Our nonpartisan advocacy will be needed more than ever to stand up for quality public education, healthcare, voting rights and protection of our natural resources.

MADISON - We’ve begun to hear about what to expect in the State Capitol in 2017, and it's not pretty. There's talk of rolling back environmental protections, requiring drug tests for benefit recipients, limiting the number of refugees who may come to Wisconsin and reducing child support payments for the wealthiest parents.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin’s nonpartisan advocacy will be needed more than ever to stand up for quality public education, healthcare, voting rights and protection of our natural resources. In particular, the League needs your support to advocate for an accountable state budget that will support essential government services through a fair tax system.

Your year-end contribution will help the League stand up to politicians who believe simply in less government, rather than in more responsive, efficient and effective government.

As a grassroots organization, our strength is in our many active League members and followers. In 2017 we plan to be more proactive in alerting you with timely and concise information so you can contact your legislators and hold them accountable.

We have a big year ahead, and with your support and activism the League will speak truth to power to keep Wisconsin a healthy, happy place to live, work, play and raise a family.

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Please help keep the League strong with as generous a contribution as you can. Click here to make a secure, tax-deductible contribution to help the League continue to be a robust and authoritative force for good government in Wisconsin.

Democratic Party Chair Martha Laning wishes you a happy holiday season and talks about spring program preparations, listening, the VAN Grant program, Russian interference in the 2016 election, Trump silence on Buy America, and more...

MADISON - There is a lot to discuss this week but before diving in I want to wish you all a very happy holiday season and new year. This will be my last Chair Update until January - stay warm, rest up, and let's get to work with renewed efforts in 2017!

The Big Idea

We are doing a number of things to get our spring program underway including:

• Hosting candidate recruitment conference calls with county parties.
• Calling around to various county party chairs to talk about recruitment.
• Creating resources for spring candidates and county parties.
• Partnering with Wisconsin Progress on some of their training sessions.
• Designing training programs for spring candidates and county parties.
• General consulting with candidates, similar to how we operated this fall.

We are committed to working closely with our local parties, activists, and candidates to ensure we can start taking back our Republican-led state.

Deep Dive Update

In the past week we met in Hayward and Eau Claire to hear from our volunteers, party members like yourselves, candidates, and staff members. It has been extremely helpful gathering this information, which we will use when we meet in February we will use this information to strategically plan how we move our party forward.

Things You May Have Missed But Need To See Now

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is committed to supporting and electing progressive candidates to several local offices across Wisconsin. That’s why this year, we’re continuing our local candidate VAN Grant Program! Through the VAN Grant program, candidates who meet the program’s criteria and are committed to voter contact will have the VAN in-kinded to their campaign.
Read more about the VAN Grant Program here.

DNC Interim Chair Donna Brazile called on Congress to launch a thorough, independent, and bipartisan investigation into the Russian government’s unprecedented interference in the 2016 election.  The intelligence community concluded that the Russian government orchestrated a series of cyberattacks on campaign committees and organizations over the past two years and used stolen information to influence both the Presidential campaign and Congressional races over the past two years.
Read Donna Brazille's Statement on Russia's involvement here.

UW-Madison says state cuts threaten research stature
"UW-Madison slipped to sixth place overall, a seemingly small drop. But it was among only four universities in the National Science Foundation's top 30 — and the only one among the top 10 — to report a decline in research and development spending in the last fiscal year. And its 3.6% single-year slide was the largest among the top 30, the NSF data showed."
Read the full story here.

Tammy Baldwin announces federal funding to combat opioid epidemic
"A task force for combating Wisconsin’s opioid epidemic could have a little more to work with. U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, announced Friday that $1 billion in federal money has become available for states to fight the ever-growing epidemic of painkiller abuse and heroin addiction, which has been on a steady rise nationwide for more than a decade."
Read the full story here.

U.S. Officials: Putin Personally Involved In U.S. Election Hack
"Two senior officials with direct access to the information say new intelligence shows that Putin personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used. The intelligence came from diplomatic sources and spies working for U.S. allies, the officials said." 
Read the full story here.

