s recognize the magnitude of what took place.

Conservatives have controlled Wisconsin’s Supreme Court for the last 15 years, turning our state’s highest judicial body into a third branch of the GOP-run legislature.

On Tuesday, that era ended. When Janet Protasiewicz is sworn into office on August 1, a new one dawns.

Judge Janet Protasiewicz’s victory—by 11 points, no less!—marks a decisive rejection of the GOP’s politics of extremism and authoritarianism, and an embrace of pro-freedom, pro-democracy common sense. It’s a win for fairness, independence, and reverence for the law.

Wisconsin is the home of the nailbiter. The last time a state Supreme Court race took place w/o a presidential primary was 2019—and the progressive candidate, Lisa Neubauer, lost by 5,981 votes. This year, Judge Janet won by 203,084. That’s a 33x bigger margin—and a W, not an L.

This landslide shines no matter how you slice the data. Improvement in rural areas. Empurpling of red suburbs. Huge jumps in turnout AND margins in Dem strongholds like Madison and Milwaukee. A spike in young voters and voters of color. And above all, a massive gender gap.

This graphic tells you more than maps that convey geography but ignore population. Astonishingly, you could remove either Dane County or Milwaukee County, and Janet would still win. With both, she won by a mile. The big red counties are turning purple.

https://twitter.com/PollsAndVotes/status/1644158211103006720

We’ll know a ton more about exactly what happened once we get the individual-level voter file back, weeks from now. But it’s clear that this was a voter uprising.

This piece by @ThePlumLineGS, drawing on analysis by @PollsAndVotes, gives a good sense of the overall picture.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/…

Even if the margin had been miniscule, the stakes would have been enormous: ending the threat of 2024 being overturned, and possibly the end of the 1849 abortion ban and extreme partisan gerrymandering—a curse more dire in Wisconsin than any other state.

https://twitter.com/SamWangPhD/status/1643091187778170881

But the margin wasn’t miniscule. Which means that, on top of fundamentally shifting the future of Wisconsin, this election sent a nationwide message to the GOP: Sow attacks on democracy and fundamental freedoms, and you’ll reap the whirlwind.

So: gigantic thank-yous are in order.

Allies of freedom and democracy owe a debt of gratitude to Justice-elect Janet, and her family. They endured threats and smear campaigns that blanketed the state. She never wavered. The stress has been unimaginable, their grace & fortitude have been remarkable. Thank you, Janet!

Judge Everett Mitchell ran an inspired and inspiring campaign in the primary, then poured his tremendous energy into ensuring that Janet Protasiewicz would win the general election. Democrats in every corner of the state are grateful for @JudgemitchellWI's work and leadership.

Meanwhile, MAGA extremists attempted to take over two of Wisconsin’s biggest cities—and were rebuffed. Enormous thanks and heartfelt congratulations to @MayorGenrich, reelected mayor of Green Bay, and @MayorCoryMason, reelected mayor of Racine.

Thanks as well to @Jodi4Senate, who ran for state Senate in a special election in SD8—and, in a district hyper-gerrymandered to ensure permanent GOP control, came within a hair’s breadth of victory. She and her team worked tirelessly. Thank you, Jodi!

Meanwhile, in hundreds of local races, Democrats fought hard for their values, and—in an extraordinary range of races—prevailed.

At @WisDems, we’re proud to have supported dozens of local and hyper-local candidates. Whether you won or lost, we’re glad you ran, and grateful that you turned out the voters that helped propel Janet’s win.

Thanks in particular to Outagamie County Executive @NelsonforWI, who not only won but helped drive up turnout to fuel the statewide victory.

https://twitter.com/WisDems/status/1643692611046195200

Huge thanks also to those running for full terms as judges across Wisconsin: Judge @GeenenForMKE, Judge Mary Burns, Judge Natasha Torry, Judge Cassandra Van Gompel, Judge Fred Strampe, and @JudgeHaase.

School Board, Common Council, County Board, and other local candidates across the state stayed true to their values and their communities.

Many candidates who didn’t have an opponent, like Eau Claire’s new Common Council president @EmilyBerge_ and Judge @ChrisTaylorWI, campaigned intensively in order to turn out voters who could make the difference up-ballot. Thank you!

Statewide elected officials did indefatigable work to advance democracy’s cause in this election. Elected leaders across Wisconsin have dedicated time and effort to build up the strength of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and it’s made a tremendous difference.

Enormous thanks in particular to Governor @Tony4WI and Senator @tammybaldwin—and to Lt. Gov @sara4WI, AG @JoshKaulWI, and Secretary of State @SarahforWI. You made a huge difference!

