Would you believe that the 2022 election cycle has begun already? Well it has. Several Republican Senators have already announced that they will not be running again in 2022 when their current terms expire. Let's make sure Ron Johnson is among them! After all, when he was first elected he promised to serve only two terms. Let's hold him to that promise. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been helping, first with an editorial declaring Johnson, along with Representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Fitzgerald, unfit for office. When Johnson wanted to provide a rebuttal to the original editorial, the Journal Sentinel followed up by giving him his wish. However, the editors also annotated his piece and exposed all his lies! Go read and enjoy the whole piece.

Now is a good time to pile on by writing a letter to the editor. To find out what is needed to submit a letter to the Journal Sentinel, go HERE. To send one to the Ozaukee press, go HERE. Progressives, liberals, moderates, Democrats of all kinds — we need to be loud and clear about defending our government, one that is the outcome of our votes. And we need to combat a tyranny of the minority and call out the GOP effort to suppress the votes of ANYONE in the hopes that Republicans can win if they can keep enough of the "wrong people" from participating in elections. That means working to undo partisan gerrymandering (join our Fair Maps and Voting Rights team and attend the meeting on Monday, February 8), for one.

And about that false claim that there were substantial and consequential irregularities in our state's election: the Wisconsin State Journal has an excellent article investigating the thousands of complaints that "top Republicans in the legislature said they were reviewing" about the Wisconsin election in November. "There were indeed thousands of complaints.... The majority of them, however, were mass-generated form letters making nonspecific claims about alleged irregularities, a right-wing fraud-finding effort and a clip from Fox’s Sean Hannity show." In the end, the Wisconsin State Journal was able to "identify just 28 allegations of election fraud or other irregularities that were specific enough to attempt to verify, but could only partially substantiate one, involving 42 votes." The article, first published Jan. 25 and updated today, is full of important information to counter the BIG LIE that the election was "rigged" or "stolen" in our state.

Despite all the sturm und drang about the election, Joe Biden is now President, Kamala Harris is now Vice President, Chuck Schumer is now Senate Majority Leader, and Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House. Come celebrate our victory, both here in Wisconsin and across the nation, with Grassroots North Shore! We did it!! And not through wishing and hoping, but through hard work and persistence. On February 28, at 7pm, we will gather on Zoom with our special guest, newly elected Assembly Representative Deb Andraca, and a host of musical and comedic guests. I hope you will join us.

Finally, don't forget to make plans to vote in the spring primary on February 16 and the spring election on April 6. There's a statewide election for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Seven people will be on the ballot for that important post. You can find out who they are and where they stand by visiting our web page for that race. You can also see a list of who is running for various municipal offices in the North Shore and in Ozaukee County. Information about candidates for judicial offices should be ready soon. Meanwhile, you can request your absentee ballots at myvote.wi.gov. When you have filled out your absentee ballot, you can deposit it in a dropbox for your municipality. See a list of them HERE.

The Georgia run-off elections for two US Senate seats happens today. Tomorrow, the 117th Congress meets in joint session to count the electoral college votes. Both events will try progressives' souls: the election in Georgia because it is sure to be followed by litigation and acrimony; the formal tallying of the electoral college votes because more than a few Republicans — including our own Senator Ron Johnson — plan to disrupt the purely ceremonial event with spurious "objections" to accepting the votes of certified electors from various states these seditious officials will claim are "contested." They aren't. All the litigation over the validity of the votes in these states has long since been settled. And all the electors and their votes from these states have been certified by the governors of those states. The results are clear and will ultimately be formally acknowledged by the 117th Congress. But for a dark view of how bad — and nutty — the process could be, see Ed Foley's op-ed in today's Washington Post.

But the question remains: what to do about those who are prepared to abuse the process? Especially those who represent the states whose electoral college votes they are challenging. The Milwaukee Journal has already castigated Representative Tiffany for his part in this seditious charade. In an editorial today, the headline calls Senator Ron Johnson "unfit to represent Wisconsin in the U. S. Senate." The editorial has it just right: "Johnson's disgraceful display should not go unpunished. While there is no way to recall a sitting senator — and censure or expulsion (though deserved) is unlikely given the politics of the moment — we urge voters to remember what Johnson has done. Hold him accountable. Demand that qualified challengers, Republican and Democrat alike, run against him if he has the audacity to break another promise and try for a third term in 2022." The end of the piece asserts that "He has violated his oath of office and in doing so, Johnson has forfeited his right to represent the people of Wisconsin."

Aside from firing Senator Johnson if he runs for re-election in 2022, the important business in front of us is the upcoming nonpartisan elections. There was such spectacular (and welcome) engagement for the fall 2020 election. Wouldn't it be great if we could keep up that level of enthusiasm for our local and judicial elections? Our Elections 2021 pages will help keep you informed of the offices up for election in 2021 as well as the candidates who have been officially nominated. Nomination papers are due today by 5pm in most cases so we should have all that information available within the next few days. So start becoming informed! You can apply for an absentee ballot for the primary (February 16) and/or the general election (April 6) at myvote.wi.gov. Get it out of the way now!

This week's event list is more, well, eventful. I especially want to highlight the People's Map Commission public hearing on Thursday, January 14 (time TBA). There's nothing more important to democracy than fair electoral maps. As we have seen in Wisconsin over the last 10 years under our partisan gerrymandered maps, it's a lot more difficult to hold elected officials accountable for the positions and votes they take when politicians can choose their own voters instead of voters choosing their politicians. And that's what a partisan gerrymander gives us: elected officials who are not responsive to anyone who does not vote for them. If you'd like more information about gerrymandering and want to help do something about it, come to the organizational meeting of the Fair Maps and Voting Rights Issue Team on Thursday, January 7 at 6pm on Zoom.

If you are interested in the other Issue Teams Grassroots North Shore is now forming, contact Paul Geenen. There will be organizational meetings for teams focusing on Criminal Justice Reform and on the Environment soon. Or let him know of any other current issue you want to engage.

We're finally going to have perfect 2020 vision — in hindsight, of course. But Donald Drumpf just won't let go of his destructive efforts to upend our democracy. It seems he has appealed the latest ruling that the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued in mid-December. That suit was decided by a 4-3 vote and relied heavily on the Laches Doctrine, "which requires that a plaintiff does not unreasonably delay a claim. Drumpf’s suit failed in this respect because he did not file suit when the same laws and practices were in effect when he won the presidency in 2016" (Urban Milwaukee, 12/29/2020). And Monday Representative Louie Gohmert sued Vice President Mike Pence. CNN called the suit a "wacky attempt to transform the vice president's purely ceremonial role in presiding over the announcement of the Electoral College results in Congress into a power broker position in which the VP could effectively hand the election to President Donald Drumpf" (CNN, 12/29/2020).

Congress will meet in joint session on Wednesday, January 6, at 12 noon CST to count the electoral college votes. The Vice President will preside, following both the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act of 1887. As the Washington Post explains in a 12/29/20 op-ed, "the Jan. 6 session ... address[es] a narrow question: Are the electoral votes received by Congress ones cast by electors the states appointed?" Here's the core of the issue:

VP Pence, as the presiding officer, is charged with simply opening the envelopes with the certified votes from each state. As an AP report explains, "the presiding officer opens and presents the certificates of the electoral votes in alphabetical order of the states. The appointed 'tellers' from each chamber, members of both parties, then read each certificate out loud. The tellers then record and count the votes, and the presiding officer announces who has won the majority votes for both president and vice president" (AP, 12/15/2020).

