While we continue to wait for the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to issue a ruling on TFG's claim to total immunity, a whole bunch of other legal maneuvers are also ongoing.

• There's the E. Jean Carroll 2nd defamation lawsuit, postponed both yesterday and today because of COVID (still with us after all).
• There's Rudy Giuliani's attempt to use bankruptcy proceedings to avoid paying the $148 million the trial court awarded Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
• The US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on whether Colorado can disqualify Orange Julius from the March 5 primary in that state. Meanwhile, a "Federal District Court Issues Order Explaining Why South Carolina and the SC Democratic Party Did Not Violate Cenk Uygur’s Rights in Keeping Him Off Presidential Primary Ballot." On his Election Law Blog, Richard Hasan writes "This is potentially relevant for the Trump disqualification case as an example of a state keeping an ineligible citizen off the (primary) presidential ballot."
• In Georgia, where one of the RICO case defendants alleges that DA Fani Willis has been having an affair with Nathan Wade, one of the special prosecutors on her team, the judge ordered the court records of Wade's divorce proceedings unsealed. The AP reports that the "newly unsealed court records, however, didn’t include any references to the affair allegations." This matter feels like the proverbial tempest in a teapot.
• And Dolt 45 still faces three felony trials (in New York City, in Washington D.C., and in Palm Beach Florida), plus a decision in the New York State fraud trial that wrapped up last week.

In more local politics, Governor Evers will give the State of the State address tonight to "lay out his priorities in front of the Republican-led Legislature, which then delivers a response." According to today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, PBS and WisEye.org will both carry it live. It's scheduled to begin at 7pm.

And in a last-minute announcement, the Wisconsin Senate is convening at 3pm this afternoon to consider passing a bill that would alter the process for creating and approving new legislative election maps. Needless to say, the proposed law, based loosely on what's known as the Iowa model, preserves the legislature's power over the maps and includes the possibility that if the Governor and the Legislature fail to agree on the maps, the process continues ad infinitum (and also ad nauseam). Seems like this is an attempt to nullify the case currently under consideration in the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Tonight, of course, the GOP presidential primary is likely to end with a virtual Boss Tweet coronation. All the more reason to make sure you sign up for Grassroots North Shore's annual fundraiser with featured speaker Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a renowned international expert on the rise of authoritarianism. She's a regular presence on MSNBC and other networks as we face rising political violence and a wannabe dictator running to resume his destruction of our democracy. Our own Senator Chris Larson will join her to discuss the authoritarians in our state's government. Also, please contribute to the kitty to help Grassroots North Shore continue to fight the good fight to protect our freedoms.

We're not helpless. We're not daunted. We're not intimidated. After last Tuesday's elections, our great Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler posted on Daily Kos: The takeaways from Cheato Benito's win in Iowa and the democratic win in a Florida legislative seat currently in MAGA hands: "the GOP candidate will be MAGA. And voters, especially women, remain furious about their freedoms being taken away, and will fight like hell to get them back." He notes that Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off her nationwide Reproductive Freedom tour here in Wisconsin. She gave a rousing speech which you can and should hear on YouTube.

Reproductive freedom is under attack, again, as our own MAGAites introduce a 14-week abortion ban, as MAGA national Senators and Representatives continue to pursue a nationwide abortion ban, as the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) takes up the case restricting access to Mifepristone, a decision on which will come by the end of June.

Marriage equality and contraception are also in the crosshairs. In fact, "To the Supreme Court, the 20th Century Was Wrongly Decided" Michael Podhorzer wrote on his substack last year. He argues that the court "has been instrumental in advancing this coalition's agenda, which is to dismantle the New Deal order and reverse the civil and social rights gains made since the postwar period." The country we want to live in, the country we thought we were living in, the country we want our children and grandchildren to inherit from us is under siege from every angle — political, judicial, and economic. We have to RESIST and REFORM in any way we can.

The Events list, of course, offers you some opportunities to learn what you can do. But here's another. As a response to Republicans attempting to ban books around the state, Swing Left Milwaukee in conjunction with the WisDems and the Milwaukee County Democratic Party are doing a “Books For Kids” drive focusing on the books Republicans are trying to ban, such as “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Once collected books will be distributed through the Next Door Foundation to disadvantaged children. If you do not have books to donate please consider a donation to the Next Door Foundation. You can also order books from Amazon sent directly to the foundation. Just visit the Next Door Foundation website and click on the donate button. Five drop sites are located throughout Milwaukee County:

• Milwaukee County Dems Office, 2999 S Delaware Ave Bay View, Monday through Wednesday 10am - 2pm
• WisDems Coordinated Campaign Office, 8405 W Lisbon Ave, Monday through Friday, 12 - 6pm
• Volunteer Porch with Receptacle, 613 E Oklahoma Ave, Bay View
• Volunteer Porch With Receptacle, 1411 17 Ave, South Milwaukee
• Volunteer Porch With Receptacle, 1879 N Cambridge Ave, Milwaukee
  Porch drop off anytime

I want to begin today with the "news" out of Iowa, but before I get to that I want to highlight the upcoming Grassroots North Shore program: Authoritarian Candidates in the Nation and in Wisconsin, on Sunday, February 4, from 5:00 - 6:30pm on Zoom. This program is our annual fundraiser — we don't have any paid staff but we do need to pay for things like our zooms, stamps, postcards, flyers, snacks and water for in person meetings, a PO Box, etc. — so contribute if you can. But even if you can't, you're welcome to attend. This topic is just that important.

Our featured speaker, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, is a renowned international expert on the rise of authoritarianism. Her latest book, Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present (2020; paperback with a new epilogue, 2021), examines how illiberal leaders use corruption, violence, propaganda, and machismo to stay in power, and how resistance to them has unfolded over a century. If you watch MSNBC, you have undoubtedly seen her interviews. If you haven't, you should take a look at one at least. She will discuss national and international movements. Joining her will be state Senator Chris Larson who will take a closer look at some of the most authoritarian wannabes in our legislature.

Now on to the "triumphs" of Adolf Twitler. He won Iowa, of course, with excited headlines all over important media like the New York Times (gifted), the Washington Post (gifted), CNN, and HuffPost. But his big moment doesn't seem all that robust to an astute observer, Mark Sumner, at Daily Kos: "Trump's performance in Iowa is not nearly as good as the media makes it seem."

Wisconsin is once again making some national news, even as Don the Con's exploits continue to gobble up precious news space and air time. The AP is out with a story today headlined "Wisconsin GOP's large majorities expected to shrink under new legislative maps." The Journal Sentinel also has the story, of course, but the AP is picked up by news outlets all over the country, giving it national coverage. You can read an analysis (by John Johnson, Marquette Law School) of the seven maps that were submitted in the Supreme Court of Wisconsin (SCOWIS) on January 12. His is not the only analysis taking place. All the parties to the lawsuit have until January 22 to submit response briefs to SCOWIS. The two consultants the court hired will evaluate all the proposed maps and will file a report on each of them by February 1. Parties to the lawsuit can then respond to the consultants' reports by February 8. At that point, the matter is left in the hands of the seven justices on SCOWIS. There's no timeframe for a decision but the schedule of arguments and briefings suggest that the final decision will follow fairly quickly. Maps of legislative districts must be finalized by mid-March so that people who want to run in those districts will have time to gather nomination signatures of potential constituents.

Voting in this country is and always has been vexed. Who is eligible, how people can register, even sometimes the design of ballots can confuse, confound and effectively disenfranchise. Do you remember the controversial "butterfly ballot" used in the 2000 presidential election in Palm Beach County, Florida? You can see the ballot in question in a 2019 article in The Guardian. This one poorly-designed ballot may have given the election to George W. Bush! Richard Hasan, an expert in election law and professor at UCLA, has an opinion piece in the New York Times today titled The U.S. Lacks What Every Democracy Needs (gifted). It begins "The history of voting in the United States shows the high cost of living with an old Constitution, unevenly enforced by a reluctant Supreme Court."

The piece looks at the history of Supreme Court decisions on voting rights, noting that in its 235-year history, there was only one period when it was "hospitable to broad constitutional voting rights claims. The court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren, saw a broad expansion of voting rights in the 1960s, thanks mainly to its capacious reading of the equal protection clause." Hasan identifies three voting pathologies stemming from the Constitution's lack of an "affirmative right to vote." Understanding the role SCOTUS plays in the battle for universal voting rights over the broad sweep of our nation's history can help us understand some more recent court behaviors, including the Rucho (in which the court ruled that partisan gerrymandering was something the federal judicial system could not address) and the infamous 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder that struck down the pre-clearance section of the Voting Rights Act. The Berger, Rehnquist, and Roberts courts have backed away from the Warren court's positions on expanding voting rights. Many scholars, including Hasan, assert that a constitutional amendment affirming the right to vote is not only consonant with other advanced democracies but is the clearest way to address what ails our elections.

In an effort to make Wisconsin's congressional elections less polarized and partisan, a bill "to establish a final-five runoff voting system" has been introduced in the legislature. A hearing on it was held last week. Here's how the bill envisions the process would work:

The bill is authored by Rep. Ron Tusler, a Republican, and Sen. Jeff Smith, a Democrat. Its goal, according to the bill's authors, "is to change the incentive system in the state’s elections and move the more competitive contest from the primary election to the general" (Wisconsin Examiner, January 10, 2024). If you are so minded, you can sign a petition to show your support to Wisconsin legislators.

Last week was momentous in Cheeto Benito's efforts to convince the DC Court of Appeals to dismiss the entire election subversion case on the grounds that a former president cannot be prosecuted for any crimes he may have committed while discharging his responsibilities. In short, his lawyer argued, he has complete immunity from prosecution for official acts. All three judges on the panel expressed considerable skepticism about this claim, but none more so that Judge Pan who made sure Trump’s Lawyer Walked Into a Trap, according to George Conway III. The link takes you, not to the article in The Atlantic (which I cannot access even though I have a subscription and am logged in!), but to an interview on MSNBC with Chris Hayes.

Now that we have traversed the year end revelries, the Events list is once again robust. Make it part of your New Year's commitment to engage!

I'm sending you this "extra" to bring you up to date on some of the key legal events of the week, including my own summary of the week's blockbuster. Enjoy.

On Tuesday, Justice Janet Protasiewicz was sworn in to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. There were a number of laudatory speakers, praising her for her judicial temperament and her kind heart. But the remarks that really stood out were those of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who has been on the court for 28 years. She noted that in her early years on the court, it was widely recognized as one of the best state supreme courts in the nation, implying that it has fallen in reputation since. But now it will rise again. She was very excited, I think, at the prospect that she will once again find herself in the majority on the court at least on some issues.

Earlier on Tuesday, two *rump allies in Michigan were charged with felonies "in connection with an effort to illegally access and tamper with voting machines in the state after the 2020 election." Because one of them was a recently defeated MAGA candidate for Attorney General in Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel cited a conflict of interest and requested a special prosecutor to investigate and potentially indict the perpetrators. DePerno, the defeated AG candidate, was of course endorsed by TFG. The two men indicted Tuesday bring the number of people the Michigan special prosecutor has named to nine. In a separate but related case, Attorney General Dana Nessel and her office have already charged the 16 fake electors with eight felonies each. So in Michigan, the count of the accused for various forms of 2020 election subversion has reached 25.