Silence from Trump Tower on Buy America
"The time is now for Donald Trump to take a stand in support of American workers by calling on Republican leadership in Congress to support strong Buy America requirements in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), also known as the Water Infrastructure Improvements Act (WIIN). Just one week ago in Cincinnati, President-elect Trump said his infrastructure plan would follow two simple rules: “Buy American and hire American.” I support that position, but unfortunately, the Republican establishment in Washington didn’t hear him. They have removed my Buy America standard from water infrastructure legislation and Trump Tower has since remained silent."

Read all of Senator Tammy Baldwin's Article Here.

Democratic Party Chair Martha Laning on her latest statewide listening sessions, the State Chairs and Executive Directors meeting in Denver last week, Russian interference in the presidential election, and clips you may have missed but really need to see.

MADISON - The past week has been a very busy one with our Association of State Chairs meeting and several debrief meetings around Wisconsin. The meetings have been very helpful at putting together the pieces of the story as to how this election turned out so differently from what we expected.

Deep Dive Update

We are about half way through the listening sessions with volunteers, party members, candidates, and staff that we are doing across the state. Through the sessions we are gathering a lot of valuable information from activists that will help us plan for the changes we need to make. In addition, this week we are meeting with our nonprofit partners to discuss the campaign and hear their thoughts and opinions. The final phase of informational gathering won’t start until January when the state releases the detailed voting records.  All of this information will be used for our strategic planning in early February.

The Association of State Democratic Chairs (ASDC) meeting

The State Chairs and Executive Directors met in Denver last week. The meeting is an opportunity for the DNC to brief us on research they have pulled together, network with other chairs to learn from each others success and challenges, and finally to set a plan for how to move forward.

There was a lot of discussion about the Democratic National Committee Chair election that is coming up in February.  The ASDC is developing a list of priorities the organization can all agree are important for our next chair to implement in order to create a stronger, more nimble organization that support State Parties. There are currently four announced candidates for the DNC Chairmanship.

I have endorsed Rep. Keith Ellison because of his strong belief that we need to build our party from the grassroots up.  Rep. Ellison has gone out of his way to come to Wisconsin to help us build grassroots activism by speaking at Fighting Bob Fest and community events like our Bus Tour Breakfast in Milwaukee with local elected leaders.  Keith won his first election by turning out brand new voters, he doesn’t just talk about it – he makes it happen.  He puts 200% into everything he does.  There was a concern that Keith would be fulfilling two roles, both as a representative to the US Congress and DNC chair if elected, which many felt was too much.  This week Rep. Ellison announced, that if elected, he would give up his congressional seat. Just another example of how committed he is to the party and an example of how he listens to the concerns of his fellow Democrats. 

Keith has also been endorsed by a wide variety of organizations, legislators and activists like the AFL-CIO, IBEW, United Steelworkers, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Gwen Moore, Representative John Lewis, and Representative Mark Pocan.  We have great Democrats running for the DNC Chair and I will be happy to work with any of them. However, I strongly believe in Rep. Ellison’s commitment to building parties from the ground up and I think this election proved just how important that is.  You can learn more about Representative Keith Ellison at keithforDNC.org

The Big Idea

As I am sure many of you saw, it has become quite clear the Russians directly interfered in the presidential election to try and help Donald Trump win. The race is over and it is time for our country to move forward, BUT there absolutely must be a further investigation into Russia's actions. 

I am dismayed by the lack of outcry from the Republican Party, particularly here in Wisconsin, in response to Russia's meddling in our election. The fact Donald Trump has rejected the CIA's findings, and Republican leaders are dismissing the evidence as well, is some of the most unpatriotic nonsense I have ever seen in my life. What's worse, Trump and many of his Republican colleagues are now attacking the CIA, not Russia and what they did.

The integrity of our democracy, and democracies around the world, are at stake as Russia continues to try to undermine free and fair countries. You shouldn't have to be a Democrat or Republican to see there should be strong bipartisan support to look into Russia's actions and punish them for what they have done. I hope Sen. Ron Johnson will realize this isn't a partisan problem, this is an American problem that we all have to work together to solve.

