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Janet Protasiewicz defeated Dan Kelly for Wisconsin Supreme Court. Thank you. [1]

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Date: 2023-04-10  

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!—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 without 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 win, not a loss.

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 Democratic strongholds like Madison and Milwaukee. A spike in young voters and voters of color. And above all, a massive gender gap.

Here’s how each county contributed to the vote total: Protasiewicz votes minus Kelly votes:

Graphic credit: Charles Franklin .

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.

We’ll know a ton more about exactly what happened once we get the individual-level voter file back, weeks from now. (To get a sense of what’s already knowable, see this piece by Greg Sargent .) But it’s clear that this was a voter uprising.

Even if the margin had been minuscule, 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 in any other state .

But the margin wasn’t minuscule. 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.

All allies of freedom and democracy owe a debt of gratitude to Justice-elect Janet Protasiewicz, and her family. She—and they—endured threats and smear campaigns that blanketed the state. She never wavered. The stress has been unimaginable, and Janet’s grace and fortitude has been remarkable. Thank you, Janet!

Judge Everett Mitchell ran an inspired and inspiring campaign in the primary, and 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 his work and ongoing leadership.

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

Thanks as well to Jodi Habush Sinykin, 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 Tom Nelson, who not only won, but helped drive up turnout to fuel the statewide victory. Huge thanks also to those running for full terms as judges across Wisconsin: Judge Sara Geenen, Judge Mary Burns, Judge Natasha Torry, Judge Cassandra Van Gompel, Judge Fred Strampe, and Judge LaKeisha Haase. 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 Emily Berge and Judge Chris Taylor, 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 Tony Evers and Senator Tammy Baldwin—and to Lt. Gov Sarah Rodriguez, AG Josh Kaul, and Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski. You made a huge difference!

It seemed like Justice Rebecca Dallet and Justice Jill Karofsky 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 reelection in 2025. Lisa Neubauer, we’re grateful that you never left the fight. Thanks to all of your families as well. It’s a team effort!

Rep. Pocan and Rep. Moore—you both helped power this win, and we’re so grateful.

Assembly Dems Leader Greta Neubauer, the ADCC team, and all of the Assembly Dems, including Rep. and Milwaukee Dems Chair Chris Sinicki, Rep. Francesca Hong, and so many others—plus last fall’s Assembly candidates who didn’t quite make it (so often due to the Supreme Court-imposed gerrymander!)—you moved mountains. Thanks!

Democratic Senate Leader Melissa Agard—you, your Senate Dems 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!

To all those who serve in gerrymandered districts now, 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. Mandela Barnes barnstormed the state. Officeholders including Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Kenosha’s John Antaramian, Wausau’s Katie Rosenberg, Sheboygan’s Ryan Sorenson, Superior’s Jim Paine, and so many more put heart and soul into driving up turnout. And congratulations to Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, 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.

National leaders also lent a hand—including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris; former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama; Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer; Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (who went above and beyond!); and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

We were so lucky to have the support of Senators Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Brian Schatz, John Fetterman, Jon Tester, and Tina Smith; and Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Maxwell Alejandro Frost, Angie Craig, among many others. And an extra-special thanks to former Attorney General Eric Holder and his team at the NDRC and All On The Line Wisconsin.

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 Alejandro Verdin, Pat Guarasci, Sam Langheim, Sachin Chheda, Morgan Snyder, Sam Roecker, Jacqueline Rosa, and Ben Nuckels. Don’t miss Pat’s thread thanking so many other campaign staffers for their work on Janet’s race .

For their work to elect Jodi Habush Sinykin, a huge thank you to Alex Pond, Eric Lagesse, Gina Walkington, and Garren Randolph.

Enormous appreciation for Mayor Genrich’s team: Amaad Rivera, Andrew Whitley, Matt Ullsvik—and Ben Nuckels yet again.

Thanks a million to the folks behind Mayor Cory Mason: Jon Jarmon, Joel Rivlin, Lyndsey Collins, and Fabi Maldonado.

To so many other people who worked on other candidate campaigns—paid or unpaid, as campaign managers, consultants, strategists, kitchen cabinet members, advisers, 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 Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

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.

Join me in thanking our senior team, and all those they led and managed.

Devin Remiker, 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 and—and for unexpectedly important issues like, this year, weather forecasting and FCC regulations.

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

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

A special note about Anna. She was a Regional Organizing Director at WisDems in 2018, statewide Organizing Director in 2020, and Coordinated Director in 2022 and 2023. Cycle by cycle, she has soared—and trained a generation of extraordinary leaders along the way. Anna is our secret weapon.

Bhavik Lathia 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.

Nick Truog 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. And 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.

Our HR team, under Katie Portis, has been essential in building, supporting, and training our team, 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 Tina Ignasiak, 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.

Our Operations team, led by Sal Cornacchione, has navigated the party through a spring operation 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 this year.

I can’t say enough about David Kronig (who is also our General Counsel) and the whole voter protection team. David’s been with us since January 2020—and 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 Gabbie Stasson, 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—and all our work generally—only matters if we figure out who it is we need to turn out. This spring, volunteer after volunteer has told me how great the data has been. Kudos to Alex Abrahams and our data team for navigating us through one of the hardest-to-model electorates of all time!