Objections to a specific state's electors must be made, in writing, with at least one Representative and one Senator signing on. It's possible that no senator will oblige the crazies in the House, but even if one does, the objection is likely to be defeated in both chambers. It's a little nerve-wracking, of course, but it may be worth making some popcorn and tuning in to watch the comedic drama unfold.

On a more serious note, one of Wisconsin's foremost tasks ahead is drawing the new electoral district maps that will go into effect for the 2022 elections and remain in force through 2031. The new maps are the only way Wisconsin can rectify the travesty of partisan gerrymandering that has so disrupted the relationship between the will of the voters and the distribution of power in the state's legislative chambers. To counter the Republican effort to cement their hold over the legislature, Governor Tony Evers created the People's Map Commission, a group of nine people who have been chosen by a Selection Panel of three retired judges in Wisconsin. The members of the Commission are "Wisconsinites representing each of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts and members from the African American, Latinx, and Tribal communities. The Commission members may not be elected officials, public officials, lobbyists, or political party officers. The idea is that the people should be making these important decisions, not politicians. The Commission may also include nonvoting members who are experts in redistricting, including professors, statisticians, mathematicians, map software experts, and legal scholars."

Grassroots North Shore supporters have their chance to participate in the series of public hearings The People's Map Commission is holding in the new year. The one for the 4th CD is to be held on Thursday, January 14 (time TBD). If you want to participate by speaking or submitting written comments, you'll need to sign up to do so. You can also participate by tuning in to watch. The sign-up page seems to be the same both for contributing remarks and for simply attending the session. The hearing for the 6th CD will be held on February 25, 2021. Nothing has a more fundamental impact on the governance of our state than the map of electoral districts. So nothing is more important than attending one of these public hearings to make our presence heard and felt. Please sign up for the 4th CD hearing or the 6th CD hearing. The links take you to a form titled "Public Input for People’s Maps Commission" but there does not seem to be any other way to register just to attend the session. So don't be shy!

During the holiday season, the events list continues to be short. But expect things to heat up considerably after January 5, 2021. That's when nomination papers are due for nonpartisan elections as well as for school board elections this spring. You can see what offices are up for election on our website. We will be updating the page with the names of people who have qualified to run for each office and whenever possible links to their web pages and/or Facebook pages just as soon as we can. Once the primaries are completed, we will be endorsing some candidates and in March will be holding a candidate forum for those running to be State Superintendent of Public Instruction. You should be able to request an absentee both for the February 16 primary and the April 6 general election at myvote.wi.gov but the 2021 election cycle requests are not yet available! Presumably, they will be soon.

And may the New Year be happier, brighter, and more hopeful than the year we are leaving behind.

Merry Christmas and/or Kwanzaa to everyone. As you will see, there's almost nothing that has not been suspended or canceled on the events list for the next two weeks. So this newsletter will focus on some ongoing work and some prospective opportunities so you won't feel useless and forlorn staying home for the holidays! (At least I hope you're staying home and not having children and grandchildren over to celebrate! The rate of coronavirus spread in Wisconsin is lower than it was a month ago but it is still quite high. Be safe and protect others so we can all have happy holidays together in 2021.)

The run-off elections for the two senate races in Georgia are being held on January 5. You can still help out by sending money (of course) and/or by phoning voters. I've heard from others who are phoning that Georgia voters are friendly and nice to callers. Because it's an election that focuses on turnout — meaning the side that gets more of its voters out wins — the phone lists are pretty tightly focused on voters who will vote for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. So take a couple of hours out of this week and next to do some worthy campaigning. Here are the links you need:

• Volunteer and/or donate to the Jon Ossoff campaign;
• Volunteer and/or donate to the Rev. Raphael Warnock campaign;
• Volunteer and/or donate to Stacy Abrams's Fair Fight organization;
• Volunteer through the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Grassroots North Shore is launching several issue teams in the new year. These teams will meet to hear from important speakers and to develop strategies and tactics to make progress both in our state and nationally. Two teams already have organizers: Deb Patel is putting together a group to work on Fair Maps and Other Voting Rights; Anneliese Dickman is putting together one focused on Gun Safety and Violence Prevention; Paul Geenen is forming a group to work on Criminal Justice Reform. I urge you to contact these organizers if you're interested in working on those projects this year. Or if you have another issue you're keen to pursue, contact Paul and we'll help you form a team for that issue!

And just in case you gave the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel a miss this morning, here's news that will make you sick at heart: Wisconsin Republicans all vote against coronavirus relief plan, with Ron Johnson joining 5 other senators opposing bill. If you'd prefer a little irony to rebalance your day, you can try this story instead: Trump carried counties where many voters declared themselves indefinitely confined and avoided ID rules. This article is tagged as available only to subscribers, so here's an excerpt:

We don't of course know which presidential candidate those who deemed themselves indefinitely confined voted for. And there is no way after the fact to find an answer to that question. We do know, however, that the law in question leaves the designation up to the voter. No note from your doctor is required! And by the way, you should be able to request an absentee ballot for the February 16 and April 6 elections to be held in Wisconsin this year — but apparently not yet. At least not through myvote.wi.gov. I hope it will be possible to request such ballots after the first of the year. Stay tuned.

And in some interesting news unlikely to be featured in the national press, it appears that "Michigan's attorney general will seek professional sanctions against attorney Sidney Powell over her efforts to overturn President Donald Trump's election loss (Raw Story, 11/22/20).

Finally, especially for Ozaukee county progressives, you should know about and sign up for the Ozaukee County Dems Inauguration (virtual) Celebration that will take place on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 from 7 - 9pm. The celebration will feature a champagne toast and truffles with all proceeds benefiting Ozaukee food pantries. If you sign up by January 11, you will receive the goodies in time for the event. The cost is a reasonable $30 for "Champagne and Truffles for Two." So even if you're not an Ozaukee resident, you might consider joining the celebration, or at least contributing something to help the hungry.

So yesterday, the Electoral College officially elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States. The next step, the official tally of the Electoral College votes by a joint session of Congress, will take place on January 6, 2021. Legally, the only slate of electors that our senators and representatives can challenge is the slate from Wisconsin. And that's because Wisconsin is the only state that missed the "safe harbor" date (December 8) in certifying its electors. But that legal nicety is unlikely to deter the dead-heads and lickspittles whose loyalty to the vanquished current occupant of the White House is not dented. Never mind. President Biden and Vice President Harris will be sworn in at noon on January 20, 2021!

The Georgia senate runoffs remain the last election of the 2020 cycle. We can't stress often enough how important these two senate seats are. If Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock BOTH win, Democrats will win control of the Senate. If not, Mitch McConnell will be able to stop any legislation he likes, just as he has gummed up a COVID-19 relief bill for months. You can help out by calling with the campaigns, with the Fair Fight organization or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.You can find links to each of these organizations on our Take Action page for the Georgia elections. You can also connect with a Georgia group to write postcards. You can find information and instructions for this postcard project here.