Then just moments before Protasiewicz's investiture was to take place, TRE45ON was finally indicted for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election and to maintain his own power. Everyone should read the document, not only to discover what the four felonies he's charged with are, but to see in context some of the most damning evidence special counsel Jack Smith has assembled. A lot of the information has already been aired by the January 6 select committee in the House of Representatives last year. But what is new is newsworthy. For example, it seems that Vice President Pence kept contemporaneous notes of key conversations with TFG, and Jack Smith has them as well as Pence's testimony in front the the Grand Jury.

Paragraph 7 of the indictment forthrightly states the crux of the matter: "The purpose of the conspiracy was to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by using knowingly false claims of election fraud to obstruct the federal government function by which those results are collected, counted, and certified."

Evidence undergirding the accusation that the conspirators, especially TFG, used "knowingly false claims of election fraud" occupies a big chunk of the indictment. As does the scheme to create slates of fake electors in six states, including Wisconsin. In the account Smith has written, the fake electors scheme serves to create false conflict that the conspirators exploited in several ways. One was to pressure VP Pence to exercise his (fictitious) authority to choose between the two sets of electors — one for Joe Biden and one for *rump — as if there were real uncertainty about which sets of electors were the genuine ones. A second was to persuade the beleaguered VP just to send the matter back to the states. The state legislatures — all of them under GOP control — could then "correct" putatively faulty election results so that the *rump electors could be named the genuine ones. A third was to persuade enough members of Congress to object to counting the electoral votes in "contested states." That would  throw the election into the House of Representatives to decide the winner when neither candidate's electoral vote total could reach the 270 necessary to prevail.

Tuesday was quite a day!

What happened on Wednesday, though, has the potential to shake up Wisconsin's political landscape. Within hours of Protasiewicz claiming her seat on the Supreme Court, Law Forward along with a number of other plaintiffs filed a petition "to take jurisdiction of an original action to challenge the gerrymandered state legislative maps." The grounds are these: "the existing maps (1) retaliate against some voters based on their viewpoint and free speech, in violation of Wisconsin’s guarantee of free speech; (2) treats some voters worse than others based on their political views and where they live in violation of Wisconsin’s guarantee of equality; and (3) violate the promise of a free government found in the Wisconsin constitution." You can read about the action on the Law Forward website. You can read the press release and you can watch the press conference they held. On Friday, August 4, Law Forward will hold an online briefing at noon CDT on this new fair maps case.

I forgot some really important things, chiefly events, in the GRNS newsletter I sent yesterday. So here's the stuff I missed.

Wave is looking for volunteers to do some phone banking who want to push for better gun laws in Wisconsin and to advocate for victims and survivors of domestic abuse. WAVE Educational Fund is looking for phone bankers. This volunteer opportunity can be done from your home whenever it's convenient for you, and you can put as much or as little time into it as you want. They’re creating a small, strategic list of Wisconsin legislators who they think can be convinced to sign onto a bill that would make it harder for domestic abusers to get guns. The bill was released late in 2023, so now we just need to build momentum. If you’re interested, email WAVE’s Communications Manager, Heidi Johnson, for more information. She’ll answer all your questions, and provide all the needed resources. Phone banking will be active from late January through late February.

EVENTS

Monday, January 15

Tuesday, January 16

Wednesday, January 17

Thursday, January 18

Friday, January 19

Saturday, January 20

Monday, January 22

Tuesday, January 23

Thursday, January 25

Saturday, January 27

SAVE THE DATE

Multiple Dates and Times

Saturday, February 3

Sunday, February 4

Saturday, February 17

Sunday, February 18

Become a Member of Grassroots North Shore	Milwaukee County Democratic Party
Support Grassroots North Shore	Ozaukee County Democratic Party
Visit Grassroots North Shore on Facebook and Like Us!

I'm late, I'm late. There's so much happening right now, that I have been feeling a little overloaded with political and election news. But let's begin with our area's Spring elections and Wisconsin judicial opinions that will have an impact on this year's elections. Then we'll take a look at the national news and Trumpelthinskin's trials and tribulations, finishing up with a unionization drive that's going on at Planned Parenthood Wisconsin.

First, though, let me remind you about the fundraiser for Tammy Baldwin this Sunday, January 14, from 4:00 to 5:30pm at an address in Mequon (available upon request or in response to signing up). Tammy will be facing a well-heeled opponent who will barely have to raise any grassroots funding and will be the beneficiary of the national GOP's funds. As best I can tell, the senate race in Wisconsin will be one of their top targets. If Democrats hope to keep control of the senate after this election cycle, re-electing Baldwin is key. But that's not the only or even the most important reason to support her: she has been an outstanding senator for Wisconsin. Just consult her page of press releases for 2021-2022 (the 117th congress) to see an overview of what she was doing and how focused she has been on helping the residents of Wisconsin succeed.

For the spring 2024 election, the busy bees at Grassroots North Shore have been diligently gathering information about the candidates that you will see on your ballot. For many of Grassroots North Shore's supporters, no primary on February 20 will be needed. There are, however, some areas that will have primaries. Here's a list of the municipalities we know about right now:

• Milwaukee County Supervisor, District 18
• Mayor of Milwaukee
• Milwaukee Alderpersons in Districts 5, 7, and 11
• Shorewood School Board
• Trustee in the Village of Fox Point
• Ozaukee County Supervisor, District 7

We do not yet have all the information we'd like to provide, but the basic bones are accessible through our Elections 2024 page. If you check back on the Elections pages in a couple of weeks, we should have gathered links to candidates' social media pages so that you can be an informed voter. And by the way, the April 2 election is ALSO OUR PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE PRIMARY. President Biden will be on that ballot and really needs your support. But since we hold a so-called "open primary" that allows you to vote in any party's primary, you can take your choice, depending how the state of the race looks. But beware: you can vote in only one party's primary.

Now that 2024 has begun, it's time to request your absentee ballots at MyVote.WI.gov. That site will offer you the chance to request absentee ballots for ALL THE ELECTIONS in 2024 and we recommend that you take advantage of the opportunity. Voting by mail (or turning in your absentee ballot in person at your clerk's office) is the most secure way to make sure you'll be able to vote. For example, voting absentee means that if you are unexpectedly out of town or under the weather on election day, your vote has already been cast! Problem solved.

Absentee ballots are typically mailed to you 21 days in advance of an election. As usual, you'll need a witness to certify that you are voting your own ballot. But you don't need to be quite as anxious about whether your witness correctly fills out their complete address on the certification envelope. Thanks to lawsuits pursued by the League of Women Voters and Rise, Inc., municipal clerks will once again be allowed to correct minor errors on the certification envelope. (I'll have a fuller explanation of what the court's opinion means below.)

At the very bottom of the Elections 2024 page, you will find the texts of three referendums that will amend the Wisconsin constitution if they are approved by the voters — two of them will appear on the April 2 ballot and the third on the November 5 ballot. We don't yet know the full import of them, but we will certainly have information about what they REALLY mean and a recommendation about whether you should vote to approve each one, or not. So stay tuned.

This year's municipal, judicial, and school board elections look to be much sleepier than the spring elections the last couple of years have been. Most incumbents who are running for re-election are unopposed. For two North Shore communities, there will presumably be write-in campaigns for the Nicolet and Whitefish Bay school boards. Just because these elections don't seem to present a lot of conflict, though, doesn't mean you can safely skip them. It's vital that people get in the habit of voting in every election, even if it means four elections a year, as it often does in Wisconsin. Our local elections and local office holders exert a lot of influence on how our communities function. And they also create the "bench" for candidates at state and national levels. This year, the spring election includes two proposals to amend our state constitution. For that reason alone, you need to VOTE.

As for the change in the way small errors on certification envelopes are handled, the issue seems like a pretty minor concern. But it's not. It may "fly under the radar," but it's one more way to suppress the vote. As Democracy Docket explains, "Wisconsin’s witness address requirement has been a source of confusion and disenfranchisement for years. Under Wisconsin law, when voting absentee, voters must fill out their absentee ballot alongside a witness. The witness must complete and sign a witness certificate that includes the witness’s address. If a witness address is missing, the ballot will not be counted." The court rulings were a major win for voting rights groups and "could prevent thousands of ballots from being unfairly rejected due to witness certificates with an incomplete address." The court order for the Rise, Inc. suit can be found here. The one for the Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin is available here.

The biggest judicial news in Wisconsin lately has been the 4-3 ruling of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin that the current legislative district maps are unconstitutional and cannot be used in the fall 2024 elections for Assembly and state Senate. Because new maps have to be in place by early March, the December 22, 2023, decision specified a lickety-split timeline for the parties to submit remedial maps that comply with the technical specifications and data requirements identified by two expert consultants the Court hired for this purpose. The Court hoped that the legislature and the governor could agree on a map in the allotted time. Governor Evers, however, is "not expecting agreement with Republicans on new maps" (Wisconsin State Journal, January 5, 2024). And the proposed maps are due on January 12 (TODAY!). The next steps are as follows:

• January 22, 2024: Each party may file a response brief.
• January 22, 2024: Non-parties with previously granted permission may file a non-party amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief.
• February 1, 2024: the consultants, Dr. Grofman and Dr. Cervas, will evaluate and file a report on each of the parties' submissions based on the criteria identified in the Court's December 22, 2023 opinion. Only if no submission meets the criteria identified will the two consultants submit their own proposed remedial map.
• February 8, 2024: The parties and all amici who have been granted leave to participate may submit a response brief addressing the consultants' report.

Okay, so on to Trumpelthinskin's trials and tribulations just this past week. I'm sure you have seen, read, or heard about TFG's outburst in the closing arguments of the New York State fraud case yesterday. Judge Engoron shut him up after a few minutes of ranting, whereupon he stormed out of the courtroom. Here's the AP account of the court action. The fraud trial threatens to strip him of the right to do business in NY.

Far more serious were the oral arguments before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to determine whether a former president has absolute immunity from prosecution for acts he undertook while he was president. If you were not able to listen to the whole thing when it took place on Tuesday, January 9, you can listen to it here. George Conway, a highly respected conservative attorney and former husband of Kellyanne Conway, explains how Trump's argument fell apart under questioning from one of the judges. Here's a clip of Conway discussing it with Chris Hayes. The AP has a really helpful set of pages for tracking many of the cases against Dolt45.

Finally, 2023 was a really good year for union actions, especially the much covered strikes and then contract settlements at the big three auto makers. Let's keep the momentum going in 2024. The healthcare workers at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin have begun a union organizing drive. They are seeking people to sign the petition supporting their efforts. They have also set up a Facebook page for the effort. Share the links to the FB page and the petition widely to people who support unions!

We're heading toward the shortest day of the year — Thursday, December 21 — or the darkest day of the year, if your mind runs that way. Politically speaking, it's been pretty dark for a while. But on December 22, the days will start to grow longer and the nights shorter. In today's newsletter — the last one of 2023 — I'm going to be a bit of a pollyanna, seeing the glass half full, if you will. I hope you will indulge me.

I begin the upbeat with Mr. Optimism himself, Simon Rosenberg, in his recent Hopium Chronicles posting: Three Things I'm Thinking About As We Head Into 2024. He writes that three facts about 2023 buoy his outlook.