It seemed like Justice @justicedallet and Justice @judgekarofsky were everywhere. Thanks so much to both of you for your work to ensure Janet would defeat Dan Kelly. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, we’re so excited that you announced your plan to run for re-election in 2025.

.@JudgeNeubauer, we’re grateful that you never left the fight. Thanks to all of your families as well. It’s a team effort!

Rep. @MarkPocan and Rep. @Gwen4Congress—you both helped power this win, and we’re so grateful.

Assembly Dems Leader @gretaneubauer, the @WIAssemblyDems team, and all of the Assembly Dems, including @mkedems Chair Chris Sinicki, @FrancescaHongWI, and so many others.

https://twitter.com/gretaneubauer/status/1643436754509221888

Last fall’s Assembly candidates who didn’t quite make it (so often due to the Supreme Court-imposed gerrymander!)—you worked on this too, and you moved mountains. Thanks!

Democratic Senate Leader @Melissa4Senate—you, your @WISenateDems team, and the members and aspiring members of your caucus were absolutely dynamite, both in SD8 and in the Supreme Court race. Thanks for giving it your all, and here’s to the fights to come!

https://twitter.com/Melissa4Senate/status/1643635910326513665

To all those who serve in gerrymandered districts or aspire to win elections under fair maps, we’ve entered a new moment of hope.

So many other officeholders and recent candidates went to bat. Former Lt. Gov. @TheOtherMandela barnstormed the state.

Officeholders including Milwaukee County Executive @DavidCCrowley, Milwaukee Mayor @CavalierJohnson, Kenosha’s John Antaramian, Wausau’s @katierosenberg, Sheboygan’s @RyanSorensonWI, Superior’s @JimofSuperior, and so many more put heart and soul into driving up turnout.

And congratulations to Madison Mayor @SatyaForMadison, who was reelected and helped ensure record-smashing spring election turnout in the Mad City.

Thanks also to Gloria Reyes, whose race for Madison mayor inspired so many, and who also contributed to turning out voters for the statewide win!

National leaders also lent a hand—including President @JoeBiden and Vice President @KamalaHarris; former President @BarackObama and First Lady @MichelleObama; and Former Secretary @HillaryClinton.

Many thanks to Democratic Senate Leader @chuckschumer, Speaker Emerita @TeamPelosi (who went above and beyond!), and Democratic Leader @hakeemjeffries.

We were so lucky to have the support of Senators @CoryBooker, @ewarren, @BernieSanders, @brianschatz, @JohnFetterman, @jontester, and @TinaSmithMN. As well as Reps. @PramilaJayapal, @MaxwellFrostFL, @AngieCraigMN, among many others.

And an extra-special thanks to former Attorney General @EricHolder and his team at the @DemRedistrict and @allontheline_wi.

https://twitter.com/WisDems/status/1643351095962394630

The candidates who put their names on the ballot, their families, and the other public servants who worked their hearts out this spring are all heroes. Their families—spouses, partners, kids, parents—are heroes as well.

When you see candidates at events, on the news, and in ads, you’re seeing the result of hard work by campaign staffers and consultants behind the scenes.

On Judge Janet’s campaign, we’re so grateful for the amazing work of @SalsaVerdin, @PGuarasci, @SammyRadishes, @skchheda, Morgan Snyder, @SamRoecker, Jacqueline Rosa, and @bnuckels.

https://twitter.com/pguarasci/status/1643712790866063361?s=46&t=RCBUv8OaPVHndLEIlYwu2g

For their work to elect Jodi Habush Sinykin, a huge thank you to @Alexpond2, @LagesseEric, @GinaWalkington, and @garrenrandolph.

Enormous appreciation for Mayor Genrich’s team: @amaadair, @AndrewWhitleyVA, @mattullsvik—and @bnuckels yet again.

Thanks a million to the folks behind Mayor Cory Mason: @jonathanjarmon, @JoelRivlin, Lyndsey Collins, and @FabiMaldonadoRe.

To so many other people who worked on other candidate campaigns—paid or unpaid, as campaign managers, consultants, strategists, kitchen cabinet members, advisors, and volunteers, you have our heartfelt thanks.

Democratic-supported candidates across the state of Wisconsin benefited not only from their own teams but from a mega-team that helped propel Democratic strength up and down the ballot: the political force of nature that is the @WisDems.

On Election Day, the full team working on this wildly consequential election numbered 138, including 118 full-time staff and 20 paid interns.

It’s a team of startling talent, unshakeable dedication, and relentless execution. In any race in any state, a candidate would be lucky to be supported by this team. In a state Supreme Court race, it’s simply unprecedented.