Looking forward to 2021 and beyond, we encourage you to sign up to be a member of the first issue teams Grassroots North Shore is setting up. Paul Geenen is hosting a Zoom informational meeting on Monday, Dec. 21st at noon to discuss the structure and purposes for each team. The teams will dive more deeply into specific issues through meeting with invited speakers followed by discussions. We will start with four committees — Environment, Criminal Justice, Gun Violence, and Fair Maps — and are open to additional issue teams if there is interest. Please sign up after which you will receive an email confirmation and a link for the Dec. 21st noon informational meeting will be sent to you.

The events list continues to be fairly sparse, as it generally is over the winter holidays. But there is one event off of our beaten track that some of you might be interested in attending. The Waukesha Democratic Party is holding its meeting on Thursday, December 17, at 7pm. On Zoom of course. In addition to hearing from their county chair (perhaps he'll talk about the significant inroads Dems made in Waukesha County in the November 3 election), the meeting will hear from Tom Nelson who plans to contest Ron Johnson's senate seat in 2022, and Jill Underly who is running to be Superintendent of Public Instruction.

On my holiday wish list: an effective vaccine for COVID-19 and an end to the reign of error under tRump. With health care workers now beginning to get the jab, the end is in sight even if we mere mortals have to be patient for several more months. And it appears the FDA will meet to approve a second viable vaccine — from Moderna — some time later this week. But the departure of Bill Barr a little over a week from now is in my view the functional beginning of the end of the Drumpf regime. For sheer reading pleasure, you should read Charlie Pierce's take on Barr's resignation letter! As we light our Hanukah candles and/or our Christmas trees, we can truly thank each other and ourselves for all the hard work we did throughout 2020. And when we ring in the New Year, we can look forward to renewal.

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So yesterday, the Electoral College officially elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the President-elect and Vice President-elect of the United States. The next step, the official tally of the Electoral College votes by a joint session of Congress, will take place on January 6, 2021. Legally, the only slate of electors that our senators and representatives can challenge is the slate from Wisconsin. And that's because Wisconsin is the only state that missed the "safe harbor" date (December 8) in certifying its electors. But that legal nicety is unlikely to deter the dead-heads and lickspittles whose loyalty to the vanquished current occupant of the White House is not dented. Never mind. President Biden and Vice President Harris will be sworn in at noon on January 20, 2021!

The Georgia senate runoffs remain the last election of the 2020 cycle. We can't stress often enough how important these two senate seats are. If Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock BOTH win, Democrats will win control of the Senate. If not, Mitch McConnell will be able to stop any legislation he likes, just as he has gummed up a COVID-19 relief bill for months. You can help out by calling with the campaigns, with the Fair Fight organization or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.You can find links to each of these organizations on our Take Action page for the Georgia elections. You can also connect with a Georgia group to write postcards. You can find information and instructions for this postcard project here.

Looking forward to 2021 and beyond, we encourage you to sign up to be a member of the first issue teams Grassroots North Shore is setting up. Paul Geenen is hosting a Zoom informational meeting on Monday, Dec. 21st at noon to discuss the structure and purposes for each team. The teams will dive more deeply into specific issues through meeting with invited speakers followed by discussions. We will start with four committees — Environment, Criminal Justice, Gun Violence, and Fair Maps — and are open to additional issue teams if there is interest. Please sign up after which you will receive an email confirmation and a link for the Dec. 21st noon informational meeting will be sent to you.

The events list continues to be fairly sparse, as it generally is over the winter holidays. But there is one event off of our beaten track that some of you might be interested in attending. The Waukesha Democratic Party is holding its meeting on Thursday, December 17, at 7pm. On Zoom of course. In addition to hearing from their county chair (perhaps he'll talk about the significant inroads Dems made in Waukesha County in the November 3 election), the meeting will hear from Tom Nelson who plans to contest Ron Johnson's senate seat in 2022, and Jill Underly who is running to be Superintendent of Public Instruction.

On my holiday wish list: an effective vaccine for COVID-19 and an end to the reign of error under tRump. With health care workers now beginning to get the jab, the end is in sight even if we mere mortals have to be patient for several more months. And it appears the FDA will meet to approve a second viable vaccine — from Moderna — some time later this week. But the departure of Bill Barr a little over a week from now is in my view the functional beginning of the end of the Drumpf regime. For sheer reading pleasure, you should read Charlie Pierce's take on Barr's resignation letter! As we light our Hanukah candles and/or our Christmas trees, we can truly thank each other and ourselves for all the hard work we did throughout 2020. And when we ring in the New Year, we can look forward to renewal.

Today is Safe Harbor day. And that means the votes of electors who have been certified cannot be challenged by Congress when it meets to count the electoral votes on January 6. The electors will meet in their respective state capitals on December 14 to cast their ballots for President and Vice President. Apparently, Wisconsin is the only state to have missed the deadline. And that's because there is still a lawsuit in state court. There's a hearing in that case scheduled for Thursday. But even if the 10 electoral votes from Wisconsin will be challengeable when Congress meets in January, President-elect Joe Biden will still win, with 296 votes, in the Electoral College!

Meanwhile, the circus continues to make the rounds of various states. Today, there's a report in Daily Kos that the state of Texas is seeking to file a suit against Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Suits between states are adjudicated only at the Supreme Court of the United States but first five justices must agree to let Texas file its suit. Let's pop some corn and watch.

On the vaccine front, there's some really good news, some really bad news, and some more crazy news. First the really good news: the Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for emergency use by the FDA AND it appears that even one dose of this two-dose vaccine is effective in preventing COVID-19. The really bad news is that President Trump declined to purchase large quantities of the Pfizer vaccine when the government was offered that opportunity last summer. (The tRump administration of course denies this.) Although the US has purchased something like enough Pfizer vaccine to inoculate 30-50 million people, Pfizer will be unable to supply more doses until June 2021, because the company has orders from many other countries that it will need to fulfill first. And in some more crazy news, tRump will sign an executive order today that purports to "to prevent the U.S. government from shipping any doses it has purchased to aid any foreign countries until all needs are met within the United States." But, "it’s not entirely clear on how exactly the executive order would work."

There's definitely a glimmer of hope, but we have a lot of tunnel to get through still. With the virus so widespread in our communities, everyone has to assume that wherever they go, they are likely to encounter one or more people who are infectious. It's hard with the winter holidays upon us, but everyone needs to stay home! Do not gather with family and friends for Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukah, or New Year's Eve. Forego that pleasure just this once and make a difference in your own and countless other people's lives. Our own Dr. Ian Gilson has provided us with an excellent and informative presentation on the coronavirus and what we now know about its nature and its infectiousness. If you missed his live event, you can watch a video of it on YouTube. Don't wait. As more information, especially about vaccinations, becomes available, we will be taking this presentation down. We'll ask him to provide us with an updated talk, possibly in January, when there will be new information about FDA approval of additional vaccines and perhaps even some concrete information about distribution and availability.