• The Strong Democratic Performance Since Dobbs - It’s The Most Important Electoral Data Out There Now
• The Remarkably Robust American Economy Gives Biden A Strong Foundation For His Re-Election
• Trump’s Historic Baggage Is Being Overly Discounted in Current Analysis About 2024

Rosenberg goes on to elaborate each point. On TFG's "Historic Baggage And Ongoing Betrayal of The Country Is Being Overly Discounted in Current Analysis," he points out that "The media is simply not spending enough time war-gaming out what Trump’s unprecedented, Olympian level of baggage will mean for him and the GOP next year. Recent polling suggests it could be a very big problem." He then lists 10 bullet points describing Adolf Twitler's execrable behavior. Rosenberg's post is well worth a read.

The judicial arena is particularly lively right now. So there's a lot to read and to know, starting with the decision of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Mark Meadow's case for removal from a state court in Fulton County, Georgia, to the federal court in the Northern District of Georgia. In a unanimous decision delivered only three days after the court heard oral arguments, the court denied the appeal. In doing so, the court relied on two key arguments. First, the statute in question "applies only to current government officials, not former ones like Meadows" (Politico, December 18, 2023). And second, "the panel of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit concluded that, even if Meadows were still in office, his argument would still fail because the state’s charges against Meadows are about an alleged criminal agreement to join a conspiracy, not about any actions Meadows took as Trump’s chief of staff."

At her highly respected blog, empty wheel, Marcy Wheeler points out that the ruling is as applicable to Boss Tweet as it is to Mark Meadows: "Meadows (and by extension, Trump) had no authority over state elections and electioneering of Meadows (and by extension, Trump) was not in their official duties." Many major news organizations covered the story: ABCNews, CBS News, and The Hill, to name a few.

Then, of course, there's the Rudy Guiliani humiliation. The defamation trial ended with a jury verdict specifying that Rudy pay Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss a cool $148 million (see Paul Waldman's take at the MSNBC website). Whereupon he held a press conference to repeat the lies: "Giuliani doubled down on the baseless conspiracy theory that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election.... He also claimed that his allegations against the two election workers were 'supportable' but that he didn't have the opportunity to present the evidence at trial." (As Rachel Maddow might say: BULLPUCKY!) The two former Georgia election workers are suing again, this time asking that they be allowed to seek the jury award now, before Giuliani can try to hide his assets, and that Guiliani be prohibited from spouting lies about them in the future.

On the judicial front for our antihero, Kate Shaw has an important op-ed in today's New York Times (gifted): Trump Has Always Wanted to Be King. The Supreme Court Should Rid Him of That Delusion. Explaining why the question of presidential immunity is already in front of SCOTUS (as well as before the D.C. Circuit Court), Shaw writes: "To advance the Jan. 6 case against Mr. Trump, the special counsel Jack Smith wants to skip a step at the appellate court and have the Supreme Court rule on that critical question, since a ruling in Mr. Trump’s favor would end the case. A protracted delay could have the same effect, preventing the trial from happening before the election and allowing Mr. Trump to call off the prosecution if he wins." She goes on to explore the legal cases that have addressed this issue and have found the claim of presidential immunity wanting. "In 2020 a 7-to-2 majority in Trump v. Vance rejected Mr. Trump’s argument that he should not have to cooperate with a subpoena in a state criminal case. And the court was unanimous in rejecting Mr. Trump’s arguments for absolute immunity."

Here are some key dates to watch in the two cases for presidential immunity. SCOTUS has set the due date for TFG's response to special counsel Jack Smith's appeal for Wednesday, December 20 (like tomorrow!) Meanwhile the Appellate Court has set the following schedule:

• Dec. 23, 2023: Trump brief due
• Dec. 30, 2023: Smith brief due
• Jan. 2, 2024: Trump reply brief due
• Jan. 9, 2024: Oral arguments

Also, Judge Engoron isn't having what our Butternut Berlusconi is dishing. Not only does he deny TFG's motion to dismiss the NY state fraud trial, he lights into the so-called expert witness that was supposed to undercut the government's case: "Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron slammed Bartov in a Monday evening ruling denying the defendants’ latest request for a directed verdict in the $250 million case" (Daily Kos, December 19, 2023).

On the local scene, the League of Progressive Seniors held a compelling seminar on the "Threats to Your Vote in Wisconsin" last Friday. State Senator Chris Larson gave an insightful talk on the history of legislative action on voting rights in Wisconsin over the last decade. Claire Woodall, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Election Commission, followed up with an empirically-supported view of where the ease of voting in Wisconsin is now compared to where it was in the past. You can and should watch the video.

Farewell 2023. I'm going to be visiting family and friends on the east coast for the next two weeks. So the next newsletter won't appear until January 9, 2024. And hello 2024. The Events list is especially sparse right now. But it will not stay that way. Savor the next couple of quiet weeks, at least on the Grassroots North Shore front. And then suit up for action!

I wanted to send this newsletter out a bit early this week because there are a couple of campaign kickoffs on Tuesday evening you might not want to miss (see the Events list below). But an emergency meeting of a working group for the Politics, Elections, and Campaigns committee got in the way. Oh well. This week is full of legal and political issues that look forward to the next election. But before we dive in, I want to wish everyone the warmest of holiday cheer. We are in the middle of Chanukah and looking forward to Christmas and Kwanzaa right around the corner, followed swiftly by New Year's Eve and Day. A busy time, and I hope some respite from angst and anger.

In the comeuppance division, Rudy G's trial for defamation began Monday. It's a jury trial but the main judgment — that he defamed Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss — has already been decided. Why? Because that great lawyer and statesman Giuliani repeatedly refused to obey the court's orders to produce evidence in the case and to turn it over to the plaintiffs. So the judge just declared judgment: Rudy is guilty of defamation! No doubt this case determining the amount RG must pay will be covered on the news. In their opening statement, "attorneys for Freeman and Moss played recordings of some of the messages for the jury in U.S. District Court in D.C., where Giuliani could be held liable for up to $43.5 million in damages" (Washington Post, December 11, 2023, gifted to get you through the paywall). The threats were of course racist and frightening.

Meanwhile, Dolt 45 once again shows that underneath all the bluster and bullying, he is a coward afraid to take the stand in his own defense in the NY State fraud trial. Alina Habba, one of his many defense lawyers, told the press last Thursday, "her boss 'doesn’t cower' and looked forward to testifying once again in his own defense" (Vanity Fair, December 11, 2023). And at his Saturday rally, TFG told yet another of his bizarre stories in which he claimed some unnamed but "fantastic" general once told him that debating Hillary Clinton after the Access Hollywood tape came out was more courageous than fighting a war. The author of the piece, Eric Lutz, writes, "If Trump is perhaps 'cowering' now, it may be because his last appearance on the witness stand didn’t go so well." In short, that first stint on the stand was a temper-tantrum. Lutz wryly notes that "there is a difference between making unchallenged statements outside the courtroom and making them on the witness stand, under oath."

A special election to replace expelled Representative George Santos will take place on February 13. The Democrats have already rallied behind the man who formerly held the seat — Tom Suozzi. (You can see his Ballotpedia page and his campaign website.) According to TPM, one potential opponent will be "Philip Sean Grillo, a 49-year-old man from Queens who ... filed the paperwork to run for office in New York’s 3rd Congressional District." Grillo, it turns out, participated in the January 6 Insurrection! He "was found guilty of 'felony obstruction of an official proceeding and other charges related to his conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol,' the Department of Justice announced in a news release this week.” A convicted felon to replace the soon-to-be  convicted felon who was just expelled? Why not.

Special counsel Jack Smith is making tracks. "The special counsel urged the justices to move with exceptional speed, and they quickly agreed to fast-track the first phase of the case, says Monday's New York Times (gifted). Smith filed the appeal Monday afternoon; the US Supreme Court granted at least the first part of his request, namely that they "put their consideration of whether to hear the case on a fast track." Benedict Donald's lawyers have until December 20 to file their response. At the same time, Smith's "team filed papers to Judge Chutkin asking her to keep the March 4 trial date and saying she could still work on certain aspects of the case even as the appeal was being heard." Every day we hear news about this criminal trial and every day our anxiety deepens. But Smith and company are on it.

On the home front, despite the fact that Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Robert Spindell together with the other nine fake GOP electors settled the civil suit against them and agreed that Joe Biden won the election here, Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu "rejected Democrats' calls to rescind [Spindell's] appointment to the state elections commission" (AP post in Daily Kos). LeMahieu's excuse? The imposters were simply following a "legal strategy" that failed. They definitely were NOT part of a "a sinister plot to overturn an election.” If you believe that crap, Devin LeMahieu no doubt has a bridge he wants to sell you.

Even though it's December and we're barreling towards the most intense holiday season of the year, we have to plan past January 1. So ...

Let's Take Action

• If you live in Milwaukee County, you would be doing a mitzvah (that is, a marvelous thing, a blessing) if you dropped by the Milwaukee County Democratic Party's office (2999 S Delaware Ave, Milwaukee) any time between 3:00 and 7:00pm on Wednesday, December 13. You can then sign nomination papers for both county and (if you reside there) and city candidates. Campaigns have only until January 2nd to collect and submit the necessary signatures to get on the ballot, so the sooner the signatures are collected, the better.
  
  
• Donate items to the Democrats "Christmas is for Kids Holiday Toy Drive." The Dems are collecting new, unwrapped toys for kids of all ages plus donations of new towels and washcloths, children's socks, child and adult sized t-shirts, and travel sized toiletries. This drive is for the benefit of St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care Bucyrus Campus and Mr. Bob's Under the Bridge Homeless Outreach. Donations can be dropped off at the Milwaukee Democratic Party Office (2999 South Delaware Ave, Milwaukee) Monday through Wednesday from 10:00am - 2:00pm (or during the Open House and nomination-paper signing from 3:00-7:00 on Wednesday, December 13) and on Thursday from 9:00am - 12:00pm. Items can also be dropped off at the Coordinated Campaign Office (8405 W Lisbon Ave, Milwaukee) Tuesday through Friday from 12:00pm through 8:00pm and Saturday from 9:00am - 5:00pm.
  
  
• Activate America has a new postcard writing opportunity focused on the special election for former Representative Santo's House seat taking place on Tuesday, February 13. The Democrat running for the seat is Tom Suozzi, who held the seat for 6 years before he left to run for governor. Activate America will be alerting voters to this “pop-up” election and boosting name recognition for this highly qualified candidate. To volunteer for this postcard campaign, just sign up HERE.

Other postcard campaigns at Activate America are also described on the sign-up page. But keep in mind that Grassroots North Shore will be working on a postcard campaign that will launch in January, 4-5 weeks ahead of the February 20, 2024, primary. We'll be soliciting your help too!

So I procrastinated finishing the newsletter this week until — serendipitously — some really fantastic news broke. I'm talking about the civil lawsuit two Democratic presidential electors have filed against the 10 Republican imposters: Penebaker et al v. Hitt et al. The infamous 10 have now admitted that Biden won! The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a rather anodine version of the story. Much better is the one in the Washington Post (gifted to bypass the paywall): Wisconsin Trump electors settle lawsuit, agree Biden won in 2020.

You can read the whole settlement agreement and attendant documents, if you like (it looks like it's 184 pages!). The key points in the Washington Post story show that several of the 10 imposters were uneasy with what they were being asked to do but went ahead anyway. For example, "one of the Wisconsin Republicans appeared to refer to the attempt to install Trump for a second term as a 'possible steal.' That Republican expressed skepticism about the plan but told others he was going along with it in part because he feared he would face blowback from Trump supporters if he didn’t." Significantly, the lawsuit against lawyers Jim Trupis and Kenneth Chesebro will go to trial next fall. And as part of the settlement, the fake electors "promised to assist the Department of Justice with its investigation and help the Biden electors as they continue their lawsuit against Troupis and Chesebro."

