Mourning in America

I hardly know how to begin this belated newsletter. I apologize for failing to write it yesterday. The outcome of the election nationally was just too painful to confront. Today, though, I am picking myself up and finding the determination to plan for the future we did not want and to which we will not surrender. I am joining a Zoom call tonight, organized by MoveOn.org and 200 other progressive organizations, “to lay out concrete actions people can take this week, and share thoughts on the path forward.” I hope you will join me. The Post-Election Mass Call will begin at 7pm CST.

On that same note but closer to home, North Shore Fair Maps is holding its next meeting at 7 PM CT Monday, November 11, when we will hear from Edgar Lin (Protect Democracy), who will discuss the decline of democracy in the US and abroad, as well as the authoritarian playbook. We will delve into what the journey from Election Day to Inauguration might look like, and give participants actions they can take right now. Register.

Democratic governments all over the world are under stress and have been since at least the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Apparently (I have not verified this), governing parties in developed countries who were facing elections this year all lost vote share. They were not all defeated but even when they were re-elected their share of the vote declined. We are not alone. And Wisconsin nearly escaped the trend. Read on.

I have not yet looked at the election data for the North Shore and Ozaukee Counties. But Ben Wikler has. And there are some bright spots for Wisconsin. On an X post, he writes, "The red wave hit this year: a ~6% national swing to Trump, from 2020 margins. In Wisconsin, thousands of heroes pulled the swing down to 1.5%. More D votes statewide & in 46 counties. Tammy Baldwin won. Huge wins in the state legislature." Later in the thread, he notes that "Kamala Harris won more votes than any other presidential candidate in Wisconsin history, with two exceptions: Barack Obama in 2008 (who won 9,221 more votes while winning a 14-point landslide), and Donald Trump in 2024." The margin of victory in the presidential race in Wisconsin was a tiny 0.87%. Wikler says it was the closest of any state in the nation and I believe him.

Fair(er) maps, and the hard work so many volunteers did, brought us a reformed legislature. The Democratic Party targeted four state senate seats and won them all, including of course our own Senate District 8 candidate, Jodi Habush Sinykin! We also flipped 10 Assembly districts from Red to Blue. In short, the down ballot races won, indicating to me that there must have been significant ticket-splitting. We can look forward to a legislature that more closely resembles the voters of Wisconsin. While Democrats did not win majorities in either house, the stranglehold Republicans have enjoyed for 14 years has been broken. Perhaps we can look forward to some bipartisanship on issues that we care about: Medicaid expansion, money for rural hospitals, PFA mitigation efforts, funding for public schools. I can dream!

In more grim news, Milwaukee Alderman Jonathan Brostoff took his own life on Monday. It seems he walked into a gun shop in West Allis, purchased one, and then shot himself in a Milwaukee park. A funeral service for him will take place at the Zelazo Center tomorrow from 9 to 11 AM. If only we had red flag laws, waiting periods for gun purchases, better mental health support. Maybe he would still be among us, making Milwaukee a better place to work, to play, and to live.

Finally, I want to provide a link to Vice President Harris's concession speech, in case you did not watch it. It's all of 15 minutes long, including energetic applause as she began. Although she concedes the race, she does not concede the fight for freedom. "The light of America's promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting."

As Kamala Harris entreats us, "Do not despair. This not a time to throw up our hands. This is the time to roll up our sleeves." Keep the faith, friends. Keep the faith.