Signature gathering for the upcoming spring elections is under way. You can review the offices for which there will be elections on our website. The document is not quite complete for all the races in our communities. If you know about any additional ones, either in our seven North Shore Milwaukee County communities, or in Ozaukee County, please let us know.

Finally, I urge everyone to help elect two Democrats — Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock — to the US Senate from Georgia in the run-off elections to be held on January 5. The importance of Democratic success in these contests cannot be overstated. Success translate to Democratic governance at the national level; failure means more Washington gridlock and GOP glee! Grassroots North Shore has already sent 3000 postcards to voters in Georgia. So now is the time to phone, either with the campaigns themselves or through Fair Fight, the organization Stacey Abrams set up. The reception of these calls, based on the reports I've heard so far, is positive. People seem to be pleased to hear from fellow Dems. And since run-offs are always turn-out fights, let's help make sure the Georgia Dems do the necessary.

• Volunteer and/or donate to the Jon Ossoff campaign;
• Volunteer and/or donate to the Rev. Raphael Warnock campaign;
• Volunteer and/or donate to Stacy Abrams's Fair Fight organization;
• Volunteer through the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

I'm not sure how many shoes are involved in this whole process, but yesterday another one dropped as both Wisconsin and Arizona certified their results from the November 3 election. The recount in Wisconsin, which cost the Drumpf campaign $3 million, resulted in an additional 87 votes for President-elect Biden. In other words, each new Biden vote cost the Drumpf campaign $34,483. Thanks, one-term president* tRump!

Meanwhile, Drumpf sues to try to reverse Wisconsin's election results:

Although the law here states that challenges to election results are to be filed in circuit court, the Drumpf campaign went straight to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. There's no certainty that the Supreme Court will agree to hear the case. But these sorts of lawsuits, like the ones filed in Michigan and Pennsylvania — all of which have failed spectacularly — can and have done harm to the US electoral system by convincing Drumpf supporters voter fraud is rampant and decreasing their confidence in the national vote count "from 56% before the election to 28% afterward" (Bright Line Watch).

To make sure the Biden administration is not hamstrung from the start by an obstructionist Senator McConnell and his henchmen, we need to help the two Democrats running for Senate in Georgia. If they win, we win the Senate. So, Grassroots North Shore needs more postcard writers: GRNS volunteers are currently writing 2,000 postcards to Georgia voters for the special Senate election for Jon Ossoff and Rev. Warnock. We just received 1,000 more names/addresses so we need more writers to get these postcards mailed by Dec. 9. We chose that date because early voting begins on Dec. 14 in Georgia. This project requires volunteers to handwrite a short message and address the postcards. The packets contain 25 postcards, stamps, instructions and the script and will be delivered to you by Dec. 3. To volunteer please contact Norma Gilson ASAP.

And don't overlook these opportunities to participate in the governance of our state:

ast night, the GSA chief, Emily Murphy, sent a letter to President-elect Biden signifying that the presidential transition could begin. And I'm sure everyone gave a big sigh of relief. Now, three weeks after election day, Pennsylvania and Nevada finally certified their elections and we can all exhale. Again. (For a lefty take on the momentous anti-climax, see this Daily Kos diary.) That of course leaves the recount in Wisconsin (and the ridiculous one the Drumpf campaign is calling for in Georgia) to go. Plus, I guess, a new court case? That's what the tweeter-in-chief claims, anyway. His campaign did appeal a federal district court's ruling on a case that seeks to nullify the voting in Pennsylvania. You can see an account of what that appeal includes, if you have time and patience.

The recount in Wisconsin is plodding along. And the Democratic Party is still looking for volunteers to observe the remaining process in Milwaukee County. If you can give some time to this work, that would be great. Sign up here. According to the chair of the Wisconsin Election Commission, in a presentation to the Milwaukee County Democratic Party on November 23, the Drumpf campaign is asking that absentee ballots requested through the myvote.wi.gov site should be discarded because the clerks did not receive the appropriate request applications directly. Also, in-person absentee ballots should be discarded because the people who voted early in person used absentee ballots but did not have to fill out the form requesting absentee ballots. And those are only two of the odd rationales for challenging ballots in Dane and Milwaukee counties. This week's Capitol Notes conversation on UWUM 89.7 FM, on Monday, November 23, is headlined "Wisconsin Recount Will Likely End Up In Court." Is anyone surprised?

It's a holiday week but we are urged not to spend the it with family we don't regularly live with or to travel. But it seems millions of people are ignoring the pleadings of officials and scientists. I hope you are not engaging in high risk behaviors! To get a great handle on the state of our knowledge about the coronavirus, and how the Medical Society of Wisconsin assesses the risk of various activities, you can't do better than to watch a recording of Dr. Ian Gilson's presentation to Grassroots North Shore on November 22. Dr. Gilson uses his first-hand experience with patients who have contracted COVID-19 to help us better understand the latest scientific information.

The events list is pretty lean for the next two weeks, but the run-off elections that will take place in Georgia on January 5, 2021, will determine whether Mitch McConnell is demoted to Minority Leader, an outcome devoutly to be wished. You can do your part to help! Here are some ways to help put the Senate in Democratic hands so President Biden will be able to pass some much-needed legislation to provide COVID relief, stabilize the ACA, prop up our failing economy, and deal with many other pressing issues.

• Volunteer and/or donate to the Jon Ossoff campaign;
• Volunteer and/or donate to the Rev. Raphael Warnock campaign;
• Volunteer and/or donate to Stacy Abrams's Fair Fight organization;
• Volunteer through the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

All in all, we have much to be thankful for this year, even if we cannot gather with extended family to share a meal. We have won an historic election for President. He may do some damage in the meantime, but tRump will exit the White House on January 20, 2021. The new administration will be able to roll back many of the terrible orders our current *president issued. We've elected the FIRST WOMAN and the first Black and South Asian American to the Vice Presidency. And there are several very promising vaccines for the coronavirus in the offing. So 2021 will almost certainly have a very difficult beginning but we can hope for a happy end to much of the misery and sadness we are currently experiencing by late in the year, at least. So whether you're alone for the holiday, celebrating it with the people in your immediate household, or risking visiting with a wider circle of friends and family, be thankful and be safe.

Dr. Gilson will try to answer your questions during the presentation.  If he does not get to all of them, someone will try to contact you with the answer.

GRASSROOTS NORTH SHORE did (at least some of) it! As analyses of voting patterns roll in, one thing is clear: the Milwaukee suburbs made a huge difference this year. Although Biden's vote share in Milwaukee County was 69% to Drumpf's 29% (JSOnline.com), voter turnout in the city was essentially unchanged compared to the turnout in 2016 (JSOnline, November 9, 2020). Using the still unofficial results, Sarah Volpenhein concludes, "In the city as a whole, Biden picked up close to 6,000 more votes than Clinton did four years ago, according to unofficial results. For his part, Drumpf also won more votes than four years ago: nearly 3,000. Third-party candidates this time around got a smaller share of the vote." On November 6, Craig Gilbert's scan of the data is headlined "Where Joe Biden won Wisconsin: Dane County and the Milwaukee County suburbs." The places where the crucial 44,000 vote shift occurred? They were "principally in the city of Madison, the Madison suburbs and the suburban communities within Milwaukee County. It also occurred — on a smaller scale — in the suburban counties of Waukesha and Ozaukee, the Fox Valley counties of Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago, and the counties of La Crosse, Eau Claire and Rock. These are all among the state’s most populous places."

