Final Call to Action: Help Maintain a Democratic Majority in Wisconsin's Supreme Court!

A statewide election on April 1 will determine the future of Wisconsin's Supreme Court. Please join Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Ben Wikler, to learn what is at stake in the upcoming election, including how the balance of Wisconsin's supreme court will impact Wisconsin's future state, local and federal elections.

~Event Details~

Special Guests: David Pepper, former Chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, and Anderson Clayton, current Chair of the Democratic Party of North Carolina

Date: Thursday, March 27

Time: 3:00 - 3:30 pm (PT), 5:00 - 5:30 pm (CT), 6:00 - 6:30 pm (ET)

Zoom Link: To be provided in advance of event

Event Co-Hosts: Karen Cahn, Carol Dawley, Patrick Hanley, Wendy Heltzer, Barbara Kaufman, Mark Miller & Anita Weinberg, Lucy Moog, Emily Nicklin, Leo Smith, Laura Tanner, Judy Williams, Claudia Wyatt-Johnson, and Karen Zelden

Wisconsin's upcoming supreme court election has far-reaching implications:

(1) Balance of the Court. In 2023, the election of Democratic Justice Janet Protasiewicz tipped the balance in Wisconsin's Supreme Court 4-3 in favor of Democrats. This spring, long-serving progressive Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring, creating an open seat. If Democrats fail to replace Justice Bradley's seat with another Democrat, we lose our majority in the Supreme Court.

(2) The Candidates. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has endorsed Judge Susan Crawford, a former prosecutor who has represented Planned Parenthood in private practice and oversaw enforcement of environmental laws in state government. The Republican candidate is far-right extremist Brad Schimel, who served as Attorney General under Scott Walker and led ferocious attacks on reproductive freedom, the Affordable Care Act, fair maps, and voting rights. One of these two individuals will hold the court’s controlling vote.

(3) What's at Stake in Wisconsin. Since winning a Democratic majority in 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has restored voting rights, ended the GOP’s partisan gerrymander of state legislative maps, and is considering a challenge to Wisconsin’s pre-Civil War abortion ban. With these maps and voting rules, Senator Tammy Baldwin won re-election by 0.9% and Democrats flipped fourteen state legislative seats, putting the party on track for dual-chamber majorities (and a possible Democratic trifecta that could reshape state law) in 2026. If we lose the majority, all of this progress will be reversed.

(4) What's at Stake Nationally. If Democrats are able to maintain a majority in the Supreme Court, there is a path to redistricting federal congressional maps, which would allow Wisconsin to send another two (or maybe three!) Representatives to Washington. (As a cautionary tale, if Democrats had won control of North Carolina's supreme court, Democrats could have won control of the U.S. House this cycle.) Additionally, a Democratic Supreme Court in Wisconsin could further roll back voter suppression laws, paving the way for a Democrat to beat Senator Ron Johnson in 2028, allowing for a rare Senate pickup opportunity.

(5) Elon Musk. Musk is now funding ads statewide for Brad Schimel. Elon Musk has tweeted about the race, and is polling this message to see if it energizes Republican voters: “President Donald Trump says that electing Brad Schimel is vitally important, and that it's the difference between a Republican majority in congress that will pass his agenda and a Democrat majority that will work to defeat his agenda.” Defeating Trump’s agenda requires overcoming Musk and the GOP machine to ensure Susan Crawford wins. This is our opportunity to tell Musk to take his hands off our democracy! 

Listen to David Pepper's excellent explanation as to why state-wide supreme court elections matter by copying/pasting this link:

https://davidpepper.substack.com/p/help-win-wisconsin?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1171551&post_id=159822108&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=17y7a&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

If you prefer to pay by check, checks payable to "Democratic Party of Wisconsin" can be mailed to: WRH Strategies, 3528 N. Leavitt Street, Chicago, IL, 60618.

Questions? Contact Wendy Heltzer at 312-339-9513 or wendy@wrhstrategies.com.