Trump and his right-wing lackeys are trying to rig the election. Dems pledge fight.

MADISON, WI - Donald Trump and his right-wing henchman are already hard at work trying to rig the 2020 election as they try to purge 234,000 voters from the rolls.

“Trump and his right-wing allies know that after three years of broken promises to lower prescription drug costs, raise wages, and improve trade markets for our farmers and manufacturers, Wisconsinites can’t afford four more years of this president,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Philip Shulman said. “Now, he and his right-wing lackeys are trying to rig the election by kicking Democratic voters off the rolls instead of winning fair and square. Wisconsin Democrats are committed to fighting back, by contacting anyone who is purged and making sure they are reregistered -- foul play by Trump and his fellow antagonists of democracy won’t stop us from winning this election and taking back our country.”

See coverage of the voter purge below.

NPR -- All Things Considered: Ben WIkler: The thing we know is that these kinds of purges disproportionately affect young people and people of color. And those are folks who are more likely to be Democrats. So this is a purge that is motivated by partisan interests. It's intended to knock more Democrats than Republicans off the rolls. And it's a cause for us to organize to make sure those folks get reregistered and vote...So the first thing we do is we get a list of the folks that were purged, and we start texting and calling and reaching out to them to make sure that they know that they have been deregistered. This will come as a surprise and a shock to a lot of them. And frankly, people get angry when they find that they've been kicked off the voting rolls. So our plan is to make sure these folks hear from us early and often.  

New York Times: “Ben Wikler, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said the lawsuit was the ‘product of a right-wing legal and political strategy to prevent eligible voters from voting.’ He added, ‘It should be a concern to anyone who believes in the core idea of democracy.’”

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Democrats say if the order removes registrations of voters who haven’t moved, this presents unconstitutional hurdles for them during the next election. ‘The fight moves up the court system. No matter where it goes, we’ll keep fighting,’ Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Ben Wikler said in a tweet.”

CBS 58: “Ben Wikler, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said in a statement that the the judge's decision should be overturned. ‘But whether or not it is, it’s on us to organize the Dems that the GOP is trying to suppress and make their plan backfire,’ Wikler said.”

WJFW: "’We're supposed to have a system where voters choose their elected officials, not a system where the powerful choose who the voters will be,’ said Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin plans to contact voters on the list to make sure they re-register before several elections take place this spring. While Wisconsin does have same day voter registration, Wikler says the process can still dissuade likely voters.”

Additional Background

• Circuit Court Judge Paul Malloy, a Republican appointee, made the decision to disenfranchise 234,000 voters by kicking them off the voter rolls before the 2020 election.
• Before Malloy intervened, these voters weren’t supposed to be removed from the voter rolls until 2021.
• Of the 234,000 letters that were sent, 23% of them went to residents in the Democratic strongholds of Milwaukee and Madison, despite only 14% of registered voters being from those areas.
• State Attorney General Josh Kaul filed an appeal that would stay Judge Malloy’s decision.
• The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin filed a suit in federal court that would put a hold on the Democratic voter purge.

MILWAUKEE, WI - Wisconsin Democrats are taking nothing for granted in the 2020 election, and are building an infrastructure to take back the state and launch the eventual nominee into the White House. Milwaukee's NPR affiliate WUWM highlighted some of those efforts in the story below.

You can listen to the story by clicking here or read the piece below.

WUWM: What Democrats Are Doing To Win Wisconsin In 2020
Maayan Silver

Republicans are trying to ensure that Wisconsin reelects President Donald Trump in 2020. Meanwhile, Wisconsin Democrats are gearing up to support the person who wins the Democratic Party's nomination, and one of their strategies is getting out to knock on doors and listen to residents.

Scott Trindl, who lives in Waukesha, is canvasser for the Wisconsin Democratic Party. He's reaching out to voters to learn where they stand on issues in hopes that some can be persuaded to vote for the Democratic nominee in 2020.