The most detailed analysis of the vote in Milwaukee County comes from John Johnson, a research fellow at the Marquette University Law School's Lubar Center. His data show that the net votes for the Democratic presidential candidate grew by 51.5% between 2000 and 2020. The net votes in the Milwaukee suburbs over that same period grew from a deficit (-7,685 votes) to a net gain of 36,663 votes, or a change of 44,348 votes — a little more than 575%! In short, "Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris netted a larger number of votes than any other Democrat in Milwaukee County’s history. According to unofficial returns, they received 182,896 more votes than Donald Drumpf and Mike Pence. In percentage terms, this 40-point margin of victory is only exceeded by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1932 and 1936 campaigns (45- and 56-point victories, respectively), going back at least to 1892." Johnson goes on to say that "a remarkable blue wave in Milwaukee’s innermost suburbs ... recast the region’s political complexion. In the City of Milwaukee net votes cast for the Biden/Harris ticket exceeded those cast for Clinton in 2016 by about 3,000 votes. However, the Milwaukee county suburbs collectively netted the Democratic ticket over 17,000 more votes in 2020 than 2016."

But what does the picture look like in the North Shore suburbs and Ozaukee County? Johnson's piece tells us about the North Shore area while Chris Drosner provides the results for the WOW Counties in a piece for Milwaukee Magazine published on November 5, 2020. The northern suburbs of Milwaukee have shifted dramatically to the Democrats over the last 20 years. Here are the numbers showing the Democratic presidential vote margins as the difference between the percent won by the Democrat compared to the percent won by the Republican.

In the WOW Counties (Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington), the Republican strength remains but there are small blue gains in parts of those counties. Drosner writes that "Democratic gains were greatest in the more ... suburban suburbs and discrete cities — as opposed to the counties' exurbs and rural areas. Biden's largest gain in the WOW counties was in the city of Brookfield, where he added 8 points over Clinton's share. Biden gains of 4-6 points were more common in the WOW burbs, and those in rural areas and the southwestern part of the metro area were smaller." The only comparative figures here are with the 2016 outcome, so it's more difficult to see the longer term trends. But here is the data we have.

The slight uptick in Democratic performance in the WOW counties is largely attributable to the decrease in third party shares of the vote. But still, there's a little drift to the blue side we'll want to build on. And for the brightest spot in the WOW picture, how about that slim victory in the city of Cedarburg! Biden won there by "19 votes out of more than 8,000 cast. Drumpf won Cedarburg by 8.5 points in 2016." Congratulations to the Ozaukee County Dems who really put their backs into this year's election. And of course to Grassroots North Shore for the thousands of postcards and follow-up phone calls our volunteers made to the county. With all that hard work, we helped achieve the victory Deb Andraca won in the 23rd Assembly District!

Finally, for a look at demographic data in the state as a whole, take a look at this Washington Post piece exploring exit poll results. The data are preliminary right now, but a first read shows that 92% of people identifying themselves as Democrats supported the Biden/Harris ticket, while only 86% of those identifying themselves as Republicans supported the current orange elephant in the White House.

As I am writing this, around 3pm on November 4, we have won Wisconsin by 20,000 votes, give or take. So a HUGE thank-you to everyone who got engaged and worked hard for this outcome. Several other states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan have yet to be called. Arizona and Nevada are also up in the air. As a result, we cannot definitively say that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have won. Still, it is a promising map, though too close to repudiate the large numbers of the country's voters who still support the man currently occupying the White House. Despite all the lies, the cruelty, the law-breaking and law-bending, the lack of vision and the lack of empathy. It's well nigh inexplicable that our fellow citizens have made that choice.

But here we are. The newsletter is a little more than a day late because I was working in a Virtual Staging Location to Get Out the Vote in the Milwaukee area over the weekend and on Election Day. We were down to the bottom of the barrel and every vote we managed to get out made a difference. That is my take-away going forward. If we want this state and this country to move in a new direction, we have to put in the hard work. And not just in the last week or two before an election. There will be important nonpartisan races in our area next spring and we have to be ready. So take a break now, but plan to get active and to find out what YOU can do as soon as we have all recharged.

Needless to say, there's very little on the events list right now. But that does not mean there's nothing to do. Have a look. And don't miss the entry for a John Nichols presentation on Saturday, November 14!

We're one week away from what we used to call Election Day but is now better called "the end of voting day." We're unlikely to know the complete results here in Wisconsin that night because the law does not permit any processing of absentee ballots until 7am when the polls open on November 3. And as of this morning, 1,771,503 ballots have been issued, and 1,451,462 reported returned, including 352,073 in-person absentee ballots (clerk's office) cast since 10/20. In other words, about half of the 2.9 million votes in 2016's presidential election have already been cast. And, depending on where you live, there are still three to five days of early voting yet to come.

We don't know, of course, what this avalanche of early voting means: it could mean people — presumably on both sides — are just that eager to vote or it could mean that voters in Wisconsin are deeply concerned about the explosion of COVID-19 cases we're currently seeing. In any case, people are voting early in droves. If you have not voted yet, TODAY'S THE DAY TO DO SO. And if you still have an absentee ballot kicking around, fill it out, get the certification envelope signed and witnessed, and take it to the DROP BOX in your community. You can find a list of drop box locations by using the Wisconsin Democratic Party's website.

The COVID-19 situation in Wisconsin is almost catastrophic: the per capita rate of infection is the 3rd highest in the nation, according to the New York Times. And the total deaths from the coronavirus so far have exceeded 225,000 nationwide. In other words, "American carnage" for real this time. Mark Meadows, the Chief of Staff to the orange occupant of the oval office, has signaled that the administration's policy is to avoid blame for the explosion of infections by doing nothing itself but pointing to governors' policies in the states. In a CNN interview on Sunday, he said, "We're not going to control the pandemic." Although some of the press have called Meadows's statement "admitting defeat," it is in fact merely making plain what has been the de facto federal policy all along. Meanwhile, a study from Kansas University has shown that COVID-19 is spreading half as quickly in counties with mask mandates than in those without.

As we round the last turn and head down the stretch toward the end of voting, there are still plenty of opportunities to help make sure Wisconsin corrects its error of 2016.

• Phonebanking. This is the most important thing you can do to make sure the turnout in Milwaukee and all across the state is as robust as we can make it. The Biden campaign is holding phone banks for the four days of the traditional Get Out the Vote, when we would ordinarily be knocking on doors. So if you live in Milwaukee County sign up for shifts on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. If you live in Ozaukee County, sign up for shifts for Mequon and Thiensville or Cedarburg, Grafton, and Port Washington. We need to get every last person who is going to vote for Biden (and other Democrats down the ballot) to turn out. It's how you do your part!
  
  
• Work with Supermarket Legends by handing out flyers at busy locations. Pick up flyers and a list of places to distribute them at Linea Sundstrom's home, 1320 Lake Bluff, Shorewood. Flyers are in the red box near her garage. For questions, email Terri Lowder.
  
