Flynn calls Walker’s failed economic record a period of “vast stagnation” in wages.

MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Matt Flynn today made the following statement criticizing Scott Walker for his failed economic policies, as Walker prepares to announce his campaign for re-election tomorrow.

“Scott Walker’s time is up. Average wages, when adjusted for inflation, are lower today than they were under Jim Doyle. For the first time in decades, Wisconsin has fallen behind the rest of the country in terms of economic growth.

“Walker depressed Wisconsin wages by passing Act 10, Right To Work, and the repeal of the prevailing wage. Everybody is working for less, union or non-union, public sector or private sector. Less money in workers’ pockets means less consumer spending, and less economic growth.

“Walker also refused to accept the very tax dollars Wisconsinites sent to the federal government, including upwards of $500 million for BadgerCare and over $800 million for trains. Instead, he is making taxpayers invest $3 billion in a Chinese company, said they didn’t need to follow the same environmental laws Miller Brewing and Harley Davidson follow, and is pushing it through his corrupt Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation without the public ever seeing the contract.

“When Walker says Wisconsin is ‘open for business’ it means his integrity and campaign coffers are open for business. And while it’s been very good for his fundraising operations, his record has been a nonstop disaster for Wisconsin families. For the right-wing views of his party, he has sacrificed our state.

“The most important issue in this race is improving wages for Wisconsin workers. Scott Walker has been governor for nearly eight years now, and he’s looking to extend it to twelve. We all know he’s just sitting there as he makes plans for his own future. Instead, it’s time to elect a governor who will focus on what really matters, creating economic activity that drives wages up again.”

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Matt Flynn is a Navy veteran, attorney, and former Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For additional information, visit www.ForwardWithFlynn.com.

Principle over Party campaign continues to make its way around the state, in Rice Lake, Minong, Ashland, and Superior.

RICE LAKE, NOVEMBER 2, 2017 - Mike McCabe's Principle over Party campaign continues to make its way around the state, this time focusing on Northern Wisconsin. The events will be a mix of Meet & Greets and Town Hall style forums with plenty of Q&A time from audiences.

Mike's goal is to inspire and engage people from all over the state to get back into the driver's seat. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Mike's message continues to explain and educate why this campaign must be People Powered and Crowd Funded if it is to succeed.

Stops include:
November 2nd – Supporter Home – Meet & Greet (Potluck)     2181 18 3/8 Ave. (Meadow Creek Lane)| Rice Lake | WI |54868     5 P.M. to 7:30 P.M.
November 3rd - Long Branch Saloon – Meet & Greet (Food & Music!)     301 5th Ave. E. | Minong | WI | 54859     5:30 P. M. to 7:30 P.M
November 4th - The Bohemian Hall – Meet & Greet (Coffee & Donuts)     317 11th Ave. E. | Ashland | WI |54806     10:00 A.M. to Noon
November 4th -  Thirsty Pagan Brewing        1623 Broadway St. | Superior | WI |54880         4:00 P.M. to 5:30 P. M.

Mike is a proud independent who spent decades at the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign tracking the large political donations (legal bribes) that Wisconsin candidates receive, and advocating for policies to remove the corrupting influence of big money from our elections.

Mike understands that both major political parties have forgotten the people and bend to the interests of the rich donors. But, like Bernie Sanders, he is running in the Democratic primary because he recognizes that our political system is rigged against us. It's time to return the party, the government, and the system to the people.

Now, at this crucial moment for American democracy, Mike McCabe has decided to run for governor so he can directly implement the changes that Wisconsin so badly needs.

For more information on the campaign visit:  GovernorBlueJeans.com .

Independent candidate for Governor Mike McCabe's campaign says Democratic Party of Wisconsin denies access to voter data system sold to other candidates, making the same mistake DNC made in 2016.

MADISON, WI  - The Democratic Party of Wisconsin first ignored and later refused requests from governor candidate Mike McCabe’s campaign for access to the party’s member list and statewide voter list, acting in a manner reminiscent of how the Democratic National Committee worked behind the scenes to favor the party’s eventual 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and disadvantage fellow candidate Bernie Sanders.