Katie Iliff, 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.

Andrea 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 Democratic 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 Felesia Martin, 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 Lee Snodgrass, 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 Racine County Dems chair Meg Andrietsch, 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, who invests enormous time in keeping our party’s finances, controls, and compliance in order—and who ran for Mayor of Fitchburg 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, Andrew Werthmann, Janet Bewley, and—until he stepped away this spring—Khary Penebaker. Alex Lasry is now running for the last DNC spot in a special election at our state convention this June. Wisconsin is also represented on the DNC by Mahlon Mitchell of the Firefighters, an at-large appointee, and Jason Rae, the elected national Secretary of party. I’m grateful to all!

The DNC—especially Chair Jaime Harrison, ED Sam Cornale (himself a Badger!), and Chelsie Ouellette—was an indispensable ally. To the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee—thank you!

The strength of our state party rests on the shoulders of dedicated volunteers at every level. 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 Young Democrats, College Democrats, and High School Democrats of Wisconsin—provide invaluable work 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.

And 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 coming 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 Common Power, SwingLeft, Indivisible, 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. Count up every dollar spent, and you’ll find that our side outraised theirs—but only narrowly. Compare the candidates’ campaigns and the state parties, and we blew them out of the water. 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 IBEW Local 494, which represents our Regional Organizing Directors and nonmanagerial HQ staff, and the DPW Field Unit, organized by the Campaign Workers Guild, for ensuring that our workers have a powerful voice. #UnionStrong!

So many unions engaged deeply in this fight. Infinite thanks to the Wisconsin and national AFL-CIO, WEAC and the NEA, The SEIU Wisconsin State Council and SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin, AFSCME, the AFT and AFT-WI, LiUNA and the Laborers, the Teamsters, the Operating Engineers, the UFCW, the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association, Plumbers Local 75, and the UA, the Painters, and the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters, 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. This spring, John Stocks played an indispensable role in ensuring that everyone did the work they could uniquely do best, and did it at the highest level. Your work was a master class in movement leadership. The Wisconsin donor table, chaired by John Miller and helmed by Eric Couto was essential. Jasmine Nears and the whole team at America Votes Wisconsin (and nationally) is jaw-droppingly effective. The Strategic Victory Fund and Scott Anderson were key. And Cassi Fenili and Lara Henderson 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 Wisconsin Conservation Voters and the League of Conservation Voters, For Our Future, SEIU and Power to the Polls, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Voces De La Frontera Action, and the Working Families Party-Wisconsin and national.

Deep gratitude for the Workers Center for Racial Justice, Project 72 , Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Leaders Igniting Transformation, ACLU and ACLU Wisconsin, the NAACP, Grassroots Organizing Western Wisconsin, 350 Wisconsin Action, ProgressNorth, WISDOM, Sierra Club, Our Wisconsin Revolution, NextGen America, VoteRiders, RISE, MoveOn, ​​the PCCC, Working America, Generation Ratify, Climate Emergency Advocates, Voters of Tomorrow, Freedom Action Now, Empower, and Black Voters Matter.

So many pitched in. The Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance, Blue Sky Waukesha, Stand Up America, Activate America, Black to the Future, the Progressive Turnout Project, Postcards to Voters, All In Wisconsin, the Center for a Family Friendly Economy, Wisconsin Public Education Action, the Wisconsin Initiative, and Field Team Six were all clutch.

So many did extraordinary digital and other communications work in this race, starting with the mighty communications hub at A Better Wisconsin Together. We’re grateful to Galvanize, the One for All Committee, Tech for Campaigns, American Bridge, Priorities USA, Climate Emergency Advocates, and Movement Labs. Thanks to PushBlack, Somos Votantes, and the Center for Voter Information.

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, the Movement Voter Project, EMILY’s List, the State Democracy Action Fund, the Rural Voter Initiative, the Committee on States, and Focus For Democracy.

The State Democracy Defenders PAC and Norm Eisen were key. Kudos and appreciation to PowerPAC, Women Win Wisconsin, the Majority Rules PAC, Social Security Works, Iron PAC, Midwest Values PAC, Rebellion PAC, and The Long Run PAC—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 Vote Save America, Crooked Media, At Advocacy, Bradley Whitford, Brian Tyler Cohen, “PoliticsGirl” Leigh McGowan, Simon Rosenberg, The Devil’s Advocates, Heartland Signal, and so many other communicators and organizers who focused attention on this fight.

We’re so lucky in Wisconsin to have such extraordinary mentors and friends, including Teresa Vilmain, Tanya Bjork, Bill Dempsey, Greg Lewis, Lew Friedland, John Grabel, Meagan Mahaffey, Denise Feriozzi, Juan Jose Lopez, Gary Goyke, Michelle McGrorty, Stephanie Schriock, and Anat Shenker-Osorio.

I thanked them earlier in this memo for their work, but an extra special thanks to Jasmine Nears of America Votes, Eric Couto of the Wisconsin Donor Table, and the WisDems senior team for all of their help compiling and checking the list of folks thanked here. Omissions, and I’m sure there are many, are my fault alone. But if you poured work into this fight and aren’t listed, please know—your work was seen and appreciated.

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—and above all, of 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 with 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.

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