Weekly News from Your Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair
Follow this newsletter to keep current on the events shaping our state and the work our party is doing to win in 2018 and beyond.
Photo Credit: John Hart, AP
Wow. What a week. I am still smiling after our monumental victories from Tuesday night. Together, we elected Tony Evers as our governor, Mandela Barnes as our lieutenant governor (and our first black liutenant governor!), Josh Kaul as our attorney general, Sarah Godlewski as our treasurer, and re-elected our Senator Tammy Baldwin and secretary of state Doug La Follette. Folks, that means Democrats won every statewide race.
I am so incredibly proud of all of the work our candidates, volunteers and staff put in over the past several months, and I forever thankful for the resources our donors provided to enable us to build the infrastructure we needed to get our message out. I mean it when I say these victories belong to all of us. I am so incredibly grateful to all of you who gave everything and then some to make a better future for our great state.
Photo Credit: CapTimes
Tuesday night was a whirlwind of emotions. I cannot begin to describe the sheer excitement I felt when Tony and Mandela took the stage as our next Governor and Lt. Governor. This week, Wisconsin turned a new page. We will once again strive to be a state where everyone has a fair shot to get ahead and make a good life for themselves. Under Tony and Mandela’s leadership, we’ll leave behind the politics of divide and conquer and chart a new future where we invest in each other’s success because we all do better when we all do better. I cannot wait to see the future we leave for our families and our children in Wisconsin.
Unfortunately, results weren’t all rosy on Tuesday. We faced some tough losses in the Legislature, and some of our hardest working candidates came up short because of the extreme gerrymandering of our maps. There is no doubt that Republicans’ rigged system is working by design.
These candidates put in their all, and I am extremely grateful for their hard work. Without wonderful, hardworking candidates in our state legislative races, we would not have seen the turnout and enthusiasm we saw on Tuesday. Each and everyone of them helped us turn out the vote to win all five statewide races – something no Party has done since 1982!
I know how daunting it is to step up and run for office, but I’m so thankful for every candidate that chose to this cycle. Our candidates will surely inspire a new generation of leaders in our state.
We did have two incredible victories in our state legislature. Along with several new faces in Dem seats, we notably elected the youngest State Representative in the country–congratulations, Representative-elect Kalan Haywood of AD 16! Also, we received some very exciting news late Wednesday night that Robyn Vining of AD 14 won her race! All ballots hadn’t been counted Tuesday, when it looked like Matt Adamczyk, current State Treasurer, would prevail. I am extremely proud of these two, along with all of our other newly-elected legislators: Sen. Jeff Smith from Eau Claire, Rep. Marisabel Cabrera from Milwaukee, Rep. Sheila Stubbs from Madison (and Madison’s first black legislator), Rep. LaKeshia Myers from Milwaukee and Rep. Jodi Emersonfrom La Crosse! I look forward to introducing you to all of our wonderful new electeds in the coming weeks.
“What a whirlwind! The city clerk just called- we won, and I’m going to Madison! #loveWINS #2018midterms #widems #wimidterms #robynvining” — @RobynVining
Finally, I wanted to take a moment to thank YOU for all of the hours upon hours of work that you’ve put in over the past year. I can’t say it enough–each and every one of you and your relentless dedication to the cause are the reason we came out on top.
With that, I am beyond thrilled to once again, congratulate Senator Tammy Baldwin, Governor-elect Tony Evers, Lt. Governor-elect Mandela Barnes, Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul, State Treasurer-elect Sarah Godlewski, and Secretary of State Doug La Follette (wow, is that a mouthful!). Thank you for your leadership and dedication to our state. I sincerely look forward to redefining what it means to be a proud Wisconsinite with you.
Dems Making History Nationwide
Though there were some stinging losses, I think Tuesday can be chalked up to a win nationwide. Democrats took back the House, flipped SEVEN governor’s offices from red to blue (including Wisconsin, of course!); Colorado elected their first openly gay governor; the first two Muslim and two Native American women were elected in Minnesota and Michigan, and Kansas and New Mexico, respectively; and the New York elected the youngest woman to be in Congress.
I am incredibly proud of the way Democrats mobilized nationwide to make sure these amazing candidate were elected. Here in Wisconsin, our field program worked up until the very last minute to turn out the vote. Our organizers and volunteers worked long hours day in and day out to make sure that people had all of the information and tools they needed to vote.
With wildly close margins in the governor’s race, our grassroots operation was pivotal. Our victories should only serve to further motivate us moving forward. Rest your feet and take an extra nap over these next few days as we relish this sweet victory, because we’ll be coming back more motivated than ever before to continue the work we started.
Republicans Sore Losers
Republicans are all sour grapes now that Wisconsin has elected Tony as our state’s new leader. On Wednesday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos came out with a statement saying that he is considering limiting the gubernatorial authority in fear of Tony “championing liberal policies” once he’s been sworn in. Even though Republicans still maintain control of both chambers of the legislature, Vos is still feeling the panic of not having a rubber stamp governor to push his policies through.
Speaker Vos’ threats are more of the same partisan tricks that Wisconsinites voted out on Tuesday. Wisconsinites are sick and tired of these tricks that only serve to divide our state further. Our leaders should be finding ways to broach partisan lines and find solutions that benefit all Wisconsinites, instead of furthering wedging the divide.
Although we haven’t heard from Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald on whether he’d be able to drum up enough support within his caucus to validate Vos’ power grab, I’m hopeful that good sense will prevail over the partisan divide in this case. At this point, it’s clear that these Republicans aren’t listening to their constituents.