To facilitate contact between voters and the party’s candidates, McCabe believes the state party should provide all candidates running in the primary with the lists at no charge, which the DPW refuses to do. McCabe’s campaign sought to purchase the lists and was turned down. He is the only candidate entered to run in the Democratic primary to be denied access to the lists.

Having worked for decades as an independent government watchdog and reform advocate, McCabe has not belonged to any political party. But he has registered to run for governor as a Democrat.

DPW officials have repeatedly said the party wants a fair and open primary and would not play favorites in the race, McCabe’s campaign manager Christine Welcher said.

“Privately, party leaders clearly are playing favorites. By denying help to one that is given to the others, they are putting their thumb on the scale, which is exactly what they promised not to do. DPW is making the same mistake the DNC made in 2016. They apparently haven’t learned a thing from what just happened last year,” Welcher said, adding that the state party has granted access to its voter list, known as the Voter Activation Network (VAN), to nonprofit advocacy groups not affiliated with the party while denying access to McCabe’s campaign.

“We will find other ways to reach voters. Getting the party lists wouldn’t make our campaign, and being denied the lists won’t break our campaign,” Welcher said.

Flynn says he would be the best candidate to unseat Walker.

MADISON - Public Policy Polling released the results of a recent statewide poll showing a Democrat defeating Governor Scott Walker in 2018 with 48% of the vote to Walker’s projected 43%. 

Said leading candidate Matt Flynn, "I would be the best candidate to unseat Walker."

The poll, conducted October 17-18, also showed Wisconsin voters in lock step with a number of issues on which Flynn has taken a firm stand. 

Flynn has repeatedly called the disastrous Foxconn deal a scam, and 49% of those polled said it was nothing more than a political stunt to help Walker win next November. Only 38% thought Walker had Wisconsin's best interests at heart. 

Remarked Flynn, "I've said it before and I'll say it again: the Foxconn deal is corrupt capitalism. It's corporate welfare at its worst. It will degrade our local water quality, up to half the jobs created will be from Illinois, and the $3 billion price tag mostly benefits the corporation's foreign owners. We should call it what it is, the Foxconn Con."

"As Wisconsin's next Governor I will work to bring good jobs with high wages to all 72 counties of this state, without taxpayer-funded boondoggles for foreign executives," stated Flynn, when asked what he would do as governor. "It's time we had a leader in Madison who put the people of Wisconsin first -- not his own political ambitions."

In a poll conducted in Milwaukee and reported in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel in August, two months before Flynn had announced his candidacy, Flynn led the field with 17% of the projected vote in a Democratic primary. Paul Soglin, who has not announced he is running, received 16% support and Tony Evers received 14%. The rest were too low to mention. Since his announcement, Flynn has received increasingly strong support around the state.

The primary election for governor is on August 14, 2018.

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Matt Flynn is a Navy veteran, attorney, and former Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For additional information, visit www.ForwardWithFlynn.com. 

Any earlier version of this press release mistakenly stated that Soglin announced he was not running for Governor. He has not made an announcement that he is running or not running.

MADISON - The League educates voters on need for judicial recusal rules and fair voting maps.

Judicial Recusal
The League co-sponsored a series of three public hearings organized by our friends at Common Cause in Wisconsin to explore the need for objective rules requiring a judge to recuse her/himself if a party in a case has been a major campaign supporter. The state Supreme Court earlier this year refused to hold a hearing for a proposal put forth by a group of 56 retired judges to create such rules. Common Cause held the hearings in Green Bay, Milwaukee and Madison to give people a chance to learn about the proposal. The League co-sponsored the forums, in part, because we proposed similar rules in 2009. Wisconsin is one of three states that do not have such rules. Click here to view the Madison hearing, in which the League's Andrea Kaminski was a panelist.