The criminal trial alleging that Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election results still seems to be on track for a March 4 starting date. For one thing, Newsweek reports that "potential jurors in former President Donald Trump's election interference trial may have been sent a pre-screening document." A Rolling Stone article describes "a notice of evidence to be introduced in the trial." In it special prosecutor Jack Smith foreshadows a plan "to present the court with a far-reaching historical review of Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud, some of it dating back years before Trump even assumed the presidency." The piece mentions a Trump tweet from 2012 in which he stated as "fact" that voting machines switched votes from Romney to Obama. Needless to say, he had no evidence supporting the allegation. There is more, of course. An ABCNews article provides extensive detail.

To buoy your spirits about the looming catastrophe many predict (see the current issue of The Atlantic: If Trump Wins), Greg Sargent has an antidote: Enough with all the fatalism about a Trump dictatorship.

Let's Take Action

The best response to anxiety and those doom-y feelings is to get busy with some useful work: circulate nominations papers. Local candidates who want to compete in the April 2 election have begun circulating nomination papers. Under the Elections 2024 tab on our Grassroots North Shore website, you will find a link to a page with the names of the candidates who have sent their papers to me for distribution. If you go to Nomination Papers for Spring 2024, you can download and circulate each candidate's form. To be a circulator, you do not need to be a resident of the district in which the candidate is running. To sign the form as a nominator, you do have to reside in the relevant district. To sign nomination forms for the judicial offices, you need to reside in Milwaukee County.

Donate items to the Democrats "Christmas is for Kids Holiday Toy Drive." They're collecting new, unwrapped toys for kids of all ages plus donations of new towels and washcloths, children's socks, child and adult sized t-shirts, and travel sized toiletries. This drive is for the benefit of St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care Bucyrus Campus and Mr. Bob's Under the Bridge Homeless Outreach. Donations can be dropped off at the Milwaukee Democratic Party Office (2999 South Delaware Ave, Milwaukee) Monday through Wednesday from 10:00am - 2:pm and on Thursday from 9:00am - 12:00pm. Items can also be dropped off at the Coordinated Campaign Office (8405 W Lisbon Ave, Milwaukee) Tuesday through Friday from 12:00pm through 8:00pm and Saturday from 9:00am - 5:00pm.

Join the Milwaukee Voter Project at DMVs in Milwaukee. Everyone! Join us to register voters inside three Milwaukee DMV's, 2701 South Chase, Teutonia & Florist and 73rd & Mill. During the months leading up to the Supreme Court Election we produced 3168 paper registrations, thousands of online registrations and made 50,000 voter contacts. We work year around and will give you the simple training and supervision you need. Contact us at our email: [email protected] or phone (414) 218-5944. See more information on our website.

How about writing some more postcards? Activate America is sponsoring a postcard drive to make sure that Democratic-leaning voters in Arizona know that the Biden administration capped the cost of insulin for diabetics. According to the email Activate America sent me, "83% of Americans support this policy, but only 29% know it happened." So why Arizona? "We’re especially excited to reach voters in Arizona, because Native Americans and Mexican Americans have some of the highest rates of diabetes, and they are well-represented in this targeted outreach." Sign up for lists.

In case you were wondering about the effectiveness of sending postcards, Postcards to Swing States shared recent research on that. "The latest data show that writing postcards is the most effective way to make a difference from your own home!" The research is in the 5th edition of Get Out the Vote, published in 2023. The analysis of various methods "suggests that handwritten postcards generate an average of one vote per seventy-one postcards, which is about three times as effective as conventional nonpartisan GOTV mail." See their website for more analysis of their postcard programs, including their 2020 Wisconsin primary postcard experiment.

Voting rights under attack nationally chillingly remind us of what any MAGA presidential administration portends. In the past week or so, several appellate rulings threaten to blow a hole in what remains of Voting Rights Act. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals had recently ruled that Louisiana's electoral map likely violated the statute. But the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals contradicts the 5th Circuit's opinion, ruling for the first time since the Act was passed in 1965 that private individuals and groups — like the ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and other civil liberty-focused organizations — do not have the right to bring suits seeking to enforce the VRA. Only the US Department of Justice can bring such suits. See the post in Election Law Blog (11-26-2023). Since most voting rights suits have been brought by civic groups or individuals, it follows that a LOT of cases will never be brought if this ruling becomes the law of the land.

Next, a lawsuit "challenging the at-large method used to elect members of the Public Service Commission, which is responsible for regulating public utilities in Georgia. The plaintiffs allege the at-large elections used to select commissioners violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by diluting Black voting power." On August 5, 2023, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Black voters in Fulton County who had brought the suit. When the case was appealed, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals "stayed" (paused) the trial judge's order. A few more twists and turns in this story ensued but the final outcome is this: "On Nov. 24, the 11th Circuit reversed the district court’s decision, thereby allowing the at-large method to elect members to the Georgia Public Service Commission to stand" (Democracy Docket). If the final ruling is upheld, challenging statewide at-large systems elsewhere will become much more difficult.

Third, on November 28, the Ohio Supreme Court "dismissed a trio of lawsuits challenging the state’s legislative maps, leaving in place gerrymandered districts for 2024" (Democracy Docket). The case had been bouncing back and forth between the legislature and the Supreme Court that, in earlier iterations, had found the maps were consistently in violation of the Ohio constitution. Once the court became more right wing with the election of a new justice, all of those rulings were simply ignored or overruled.

There's a lot more gloomy news, and many more cases all over the country, challenging laws that tend to make voting more difficult or that seek to cement legislative power in one party regardless of the vote share that party receives. And that's the case in Wisconsin. Since the GOP-controlled legislature adopted gerrymandered election maps in 2011, the GOP has held a majority of seats in both the Assembly and the Senate, whether their party won the most votes statewide or not. Recently the Wisconsin Supreme Court (SCOWIS) heard oral arguments last week in Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, a case "challenging the extreme partisan gerrymandering of the state legislative maps" (Law Forward). Now we await the decisions and the litigation to follow.

Ahead of the oral arguments, the Fair Maps Coalition and other groups — including North Shore Fair Maps — held a rally in the Capitol. Many groups participated and spoke. Our own co-leader of Grassroots North Shore spoke eloquently about how partisan gerrymanders have stymied Wisconsin voters' preferred policies in many areas: "affordable healthcare, sensible gun legislation, funding for public schools, and access to abortion. 'But the Legislature says no,' Maranto said after naming each of these issues." Executive Director of Common Cause, Jay Heck, concurred: "Since Republicans now control safe seats, they do not have to listen to the needs of the people, adds Heck, noting fair maps would help promote actual representation" (Isthmus, 11-21-2023).

E. J. Dionne's opinion piece in the Washington Post on November 26 — Democracy faces two threats. Trump is only one of them. — explains the decade-long effort to curtail voting rights really began with a 2013 Supreme Court decision, Shelby County v. Holder, that struck down the section of the VRA that required "pre-clearance" of changes to voting laws in jurisdictions that had a history of discriminating against minorities: "This led to an explosion of state abuses, including discriminatory voter-identification laws, targeted purges of electoral rolls, gerrymanders that undercut minority representation and changes in early-voting rules that often advantaged some groups over others." He goes on to note that "defenders of today’s restrictions insist they are not discriminating against anyone. But making it harder for some people to vote — often in the name of preventing the falsely imagined “voter fraud” that is at the heart of Trump’s election denial — is no less an attack on democracy." Dionne proposes two remedies: fighting for a new Voting Rights Act and enacting a constitutional amendment that would at last explicitly guarantee every citizen's right to vote. Neither will happen any time soon, but both are worth fighting for starting now.

Meanwhile, we need to support the Democratic administration we enjoy now. To that end, the Biden campaign is providing us with some issue-oriented talking points on the Threads platform. You can use these points to address these crazy MAGA claims:

• "The economy was better during Trump!"
• "Trump's going to protect our Social Security and Medicare!"
• "Trump secured our border!"
• "There's no federal ban on abortion; you can still get one — what's the big deal?"
• "Trump is better for workers!"
• "World leaders respected Trump and the world was safer!"
• "Trump is winning in the polls!"

You don't need a Threads account to follow the campaign's postings.

Finally, a word or two about a long-forgotten Walker administration boondoggle: Foxconn. I'm sure you know that the corporation failed to fulfill its promises to invest beaucoup bucks (like $10 billion) in Racine County, to hire 13,000 workers at good pay rates, and to manufacture large display screens at the site. Taxpayers — you and me and everyone else in the state — foot the bill for the infrastructure the state created. Well now, Microsoft is bidding to buy "an additional 1,030 acres of land that Foxconn never built." To do the deal, the terms of the Foxconn contract that the state renegotiated in 2021 apparently have to be modified again. You'll find the Kathleen Gallagher's story in the November 24 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The headline gives away the bottom line: "Local officials are poised to let Foxconn off of the hook. Here's why politics and development deals rarely succeed."

Now it's time to shop until we drop, right? Chanukah, I learned, starts next week, followed shortly by Christmas and Kwanzaa. So let's be merry and also find some politically productive things to do!

If you missed some newsletters and want to catch up, you'll find them archived on our website.

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www.grassrootsnorthshore.com

I'm writing and sending this newsletter a few days early because on Tuesday, November 21, the Wisconsin Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments on Rebecca Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, the case concerning the election maps currently in effect in Wisconsin. (Access the complete brief from the Fair Maps Coalition.) Although the case the justices have agreed to hear does not look directly at the partisan gerrymandering we have been living under since the 2011 maps were signed into law by then Governor Walker, they have ordered the parties to address four questions. The Fair Maps Coalition summarizes the four key questions:

1. Do the existing state legislative maps violate the contiguity requirements contained in Article IV, Sections 4 and 5 of the Wisconsin Constitution?
   
   
2. Did the adoption of the existing state legislative maps violate the Wisconsin Constitution's separation of powers?
   
   
3. If the court rules that Wisconsin's existing state legislative maps violate the Wisconsin Constitution for either or both of these reasons and the legislature and the governor then fail to adopt state legislative maps that comply with the Wisconsin Constitution, what standards should guide the court in imposing a remedy for the constitutional violation(s)?
   
   
4. What fact-finding, if any, will be required if the court determines there is a constitutional violation based on the contiguity clauses and/or the separation-of-powers doctrine and the court is required to craft a remedy for the violation? If fact-finding will be required, what process should be used to resolve questions of fact?

You'll find the Supreme Court order accepting the part of the case pertaining to the four questions above here.

The issue of contiguity is apparently tangled up with the constitutional requirement that electoral maps also respect municipal boundaries. An interesting article in Propublica — Wisconsin’s Legislative Maps Are Bizarre, but Are They Illegal? — discusses the dilemma, though in a way that seems to leave malign Republican intent out of the explanation!: "In the interior of her district, the 91st, sits a free-floating chunk that actually belongs to the turf of the adjacent lawmaker, Republican Karen Hurd. That may seem odd, but what is often left unsaid in discussions of Wisconsin maps is that the islands are not random parcels created by mapmakers to advantage Republicans at the behest of a Republican legislature. Rather, the irregular blobs largely follow municipal maps that reflect the history of Wisconsin cities and villages adding to their tax base by annexing bits of land in nearby areas. The practice often leaves towns with irregular maps and legislative districts with holes and satellites."