What You May Have Missed But Need To See Now

Bernie Sanders sat down with MSNBC's Chris Hayes in Kenosha to talk about the election and how we forward on as a party. It's very much worth the watch!
Watch the full interview here.

For the 20th straight quarter, Wisconsin Republican's failed agenda has left Wisconsin trailing the national average in private sector job growth. Over 70% of new jobs in Wisconsin are created by small businesses, yet the Republican-led legislature refuses to make the proper investments that would create jobs and boost Wisconsin's economy.
Read more about the GOP's failure here.

Unbelievably Rep. Sean Duffy had the audacity to call Madison undemocratic and a communist community because of the hand recount that took place. What he failed to mention was 47 counties did full hand recounts, and thirteen others did partial hand recounts. 
Read more about Duffy's comments here.

We hope Speaker Ryan, Sen. Johnson, and Rep. Duffy will consider the damage repealing the ACA would have on our country: "In 2009, when Obama took office, about 50 million people were uninsured. The report projects that after repeal, 59 million people will lack coverage by 2019, compared to 29 million if the ACA remains in place."
Read the full article here.

As Sheriff David Clarke neglected his duty to serve Milwaukee, four people died in the prison he oversees since April, and went so far to blame the inmates for their own deaths. This includes an individual who died of dehydration after the water to their cell was shut off. Now, the mothers of the deceased are calling for the Sheriff to resign.
Read more about the call for Sheriff Clarke to resign here.

After years of attacking our University system and slashing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, for the first time in 40 years UW-Madison has fallen out of the top five for research.
Read more about the need to re-invest in our UW-System.

Last week Senator Jennifer Shilling gave the weekly Democratic radio address. She highlighted the need for working families to have more workplace flexibility so they receive the wages and benefits they need to get ahead. 
You can read and listen to Sen. Shillings address here.

Current leaders want to continue work to unite the party behind progressive values, strengthen county parties, do solid fundraising, and build a strong team for future elections.

MADISON – Today, Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Martha Laning and First Vice Chair Representative David Bowen announced their re-election campaign ahead of the 2017 Democratic Party of Wisconsin officer elections.

"It has been our honor to serve the members of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin since our election in 2015,” Democratic Party Chair Woman Martha Laning stated. “We have worked hard to unite the party behind our progressive values, strengthen our county parties, continue our solid fundraising, and build a strong team.

We have an incredible team of Democrats who gave this past election all they’ve got. Though the results were not what we wanted on Election Day, we’re inspired by the passion and commitment of the thousands of volunteers, community leaders, candidates, campaign staff and more who worked so hard to elect Democrats this November,” Laning continued.

Laning and Bowen have been traveling the state meeting with local Democrats at listening sessions in communities like Hayward, Wausau, Eau Claire, Neenah, La Crosse, Dodgeville, Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan to debrief the 2016 election results and work with local party activists and leaders to identify the next steps to rebuilding the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

“It is clear that our team is more committed than ever to building a strong party that will unite Wisconsinites across our differences,” Laning commented. “That’s why we are proud to announce our intention to run for re-election as Chair and First Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.”

"I am proud of the work Martha and her team have done in the past 16 months toward making our Democratic Party one that embraces the values and goals of people in every corner of Wisconsin," said First Vice Chair Representative David Bowen. "As the party of inclusion, we need leadership that can continue delivering our positive message that no matter where you are located or your economic situation, ours is the big tent party that fights against the status quo and for the progressive values that will make our state and nation work for everyone. Martha is the right person for the job and I'm proud to support her and help our party embrace new ideas and winning strategies."

Laning continued, “We have been and will continue to be a leadership team who is committed to working with our party membership to identify ways to build a stronger party to turn our state around. As a party, we’ve come a long way in the first 18 months of our tenure and look forward to building on the work we’ve done to strengthen our team and improve our party’s efficacy as we gear up for critical elections in 2018 when we re-elect Tammy Baldwin to the United State Senate and remove Scott Walker from the Governor’s Office.”