Meet the @WisDems senior team:

.@remiker_devin, the WisDems Executive Director, has been absolute dynamite. I’m so grateful for his leadership on so many fronts, from big-picture strategy to high-trust relationships to the nitty-gritty of election law.

Devin’s vast store of obscure knowledge also became vital on unexpectedly important issues like, this year, weather forecasting and FCC regulations.

https://twitter.com/remiker_devin/status/1641907535216095232

Iris Riis, our Deputy Executive Director, has been a superb leader, manager, and strategist, helping sort out complex organizational challenges while always keeping the big picture in mind, and working closely with our whole senior team. We’re so lucky to have your leadership.

.@katieiliff1, serving as Senior Advisor, led the WisDems partnership with both of the progressive Supreme Court campaigns in the primary and with Janet’s campaign in the general. Her omnidimensional skill set was essential and touched every aspect of our work this spring.

Anna Surrey, our Coordinated Director, has once again earned her legendary status in WI politics—scaling and managing a mind-blowingly intricate organizing, data, voter protection, and operations mega-department to a degree of success heretofore undreamt-of in a spring election.

A special note about @annasurrey25. She was a Regional Organizing Director with us in 2018, statewide Organizing Director in 2020, and Coordinated Director in 2022 and 2023. She has soared—and trained a generation of extraordinary leaders along the way. Anna is our secret weapon.

.@bhaviklathia and the mighty digital team have fundamentally transformed what anyone thought was possible with digital at a state party. This spring, they brought presidential-level digital firepower to an off-year spring state election.

The results: mind-boggling. Campaigns, parties, and organizations everywhere could learn a lot from this team. To everyone who has clicked a link, shared a meme, or retweeted a thread—you are part of this, and we can’t thank you enough.

.@LiberalStallion and the political team, which comprises Coalitions, Candidate Services, and Party Affairs, knocked it out of the park.

Building long-term relationships with leaders in communities across Wisconsin—across lines of race, ethnicity, tribal affiliation, sexual orientation, gender, generation, and geography—is absolutely fundamental to our vision and our day-to-day work.

This team nails it every day. Empowering and supporting dozens of local candidates not only builds our bench for tomorrow, it ensures progressive local governance today.

Serving our dozens of local party units ensures that our people-powered party stays strong. Hard, high-impact work that undergirds all of our success and lives out our values.

Katie Portis, and our HR team, have been essential in building, supporting, and training teams, constantly thinking through how to support everyone’s development as professionals, as managers, and as human beings. (Note: more political organizations should have HR departments!)

The WisDems Communications team, led by @joe_oslund, has been astonishingly effective in propelling this obscure election into the national consciousness—and ensuring that journalists were fully equipped with the facts about Team Dan Kelly’s radical extremism. Amazing work!

The finance team, led by @tinaignasiak, worked hand in glove with Janet’s campaign and other close partners to achieve the nigh-impossible: outmatching the GOP + right-wing dark money machine dollar for dollar.

And because we used dollars more efficiently, our dollars went much farther. The right is jealous. The rest of us are simply grateful.
maciverinstitute.com/2023/04/why-co…

Our Operations team, led by Sal Cornacchione, has navigated the party through a fight of unprecedented complexity and scope—all just six months after the blockbuster 2022 midterms. And the Coordinated Operations team, led by Bethany Sorensen, has nailed it again.

I can’t say enough about @DaveKronig (also our General Counsel) and the whole VoPro team. David’s been with us since January 2020—without him, his mighty band of VoPro warriors, and the thousands of VoPro volunteers, I hate to imagine where we’d be. Thanks a thousand times!

The organizing team, led by @GabbieStasson, is the heart of our organization. Year-round neighbor-to-neighbor organizing. Virtual distributed organizing. Constituency-based relational organizing. They do it all, everywhere, all the time—which is exactly why it works.

Voters know when they’re being treated with respect. So do volunteers. Your actions communicate our values and make democracy real. The numbers you generate are eye-popping—and they represent genuine human conversations. Thank you!

All our organizing—all our work generally—only matters if we figure out who we need to turn out. Volunteer after volunteer has told me how great the data has been this spring. Kudos to @Alex_Abes and our data team for guiding us through one of the hardest-to-model electorates!

Andrea “@andyberk” Berkeland and the whole executive support team did superhuman work that made my work, and our senior team’s work, possible.

Andrea reshuffles calendars and schedules and flight bookings to create room to resolve unexpected crises in already-jammed-to-the-gills days in a way that violates basic laws of time and space. I’m in awe, and so grateful.