University of Colorado Law Professor Doug Spencer, an expert in redistricting, knows of no other redistricting cases that hinge on what "contiguity" means. He defines contiguity as a district that is drawn without the need for the map maker to lift up her pencil. "According to the legal complaint, the majority of Wisconsin’s Assembly districts are noncontiguous — each consisting of between two and 40 disconnected pieces of territory. Two-thirds of the state’s Senate districts are noncontiguous — each with between two and 34 disconnected pieces."

Several of the leaders of Grassroots North Shore are planning to go to Madison to watch the proceedings beginning at 8:45am and running for 80 plus minutes. But you don't have to get in your car before dawn to watch. WisconsinEye will be broadcasting the hearing live.

Watching is not the only thing you can do. Go to a noon rally to show your support for fair maps. Milwaukee will be the scene of a rally at noon at the Milwaukee State Office Building (819 N. Sixth St, Milwaukee). Other rallies at noon will take place at the Brown County Court House in Green Bay (100 S. Jefferson St, Green Bay) and at the Eau Claire County Courthouse (721 Oxford Ave, Eau Claire).

The Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief submitted by the Wisconsin Justice Institute and the Fair Maps Coalition (of which Grassroots North Shore is a member) lays out the problem: "Polling data shows that by overwhelming margins citizens who vote for both parties want a nonpartisan redistricting process."

Wisconsin's future direction hangs on the outcome of this case. This handy graphic to the right displays what large majorities of the people of Wisconsin want but cannot get because legislators in seats gerrymandered to make them safe for the incumbents do not have to pay attention to all their constituents. And that's how a party that garners more the 50% of the total statewide vote for the Assembly ends up with only 35 of the 99 seats.

The Events listings are thinning out and will probably remain a bit sparse until after New Year's Day. But there's still plenty of good events for you to review. Below this paragraph you will find video recordings of events you may have missed and links to a few podcasts you might find interesting.

On Sunday, November 12, Grassroots North Shore presented Can Democrats Win the Messaging War in 2024? with featured speakers David Pepper (author of Saving Democracy), Melissa Agard (WI Senate Minority Leader), and Mandela Barnes (President of Power to the Polls). In case you missed it, you can watch the recording.

The Nov. 13 public issues forum "Fact or Fiction: Dispelling Abortion Care Myths" — presented by the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County — lived up to its billing. The presenters provided clarity on abortion-related topics that are subject to disinformation, such as anti-abortion billboards falsely depicting stages of fetal development. View the recording here.

Recordings are now available of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin's three programs on Preparing for Elections in 2024. Issues Briefing Session 1: Redistricting in Wisconsin; Issues Briefing Session 2: Citizen Action at the State Level — Proposed WI Constitutional Amendments, Part 1 and Part 2; and Issues Briefing 3: Overcoming Barriers to Voting & Election Administration Challenges.

And here are some podcasts you might like.

• A daily weekday dose of somewhat rehabilitated, former-ish Republicans, The Bulwark Podcast is hosted by Charlie Sykes, a Wisconsin native and formerly a prominent "conservative" talk show host on WTMJ in Milwaukee. But he has seen the error of his ways and is now a frequent talking head on MSNBC. He was and is a never-Trumper. Episodes tend to take about 3/4 of an hour.
  
  
• A weekly update on some aspect of the legal quicksand closing in on Dirty Don, Prosecuting Donald Trump is co-hosted by Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord, both veteran federal prosecutors. Each episode runs a few minutes over 30 minutes.
  
  
• Strict Scrutiny, hosted by "three badass constitutional law professors" — Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray — the weekly episodes dissect (mostly) US Supreme Court cases. They did do a show titled "Trump's Legal Defense is Dumb AF," though. The episodes tend to be a little cheeky but convey important legal information those of us who are not lawyers can grasp. The episodes tend to run an hour plus 8 - 12 minutes.
  
  
• For a truly, entertainingly quirky show, try Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Those of you who remember the cable show of the same name will recognize the inimitable style Olbermann brings to the news. And if you happen to be a sports fan, as he has always been, you'll find a segment of each episode full of delightful, arcane sports information — often about baseball. The episodes vary in length, with some about 40 minutes and others over an hour. He posts new content four days a week.

Messaging for 2024

Notes from Grassroots North Shore webinar Nov 12, 2023.     

Video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtfETomMT2I

Notes from – David Pepper – The Gop offers a world American do not want.

(Saving Democracy: A User's Manual for Every American)

https://davidpepper.substack.com/

Compare and contrast what we believe and what they believe.                           

• Amplify their extremist policies
• Democrats are better on kitchen table issues
  • Tax breaks for the rich versus investing in infrastructure and things that help people
  • Banning and burning books v strengthening schools
  • Democrats deliver … on what America wants
• All politics is local. When you engage people in local issues … they pay attention to national issues
• Practice the serenity prayer
• Run everywhere… galvanizing voters in local races helps up and down-ballot
• Pace yourself and work year-round; there is ALWAYS something to do
• Biden v Trump
  • Who do YOU want running the show?
  • Who is the GROWNUP in the room?
  • Biden’s age means wisdom and experience

Notes from – Melissa Agard

The will of the people – Kitchen table issues.

Dems and GOP unite on these issues – these are Wisconsin values – but the GOP in the legislature are standing in the way.

• Reproductive rights – Dems support personal freedom; Red wants to be in our bedrooms;
• Guns safety. Public health epidemic. GOP obstructs.
• Marijuana – we are an island of prohibition. One of six most restrictive states.
• Medicaid expansion. We are 1 of 10 states who have not expanded Medicaid. Losing billions of federal dollars and could insure 90,000 more people.
• Water quality – PFAS, lead … rural and city –GOP stands in the way of comprehensive protections

Run everywhere! We all do better when we have candidates on the ballot everywhere.

Data supporting statements in “What Wisconsinites Want” at https://linktr.ee/FairMapsStats.

DON’T WATCH THE NEWS; MAKE NEWS!

(More message ideas follow)

From the teachings of Simon Rosenberg

(Hopium Chronicles)

Repeat -- Amplify

1. Joe Biden is a great president
2. The Democratic party is strong
3. I would rather be us than them

There are millions of us.

We need to repeat this message everywhere

Give Hopium a try…. https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/.

From ASO Communications meeting: Tested messages

• Set the terms of the debate

Don’t say:         Democrats are better for the economy

Say:                  Dems are better for you and your family’s economic well-being

                         Dems will protect our cherished economic programs and

Dems will tax the rich

Narrative: We need leaders who will grow our economy from the middle up and bottom out – not the top down – by investing in America, empowering workers, and lowering costs for families. Democrats have delivered for families, by lowering prescription drug prices and energy costs, investing in infrastructure including highways, broadband, and clean water, and strengthening supply chains by investing in domestic manufacturing, bringing good union jobs back to the US.

• Acknowledge present realities, speak to future aspirations
  • Majority want leaders to focus beyond just economic issues
  • Connect abortion, voting rights, and school to economic issues

Narrative: We need leaders who care about our whole lives – from putting food on the table to seeing our kids grow up happy to having clean air to breathe and safe places to live. By electing Democrats, we can stand up to MAGA Republicans and their billionaire backers, make corporations pay what they owe, and ensure American can earn a good living and have a good life – with the education and healthcare, housing, and jobs that every family needs.

• Confront, pushback, and inoculate opposition

Kentucky governor’s race message: “I believe people want a governor that talks about the things that impact us most: jobs, economic development, public safety, public education, infrastructure, healthcare. Those are the things parents worry about at night … I think that what you’ve seen in this race is the difference between vision and division, While I’m trying to talk about a better life for our families and good jobs, my opponent is obsess over kids and gender reassignment surgeries.” KY Gov Andy Beshear

• Tap into potent populism

Swing and surge (didn’t vote last election) voter populists blame corporations and the wealthy.

Populist freedom frame.

As Americans, we value our freedoms.

• Freedom to earn a good living and care for our families.
• Freedom to decide what happens to our bodies, to cast our votes and elect our leaders.

That’s why [Joe Biden / Tammy Baldwin] is running again –

• to keep making corporations pay what they owe
• restore the child tax credit
• protect social security, and
• to work to ensure access to abortion and voting rights

To Protect Everyone’s Freedom.

• Contend with cynicism
  • Make it personal. Don’t say “We benefit from growing the economy.” Say “We can ensure our families have the freedom to thrive.”
  • Give voters agency. (We can do this, together.)

Get off the couch. Don’t watch the news. Make news.    

What a way to finish the year! A week ago, I wrote about the elections happening as I typed. In the bit about the governor's race in Kentucky, I wrote that Democrat Andy Beshear's campaign focused on abortion rights while Daniel Cameron, his Republican opponent and Mitch McConnell protegé (and not a MAGA type), put inflation in his spotlight. I concluded, "It will be interesting to see what comes of this first head-to-head messaging war." Well now we know: the freedom to make your own decisions about your own body won big. And that has been the case in every special and off-year election since June 2022, when the Roe v. Wade was overturned.

So what does this newsletter have to do with the latest NFL gambit to win very close 4th down plays and goal line stands — the Tush Push? (Listen to a description and discussion of the tush push on NPR.) That's when the team with the ball gets behind the quarterback to help push him over the line to gain. In terms of our scary political moment, we find ourselves with lots of big, worrying punditry discouraging us with much hand-wringing and bed-wetting about next year's election, especially the presidential race. And there is much to worry about. But one big-wig in the election opinion biz is pushing hard in the other direction. Providing us with our own team's Tush Push, so to speak.

Simon Rosenberg, political analyst and upbeat author of the Hopium Chronicles, has several posts reviewing all the good data that came after the awful day Dobbs came down. Here's a great summary:

Chris Hayes, on MSNBC on Wednesday, November 8, gave a wonderful trip through the elections of the previous night and really shows how "overperformance" works out and what it means. It runs more than 8 minutes but it's worth every second. The 538 chart Hayes uses can be found here. If you look at the chart, you will be able to spot two Wisconsin special elections — in SD-08 on April 4 and in AD-24 on July 18. Democrats did, alas, lose those contests but note how big the swings toward Democratic candidates were! That's also part of the political Tush Push.

Keep in mind that "overperform" does not mean "win." It means that compared to the partisan lean of a given electoral district, Democrats won a larger percentage of the overall vote, sometimes by a lot. The other thing to keep in mind about Rosenberg's account is that all the elections he summarizes were state or local affairs. The work we do — every day — produces these outcomes. Talking to people and turning out the like-minded during election periods — urging people to vote absentee, during early in-person voting, or on election day — can pay huge dividends.

Rosenberg makes it plain: YOU produce the astonishing wins. "Our grassroots is stronger than it’s ever been, and keeps driving our performance to the upper end of what’s possible in election after election in all parts of the country. While the Republican Party is in trouble, Democrats are thriving." Today, he put up a page with links to his various analyses, video presentations, and podcasts. If you need some upbeat political news, try some Hopium.