Laning, a business woman and nonprofit fundraiser from Sheboygan, and Bowen who represents Wisconsin’s 10th Assembly District in Milwaukee, were first elected to their posts in June of 2015 by the membership of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. They will seek re-election during the upcoming DPW Convention in Middleton, WI from June 2-3, 2017.

After kissing up to Trump for a job in Washington, it is time for Clarke to return to Milwaukee County, answer to the public, and do his job. That includes the three deaths currently being reviewed in the Jail.

MADISON - Sheriff David Clarke went to great lengths to defend Donald Trump on the campaign trail in hopes of a cabinet position in the Trump Administration. Yesterday, the Milwaukee County Sheriff saw his dreams dashed as Donald Trump announced Retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly as his pick to head the department. Now that the Sheriff knows his fate, perhaps he can finally get back to work serving the people of his county.

"Public safety should not be a partisan issue. One value we all share is caring deeply for the safety and well-being of our fellow community members," Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning said on Thursday. "Now that the dust has settled on this election season, I sincerely hope that Sheriff David Clarke can refocus his attention to serving the people of Milwaukee County."

Clarke's county could use his attention as four prisoners have died at the Milwaukee County Jail in recent months, as The Milwaukee County Jail is under his supervision. Clarke, however, has spent a considerable amount of time in the last four months campaigning for President-elect Trump. Terrill Thomas, 38, died from profound dehydration after being denied water. An infant also died in custody after the mother gave birth unbeknownst to the staff. Another woman, Kristina Piebrink, 38, died for unexplained reasons in August as well as 29-year-old Michael Madden who died in late October.

Both Thomas and the infant's mother had histories of mental illness and were denied the care that could have prevented these fatalities. Robert Shansky, a court-appointed monitor, recently provided a report of these deaths. During his visit, Shanksy noted a severe short supply of medical staff at the jail.

Clarke has neglected his duty to the citizens of Milwaukee County to keep inmates safe while in jail. Instead of worrying about Wisconsinites, Clarke has been gallivanting around the nation raising his profile conservative circles - all while the recent deaths were being investigated. Just yesterday, County Executive Chris Abele called for Clarke to bring in an outside investigator for the three deaths currently being reviewed by the Milwaukee County Jail.

"The County Executive is right on the money with his call for an outside investigation into the deaths at the Milwaukee County Jail," Laning said. "The families of the deceased deserve an impartial investigation and the people of the county deserve to know facilities like these are safe and properly supervised by the sheriff and his team."

Now that it is clear that Sheriff Clarke likely will not have a substantial role in the Trump administration, it is time for him to return to Milwaukee County, answer to the public, and do his job to keep the county safe.

The world lost a selfless and inspiring leader when former astronaut and Senator from Ohio John Glenn passed away on Thursday.

MADISON - In light of the passing of war veteran, astronaut, and US Senator John Glenn, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning released the following statement:

"Today is a sad day for all Americans with the passing of hero Sen. John Glenn. Sen. Glenn admirably served America in World War II and the Korean War, was the first astronaut to ever orbit the earth, and served honorably in the United States Senate. His service to our country will never be forgotten, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family."

DPW Chair Martha Laning gives an update on new staff, Wisconsin's Presidential Recount, Jennifer Shilling's Victory, a court ruling on Redistricting, Emerge Wisconsin Applications, and a new Young Democrats chapter in the Badger State.

MADISON - As the election year comes to a close, our sights are focused on the year ahead. Whether you win or lose there are always lessons to be learned from a hard-fought campaign. That's why I have been holding listening sessions all over the state to get feedback from party leaders, volunteers, activists, and other stakeholders. 

We’ve already received great feedback about the changes we need to make in the future.  In the coming weeks we’ll be compiling all this information and beginning our strategic planning process for 2017 and beyond.  

Announcing New Executive Director Jason Sidener

As many of you know, DPW Executive Director Kory Kozloski has decided to pursue new opportunities. While we are saddened to see Kory leave the DPW team, we are excited for his future ventures and are looking toward the future of DPW.

