Hallelujah! We finally have a special election for Assembly District 24 scheduled for July 18. Nomination papers began circulating on Friday, May 5. You can get Bob Tatterson's here.They must be filed in Madison by 5pm on May 23. If a primary is needed, it will be held on June 20. Bob Tatterson ran for this seat in the November 2022 elections but he was running against a long time incumbent. It's now an open seat, meaning there is no longer an incumbent. And having just run, Bob is prepared to give it his all. This is a huge opportunity to flip an Assembly seat from red to blue! Help him out by going to his website to volunteer or to donate.

Not everyone can vote in this important election. But everyone can do something to help the cause. Anyone can circulate nomination forms but only residents of the district can sign as nominators. So if you know voters in AD 24, you can ask them to sign the form. If you are a resident of the district, you can both circulate the form AND sign as a nominator. Be sure to follow the directions exactly! Assembly District 24 includes the following locations:

• In Ozaukee County: Town of Grafton (wards 1-6); Village of Grafton (wards 1-14); and City of Mequon (wards 1-4, 6, 10, 12).
  
  
• In Washington County: Town of Germantown; Village of Grafton (wards 1-14).
  
  
• In Waukesha County: Village of Menomonee Falls (wards 1-7, 9, 11).
  
  

Grassroots North Shore is even now preparing postcards to be sent as soon as the candidates have qualified by turning in enough valid signatures on nomination forms. Norma Gilson will be recruiting people to write postcards. Nancy Kaplan will be recruiting people to follow up the postcards with phone calls. Additional actions will take place as we get closer to election day. Make a promise to yourself that you will help in some way. We're already collecting names and contact information for people who are willing to act as drivers for people who are canvassing. Send email to Nancy Kaplan if you are willing to be a driver.

Once upon a time, people in Wisconsin were blessed with one of the easiest systems for voting in the country. Now Wisconsin is one of the hardest states for voters to cast a ballot. Since 2010, when Republicans gained control of the legislature and the governor's office, rules for voting have become more restrictive. In a May 4 article in the Wisconsin State Journal, Matt Mencarini details how "Voting has gotten harder in Wisconsin. Organizers have found ways to help." In the section of the article called "How it’s gotten more difficult to vote in Wisconsin," Mencarnini provides the narrative. As I pointed out in an earlier email, Republicans are at least entertaining making it even more difficult for college students to access the ballot. Today's New York Times leads with the article "Under the Radar, Right-Wing Push to Tighten Voting Laws Persists." This link to it will get you past the paywall.

In June 2022, Attorney General Josh Kaul initiated a legal challenge to the 1849 law that prohibits abortion in Wisconsin. On Thursday, May 4, Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Schlipper convened a hearing on the defendants' motion to dismiss the case. In the course of the hearing, Judge Schlipper suggested that the 1849 law proscribes feticide and may not apply to abortions at all. (See 1849 feticide bill may not apply to abortions, Dane County judge suggests.) But not all media outlets covering the hearing even seemed to notice this striking part of the argument. Wisconsin Public Radio's piece, for example, doesn't even mention the feticide issue. The judge intends to rule on the motion to dismiss the case at a later date.

Almost every outcome for any political issue in our state results from voting maps that are so skewed that MAGA Republicans are almost guaranteed to retain the majority in both the Senate and the Assembly for the remainder of the decade. And by any political issue, I mean control of women's bodies, the epidemic of gun violence, the future of our climate, funding and supporting education from pre-school through graduate school, local control of key issues, revenue sharing, and even the right to propose non-binding advisory referendums. We know from surveys and past advisory referendums that large majorities of Wisconsin voters want to see changes in these areas. But we can't have nice things, it seems, until the voting maps construct fair districts. To learn more about how dark money has led to the landscape we now inhabit — and to get a legislative update from Representative Deb Andraca — join the North Shore Fair Maps Zoom meeting featuring Matt Rothschild discussing Money, Money, Money in our elections. The meeting begins at 7:00pm on Monday, May 8. You can sign up here.

Looking ahead, Law Forward is planning to "challenge the state’s voting maps based on the assertion that partisan gerrymandering violates the Wisconsin Constitution," according to The Cap Times. The plan is to file the suit soon after Janet Protasiewicz takes her seat on the Supreme Court of Wisconsin on August 1. Stay tuned.

And finally, a little schadenfreude: your gift article from the Washington Post — Even Tucker Carlson knew Tucker Carlson was out of control. Erik Wemple notes that the last straw seems to have been a texted conversation with one of his producers. "Carlson appears to believe that 'white men' somehow stick to principles of fairness and chivalry when fighting in the streets — whereas men of color presumably hew to a less honorable code of engagement. Racist trash, all of it." Wemple nails the wonderment many of us feel about why this particular message sealed Tucker's fate when his whole show revealed who he truly is.

EVENTS

Tuesday, May 09

Wednesday, May 10

Saturday, May 13

Monday, May 15

Wednesday, May 17

Thursday, May 18

Saturday, May 20

SAVE THE DATE

Thursday, May 25