All of the senior leaders listed above manage whole teams, often with several layers of management reporting up to them. Dynamos work at every level of WisDems—people who do amazing work and are a joy to work with.

Many will, one day soon, be leading departments and whole organizations. Thanks to all!

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s professional team does terrific work. So do the thousands of volunteers who are the lifeblood of our party.

WisDems has nine statewide elected leaders. Five are state Constitutional Officers, including me. This is my full-time job. (Only 12 state Dem parties pay their chairs. Donors should help more states follow suit!) Here are the five statewide officers, from a 2019 photo:

First Vice Chair and Milwaukee Board Supervisor @LadyHawkeLesia, who has been my close partner in all things since the moment we launched our campaign for state party leadership. Felesia, with me, is running for a third term in leadership—thank you!

Second Vice Chair and State Representative @SnodgrassforWI, who has been a critical voice both as a former county chair, as a candidate, and now a leader in the State Assembly Dem caucus.

Secretary and @RacineDems chair @kringlemeg, who has served as Secretary for twelve years and is an invaluable keeper of institutional memory at WisDems.

This is Meg (and Lee’s) final statewide election while serving as a statewide Party officer. Thanks so much for all you’ve done this year, and over the years!

Treasurer and Fitchburg Common Council President Randy Udell invests enormous time in keeping our party’s finances, controls, and compliance in order.

Randy ran for Mayor of Fitchburg, where he also serves as Common Council President, with a high-integrity campaign that helped increase turnout in a deep-blue city. While it wasn’t the result he was looking for, we’re so grateful both for his run and for his public service.

The other four statewide leaders are our elected Democratic National Committee members: Martha Love, @andwerth, @JanetBewley4WI, and—until he stepped away this spring—@kharyp.

.@AlexLasryWI is running for the last DNC spot in a special election at our state convention in June. Wisconsin is also represented on the DNC by @MahlonMitchell of the @PFFW, an at-large appointee, and @JasonRRae, the elected national Secretary of the party. I’m grateful to all!

The strength of our state party rests on the shoulders of dedicated volunteers at every level. @TheDemocrats—especially Chair @harrisonjaime, ED @samcornale (himself a Badger!), @ramseyreid, and @chelsiemarieo—was an indispensable ally. To the @DLCC—thank you!

Dozens of Wisconsin Democratic leaders generously give their time to serve on the Administrative Committee, the Budget Committee, the Constitution & Bylaws Committee, and others.

Officers and members of our Congressional District party units, our constituency and issue caucuses, and our youth wings—the @YoungDemsWI, @CollegeDemsWI, and @hsdemswi—provide invaluable work to organize that keeps this party moving.

Most fundamentally, our county parties form the base that makes our state party run. To all county party leaders who devote countless hours to building our local presence in every corner of Wisconsin, I cannot adequately express my gratitude.

Your work is hard, often unseen and underappreciated, and always vital.

None of this would be possible without our thousands of official party members across the state. Together, you are the lifeblood of this party. I feel profoundly honored to serve as your elected chair, and I’d be grateful for your support in the state chair’s election this June.

If you know someone who might want to join in our cause, please invite them to join the party at wisdems.org/join.

Alongside our constitutionally-recognized party units are our 275 neighborhood action teams, with leaders and members that power our neighbor-to-neighbor organizing model. This spring, you shattered every record for organizing in a spring election.

So, too, did our distributed and out-of-state volunteers (including those organized through @ourcommonpower, @swingleft, @IndivisibleEV, and other groups, and the many others who connected to us individually). You made such a difference!

The Rural Caucus—long led by Nate Timm, now by Gloria Hochstein, with countless leaders statewide—led the creation of our signage network. In this six-week lightning general election, at least to my eyes, we won the sign wars. Thank you!

And to all of those who dug deep—in contributions small and large, monthly and one-off, via text and email and click and check and wire transfer, in Wisconsin and nationwide—thank you.

GOP mega-donors flooded our state with more resources than any judicial election has ever seen. We outraised them, narrowly. And we used our resources far more efficiently—meaning we out-communicated and out-organized them, by a mile.

WisDems is a proud union shop. I’m so grateful to @ibewlocal494, which represents our Regional Organizing Directors and nonmanagerial HQ staff, and the DPW Field Unit, organized by the @CWG_Workers, for ensuring that our workers have a powerful voice. #UnionStrong!

So many unions engaged deeply in this fight. Infinite thanks to the @wisaflcio and national @AFLCIO, @WEAC and the @NEAToday, The @SEIU, @SeiuWisc and @SEIUHCWI, @AFSCME, the @AFTunion and @AFTWisconsin.