With Kory's departure, it was a priority of mine to ensure that the transition between Executive Directors is a smooth one. In order to implement a strong strategic plan right away in 2017, that meant having an new Executive Director who could hit the ground running on January 1st and allow some overlap time with Kory before he leaves.

Today, our Party's administrative committee voted to approve Jason Sidener as our next Executive Director. Jason Sidener is an incredible addition to our team. He brings nearly two decades of political organizing, grassroots engagement, and progressive movement leadership to our organization.

Read our official announcement here.

Wisconsin's Presidential Recount

Last week, Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein moved forward with her request for a statewide recount of the Presidential election results in Wisconsin. Hillary Clinton's campaign has announced that they will participate in the Wisconsin recount in order to "ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides." 

Under federal law, any disputes over the 2.98 million votes cast in the presidential election must be resolved within 35 days of election day to ensure electoral votes are counted - that is December 13th this year.

The remaining timeline for the recount is as follows: 

Thursday, December 1st: Recount began in every Wisconsin county.
Monday, December 12th: All county canvass boards must be completed by 8 p.m.
Tuesday, December 13th: Elections Commission staff will prepare the official recount canvass certification by 3 p.m.

If you are interested in being a recount observer, sign up at: http://bit.ly/2gPOB6A

For more information on the recount, you can visit http://elections.wi.gov

Recount Confirms Senate Leader Jennifer Shilling's Victory

In addition to the presidential recount, the recount in the 32nd District Senate race between Leader Jennifer Shilling and her challenger Dan Kapanke took place this week as well.

As of today, all of the ballots in the 32nd Senate District have been recounted and confirm Sen. Shilling's victory.

Click here to read Sen. Shilling's press release on the recount results.

Judges Find Wisconsin Redistricting Unfairly Favored Republicans

Last week, a panel of three judges found the State Assembly districts drawn up by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2011 were an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. This is incredible news for Wisconsin voters who deserve to be heard and equally represented in Madison. 

Read more about the ruling here.
Read my official statement on the decision here.

Surge in Emerge Wisconsin Applications

Our friends at Emerge Wisconsin are seeing a flood of applications from women who want to join their training program and run for office. This just goes to show that when the going gets tough, progressives get to work. I'm incredibly inspired and motivated by the fortitude of Wisconsin women who aspire to be leaders in the progressive movement. 

Let's help Emerge keep the momentum going. Share this link with your networks and encourage more women to join the fight: http://www.emergewi.org/apply

Young Democrats of Wisconsin
In order to ensure a lasting and vibrant Democratic Party of Wisconsin, we need to engage young people at all levels. To that end, over the last year-and-a-half, a group of committed young professionals from across Wisconsin have been working to establish a Young Democrats chapter in the Badger State. Young Dems are the next generation of leaders, committed to recruiting and electing young people to lead on issues and represent at every level of government.

On Sunday, August 14 the Young Democrats of America - the largest youth-led political organization in the country - unanimously voted to grant a charter to the Wisconsin chapter. Since then, the group has been incredibly active!

They've launched their own podcast on iTunes, held a statewide conference call with the Russ Feingold campaign and presented at over a dozen county party meetings.

On Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25, the Young Dems will be holding a "Weekend of Action" where members will be volunteering for Assembly candidates in each region of the state.

Additionally, on Tuesday, September 27 they'll be holding a political trivia social gathering in Madison.

Membership in the Young Democrats of Wisconsin is free and open to anyone between 18-40 who's current on their dues with DPW. For anyone attending college or otherwise affiliated with an institution of higher learning, the College Democrats remain the primary affiliation the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Anyone interested in joining can do so by clicking here: www.youngdemswi.org/join. You can follow their activity at Facebook at www.facebook.com/youngdemswi and on Twitter: @youngdemswi.

Jason is currently the Director of Political Action and Member Mobilization for AFSCME, and has served as President of the Board for Wisconsin Progress, Board Member for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, and Chair of the Labor Division for the United Way of Dane County.