Fair Voting Maps
Almost every local League in the state has held a public forum in the past two years to educate voters about the need for a nonpartisan redistricting process designed to create fair voting maps for Wisconsin. Here is great news coverage of forums held just this week in Janesville and La Crosse:

• Janesville Gazette: Former state senators explain their support of new legislative district map
• WMTV-NBC15 Janesville - Gerrymandering community forum
• WKBT News8 La Crosse - Voting rights advocates host gerrymandering forum
• WXOW News19 La Crosse - League of Women Voters host bipartisan Fair Voter Maps Forum

Congratulations and thanks go to LWV Greater Green Bay and Citizen Action Northeast Wisconsin for their advocacy leading to a resolution by the Brown County Board of Supervisors calling on the state legislature to pass nonpartisan redistricting reform. Brown is the 31st county to pass the resolution!

Legislative Floor Session Coming Up
Stay tuned. The state legislature will hold floor sessions October 31-November 9. The League will be watching for bills we have taken a position on, and we'll let you know when your call or email to your legislators will be needed!

GOP ideological attack on the UW and women’s health care may hurt most in rural areas where there are already few OB-GYNs. Anti-choice extremist U.S. Senate candidate Leah Vukmir is a sponsor.

MADISON -- The Wisconsin Senate Health and Human Services Committee is voting today on SB 154/AB 206, a bill that would do even further damage to women’s health care in Wisconsin by worsening the already troubling shortage of OB-GYNs. In Wisconsin, a shocking 20 counties do not have an OB-GYN, according to the American Medical Society.

With this bill, Republicans have shown their dangerous willingness to damage not only women’s health, but also Wisconsin’s strong and proud tradition of higher education and a UW System that is a key economic engine and contributor to our state’s economy, job creation and world-class reputation.

“Republicans, in an effort to promote themselves, are willing to ignore that their actions will cause real-life harm to Wisconsin women who need health care, including prenatal care, annual preventative physicals, cancer screenings and other vital health care provided by OB-GYNs,” said Martha Laning, Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair. “Damaging women’s health, particularly in areas already underserved across our state, goes against our Wisconsin values.” 

Republican opportunism surrounding this bill is embodied by the chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, far-right state Sen. Leah Vukmir, who is using this extremist, anti-choice legislation to advance her political career and boost her national profile, even as it limits and weakens Wisconsin women's access to reproductive health care.

Current law already prohibits the use of state and federal funds for abortions, but Republicans' latest far-right proposal takes things an extreme step further, preventing University of Wisconsin System physicians from providing or assisting in abortion services -- even at privately funded facilities and on their own time. Vukmir is a well-established anti-choice extremist who has previously backed a zero-exception abortion ban and even right-wing "personhood" measures that stand to ban common forms of birth control.

In practice, the dangerous legislation would "destroy" the UW School of Medicine's ob-gyn program, according to UW School of Medicine and Public Health Dean Robert Golden, who predicts the bill could harm the medical school’s ability to provide “well-trained ob-gyns just when our state needs them the most to save the lives of women.”

Testifying earlier this summer on behalf of the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians, retired Dr. Calvin Bruce, summed up harm that will be done to Wisconsin women by AB 206 this way: "Our academy is neither pro-choice nor pro-life. We have members who have strongly held beliefs on both sides of that issue. We are strongly pro-patient. And we strongly oppose AB206 on workforce, medical and academic grounds."

Dems say Attorney General too cowardly to stand up to fellow Republicans to help stop skyrocketing health care premiums.

MADISON -- Attorney General Brad Schimel dodged questions at a press conference Monday on whether he will join the lawsuit to help Wisconsinites keep their needed healthcare. He hedged, saying he “doubts” that Wisconsin will join the lawsuit to require the federal government to continue essential health care subsidies.

Without these subsidies and due to the Republican sabotage of healthcare market, the average Wisconsinite will see a 36% increase in their premiums.

“Schimel’s spineless comments show just how unwilling he is to do the right thing for Wisconsin and stand up for residents who deserve to keep their health care, and instead blaming his fellow Republicans,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning. “As we’ve seen a rise in mental health issues and addiction, as well as prescription drug cost hikes, it is unconscionable that Schimel would refuse to defend a law that helps people in Wisconsin get the treatment they need.”