  
• Volunteer to drive sound trucks in Milwaukee to help turn out the vote during the Final Four days (10/31-11/3), and especially Election Day, when we'll want about 10 of these trucks. Drivers will pick up the trucks the campaign is renting, large speakers and gas cards from the office, and routes to drive in high-priority, low turnout wards. The campaign would love to have people who are committed to all four days, but if that's unrealistic it would be great if volunteers could form their own teams to cover the period. To get involved, contact Millicent Cripe. She'd love to have volunteers connect with her by noon on Wednesday, October 28.
  
  
• Drop literature on behalf of the Biden Campaign:
  • Wednesday, 10/28
  • Friday, 10/30
  • Saturday, 10/31
  • Sunday, 11/1 (the last day of early voting in Milwaukee)
  • Monday, 11/2

You'll also find phone banking and lit drop opportunities for specific candidates in the events list.

Early in-person voting has begun in Wisconsin! The chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party has informed the Executive Committee that by tomorrow, voters in Wisconsin will have already cast over a million votes. Yesterday's Journal Sentinel analyzed the absentee ballots received before the early in-person voting began. "Wisconsinites have now returned more than 860,000 absentee ballots by mail, according to the latest statewide data released Monday. That is the equivalent of 29% of the state’s 2016 turnout of just under 3 million. And it’s astronomically more ballots cast by mail than in any previous fall election in Wisconsin. Dane County has returned the most ballots as a percentage of its 2016 vote (45%), followed by Brown (35%), Door (34%), Milwaukee (32%) and Bayfield, Ozaukee and Outagamie at 31%." In the North Shore, "communities that have hit 50% of their 2016 turnout include Bayside, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay in Milwaukee County...." In short, turnout is already high and climbing.

If you yourself have not already voted, now would be a good time to do so. For early voting days & times in your community, see our Early Voting page on our website. Voting early means that if you are not in a high risk group for Covid-19, you can sign up to be a "poll observer" and help ensure that voters are not intimidated or challenged when they go to vote on election day. Sign up here.

And here's some analysis you can use — and we have published on our website — to talk about the economy and jobs with that shrinking pool of undecided voters. Bill Holahan and our own Keith Schmitz have teamed up to bring us another "Mythbusters" segment. Bill dissects the latest jobs report, the last one the Federal government will release before Election Day. Be sure you watch it and refer others to it.

The events list is suddenly quite full and long! Lots of opportunities to help win races in Wisconsin. So be sure you sign up for something. Although voters are turning out in droves around here, our candidates will need your help to chase down every last one of our left-leaning supporters to turn them out by or on election day. Only two weeks remain: get busy!

With only four weeks to go, Grassroots North Shore is putting the pedal to the metal. And you should too. The polls are looking good but we all know we cannot entirely rely on them. So what are you prepared to do? Here are some suggestions:

• For some inspiration, watch Grassroots North Shore's Sweet Sixteen presentation with John Nichols, associate editor of the CapTimes and National Affairs correspondent for The Nation.
  
  
• Call Dems in the North Shore to urge them to vote early.
  
  
• Volunteer with the Ozaukee Dems to make calls for Neal Plotkin (running to defeat Alberta Darling in the 8th state Senate District) and Deb Andraca (running to defeat Jim Ott in the 23rd Assembly District), and other phone banks on the Oz Dems calendar.
  
  
• Call with the Democratic Party from now until election day:
  • Saturday, 10/10;
  • Sunday, 10/11;
  • All weekdays.

You'll find other opportunities to contribute your energies to worthy candidates and causes in the events listing.

The latest forecast for the electoral college from fivethirtyeight.com predicts that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will win 83 out of 100 times in the 40,000 simulations the site runs frequently. It's based on both state and national polls and is a pretty reliable guide to where things stand right now. The chances of a Biden/Harris win have been increasing steadily over the past week. So I'm cautiously optimistic. The site has Wisconsin at 52.6% for Biden and 46.5% for Drumpf. The margin is a mere 6.1% but the really important piece of data is that Biden is well over the 50% mark!

RealClearPolitics has the national polling at +9.2% for Biden and the Senate going BLUE if its state-by-state projections pan out. Although we should not rely on polls and relax, you might want to bookmark these two sites. RealClearPolitics runs a bit to the right while fivethirtyeight.com tries to hew to the objective, statistical probabilities. Between the two, you are likely to get a fairly clear picture of the state of the race.

Finally, the results of the first debate between the disgrace of a president and former VP Biden are in. Daily Kos has the story.

Now get busy. We can win this election and take back the Senate. But we need all hands on deck.

Important things to do this week: Watch the first presidential debate, perhaps, but for sure sign up for our Sweet Sixteen afternoon party and FUNdraiserat 4:30 on Sunday, Oct. 4, with our guest and good friend John Nichols. He's bound to lift our spirits and get us well and truly pumped up ahead of the election. In the spirit of the Wisconsin we used to know, John is a true progressive through and through. He believes in the power of collective action, both in marching for justice and in voting for change. The event itself is open to the public. But we encourage you to support Grassroots North Shore with whatever donation you can afford.

In this year of multiple elections, and of Covid-19, we have still been hard at work, teaming up with Souls to the Polls to recruit Election Inspectors (aka poll workers), with Civitech and Indivisible groups in northern Illinois to register voters, and with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin to make direct voter contact. We have now sent voter information postcards and follow-up phone calls to more than 10,000 voters in Ozaukee County, the North Shore, and the city. We've helped sponsor a candidate forum with the Ozaukee Dems and held another candidate forum for four candidates running for Assembly and state Senate. And now we're experimenting with innovative pantomime canvassing — with poster boards — to maintain appropriate social distancing while refusing to give up door-knocking altogether. Volunteers have stepped up to make all these activities possible. But without funds, the vibrant and creative talents our supporters provide can't continue. And that's why we need your financial support as well.

Partnering with others is one way we multiply the energy and talent in the Grassroots North Shore Community. So let Jim Brown with Supermarket Legends know if you want to help Milwaukee optimize its early voting period (from October 20 through November 1). The plan is to do signage and visibility near early voting sites (there are 18 of them) without any direct contact with people. Near some of the sites where signs might be most effective, cars with EARLY VOTE HERE NOW signs will be placed on top of cars and trucks. Volunteers who are comfortable with it can stand nearby and wave bright orange signs with arrows pointing to the voting locations without risking anyone's health. Supermarket Legends will supply the signs and everything else you need.

Grassroots North Shore is still looking for people to make follow-up phone calls to voters who received postcards from us, both on the North Shore and in the city. Our purpose is to encourage early voting, both by vote-at-home balloting (aka vote-by-mail) and by early in-person voting. Our phone calls provide important information about the processes people can use and also give voters the phone number of the Voter Protection Team in case they run into snags. You can sign up to help us complete the calls to North Shore voters and to younger voters in Milwaukee. Like Supermarket Legends, we know that early voting effectively reduces lines and chaos on Election day. And people can register or correct problems with their registration during the early in-person voting period. The sealed ballot envelope can be witnessed and turned in as the voter completes the process.