@LIUNA, @Teamsters, the Operating Engineers including @IUOELocal139, the @UFCW, the @UAPipeTrades, especially the @WIPipeTrades.

@PlumbersLocal75, and the @battleground_ua, the @GoIUPAT, and the @NCSRCCarpenters, and all the many other unions fighting for a state and a Supreme Court that honors workers and recognizes the right to organize.

As Joe Biden said, the middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class. To that, I would add this: unions built the Democratic Party, and we will never forget it.

Victories in Wisconsin, and everywhere, are made possible by the united forces of great candidate campaigns, a strong Democratic Party, and unions and other organizations—all pushing for the same big goal.

The Wisconsin donor table, chaired by John Miller and helmed by Eric Couto was essential. Jasmine Nears and the whole team at @AmericaVotes Wisconsin (and nationally) are jaw-droppingly effective. The Strategic Victory Fund and Scott Anderson were key.

.@CassiFenili and @LaraMHenderson from Gov. Evers’s team moved mountains to support the Democratic Party and make our work possible.

The array of groups that made these wins possible looks like a presidential coalition.

Huge thanks to @WIConservation and the @LCVoters, @ForOurFutureWI, @powertothepolls, @PPAWI and @PPact, @VDLF_Action, and the @wiworkingfam and @WorkingFamilies.

Deep gratitude for the @C4RacialJustice, Project 72, @CitizenActionWI, @lit_wi, @ACLU and @ACLUofWisconsin, @NAACP, Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin, @350WIAction.

And @ProgressNorthWI, @wisdom4justice, @SierraClub, @OurWisconsinRev, @NextGenAmerica, @VoteRiders, @RiseFreeOrg, @MoveOn, ​​@BoldProgressive, @WorkingAmerica, @genratify, @acespace, @VotersTomorrow, @FreedomActNow, Empower, and @BlackVotersMtr.

So many pitched in. @WiMuslimVoters, @BlueSkyWaukesha, @StandUpAmerica, @ActivateAmerica, @B2FAction, the @TurnoutPAC.

Postcards to Voters, @WisconsinAllin, the Center for a Family Friendly Economy, Wisconsin Public Education Action, the Wisconsin Initiative, and @fieldteam_6 were all clutch.

So many did extraordinary digital and other communications work in this race, starting with the mighty communications hub at @ABetterWis.

We’re grateful to Galvanize, the One for All Committee, @Tech4Campaigns, @American_Bridge, @prioritiesUSA, and @movement_labs. Thanks to @wearepushblack, @SomosVotantes, and @centervoterinfo.

The Gender Equity Action Fund made game-changing early and ceaseless investments in this work.

Thanks so much to the Democracy Alliance, the Justice Initiative, @MovementVote, @emilyslist, the @StateActionFund, the Rural Voter Initiative, the Committee on States, and Focus For Democracy. The State Democracy Defenders PAC and @NormEisen were key.

Kudos and appreciation to @PowerPACorg, Women Win Wisconsin, the Majority Rules PAC, @SSWorks, Iron PAC, @RebellionPac, and @LongRunPAC—and so so many others who partnered with us and invested in our work.

So, so many helped lift up this fight and amplify our work online.

Special thanks to @votesaveamerica, @CrookedMedia, @at_Advocacy, @BradleyWhitford, @briantylercohen, @IAmPoliticsGirl, @SimonWDC, @devilradio, @HeartlandSignal and so many other communicators and organizers who focused attention on this fight.

We’re lucky to have such extraordinary mentors & friends—incl Teresa Vilmain, Tanya Bjork, Bill Dempsey, Greg Lewis, @lewfriedland, @dsferiozzi, John Grabel, Meagan Mahaffey, Juan Jose Lopez, Gary Goyke, Michelle McGrorty, and @anatosaurus.

And at a personal level, I’m so wildly lucky to have the support of so many extraordinary friends, of my mom Lynn and stepdad Mike, of my dad Dan, stepmom Sarah, and sister Ruth, and half-brother Sam.

To my absolutely extraordinary wife Beth, who is a better partner than anyone could have any right to dream of finding, a powerhouse in her own career, and the world’s greatest mom to our beloved kiddos, Mac, Suzy, and Jack, each of whom makes me so proud every single day.

And the kids would insist that I not forget Pumpkin, who turns two this May. She (and some of her best doggy friends) played a vital role in our now-traditional Pet Out The Vote event on Election Day. I’m sure there are other good dogs in the world. But Pumpkin is the best.

A bunch more gratitude and other heroes of this fight can be found in this thread by our senior digital director @bhaviklathia:

https://twitter.com/bhaviklathia/status/1644448098842804233