Closer to home, you may have missed the news that a Dane County judge has ordered former Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Patience Roggensack "to produce all records related to her involvement in a panel of former justices tasked with exploring the prospect of impeaching a current member of the state’s high court." The other two former justices (both of whom apparently advised the Assembly not to engage in impeaching the newest justice) and Speaker Robin Vos have all turned over their documents already. But lest you think the issue of impeaching Justice Protasiewicz is now behind us, think again. In the same Wisconsin State Journal article the author writes: "Vos has said he would still weigh impeaching Protasiewicz depending on how she rules in the redistricting case."

In really pressing matters, oral arguments in Rebecca Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, the case in front of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin (SCOWIS), take place starting at 8:45am on Tuesday, November 21, at the state Capitol. At 9:00am, a rally will take place inside the Capitol (see the flyer for full details). There will also be rallies at noon at the Milwaukee State Office Building (819 N. Sixth St, Milwaukee), at the Brown County Court House in Green Bay (100 S. Jefferson St, Green Bay), and at the Eau Claire County Courthouse (721 Oxford Ave, Eau Claire). You can watch the arguments at SCOWIS on WisconsinEye. And you can read the Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) brief submitted by the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, of which Grassroots North Shore is a member. The outcome of this case may very well determine whether Wisconsin will have new, and fairer, election district maps for the Assembly and State Senate in 2023.

Now, in keeping with this strangely optimistic newsletter, a little light ending: Jordan Klepper (of The Daily Show) interviews TFG's supporters.

It's the first Tuesday in November, so it must be election day somewhere. In fact, there are a number of pretty important elections taking place in Virginia, Ohio, Mississippi, and Kentucky. In Virginia, control of the state Senate and the House of Delegates is at stake in the chief races in play. Some are speculating that a big win for Republicans could provide a rationale for Governor Glenn Youngkin to announce a bid for the GOP nomination for President. In Ohio, a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive health care — specifically abortion and contraception rights — is on the ballot. In Mississippi, there's another race for governor. In this one, Tate Reeves, the Republican incumbent, is facing "Democrat Brandon Presley, a state utility regulator and cousin of rock ’n’ roll legend Elvis Presley." Reeves is neck-deep in a financial scandal and wasn't all that popular the first time he ran, winning with just 52% of the vote in 2019.

In Kentucky, the biggest race is between the incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear and the Republican challenger Daniel Cameron, a Mitch McConnell protege. Beshear has wanted the focus to be abortion rights, which he supports and his opponent does not. Cameron wants to focus on inflation. It will be interesting to see what comes of this first head-to-head messaging war.

In fact, messaging occupies the core of every campaign. In preparation for the coming elections, Grassroots North Shore is hosting a Zoom event about messaging: Can Democrats Win the Messaging War in 2024?. The program is at 7:00pm on Sunday, November 12, and features an interview with David Pepper, former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party and author of two vital books: Laboratories of Autocracy and Saving Democracy: A User's Manual for Every American. In addition, we'll hear from Melisa Agard, minority leader in the state Senate, and Mandela Barnes, head of Power to the Polls. The outcomes of some of the elections described in the first couple of paragraphs may offer some fresh insights. All you have to do is sign up and attend!

In a rousing speech to kick off a One Year to Win canvass in Glendale last Sunday, Ben Wikler, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, reminded us that the November 5, 2024 election may truly be the most important one ever. Now we do hear that said almost every four years, but our democracy continues to be under threat nearly everywhere you look. The Brennan Center for Justice offers this analysis of the recently elected Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (MAGA Mike to those in the know): "Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is not just a casual election denier, a cynical pol winking at the MAGA mob. Johnson was the congressional architect of the effort to overturn the 2020 election, advocating an interpretation of the Constitution so outlandish that not even the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority could swallow it." Johnson was behind the so-called "independent state legislature" theory that even our deeply right-wing Supreme Court couldn't countenance. And that was far from the only effort MAGA Mike pursued to reverse the 2020 results. The Brennan Center analysis will step you through the most important ones and discuss why this matters for the 2024 election.

The House of Representatives and the US Senate jointly complete the process of electing the US President. But a lot happens before we get to that ceremonial act. On October 2, NBC News's Jake Tapper wrote, "Former President Donald Trump is lashing out at political and legal foes in increasingly violent terms as his campaign to return to office accelerates.... The aggressive turn began a week ago on Truth Social, where Trump alluded to the execution of his former top military official." And the "problem" has only increased in the last few weeks. As Ruth Ben-Ghiat wrote in her Substack Lucid, "Autocrats seek to create a climate of fear in societies so that silence about their crimes will become the norm. They use the threat and reality of violence not just against their usual targets —the press, opposition parties, judges, and more— but against the elites of their parties as a means of keeping them in line. Those elites, in turn, threaten others to prove their loyalty to the leader and maintain their position in the hierarchy of thugs."

In his biography of Senator Mitt Romney, McKay Coppins wrote that "Romney attributed some of the two-faced behavior of his colleagues to their fear of violent retribution from their voter base..... One senator wanted to vote for Trump’s second impeachment but feared for his family’s safety if he did." We must urge our leaders to speak out, to take TRE45ON's words — "I am your justice.... I am your retribution" — seriously. On March 4, as he said these words, attendees at CPAC went absolutely wild. Project 2025, bankrolled by the Heritage Foundation, fleshes out what that justice and retribution would look like.

In Wisconsin, we can just glimpse a ray of hope as the Supreme Court of Wisconsin gets down to work. Oral arguments concerning the challenge to our current election maps, Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, are scheduled to be heard in Madison on Tuesday, November 21. You can access links to the many briefs for this case. At issue in the challenge is not gerrymandering per se; rather it is the way 55 of the 99 Assembly districts and 21 of the 33 the Senate districts "'consist of a patchwork of disconnected pieces that do not share a common border with other parts of the same district' and therefore run afoul of the 'Wisconsin Constitution’s plain-text ‘contiguous territory’ requirement'” (Democracy Docket, October 9, 2023). A second issue with profound implications concerns the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches of government. When the Supreme Court imposed the current legislative map in 2022, the Court chose the one the legislature had passed, the governor had vetoed, but the legislature failed to override the veto. In essence, petitioners argue, even though the legislature could not muster the votes the Court in effect overrode the veto for it. We cannot predict the outcome of this complicated case, but we can hope that if it is decided promptly, we could have new Assembly and Senate districts for the 2024 elections.

IF WE HAVE NEW MAPS, we have a shot at electing legislative bodies that are more responsive to the electorate and our priorities. Of course, even with new maps a differently constituted Supreme Court could undo what we hope will happen this year. That's why EVERY ELECTION and EVERY ACT of ISSUE ADVOCACY matters. Although we're heading into an election hiatus, Grassroots North Shore is busy looking ahead to next year. The spring nonpartisan primary will be held on February 20. The spring nonpartisan election and the preferential presidential election will take on April 2. People hoping to be elected to nonpartisan positions can begin circulating nomination papers on December 1, 2023. After January 1, you can go online to MyVote.WI.gov to check your registration and to request absentee ballots for the whole year. We won't have election-specific information for you until the middle of January, but right now you can visit our page that covers campaign contribution limits for every local, state, and federal office.

indulge me in a sad comment about the state of the world. Israel has begun its long-promised invasion of Gaza. Many Palestinian civilians have no doubt been killed and wounded in the bombings that preceded the invasion and now in the invasion itself. That is an awful truth. But while conditions continue to deteriorate for the millions of Palestinians who must live there, we cannot forget that this evil war began with an unspeakable terrorist attack from Hamas, torturing and killing (mostly civilians) indiscriminately. Hamas also took more than 200 hostages into Gaza where most of them presumably remain, vowing to kill all of them if Israel retaliated. Their location and their fate are unknown. The heinous attack was clearly meticulously planned, constitutes the worst antisemitic pogrom since the Holocaust, and has engendered a world-wide upswelling of antisemitism, frightening and threatening Jews everywhere.

At Cornell University (where I earned my PhD), the Ithaca Journal reported that Cornell Hillel advises caution after 'horrendous, antisemitic messages' target community: "Cornell Hillel, a Jewish organization, on Sunday cautioned that people not visit a building that includes a multicultural dining hall and serves as a center for the Jewish community after it was targeted by antisemitic threats." CNN notes that "Outbursts of antisemitism have often been harbingers of societies in deep trouble and omens that extremism and violence are imminent... The Hamas attacks – a pogrom against Jews that killed 1,400, mostly civilians – have initiated a sequence of events that have left Jewish people around the world feeling threatened." All of us — not just Jews — live in precarious times.

Meanwhile, here in the "us" — Boss Tweet's startling discovery that the objective form of the word "we" also signifies the U.S.! (watch) — MAGA Mke, the newly elected Speaker of the House, is already running into legislative trouble over his proposal to reject President Biden's $106 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other urgent needs. Speaker Johnson's promoting his own $14.3 billion package that takes the funds from the IRS and uses them to aid only Israel. See the (gifted article) account in the Washington Post, Speaker Johnson faces immediate backlash to first legislative move. We face a government shutdown in just a few weeks and it's unclear at this point whether the House can even pass another Continuing Resolution to extend the time they have to pass the appropriations bills necessary to fund the federal government for the fiscal year that began a month ago!

Elections are coming: they don't solve everything but they're our only hope, right? As Grassroots North Shore begins its preparations for the 2024 elections in earnest, we're holding a Webinar on Sunday, November 12, to address one of the critical ways Democrats and Progressives can win: getting the messaging right: Can Democrats Win the Messaging War in 2024?. The program will feature a taped interview with David Pepper, former Chair of the Democratic Party of Ohio and author of Saving Democracy: A User's Manual for Every American, and live remarks from Melissa Agard, WI Senate Majority Leader; and Mandela Barnes, head of Power to the Polls. The program will discuss the power of well-crafted messaging. So get the full skinny and sign up.

Another good messaging document comes from ASO Communications, the messaging and polling organization headed by Anat Shenker Osorio (also host of the podcast Words to Win By): Freedom Over Fascism Toolkit.

In Wisconsin we continue to battle the MAGA-led legislature over fair election maps. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign announced that it began running a redistricting radio ad Monday, October 30th. This ad will run on every Civic Media radio station in Wisconsin. You may be wondering, why run radio ads right now? Well, the Wisconsin State Senate will be back in session on Tuesday November 7th which means the legislature may attempt to force a vote on SB 488/AB 415 (the flawed redistricting bills). It is important that every Wisconsinite take a minute or two to call your state senator and let them know that rushing how Wisconsin draws legislative district maps in the future is unacceptable. We want the best bill possible to produce the fairest maps possible. Listen to the radio ad: click the link to open the mp3 file or right click to download it: Wisconsinites Will Not Be Silenced On Voting Maps.

To cure a deficiency with the redistricting bill that was introduced and passed in the Assembly without a public hearing, the senate committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection had a hastily announced hearing on October 19 about SB 488 (the senate version of AB 415), a bill Republicans claim will ensure that election district maps will be drawn in a non-partisan way. Almost all the testimony opposed the bill. Watch the full SB 488 hearing. Warning: it goes on for about four hours. Cheryl Maranto's outstanding testimony starts at the 3 hour mark. I recommend it highly, especially the way she fielded questions from the senators.

You can find the contact information for your state senator at 2023 Wisconsin State Senators. By default, the page lists senators alphabetically but you can choose to have them listed by district number. If you don't know the name of your senator or what your senate district is, you can go to the legislature's home page and type in your address to receive the information. You can also contact the members of the committee. Their names and contact information are listed on this pdf.