YARD SIGNS! We have them and they're yours just for the asking! Go to our Yard Signs website page and sign up for all that apply: Biden/Harris, of course, but also Neal Plotkin (8th state Senate District), Deb Andraca (23rd Assembly District), and Emily Siegrist (24th Assembly District). Yard signs help with name recognition for the candidates and let your neighbors and passersby know that you are proud of and enthusiastically support our candidates. After you sign up, you'll receive an email with some instructions and/or contact from those organizing the distribution of signs.

Finally, I'm sure you've already heard about the New York Times bombshell reporting on DJT's 20 years of tax returns. The lead story was published Sunday evening. Today there's a second story showing the fortune and the fortunes DJT made out of The Apprentice, what he squandered the money on, but how he catapulted himself into the White House on the strength of the phony business acumen that was the central fiction of the TV show. Will this be the exposé that brings "The Donald" down? Who knows. But it appears that rushing to name a new Supreme Court justice is not helping him win over any voters. It turns out that a majority of Americans think winner of presidential election should select Supreme Court nominee, according to a Washington Post-ABC News Poll.

There's big news on the gerrymandering/fair elections front: Senator Dave Hansen and Representative Robyn Vining will introduce a nonpartisan redistricting bill, LRB 2062/1, and hold a press conference on Tuesday, June 4, in the Assembly Parlor at 11:30am. If you are going to be in the Madison area, please make time to show your support by attending that event.

And if you're going to be in the Milwaukee area on Tuesday, June 4, drop by our office at 5600 W Brown Deer Rd, Suite 116, between 3pm and 6pm to send a postcard to your own Senator and Assembly representative to urge them to support Fair Maps and the bill that will mandate a nonpartisan process modeled on Iowa's successful plan. We'll look up all the info you need and supply the postcards and stamps. Go to our RSVP or Facebook event pages for more information.

If you bring a cell phone, you can also call their offices and lobby them to support the Medicaid (BadgerCare) expansion. Not only would 82,000 more people in Wisconsin have healthcare coverage, but the state budget would be enhanced by millions of dollars that could be spent on education, infrastructure, environmental protection — you name it. Medicaid expansion is a win-win for our state. We want our Senators and Representatives to back it. You can let us know you're coming on our RSVP or Facebook event pages. Hope to see you there.

In other news on Fair Elections, federal courts in Michigan and Ohio have ruled extreme partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional, as have courts in Wisconsin (in 2017), North Carolina, and Maryland. Both the court in MI and the one in OH ruled that electoral maps must be redrawn before the 2020 elections! As expected, however, the Supreme Court, stayed those orders until the pending cases from NC and MD are decided by the end of June this year. Our own Whitford case, now enhanced with additional plaintifs to address the issue of standing that the Supreme Court used to send the case back to the trial court, will be heard in July.

Meanwhile, as late night host Stephen Colbert often says, Ariel Procaccia has a not-to-be-missed article in the La Crosse Tribune today on the role of statistical analysis in adjudicating extreme partisan gerrymanders. According to this account, math can be used to find problematic cases: "At the heart of [this] approach is the idea of testing whether the map in question is abnormal when compared against random maps that only account for legal and geographical constraints, and are generated in a way that's oblivious to partisan machinations." Although he offers no concrete evidence in support of his claim, Procaccia argues that the Court is more receptive to the so-called outlier-detection method than it appeared to be to the efficiency-gap method the Whitford case in part relied on. The piece is called To beat gerrymandering, do the math. It's worth the read.

This issue is very much in the national news lately (despite all the attention the press pays to His Idiot's tweets and other nonsense pronouncements). In The Hill, Lon Johnson reports that "only 2 percent of Americans say American elections work all of the time. It also found that fighting gerrymandering and corruption has bipartisan support, with 82 percent of Americans saying they are concerned with the corruption of the system, and believe gerrymandering is undemocratic and should be illegal." New Hampshire's Senate has just passed a bill to create a commission to redraw its legislative maps. And according to NBC news, half of the states have considered what's known as "prison gerrymandering" in the last few years. Six states have now passed laws "to require that prisoners be counted at their pre-incarceration addresses — instead of where they're serving time...." The change matters because "[w]hile a significant number of correctional facilities are located in comparatively rural areas that are largely Republican and predominantly white, prisoners tend to hail from urban, often Democratic communities...." We have the moral high ground on this issue. Help Grassroots North Shore, the Fair Maps Coalition, and fair-minded people everywhere win this campaign, all over the nation and right here in Wisconsin!

And finally, a heads-up on another issue Grassroots North Shore has singled out for attention as we head into the Democratic primary season: reforming healthcare, again. Confused by all the different healthcare proposals the Democratic Party's candidates for president are supporting? Then don't miss Robert Kraig's discussion, The Future of Healthcare in the US. He will explain what's at stake and what the various proposals set out to do. This will be a wonderful opportunity to ask questions of a healthcare expert! Grassroots North Shore is hosting the event on Sunday, June 23, at the Brown Deer United Methodist Church (5736 W Brown Deer Rd, Milwaukee). Doors will open at 2:30pm and the program will begin at 3:00pm (with lots of easy parking behind the church). As usual, we are asking that people RSVP on our website or our Facebook event page so we will have enough goodies for everyone.

It is the best of times and the worst of times, maybe. In a national poll released by Quinnipiac on May 21, Trump's approval-disapproval numbers were 38% approve and a whopping 57% disapprove. Voters apparently are not impressed with his handling of foreign affairs or trade. Meanwhile, "54 percent of American voters say they 'definitely' will not vote for him, compared to 52 percent in an April 30 Quinnipiac University National Poll. Today, 31 percent say they 'definitely' will vote for Trump and 12 percent say they will 'consider voting for him.' ... Definitely not voting for Trump are 10 percent of Republicans, 94 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of independent voters." Our job is to make sure we turn out everyone who claims they will definitely not vote for our Liar in Chief! And that's the good news.

The bad is more diffuse. It's good that at least some documents from the intelligence investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election will be supplied to the House Judiciary Committee, but we're a long way from doing whatever needs to be done to protect our elections from intrusion and manipulation. And the testimony of Bob Mueller, Don McGahn, and others remains uncertain and unscheduled, either in the House Judiciary Committee or the Intelligence Committee. The whole national scene — including the performance of HUD Secretary Ben Carson yesterday, the ongoing tragedies at our southern border, the policies of our Secretary of Education, and the drum beat for war in Iran — depresses me. The nightmare we are living through never lets up, never ends.

Here in Wisconsin, there is apparently no progress in negotiations between the GOP dominated legislature and Democratic Governor Tony Evers. At stake — school funding, the future of voucher schools, Medicaid expansion, nonpartisan redistricting, and the ever contentious but ever needy infrastructure enhancement. What we have learned, of course, is that it's not enough to vote, to win elections. We need to keep up the pressure, especially on the legislature, to compromise, at the very least. Voting for the federal dollars that come with the Medicaid expansion — never mind providing affordable health coverage for 82,000 of our neighbors — would be the right thing to do. If we call, write, and demonstrate in large enough numbers, wobbly Republicans might get the message. So do your part and call or write you legislators TODAY. You can find contact info for your Senator and Assembly Representative here: legis.wisconsin.gov.

