Activity by Progressive/Democratic-Aligned Groups in Wisconsin

AFSCME Wisconsin
November 6, 2020

AFSCME Wisconsin Statement on Historic Statewide Organizing Program and 2020 Electoral Victories

AFSCME Wisconsin applauds the landmark organizing work of AFSCME members, retirees, and local leaders which helped deliver a historic electoral victory for Wisconsin’s working families. Amid a global pandemic, AFSCME members mobilized to elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next President and Vice President of the United States, and contributed to the highest electoral turn out in our nation’s history.

Participants engaged in a unique organizing model geared towards long-term worker engagement and solidarity-building. From the Wisconsin state legislature to the U.S. presidency, AFSCME organizing efforts created the momentum necessary to develop worker power beyond a single election cycle.

AFSCME Wisconsin Vice President and organizing volunteer Mark Pelzek stated, “this program allowed us to find out how our coworkers are managing with the pandemic and other workplace issues. We discussed standing together as union to fight for solutions and using our strength for collective action. This program helped us mobilize to cement a Joe Biden victory and elect worker-friendly candidates. We positioned ourselves to build our union by organizing and standing together to demand solutions and improve our working conditions for years to come.”  

AFSCME Wisconsin Executive Director Patrick Wycoff stated, “our work this election cycle was based on the premise that workers acting collectively can not only change their workplaces, but also their communities. In the last two months, AFSCME members’ nearly 40,000 phone calls to their coworkers laid the foundation for organizing activities which will outlast any elected leader. We invested in this program because we believe in the dignity of our essential work. We know that when we organize and stand together, our power is limitless. The voice of essential workers was heard loud and clear this election: we will not be silent; we will not stop organizing.”

For more information, please contact AFSCME Wisconsin Communications Director Valerie Landowski (vlandowski@afscme32.org) or (715) 347-2740

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Opportunity Wisconsin


Oct. 30 graphic
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TODAY: Opportunity Wisconsin Billboard to Welcome VP Pence to Waukesha

 Billboard to highlight Trump administration’s failure to combat COVID-19 
Waukesha physician available for onsite interviews

WAUKESHA, Wis. — TODAY, Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 10:00AM CT a mobile billboard from Opportunity Wisconsin will welcome Vice President Mike Pence to Waukesha. With almost 8 million cases nationwide and over 219,000 deaths, the billboard will highlight the Trump administration’s failure to combat the COVID-19 pandemic as Wisconsin continues to break records and claim an unwelcome title as one of America’s hotspots. The billboard will be circulating Weldall Manufacturing in Waukesha, ahead of the Vice President’s visit.

Dr. Peter Geiss, a Waukesha Internal Medicine Specialist, will be available with the billboard at Prairie Park to speak with the media about how the mismanagement of COVID-19 has impacted both the physical and financial well-being of Wisconsinites.

WHAT:    
Opportunity Wisconsin Billboard and Media Availability  

WHEN:    
TODAY
October 13, 2020
10:00 AM CT

WHO:    
Dr. Peter Geiss, Waukesha Internal Medicine Specialist

WHERE:
Prairie Park, Waukesha
(Across from Weldall Manufacturing on South Prairie Avenue)

About Opportunity Wisconsin
Opportunity Wisconsin is a coalition of Wisconsin residents fighting for an economy that works for working people. Through our stories, we’re elevating the real consequences of the destructive economic policies championed by President Trump and his allies these past three years, and showing how they have made Wisconsin’s economy worse off. Join us in demanding our elected officials focus more on growing the economy for middle class folks and expanding opportunity for all Wisconsinites, not just the wealthy few. To learn more about Opportunity Wisconsin, visit OpportunityWisconsin.org or stay connected on Twitter at @OpportunityWI and on Facebook at Facebook.com/OpportunityWI.

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• Wisconsin Voices is part of the State Voices national network.

"We unify a dynamic network of progressive nonprofits in Wisconsin around achieving shared goals to build a better democracy. We build our partners’ capacity, amplify their impact, nurture new leadership, promote racial equity, champion transparent policies, and foster civic engagement so that everyone has an equal voice."
 
https://statevoices.org/state-tables/wisconsin/
 https://wisconsinvoices.org/about/

Executive Director  Dana Schultz
Communications Director  Lisa Lucas
Director of the African American Roundtable  Markasa Tucker
AART Lead Organizer  Devin Anderson
Digital Coordinator (AART)  Lea Hortman
Civic Engagement Director  Valeria Cerda
Civic Engagement and Field Manager  Iuscely Flores Villarreal
Data and Tech Manager  Laura Villeda
Data and Reporting Manager  Caleb Thompson
Voter Registration Campaign Manager  Julia Lorentsen
Voter Registration Outreach Manager  Debra Gary
Outreach Director  Julie Emery
Digital Campaign Manager  Alyssa Delloro
Digital Partner Manager  Jeanette Martin
Fair Maps Organizer  Carlene Bechen
Operations Manager  Nicole Winters
Development Manager  Simone Smith

• Wisconsin is one of America Votes' 12 core states.  "America Votes Wisconsin operates out of Madison and has been a part of the state's progressive community since 2003."
https://americavotes.org/state-network/

State Director  Jasmine Nears
Program Director  Sam Vorhees
Data Manager  Seong Kim
Data Manager  Toby Miceli-Gwiazdowsi
• A Better Wisconsin Together launched in January 2020 as "state-based research and communications hub for progressives."