MADISON - The Democratic Party of Wisconsin's administrative committee voted on Friday to approve Jason Sidener as the Party's next Executive Director to start on January 1, 2017.

“Jason Sidener is an incredible addition to our team. He brings nearly two decades of political organizing, grassroots engagement, and progressive movement leadership to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning said on Friday. “As we prepare for a Trump Administration and gear up for the 2018 gubernatorial and US Senate elections, our party needs strong leaders like Jason today more than ever. Jason is dedicated to electing progressive candidates at all levels of government and shares my belief that we need a strong DPW that works closely with local leaders and activists to return to Wisconsin’s proud progressive traditions."

Throughout his political career, spanning back to grassroots organizing with the Public Interest Research Group in the late 1990’s, and including field organizing for multiple congressional candidates around the country, including for then-Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in 2002, Sidener has developed deep roots in progressive politics. For the past 13 years, Sidener has worked for AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, in multiple capacities. He is currently the Director of Political Action and Member Mobilization for AFSCME Council 32.

In addition to his professional political activism, Jason has served in many volunteer leadership positions for different organizations including the President of the Board for Wisconsin Progress and the Electoral Committee Chair and Board Member for Citizen Action of Wisconsin. Jason is also the long-time Chair of the Labor Division for the United Way of Dane County's annual fundraising campaign.

Both have been outspoken advocates for working families in Wisconsin and understand the importance of investing in our future.

MADISON – Senate Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) announced today that Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) and Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) will be re-appointed to serve on the Joint Committee on Finance for the 2017-18 legislative session.

“Sen. Taylor and Sen. Erpenbach have been outspoken advocates for working families in Wisconsin and understand the importance of investing in our future,” said Sen. Shilling. “Their years of experience and commitment to strengthening Wisconsin’s economy will help to focus our upcoming budget discussions on the important issues at hand. I look forward to working with Senators Taylor and Erpenbach as Wisconsin Democrats continue to advocate for investments in education, worker training and infrastructure to boost our economy and create new jobs.”

Sen. Taylor and Sen. Erpenbach welcomed their responsibilities and are eager to bring new ideas and thoughtful solutions to the upcoming budget discussions.

“I’m honored to serve another term on the Joint Finance Committee. It’s an important time for both my constituents and all of Wisconsin and I look forward to being a fierce advocate for commonsense bipartisan solutions,” said Taylor. “I will continue to advocate for children, reforming our justice system and fighting for social and economic justice for all.”

“Wisconsin Republicans cannot continue to delay big budget decisions,” said Sen. Erpenbach. “Our economy needs a jumpstart, our roads and bridges need immediate repairs and our communities need more support for local schools. I am grateful for this opportunity to stand up for Wisconsin’s working families and advocate for a more sustainable and forward-looking state budget.”

With the appointment of Sen. Taylor and Sen. Erpenbach to the Joint Finance Committee, Senate Democrats have a strong and diverse leadership team representing a broad spectrum of communities across Wisconsin.

While Duffy promised Wisconsin voters Trump would ‘drain the swamp’ in Washington he is now cozying up to the corporate lobbyists, big banks, and Wall Street insiders.

MADISON - Yesterday, Rep. Sean Duffy was named the newest character in the hottest reality show on television: the Donald Trump transition team.

After months of acting as Trump Tower talking head, Rep. Duffy is finally getting his reward by joining Trump's transition as an executive committee member.

Duffy joins Wall Street insiders, including Trump’s choice for treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, a hedge fund manager who preyed on homeowners struggling during the recession and who has been accused of running a “foreclosure machine.”

"Sean Duffy is leaving Wausau behind and embracing Donald Trump’s revolving door between Wall Street and Washington. While Duffy promised Wisconsin voters Trump would ‘drain the swamp’ in Washington he is now cozying up to the corporate lobbyists, big banks, and Wall Street insiders who will be calling the shots and writing the rules in Washington to make a rigged system work for them." Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Brandon Weathersby said on Thursday.