Our local Democratic organizer, Davette Baker, has two announcements to pass along:

Grassroots North Shore will be holding at least one phone bank to call our supporters and urge them to call Senator Darling, and Representatives Knodl and Ott. We'll get that organized as soon as we can and will send out an action alert to call for volunteers. Stay tuned.

Finally, make sure you save the date for an educational program on the healthcare proposals national candidates are providing. Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, will discuss The Future of Healthcare in the US. This will be a wonderful opportunity to ask questions of a healthcare expert! Grassroots North Shore is hosting the event on Sunday, June 23, at the Brown Deer United Methodist Church (5736 W Brown Deer Rd, Milwaukee). Doors will open at 2:30pm and the program will begin at 3:00pm. As usual, we are asking that people RSVP on our website or our Facebook event page so we will have enough goodies for everyone.

The nation's capital is undergoing unfathomable turmoil and the rest of America is rattled to the core, it seems. Either you turn on the news every day to see what the newest challenge to our Constitution and the rule of law is, as I do, or you avert your eyes because it is all just too much to bear. It is hard to be a helpless witness to history! So perhaps the best thing to do is to turn your attention to areas where your voice and your activism can still make a difference. Although the Republicans have voted to remove pretty much every one of Governor Evers's initiatives from his proposed budget, we're still fighting the good fight on a number of crucial fronts.

On the BadgerCare expansion, the League of Progressive Seniors is spearheading a move to have a massive state-wide demo in an effort to get attention for the Medicaid Expansion. We can win this fight, just as we won the effort to prevent the complete repeal of Obamacare. So stay tuned and plan to participate. I will let you know once a date, time and place have been firmed up for this event. And in case you've momentarily forgotten just how central this issue is, I want to remind you that the health insurance for thousands of Wisconsin citizens is not the only thing at stake. If the state takes the Federal dollars that come with the expansion, we can fund the Evers proposals for schools, roads, and more. It's that important.

On the Fair Maps front, the Coalition has begun a new initiative to get yard signs posted all around the state in noticeable numbers. The Fair Elections Project is taking orders for bundles of 25 signs at $4 per sign ($100 for 25 signs, $200 for 50 signs, etc.) Once an order is placed, the organization will get in touch with instructions about how to pick them up either in Milwaukee on June 1 or in Madison on June 2. You or the organization distributing them are free to sell them at cost or for a profit (which you can keep!). If you'd like to participate and either want to order signs in bulk yourself or have access to an organization that might purchase and sell or distribute them, you'll find all the information you need at fairelectionsproject.org/yardsigns. For more information, email [email protected]. And while you're visiting the Fair Elections Project website, be sure to sign the petition.

Sunday, May 5, was a beautiful spring day. So a lot of people opted for outdoor activities that day and missed Reggie Jackson's wonderful presentation on the history of racial segregation in Milwaukee. If you are one of those people, here's a very brief recap. You'll find a longer and more interesting account on our website, including information about local organizations who are working to address the issues.

Grassroots North Shore is dedicated to education around vital issues and engagement to help make the changes we all want to see. In years like this one when there are either no or very few elections, we like to focus on a few key issues. High on our list this year (and pretty much every year) are race relations, voting rights, the environment, gun safety, public education, criminal justice reform, immigration, and healthcare. We will undoubtedly sponsor programs and activities around most if not all of these issues over the next eight months. Our Facebook page, our website, and this newsletter are the surest ways to keep track of our activities and to RSVP for the ones of most interest to you. So LIKE us on Facebook, VISIT our website, and of course READ this newsletter!

Apropos of our interest in voting rights, there's been big news about gerrymandering this past week. While the US Supreme Court is still deciding whether to declare extreme partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional in the two cases before it (one from Maryland and one from North Carolina), a three-judge district court in Michigan unanimously ruled that state's maps for state and federal offices unconstitutional. Moreover, it has mandated that the state redraw the districts before the 2020 election. (See the Washington Post article, April 25, 2019.) If this outcome sounds familiar, it should. As Nicholas Stephanopoulos points out in his electionlawblog post, The Emerging Consensus of the Lower Courts, "The decision is ... further proof that, while the Supreme Court continues to debate the issue, the lower courts have found a way to identify—and invalidate—extreme gerrymanders."

Lest you think that this issue is too esoteric or too minor for your attention, let me explain why it is foundational — to our democracy and to the hopes we have for our beloved state of Wisconsin. You see, unless we achieve fair maps, we cannot change who sits in our Assembly or our Senate. The election last November showed that the Assembly district maps (on which the state Senate district maps are dependent) are so partisan in their makeup that even the sort of wave election we saw last fall cannot make a dent in the grip the GOP has on legislative power. Although the statewide vote for Assembly went heavily for Democrats (roughly 54%), Republicans "won" 63 of the 99 seats!

None of the issues we care deeply about — the state of our environment, criminal justice reform, the funding of public education and rethinking the role of tax dollars in voucher schools and so on — can be successfully addressed with the GOP so firmly in control. In truth, the legislators do not need to listen to their constituents when elections are forgone conclusions. Even if a huge majority of WI counties (46 of 72 and counting) and huge support among voters back nonpartisan redistricting (the January Marquette Law School poll measured support at 72% statewide), our current legislators will not pay any attention. Unless we raise our voices so that they can no longer ignore us.

That's why we're asking you to take an hour or so to send postcards to the members of the Joint Finance Committee to "flood the zone" and let them know that we really care about this issue! We've organized some postcard parties to get the job done but we need your help. We have everything you will need — including postcards with a simple message already printed on them, pens, stamps, and names and addresses. Really, all we need is YOU. Please take a little of your time to make this postcard campaign a success! You can sign up for one of the three currently scheduled events right here.

• Tuesday, April 30 at our office (5600 W Brown Deer Road, Suite 116),1:30-3:30pm
  
  
• Friday, May 3 at our office (5600 W Brown Deer Road, Suite 116), 3:00-4:30pm
  
  
• Thursday, May 9 at at Martha Pincus's house (7045 N Belmont Ln, Fox Point, 53217), from 5:00-6:30pm

As we move deeper into May, we're holding a public presentation on why Milwaukee is and remains such a segregated city. On Sunday, May 5, Reggie Jackson, Head Griot for America's Black Holocaust Museum, will speak to us about this issue and will offer some ideas about how we address the problems. The event will take place at Plymouth Church (2717 N Hampshire St, Milwaukee) from 3:00-5:00pm (doors open at 2:30). Please RSVP so our team of hearty volunteers will know how to gauge the amount of light refreshments they plan to serve.

Finally, recruiting good candidates and giving them the support they need to be successful in our Assembly districts are vital to our success. Fortunately, Emily Siegrist has declared that she will run again for the 24th Assembly District. To that end, Kath Michel and I — plus a distinguished list of co-hosts — will be holding a pre-campaign kickoff and fundraiser for her. Even if you don't live in the 24th Assembly District, you can help her win by giving what you can and by coming to the event at 4:00-6:00pm at my house (7759 N River Edge Dr, Glendale). You can RSVP by email or by phone (612-590-9112) and you can donate online. You can also learn more about the event on Facebook.

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