A Better Wisconsin Together
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT
Mike Browne, Deputy Director

Nicole Safar to Lead Progressive Communications and Research Hub A Better Wisconsin Together as Executive Director

MADISON, Wis. — Nicole Safar has joined state-based communications and research hub A Better Wisconsin Together (ABWT) as Executive Director. Safar has an extensive background working with progressives in Wisconsin as a public policy advocate, coalition leader and political strategist.

“Nicole brings an outstanding skill set and a smart strategic vision,” said A Better Wisconsin Together Board Chair Jackie Boynton. “We’re thrilled she’ll be leading our organization, working with Wisconsin’s progressive community to build power and amplify the important work partners and leaders are doing across all levels in our state.”

In 2019, Safar joined the Evers’s Administration as Assistant Deputy Secretary at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, where she built and led the senior leadership team. Before that, she spent 14 years at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in multiple roles including legal and policy advisory, lobbyist, political director and Vice President of Public Affairs and Legal Advocacy. She currently serves on the boards of Wisconsin Progress, Share the Health and the New Leaders Council Advisory Board.

Safar is a lawyer and member of the Wisconsin State Bar. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School and Gustavus Adolphus College.

“The success we achieve as progressives will be a collective effort and we all have a role to play,” said Safar. “At ABWT we’re going to listen to stakeholders and partners and be data driven, using these key perspectives to innovate and build power for progressive values in Wisconsin. We have a unique opportunity right now to take the current crisis people are facing- whether it be the pandemic, unemployment or systemic racism and mobilize that energy as part of the movement for a more just, equitable and inclusive society.”

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A Better Wisconsin, Together: New Progressive Advocacy Organization Ready to Fight the Right in Wisconsin

Communications and Research Hub to Boost Wisconsin Progressive Effort in Critical Battleground State

MADISON, Wis. — A Better Wisconsin Together (ABWT) is a new ally for Wisconsin progressives working to advance their values and hold the right wing accountable. As a research, communications and advocacy organization, ABWT will bring cutting edge tools and innovative tactics to the public policy and political debate in Wisconsin at both the state and federal level.

“Wisconsin is a critical battleground state,” said ABWT Board of Directors President Michelle McGrorty. “With so much at stake in Wisconsin in 2020, A Better Wisconsin Together is bringing together what’s worked for progressives in the past along with new ideas and tactics using the best research and communications tools available.”

Organized as a non-partisan, not-for-profit 501(c)(4) organization, A Better Wisconsin  Together’s mission as an advocacy organization focused on public policy is to serve as a center for progressive message development, testing and communications. Along with rapid response and earned media, ABWT will engage Wisconsinites on issues using paid digital, television and radio communications. An affiliated section 527 organization will focus on elections and other independent political activities.

As part of the project, leading state liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now will be merging operations as a project of ABWT, bringing along experienced staff and the most comprehensive right-wing accountability research library in the state.

Wisconsin’s closely divided politics presents both challenges and opportunities for progressives in advancing their issues, according to McGrorty. For example, in Spring 2018 a progressive candidate won an open state Supreme Court seat while Democrats swept every state-wide office on the ballot in November including U.S. Senator, Governor and Attorney General. But in Spring 2019, progressives came up just short to a right-wing extremist judge in a state-wide race featuring a flood of late spending on his behalf from Washington D.C. special interests.

She concluded, “We know there’s nothing the right wing won’t do to try to tip the scales in their favor in Wisconsin. Progressives can’t afford anything less than an all out effort to push back and hold the right wing accountable so we can advance our issues and values in Wisconsin.”

Garrick Delzell, a national consultant for progressive organizations and campaigns, is currently serving as ABWT’s interim director and issue campaign senior advisor. Additional announcements regarding ABWT leadership and staff will be made in the coming weeks. Their work will be featured on the web at A Better Wisconsin Together, on Twitter at @ABetterWis and on Facebook at facebook.com/ABetterWis/.

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• Wisconsin is one of twelve states targeted by SwingLeft as part of its Super State Strategy.
https://swingleft.org/p/wisconsin

WISCONSIN
SUPER STATE STRATEGY
Our primary objectives in Wisconsin  are to: 1) win the state’s 10 Electoral College votes, 2) protect Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ veto power by preventing GOP supermajorities in the Wisconsin State Senate and State Assembly, and 3) lay the groundwork to flip the state legislature in 2022.