We met with Trindl while he canvassing in historically Republican Waukesha County. He pulled out a map as he arrived at one address on his list.

"We have turf cut just for the city of Waukesha today that we're doing, of about 900 doors," he says. "So, I don't think we'll get through all of them today, but we'll get through a lot of them." 

Trindl was part of Wisconsin Democrats' effort to hit tens of thousands of addresses around the state in one weekend. Democratic leaders like Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul attended.

They exceeded their goal of knocking on 50,000 doors. That's about twice Donald Trump's margin of victory in 2016.

While Trindl is now acting as an ambassador for the Democratic Party, he wasn't always a fan.

"I hate to say this, but in 1976 I worked for the Reagan campaign for a while," he says. "And I was a Reform Party member with Ross Perot in the '90s. So, I never voted for a Clinton until 2016 with Hillary."

But health care changed all that. Trindl says he had work-based health insurance all his life with no major health issues. Yet, when he retired early, he developed heart problems.

"A couple weeks later, after I got out of the hospital with new stents and everything, I got a letter from my insurance company, how nice of them: 'One month from today, you will no longer have health insurance,' " he says. "Wonderful. Now, I have a preexisting condition, no health insurance, and nobody else will give it to me because it's a preexisting condition."

Trindl says he was saved the Affordable Care Act. The law, championed by Democratic President Barack Obama, made it illegal to deny insurance to someone with preexisting conditions.

Trindl is exactly the type of person that the Democrats are seeking in their push to turn Wisconsin blue again. Ben Wikler, chair of the state Democratic Party, says voters can relate to Trindl's story about access to health care.

"That's going to be an explosive issue in this election," says Wikler. "And I think it's not in the headlines. It's not getting news on the national stage. But it's something people notice every day in their own lives when they fill a prescription. They just can't afford it."

In addition to health care, Wikler says canvassers are hearing voters' concerns about the environment, trade policy, roads, and gun violence prevention. As for the impeachment saga that's dominating headlines, Wikler says it's interesting to people but not at the core of the political battle at this point. 

Wikler says one-on-one outreach from canvassers like Trindl is resonating with voters.

"What we're finding is that the most effective messengers are the most familiar messengers. That's the basis for the neighborhood team field program. That's the basis for relational organizing," he says.

"That's the way that we cut through the noise in a moment when constituents will be pounded with ads with videos popping up on social media, every time they turn on a TV. People to people contact is really the thing that you can't buy. It's the thing that you have to organize. And it's the thing that makes the biggest difference."

So, what's different now than in 2016 when Democrats narrowly lost Wisconsin? For the last presidential race, Wikler says Democrats waited until the fall of 2016 to start organizing. 

Now, he says the party is tapping into neighborhood teams that have been organized since the spring of 2017 — teams that helped elect a Democratic governor in the process.

Trindl, the canvasser, says he's seen another change: the political make-up of Waukesha County. He canvassed Waukesha in 2016 and he estimates the county was about 80% Republican at the time. But he says things were different when he canvassed in 2018 for the midterms.

"Those are no longer anywhere near 80-20," Trindl says. "There's a lot of Democratic Party supporters in there now. A lot of young families where public schools are important to them. Public schools were hurt by what happened under the Republicans."

Both parties will be working hard for the next 11 months trying to capture the Wisconsin vote. Analysts say Wisconsin is one of several states that are key to the path to the White House.

MADISON - LWVWI filed necessary papers to join the lawsuit to prevent Wisconsin voters from being removed from the registration lists due to the process of identifying voters for removal is erroneous. LWVWI supports efforts to keep the state's voter rolls updated and accurate, and believes removing people from the voter rolls should only be done with reliable information. In an effort to protect voters, LWVWI has filed a motion to intervene to stop Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty forcing the Wisconsin Election Commission to remove voters from the rolls. You can read more about the legal action and link to legal documents through the LWVWI website. 