In other election matters, the Wisconsin Elections Commission has redesigned the return envelopes  — the certification envelopes — for absentee ballots to make them easier to fill out correctly and for postal and election workers to identify them. The League of Women Voters has provided this description:

* * * * * TAKE MORE ACTION * * * * *

There's a lot you can do right now, ahead of the 2024 elections, to help voters and to educate them about the issues. Here are a few of those actions:

• Sign up for one of the many Year to Win canvasses near you — or maybe not so near you. See the full list at Mobilize.us.
  
  
• Here's a list of canvasses on Saturday, November 4, and Sunday, November 5, in the North Shore and Ozaukee County (See the Events list or click these links for specific dates and shift times):
  • Fox Point/Bayside
  • Glendale
  • Shorewood
  • Whitefish Bay
  • Grafton & Cedarburg
  • Mequon
  • Port Washington
  • Rufus King Community
    
    
• Phonebank ahead of the Ohio election: Help the pro-choice citizens who put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot by phoning to Get Out the Vote in Ohio. The election takes place on November 7 and early voting is already under way. The first opportunity is tomorrow, Wednesday, November 1. A second opportunity is on Monday, November 6. Sign up.
  
  
• Make calls to Ohio beginning Tuesday, October 31 at 5:00pm CDT and ending Tuesday, November 7, at 4:00pm CST. Sponsored by Women's March Action and Activate America.  Sign up.

There are more things to do and to attend on the Events list. So have at it. (And have a happy, sorta snowy Halloween.)

My quicky synopsis of the latest news. Although four Hamas hostages have now been released, the war in Gaza rages on. Jenna Ellis pleads guilty to one felony in the Georgia RICO case. Michael Cohen is testifying today in New York's civil case against the Orange Julius, two of his sons, assorted others and the Trump Organization. And lo and behold: we just got a new Speaker of the House nominee. Can Tom Emmer break the stalemate that has kept the House from doing any business at all, no matter how urgent? We shall see.

But seriously, the situation in the Middle East is precarious. I don't usually read Thomas Friedman's columns in the New York Times because he cheered so obnoxiously for the Iraq war. In fact, his predictions were so notorious that cheeky wags created a neologism for them: the Friedman Unit. It has garnered a Wikipedia page devoted to it. His op-ed in the Times (gifted so no paywall) on October 20 is not so sunny or sanguine about the outcome of Israel's stated plan to invade Gaza in the near future:

Jenna Ellis's statement of remorse to the Georgia Court seems heartfelt but essentially she blames others — presumably Rudy Giuliani and Sydney Powell — for leading her astray. I'm sure every media outlet in the U.S. is covering the story with plenty of detail and maybe even some sympathy for the poor dear. But if you just want a quick hit and a short video of her reading her statement to the court, visit this Daily Kos post: Watch Jenna Ellis’s teary-eyed court statement during her plea deal. What I don't really understand is why she merits such a sweet deal. Her sentence is the same as Ken Chesebro's but she seemed like such a bit player in the whole sorry saga. I'm left wondering how important any information she has on the ring leaders could be. I guess we will just have to wait until the Georgia trial to find out.

Michael Cohen is testifying today in the New York Attorney General's civil case accusing the Trump Organization and several of its top officers, including Dirty Don himself of fraud. He is of course sitting at the defense table today and of course is claiming to the press assembled outside that he's untroubled by Cohen's testimony because his one-time fixer is a convicted liar. What nerve, eh? He's at the trial to intimidate Cohen or something. He does not have to attend it so his presence is a choice. What he hopes to gain with his scowls and whispers to his lawyers is unclear, at least to me. And he's already been convicted of the fraud alleged in the indictment. What remains to be determined is whether he has to pay a penalty (and how much that might be) and whether he violated any other laws.

Meanwhile, almost buried in the rush of other news, the Cowardly Lyin' has filed FOUR NEW motions to have his case in Judge Chutkan's court dismissed. The first one filed a week or two ago argued that, as president, our Butternut Berlusconi had complete immunity from prosecution. Jack Smith's crew made that ridiculous claim, well, ridiculous. See the filing here. In this new one, Trump Throws Everything But The Kitchen Sink At Dismissing The Jan. 6 Case. Today's Washington Post article about this latest filing is well below the fold (as if online news publications had a fold), but the piece itself is thorough. Check out the (gifted) article: Trump files new challenges to federal election obstruction case in D.C.

And in stunningly good news for Wisconsin voters, in case you missed it, the GOP supermajority in the state Senate who voted to fire Wisconsin's Elections Administrator have now admitted in court that "a September vote to fire ... Megan Wolfe was 'symbolic,' and that Wolfe is 'lawfully holding over' in that position despite her appointment expiring July 1," according to Wisconsin Public Radio on October 16. This is a case of the MAGA Republicans being hoist on their own petard. Just last year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court "upheld a lower court ruling that an appointee of former Gov. Scott Walker to the state Natural Resources Board can remain in his role until his replacement is approved by the state Senate, despite the appointee’s term" having expired in 2021 (The Cap Times, June 29, 2022). Plus the Wisconsin Assembly MAGAites have blinked, as Ben Wikler eloquently states in his weekly newsletter from October 13. Speaker Vos is still threatening to impeach Justice Protasiewicz if the Court issues a ruling he and his gerrymandered buddies don't like, but it would clearly be an unpopular move. And maybe even unlawful.

The important thing now is to prepare the ground for next year's big, big, big elections. I have posted a page detailing the campaign contribution limits for local, state, and federal elections. By early December, we will know what offices will be up in the spring nonpartisan election on April 2. (This will also be the date of the presidential preference primary in Wisconsin.) In early Janiuary we will know and will post information on any primaries that will take place on February 20, 2024. And we will work to find online information about candidates that you can consult as you make your plans to vote.

But the most important thing to do is to participate in the Democratic Party's One Year to Win canvasses taking place on Saturday, November 4, and Sunday, November 5. You'll find the sign-up links in the Events listings but I'm providing them here too for the sake of convenience. By clicking on the sign-up link, you will see the shift days and times for each location.

I want to begin today with the fate of AB 415, the so-called Iowa-based model for achieving a nonpartisan process for producing electoral maps. In other words, a bill that would prohibit partisan considerations from affecting the way the maps for electing state Assembly Representatives and thus state Senators are drawn. In last week's newsletter, I informed you that Senate President Chris Kopenga had said that the Senate did not have the votes to pass the bill. That was in an interview with WisPolitics's "UpFront" on October 6. But SURPRISE! It turns out that SB 488 (the name of the proposed bill in the Senate) is going to the committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection for a hearing on Thursday, October 19, at 9am in room 411 South of the Wisconsin Capitol. The Fair Maps Coalition urges everyone who cares about this issue to turn up, even if they don't want to testify. Sign up here. If you do want to testify, either in person or on paper, see messaging guidance here.

Middle Wisconsin has posted an article, This is not a credible offer, explaining why AB 415 and SB 488 are unacceptable. Calling the bill "a ploy to manipulate the system," the piece reveals the flawed process by which it was introduced: "AB415 was thrown together to look like the often referenced ‘Iowa Model,’ but they [the GOP representatives] also placed major loopholes in it to ensure they would remain in control. There was no committee hearing, no input from the public or any of the many organizations that have been working on this issue for years, and no consultation with Assembly Democrats."

Here's the ask: even if you can't drop everything to attend the hastily-called Senate hearing on Thursday, call and write you state senators, even if they are Democrats, to object to the bill. Also send written testimony to the members of the committee and to the Fair Maps Coalition:

• Senator Knodl, Chair: [email protected];
• Senator Feyen, Vice-Chair: [email protected];
• Senator Quinn: [email protected];
• Senator Spreitzer: [email protected];
• Senator Smith: [email protected];
• and share with Iuscely at [email protected].

The horrifying news from Israel and Gaza continues to dominate the media, as it rightly should. But that does not mean other important stories should be overlooked. In a number of states — including Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and West Virginia — voters have filed lawsuits seeking to disqualify TRE45ON from appearing on the ballot, either in the primary or in the general election. Notably, in the case in Colorado, "a judge denied Donald Trump’s attempt to dismiss the 14th Amendment lawsuit CREW brought on behalf of six Colorado voters. This ruling means that CREW is one step closer to presenting our clients’ case in court at the upcoming October 30 evidentiary hearing."

Noah Bookbinder, President and CEO of CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), wrote in his October 14 newsletter, "Trump’s attempt to dismiss the lawsuit was brought under Colorado’s anti-SLAPP law, which seeks to protect people from being sued over exercising their free speech rights. But the judge ruled that 'this lawsuit falls within the public interest exemption to the anti-SLAPP statute,' and concluded that 'ensuring that only constitutionally qualified candidates can seek to hold the highest office in the country...seeks to enforce an important right which confers a significant benefit to the public.'"

As precedent, there's little to cite. In the only modern case, adjudicated last year, "CREW represented residents of New Mexico who sued to remove county commissioner Couy Griffin from office, the only successful case to be brought under Section 3 since 1869. The judge in that case determined January 6th was an insurrection under the Constitution and that someone who helped to incite it–even if not personally violent–had engaged in insurrection and was disqualified from office." See CREW's press release about this lawsuit.

And there's more good news. The gerrymandering action in Wisconsin concerns only state legislative districts, not congressional districts. But gerrymandering in other states has in the recent past affected the composition of the House of Representatives. German Lopez, writing in the New York Times on October 16, finds A Shift in Gerrymandering (gifted article): "the overall picture looks promising for Democrats. 'The House map is pretty equitable now, certainly more so than it was 10 years ago,' David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report told me. 'If the cases [now pending in federal courts] go in Democrats’ favor,' he added, 'it could make the House map even a little bit bluer on balance than a random map would be.'”

REAL TIME UPDATE: Even as I write this newsletter, the House is voting to fill the position of Speaker of the House. Apparently Jim (Gym?) Jordan failed on the first vote. Six representatives from districts that voted for Biden in 2022, voted against him. In all, he fell 17 votes short, receiving only 200 votes in the first round. Hakeem Jeffries beat him by receiving 212 votes from all the Democrats. There might be another vote later today, the Washington Post has said.

Now a word about gag orders. As plenty of TV pundits have remarked, criminal defendants who behaved and spoke as the Tangerine Palpatine has in the past several months would have had their bail revoked and have been tossed into pre-trial detention. Not Orange Julius. He's just prohibited from threatening court employees, the prosecutor, potential witness and families of all of the above. On his show last night Jimmy Kimmel thinks he and everyone else who watched the insurrection is a witness: “I don’t know about you — I saw the whole thing happen.” (See the BEST OF LATE NIGHT gifted to you.)

Judge Chutkan's order, made orally from the bench, will be followed with a written opinion soon. Meanwhile, Judge Engoron had issued a narrowly tailored gag order two weeks ago. On October 3, the AP wrote: "Rebuking Donald Trump, a state court judge imposed a limited gag order Tuesday in the former president’s civil business fraud trial and ordered him to delete a social media post that publicly maligned a key court staffer." Now let's see if these jurists can make their orders stick.