In the state Assembly, we are currently targeting eight districts—seven GOP-held seats and one Democratic hold. Our targets are located in the Milwaukee metro area, the Minneapolis suburbs, and rural communities in southwest Wisconsin. Because Wisconsin State Assembly districts are nested within Senate districts, many of our legislative targets overlap with one another geographically.

In the state Senate, we are currently targeting four districts—two GOP-held seats and two Democratic holds. Due to Wisconsin’s extreme partisan gerrymandering—and the fact that only half of the chamber is up for election in 2020—our targets are distributed in competitive regions across the state, including Milwaukee, the Minneapolis suburbs, and rural communities in central and southwest Wisconsin.

 
BY THE NUMBERS:
3 Seats needed to flip the state senate
14 Seats needed to flip the state assembly
10 Electoral College votes

OUR TARGETS:
State Senate: SD-8, SD-10, SD-24, SD-32
State Assembly: AD-13, AD-14, AD-21, AD-23, AD-24, AD-30, AD-51, AD-96


WHAT'S AT STAKE
41,000 Wisconsin residents in prison, jail, and other carceral facilities: According to the Prison Policy Initiative, black Americans make up 6% of Wisconsin’s population but nearly 40% of the state’s prison and jail population. In Milwaukee County alone, 812 people per 100,000 residents are behind bars. Mass incarceration in Milwaukee’s 53206 zip code has shone a spotlight on the need for criminal justice reform in Wisconsin.

70% of Wisconsinites support Medicaid expansion: While Democratic Governor Tony Evers has fought for expanding Medicaid coverage—which the majority of Wisconsinites support—the GOP-led state legislature has prevented its passage. This is an example of legislators refusing popular policies while partisan gerrymandering ensures their safe re-election.

22,748 vote margin of victory in Wisconsin for Trump in 2016: The 2016 election was the first general election in which Wisconsin voters had to show a current driver’s license, passport, or state or military ID to cast a ballot, even if they were already registered to vote. Analysis shows that Wisconsin’s voter ID law reduced turnout by at least 200,000 votes in 2016.

What's at stake facts updated June 2020

• Wisconsin was one of four states where Priorities USA established an on-the-ground presence from July 2019 to July 1, 2020.

Priorities USA
July 18, 2019

Priorities USA Launches Priorities Wisconsin

Today, Priorities USA is launching Priorities Wisconsin with the announcement of its battleground state communications program. A part of the group’s initial $100 million investment in key states, this innovative program will combine traditionally separate press and digital communications operations to reach voters in all the places where they get their news and information.

The on-the-ground team in Wisconsin will collect and capture stories from real people and families who have felt the negative impact of living in Trump’s economy. The team will create original content in collaboration with local partners and work with in-state media to share the stories, research, and data reflecting what it’s really like to live in Trump’s America. This work will also inform Priorities’ national paid media program, helping to localize messaging and content to make their ads more relevant to real Wisconsinites.

“Trump loves to gloat about how great the economy is, but here in Wisconsin, voters know that families are actually struggling to make ends meet. Health care costs across the country are sky-high, especially in Wisconsin. Billionaires and big corporations might be doing fine, but we can’t say the same for the Wisconsin small business owners suffering because of Trump’s trade war,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of Priorities USA. “Wisconsin will be a crucial state in 2020, and our new program will show how this isn’t an economy that’s working for everyday Wisconsinites.”

The reality is that many Wisconsin families are struggling to make ends meet.

Nearly one in five Wisconsin workers earn wages that fail to cover the cost of basic expenses, and health care costs in Wisconsin are the 5th worst in the nation.

In some areas, even working two full-time jobs isn’t enough. One report found that in Dane County, residents need to work almost three full-time, minimum-wage jobs just to afford a two-bedroom apartment.

Dairy farmers are also suffering, with a record number of farms closing in 2018, while small business owners are losing deals as a result of Trump’s tariffs.

The growing Priorities Wisconsin team will include:

Bridget Driscoll, serving as Content Producer. Bridget will work to collect and capture stories of real people who feel the effect of Trump’s policies, working with organizations on the ground to make sure those stories reach voters across channels. Most recently, Bridget served as Digital Director for Governor Tony Evers, where she led digital strategy and all social media, photo, video, and graphic design production for the new administration. Previously, she oversaw social media and video production for Tammy Baldwin’s successful re-election to the U.S. Senate and worked at Bully Pulpit Interactive, a top Democratic digital firm. She is from the Waukesha, WI area and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This program comes as part of Priorities USA’s transition into the 2020 presidential cycle. This also includes a new program to provide partners with in-depth modeling, targeting, and opinion research for digital, TV, mail and field programs; continued efforts to train progressive operatives in understanding, planning, and executing digital campaigns; as well as a strong focus on both persuading moveable voters and mobilizing the Democratic base.