We need your help.

The League's attorneys are asking to see if we can find anyone who has been mailed the ERIC "mover" notice this fall. (See image below.)  They were mailed out in October, but may have arrived at different times. If you have received this notice in the mail this fall, please call Jon Sherman at Fair Elections Center immediately. His number is 202-248-5346, and his email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  This is *time-sensitive* as our attorneys are trying to file something today or tomorrow in state court. If you received an ERIC notice this fall, please call Jon as soon as you see this email.

MILWAUKEE, WI. - Today I call Tom Barrett to resign as Mayor of Milwaukee. Barrett and his administration have been in office for over 15 years and at present, gun violence, crime, reckless driving are all completely out of control.

It is no wonder now that we have learned in the recent report, and I quote, honorable former FPC investigator, Cheryl Patane, "The current management has in a very short period of time demonstrated a frightening ignorance of FPC operations, shown no apparent knowledge of industry norms for public safety oversight investigations, and fosters an environment of mistrust and cronyism, rather than trying to build a strong independent team."

Under the 15 years of Barrett's leadership, the MPD engaged in hundreds of racial profiling illegal stop of people of color. A report in October revealed MPD lawsuits payouts are over $30,000,000 with five potentially very expensive settlements still pending, all paid for with taxpayers’ money.

Police community relations continue to deteriorate and there is a serious lack of transparency with the FPC and no real dialogue between the board, executive director and the people of Milwaukee.

Mayor Barrett’s mismanagement is reflective across many departments - Health, Employ MKE and now FPC, just to name a few. Tom consistently shows he is out of ideas, is tired, and fails on major issues. He has a complete and deliberate disregard for the people, community engagement, oversight, and federal compliance.

TIMES UP TOM!!!

The people of Milwaukee deserve better! In April, if the mayor does not resign, as your new Mayor, our administration will change from corruption and confusion to transparency and inclusion.

Let's make the change!

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. (D-Calif.) is dropping her bid for the presidency, she told staff in a phone call Tuesday.

Read the developing report here

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Michigan is headed for a hotly contested Senate race next year as Sen. Gary Peters (D) faces off against Republican John James, a 38-year-old African American military veteran who’s widely seen as a rising star within the GOP.

The Senate race will take place in a crucial battleground state that will be heavily fought-over in the 2020 presidential election after President Trump narrowly edged out Hillary Clinton in the previous contest.

Read the full story here

Bi-partisan effort to designate and mark STH 33 in Columbia County as the Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch Memorial Highway.

MADISON - When you hear or read the news, everything can seem like it’s in freefall. From partisan bickering, to major disagreements on issues that have an enormous effect on Wisconsinites. However, it is important to remember that a majority of the laws that are passed are able to move through the legislature with bipartisan support. That was the case with a simple, yet important bill that was introduced earlier this year. On March 7, 2019, Senator Jon Erpenbach and Representative Dave Considine introduced a proposal to designate and mark STH 33 in Columbia County as the Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch Memorial Highway.

On May 21, 2019, Senator Erpenbach and Representative Considine had the honor of submitting testimony to the Senate Committee on Transportation, Veterans, and Military Affairs on Senate Bill 84/Assembly Bill 77– the Staff Sergeant D. Busch Memorial Highway Bill. They were able to share the story behind the proposal in front of the family and friends of this Wisconsin hero, and with this bill, his story will be marked in Wisconsin history for years to come.

The bills honors the service and heroism of a young veteran who gave his life for his country. It does so by directing the Department of Transportation (DOT) to designate 9.5 miles of State Highway 33 that lie in the 81st Assembly District and the 27th Senate District as the Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch Memorial Highway.

Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch was a U.S. Army Ranger and a member of the U.S. Army Special Operations Delta Force. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action against a hostile enemy force on October 3, 1993 for his actions while serving with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia.

