Indivisibles,
The upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election has been described as “the
most important election in America in 2023,” and the race that will
“likely have a larger effect on the 2024 presidential race than any other
contest” this year.^[1,2]
And honestly, that might be downplaying it.
In the coming years, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will determine the fate
of abortion rights in the state and will likely hear cases on voting
rights, redistricting, and election subversion in a key 2024 (House,
Senate, AND presidential) battleground.
Those cases will either be decided by a liberal majority or a conservative
majority that rubber stamps policies favored by the state’s MAGA
legislature. It all comes down to the outcome of this election.
Clearly, Indivisible isn’t going to sit this one out.
In consultation with Wisconsin Indivisibles, we’ve decided to throw our
support behind Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County Circuit Court
judge who has made reproductive freedom a centerpiece of her campaign.
There’s just one catch. Because Indivisible focuses primarily on federal
races, we aren’t currently budgeted to activate our volunteer network to
support Protasiewicz in Wisconsin. So this is a situation where you and
other Indivisible supporters will determine what programs we can
greenlight and how big a role Indivisible will play (more on that below).
We’re NOT talking about running big TV spots or expensive things like
that. The super PACs are welcome to play in that space (and no doubt, they
will). We’re talking about volunteer engagement and direct voter contact
-- tactics that deliver the best results at the lowest cost. Tactics that
deliver wins.
Every dollar we raise from this email will go directly to this
mobilization. [ [link removed] ]So if you’re able to help us flip the Wisconsin Supreme
Court and land a critical victory for abortion rights and democracy
nationwide, please chip in here >>
If you've saved your information with ActBlue Express Lane, your donation
to Indivisible Action will go through immediately:
[ [link removed] ]Donate $7 >>
[ [link removed] ]Donate $25 >>
[ [link removed] ]Donate $50 >>
[ [link removed] ]Donate $75 >>
[ [link removed] ]Donate another amount >>
A little more about the race
Three weeks from now (Feb. 21), Wisconsinites will vote in a primary to
determine the two candidates who will face each other in the April 4
general election. The primary is nonpartisan in that the candidates don’t
have party labels by their names -- but in reality, there are two
conservative candidates and two liberal candidates on the ballot.
Anti-abortion groups and other MAGA donors are already putting big money
behind the conservatives, creating the risk of a nightmare scenario where
two right-wing candidates emerge from the primary, guaranteeing a
conservative majority for years to come.
That’s why we decided it was vital to mobilize during the primary behind a
single standard bearer for civil rights and small-d democratic values.
A little more about the stakes
Wisconsin has been a testing ground for MAGA Republicans’ assault on
majority rule for years. It’s a state where partisan gerrymandering
virtually guarantees a Republican legislative majority regardless of the
vote count -- seriously, in 2018, they got 64% of assembly seats with only
46% of the vote.
A lot of the GOP’s anti-democratic shenanigans have been enabled by the
state Supreme Court, where conservatives have held a majority since 2008.
And because Wisconsin is a crucial swing state, that often has national
implications -- like when the court outlawed drop boxes ahead of the 2020
election. The conservative judges very nearly allowed Trump to throw out
thousands of votes that year. In all likelihood, the court will hear cases
related to election subversion once again in 2024.
So we’re talking huge national stakes -- but there are obviously all sorts
of civil, labor, LGBTQ+, and reproductive rights cases that will come
before the court in the coming years too. Among them will be challenges to
the nearly 200-year-old abortion ban that’s shut down all providers in the
state (abortions are currently only allowed to be carried out at hospitals
to save the life of the patient).^[3]
How your support can make a difference
The last Supreme Court race that took place in the Badger State during a
non-presidential election year was won by only 5,981 votes. With margins
that small, every text we can send, every door we can knock will matter.
At this point, we’re looking to fund two programs during the primary and
general election:
* Our Neighbor2Neighbor canvassing program is a new simplified
micro-canvassing program that helped propel us to our historic midterm
wins last year. It gives our members across the state ten doors to
knock within a block or two of their own home -- allowing deep,
personal, and persuasive conversations between neighbors.
* Our peer-to-peer texting program will allow Indivisibles nationwide to
contact Wisconsin voters using proven and tested messaging aimed at
turning out the vote.
Our texting program is scalable, meaning the more we raise today, the more
texts we can send. $3,000 gets us about 80,000 texts. If there’s an
outpouring of support and we raise $5,000, we can send 125,000 texts. And
if we raise even more, we can think about greenlighting more programs
after the primary.
[ [link removed] ]If you have the capacity to do so, please chip in now to help us get
these programs off the ground as soon as possible and deliver a critical
win for democracy in Wisconsin >>
If you've saved your information with ActBlue Express Lane, your donation
to Indivisible Action will go through immediately:
[ [link removed] ]Donate $7 >>
[ [link removed] ]Donate $25 >>
[ [link removed] ]Donate $50 >>
[ [link removed] ]Donate $75 >>
[ [link removed] ]Donate another amount >>
Whether or not you’re able to give today, we’ll have more ways you can get
involved. For now, [ [link removed] ]you can pre-register for textbanking and -- if we
hit our fundraising threshold -- we’ll be in touch shortly with more
details.
We’ve got three weeks until Election Day. Let’s get going!
In solidarity,
Indivisible Team
[1] [ [link removed] ]A Colossal Off-Year Election in Wisconsin, by Reid J. Epstein. New
York Times, 1/16/23.
[2] [ [link removed] ]Twitter thread by Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler.
[3] [ [link removed] ]Abortion in Wisconsin, Abortionfinder.org
[ [link removed] ]Indivisible Facebook
[ [link removed] ]Indivisible Twitter
[ [link removed] ]Indivisible Instagram
You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time:
[link removed]