Schimel told reporters he doubted that Wisconsin would join 19 other states in suing so lower-income Wisconsinites can continue receiving subsidies that reduce out-of-pocket health care costs. He thought he would need permission from Gov. Walker or Republicans in the Legislature, and he did not think they would allow him to do it.

“As attorney general, Brad Schimel has embraced the role of a partisan hack when it comes to wasting state taxpayer money to fight countless unwinnable lawsuits against a law that provided affordable healthcare to 20 million Americans,” continued Laning. “For Schimel to foist the blame for his inaction on other Republicans during a tough re-election campaign is cowardly.”

GOP Senate candidates support partisan TrumpCare bills that strip healthcare access from millions, but reject bipartisan fix to fight spiking healthcare costs in Wisconsin after Trump sabotage.

MADISON - Right-wing state Senator Leah Vukmir and out-of-state special interest puppet Kevin Nicholson have officially endorsed a 36% premium increase on Wisconsin working families.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Nicholson and Vukmir -- vocal backers of Republican TrumpCare healthcare plans that'd take healthcare away from tens of millions of Americans -- are now fully opposed to a bipartisan Senate bill sponsored by 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats, including Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin, that aims to stabilize the President Trump-led sabotage of healthcare markets that has premiums spiking across the country, including by 36% in Wisconsin.

“By opposing this bipartisan solution to help make health care more affordable, Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir are once again supporting higher costs for Wisconsinites," said Brad Bainum, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson for the 2018 Senate race. "Both Vukmir and Nicholson have already supported taking health care away from millions, and now they’re endorsing a 36% premium hike on Wisconsin families.”

To-date, the Illinois CEO has invested at least $15 million in 6 groups boosting Nicholson.

MADISON -- Brad Bainum, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson for the 2018 Senate race, issued the following statement on the latest pro-Kevin Nicholson investment from Illinois CEO Dick Uihlein-bankrolled super PAC Solutions for Wisconsin:

"Despite support from numerous out-of-state special interest groups, Kevin Nicholson can't find anyone from Wisconsin to back his candidacy. That's why his top supporter -- a billionaire CEO from Illinois who can't even vote in next year's GOP primary -- is throwing money at the problem, adding to the $15 million he's already invested in trying to buy Nicholson a Senate seat."

Uihlein-funded groups supporting Kevin Nicholson:

Solutions for Wisconsin -- Uihlein is the group's sole funder, having donated $3.5 million.

FreedomWorks -- Uihlein was the group's top contributor during the 2015-2016 cycle, investing $250,000.

Club for Growth Action -- Uihlein has invested $5.75 million since 2015.

Great America PAC -- Uihlein invested $100,000 during the 2015-2016 cycle.

Restoration PAC -- Uihlein invested $3.45 million during the 2015-2016 cycle.

Americas PAC -- Uihlein has invested $2.16 million through last month.

KevinForWisconsin.com Highlights Nicholson's Relationship with Illinois Billionaire Dick Uihlein, who Has Already Invested At Least $3.5M To Boost Nicholson.

MADISON -- The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is today launching KevinForWisconsin.com -- a project exposing Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson's financial obligations to billionaire Illinois CEO and megadonor Richard Uihlein, who has so-far poured at least $3.5 million into boosting Nicholson's run.

"There's a lot we don't yet know about Kevin Nicholson, but we do know that he's sure to benefit from $3.5 million from an Illinois CEO with a reputation for spending millions to influence the right-wing agenda," said Brad Bainum, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson for the 2018 Senate race. "Kevin Nicholson backs the Trump-Ryan tax plan that gifts 80% of cuts to wealthy billionaires like Uihlein, so every Wisconsinite should be wondering what else Nicholson has already promised his out-of-state billionaire benefactor in exchange for financial support. Are Wisconsin voters comfortable with a right-wing billionaire CEO from Illinois trying to handpick our state's next U.S. Senator?"

Learn more at KevinForWisconsin.com.