During the operation, the helicopter that Staff Sergeant Busch was in was shot down by enemy fire. He immediately exited the aircraft, took control of a key intersection, and provided suppressive fire against overwhelming enemy forces. In the course of these heroic actions Staff Sergeant Busch received his fatal wound while ensuring the survival of his fellow team members. A hero to not only his fellow Rangers, Staff Sergeant Busch left behind a wife, child, mother and a mourning community.

With this bill, we have publicly honored this Wisconsin hero who sacrificed his life for his fellow soldiers, and for his country. Staff Sergeant Busch was a service member of tremendous character and integrity who deserves to be honored with this public road naming.

Thanks to our veterans, we are able to maintain our freedom and safety here in America. This bill is one small way to memorialize a true hero’s legacy. Yet, there is still legislation that we need to pass to give back to those who give so much for our country, such as access to quality health care – including mental health care, programs to transition veterans back into our workforce, and veteran housing.

Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch is a hero to both Senator Erpenbach and Representative Considine, the community, and our country. On Tuesday, November 19, they joined the family of SSG Daniel D. Busch for the bill signing of AB 77 at Portage High School. The bill was signed by Governor Evers during a ceremony that morning.

Bill was co-introduced by Senator Erpenbach.

WEST POINT – On Tuesday, November 19, Senator Erpenbach and Representative Considine joined Governor Evers for the signing of Assembly Bill 77, the Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch Memorial Highway Bill. In attendance was the family of SSG Daniel D. Busch, including his widow, Traci Winius, his son, Mitchell, his mother, Ginny Johnson, and his cousin Brian Wheeler, Brian’s wife, Staci, and their kids, Sidney and Walker.

Introduced by Senator Erpenbach and Representative Considine, the bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to designate 9.5 miles of State Highway 33 that lie in the 81st Assembly District and the 27th Senate District as the Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch Memorial Highway, and publically honors the service and heroism of a young veteran who gave his life for his country.

The bill was passed through the Senate and the Assembly with bipartisan support and was signed into law by Governor Evers at a ceremony this morning. Senator Erpenbach gave the following statement:

“Staff Sergeant Daniel D. Busch is an American hero, who gave his life to protect his fellow U.S. Army Rangers in Mogadishu, Somalia on October 3, 1993,” said Senator Erpenbach. “He was a man of tremendous character and integrity who deserves to be honored. Thank to our veterans such as SSG Busch, we are able to maintain our freedom and safety here in our country, and I am glad that we are publically honoring the service of this Wisconsin hero.”

MADISON, WI - Today, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler released the following statement on American Education Week:

“We are grateful to have a Governor in Tony Evers who values public education so highly, especially at a time when our education system is systematically under attack by Donald Trump and his Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. Trump broke his promise to deliver “great education” to our children when he made it his administration’s policy to strip our public classrooms of funding and hand it to unaccountable voucher schools.

“We know that a quality education is instrumental for an individual’s future success -- especially when they aren’t born into the families of billionaires. Public education built our middle class and gave millions of Americans the ability to live a comfortable and fulfilling life. That tradition is being shredded in front of our very eyes, and is a threat to future generations and the overall health of our nation.

“If we are serious about reviving the middle class, creating the next generation of entrepreneurs and skilled workers, we need to invest in our public education system, not strip it to the bone. Democrats will continue to fight to ensure every child receives a quality education, and we will continue to oppose any effort by Trump and DeVos to belittle public education in Wisconsin and across the country.”

37-year-old South Bend, Ind., mayor has become an alternative choice, tapping into a desire for a fresh face in Washington.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Pete Buttigieg is surging in the 2020 primary, capitalizing on a Democratic Party wrestling with its political identity.

In a year when Democrats are struggling to choose between a string of septuagenarian candidates, strategists say the 37-year-old South Bend, Ind., mayor has become an alternative choice, tapping into a desire for a fresh face in Washington.

Read the full story here