Down in Georgia in the trial of Chesebro and Powell, jury selection will be starting on Friday. Attorneys for the defendants wanted prospective jurors to give a favorability rating of every person charged in the RICO case. REALLY? A trial is not like "reality TV" — prospective jurors don't get a vote at the outset on which defendants aren't very popular! Both Judge McAfee and the prosecutors objected, thank goodness. But everyone "agreed potential jurors could be asked about pressures from the community or whether they would feel nervous or anxious about returning any verdict out of concern for how the public might respond" (See Lawyers and judge hash out juror questions for Powell and Chesebro trial in Georgia election case, October 16, 2023).

Attorneys for Chesebro and Powell "also wanted to include a string of questions about whether potential jurors believe Trump and his associates tried to steal the election and what they think about people who spread misinformation or tried to help overturn the election." As Judge McAfee said, "the questions seemed to cross a 'hard line in the sand' against asking prospective jurors whether they think someone is guilty or not." Sounds a little like a scene out of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "Sentence first — verdict afterward." But in this case, it's more like "first the verdict and then the trial."

One more thing: don't forget to sign up for the online event we're holding on Sunday, November 12, at 7:00pm. It's all about Winning the Messaging War. Because one of our featured speakers — David Pepper, former chair of the Ohio Democratic Party and author of Laboratories of Autocracy — cannot be available in real time, we have to tape his interview ahead of the event. If you have questions for him, please submit them here.

The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has upended my musings about this week's newsletter. The news from the conflict has been overwhelming and awful. Seen as an almost inevitable outgrowth of 75 years of intermittent conflict between the irreconcilable views of two groups fighting for a small part of the world, it may seem both consequential and simply in keeping with the long history of the region. Seen in the context of recent events worldwide, however, it may signify that we are witnessing dramatic changes in what had looked like a fairly stable world order, one ultimately dominated by America's vision and our might.

That's David Leonhardt's thesis in yesterday's column The Global Context of the Hamas-Israel War. He writes that "the world is in the midst of a transition to a new order that experts describe with the word multipolar. The United States is no longer the dominant power it once was, and no replacement has emerged. As a result, political leaders in many places feel emboldened to assert their own interests, believing the benefits of aggressive action may outweigh the costs. These leaders believe that they have more sway over their own region than the U.S. does." Leonhardt elaborates on this thesis clearly and concisely. Read the whole thing. I've gifted it to bypass the paywall.

Wisconsin is of course thick into its own internecine election wars. What follows is a brief summary of the action to date.

• As we are all now well aware, Boss Vos has been threatening to impeach Justice Protasiewicz and set up a secret panel of former Wisconsin Supreme Court (SCOWIS) justices to advise him on the subject.
• Two weeks ago, Speaker Vos the Boss suddenly introduced a bill to completely restructure the process of redistricting our legislative election maps, based on the Iowa Model, or so he claimed. (See the bill.) Then the Iowa State Auditor and other Iowa pols called the claim a lie, only in more polite language.
• This past Sunday, Vos the Boss published an editorial in the Journal Sentinel blaming Democrats for opposing his bill — AB 415 — to change the way our election maps are drawn. In it, he repeats the lie.
• And now, Senate President Chris Kapenga says the senate does not have enough votes to pass the legislation. Meanwhile, Kapenga is urging Vos to impeach Elections Administrator Meagan Wolfe. The senate claims to have fired her already, but that action has of course resulted in a lawsuit.
• Now STOP THE PRESSES: Former SCOWIS justice David Prosser has just advised the MAGA GOP in the Assembly that it would be ill-advised for the body to go forward with impeachment. In his letter to Vos on October 6, he wrote: "To sum up my views, there should be no effort to impeach Justice Protasiewicz on anything we know now. Impeachment is so serious, severe, and rare that it should not be considered unless the subject has committed a crime, or the subject has committed indisputable ‘corrupt conduct’ while ‘in office."
• And this just in: the Assembly Bill to change the process of drawing election maps, passed by the Assembly a few weeks ago, has now be submitted to the Senate.

So that's where the legislature stands: Vos threatens impeachment and then passes a bill that he erroneously claims is just like the Iowa model. Senate President Fitzgerald says he just doesn't have the votes to pass the bill (which seems not to have been the case) but wants Vos to impeach Meagan Wolfe (Wisconsin Elections Administrator) instead. Former Justice Prosser tells Vos to forget about impeaching Protasiewiz. Now Vos has become silent on the subject. Stay tuned for further legislative games.

While the state legislature was busy boxing itself into corners, the work of the Wisconsin Supreme Court went on. There have been quite a few important developments you should know about.

• On Friday, October 6, Justice Protosiewicz released her opinion declining the motion that she recuse herself from the redistricting case. (See her recusal opinion.)
• On October 9, the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to hear part of the Clarke case challenging the current maps as unconstitutional. (See the Court's ruling.)
• SCOWIS also declined to hear the case known as Wright. (See the court's order.)The litigants in that case are submitting a motion to be included in the Clarke case as an Intervenor (i.e. as a party having "a clearly determinable interest in the outcome of the action." See Thomson Reuters Practical Law.)

The issues here are complicated but we can tease out a few salient ones. The Clarke petition raised five issues:

1. Whether the state legislative redistricting plans proposed by the legislature and imposed by this Court in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission are extreme partisan gerrymanders that violate Article I, Section I, of the Wisconsin Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under law; and whether this cause of action is justiciable in Wisconsin courts.
2. Whether the state legislative redistricting plans proposed by the legislature and imposed by this Court in Johnson III are extreme partisan gerrymanders that retaliate against voters based on their viewpoint and exercise of free speech and abridge the ability of voters with disfavored political views to associate with others to advance their political beliefs in violation of Article I, Sections 3 and 4 of the Wisconsin Constitution; and whether this cause of action is justiciable in Wisconsin courts.
3. Whether the state legislative redistricting plans proposed by the legislature and imposed by this Court in Johnson III are extreme partisan gerrymanders that fail to adhere to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue and fundamental principles in violation of Article I, Section 22 of the Wisconsin Constitution; and whether this cause of action is justiciable in Wisconsin courts.
4. Whether the state legislative redistricting plans proposed by the legislature and imposed by this Court in Johnson III violate the requirement of Article IV, Sections 4 and 5 of the Wisconsin Constitution that legislators be elected from districts consisting of "contiguous territory."
5. Whether the state legislative redistricting plans proposed by the legislature and imposed by this Court in Johnson III violate the separation-of-powers principle inherent in the Constitution's division of legislative, executive, and judicial powers by usurping the Governor's core constitutional power to veto legislation and the Legislature's core constitutional power to override such a veto.

SCOWIS declined to hear issues 1, 2 and 3 but agreed to hear issues 4 and 5. In its rationale for declining to take up the first three issues, the majority wrote that although those "raise important and unresolved questions of statewide significance, the need for extensive fact-finding (if not a full-scale trial) counsels against addressing them at this time."

The Court then asks that the parties and any intervenors write briefs addressing four questions. (1) Whether the current maps violate the contiguity requirements in the Constitution. (2) Whether the Court's adoption of the existing state legislative maps violated the Wisconsin Constitution's separation of powers. (3) If the existing maps in fact violate the contiguity requirement or violate the separation of powers, what standards the Court should use to develop a remedy for the violations. (5) If the existing maps are found to violate the Constitution, what fact-finding will be necessary and what process the Court should use to resolve issues of fact.

One interpretation of the SCOWIS order dismissing the partisan gerrymandering issues sees the decision as conserving precious time so that if warranted new maps that do not violate the contiguity requirement or the separation of powers can be in place in time for the 2024 elections. That interpretation is bolstered by the aggressive schedule the Court has set: October 10 for Motions to Intervene; October 12 for initial briefs; October 30 for responses to initial briefs; November 8 for Amicus briefs; and November 21 for Oral Arguments. Moreover, the Court's opinion noted that "a decision on Issues 4 and 5 set forth in their petition 'could render it unnecessary' to decide Issues 1-3."

No doubt that there will be lots of news emanating both from actions at the Wisconsin Supreme Court and from the Legislature. We'll keep on it!

Although Wisconsin has no election in the offing — a welcome respite in a state that routinely has four or more of them every year — there's plenty to do to keep your hand in vital electoral matters elsewhere. So this week's Action Items are managed by some powerfully effective national groups. I hope you sign up with them.

VOTE FORWARD volunteer opportunities:

1. Help Democrats Win in Virginia: To deny Governor Glenn Youngkin a statewide Republican trifecta, Democrats need to hold their majority in the Virginia State Senate or win a majority in the House of Delegates this November. Sign up to write Vote Forward letters to potential voters, join a national phone bank, or if you’re in or near Virginia, join other volunteers to knock on doors and help voters make a plan to vote! Take action in VA.
2. Protect Abortion Access in Ohio: In August, organizers helped lay the groundwork necessary for abortion access to pass via ballot measure in November. Now it’s time to see it through. Every Vote Forward letterwritten, phone call made, door knocked, and donation contributed between now and Election Day to remind Ohio voters to vote Yes on Issue 1 gets Ohioans a step closer to protecting reproductive freedom statewide.
3. National Phone Bank to Ohio Voters: No matter where you’re located, join our national phone bank on Tuesday, October 17 at 6pm ET! We’re calling Ohioans to remind them to vote YES on Issue 1 to protect reproductive freedom. If you’ve never phone banked before, don’t worry, there will be a quick training beforehand to help you get started. Sign up today.

ACTIVATE AMERICA volunteer opportunities:

1. Protect Abortion Rights in Ohio: This November, Ohio voters will be heading to the polls to vote on an amendment that would enshrine abortion protections in their constitution. We know a majority of Ohioans support protecting abortion rights with an amendment. We can help them get the info they need to make their voices heard! Let's Get Out The Vote! Sign up for postcard lists today to ensure Democratic voters have the info they need to vote. Please write postcards now and mail them starting October 4 through October 28 at the latest.
2. Write Postcards to Voters in CA, NY, AZ, and OH!: Join Third Act and Activate America to write postcards to voters and help safeguard our democracy! We will win elections in Fall 2023, and build voter enthusiasm and turnout to elect progressives and climate champions in 2024. Sign up. On the sign-up page, click on "Complete Your Registration Here," and fill out the order form to let us know how many names and addresses you want us to send to you.

          The Republican Party has declared war on voting by college students.   One of the latest to enlist is former Wisconsin

Governor Scott Walker, who declared that the overwhelming victory by Janet Protasiewicz in the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election was due to the brainwashing of young college students by "campus radicals." UW students did indeed vote overwhelmingly for "Judge Janet," particularly at the Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay campuses. Walker is now determined to "undo years of liberal indoctrination."  To achieve this he has announced a new donor-financed initiative:  "I am leading a new effort at Young America Foundation to counter the impact of radicals on campus..."

Indoctrination? Really?

         This allegation of youthful gullibility should be more closely examined.  A few policy issues of acute interest to young people generally (not just those in college) point to more likely reasons why young voters are repelled by Republican policy positions.   

Guns

         It can hardly be chalked up to indoctrination that today's college students -- the generation that practiced "active shooter drills" in school, some having survived the real thing -- have concluded that the Republicans are doing nothing about guns.   Like most Americans, they are frustrated by the inaction, especially since Justice Scalia's 2008 interpretation of the Second Amendment reaffirmed that gun ownership is a regulated right: red-flag laws, waiting periods before purchase, background checks, restrictions on ownership of certain types of weapons,  are indeed constitutional.   Republicans have had plenty of opportunity to diverge from the NRA position to endorse at minimum red-flag laws and background checks.  

Abortion

         Nor does it require indoctrination to conclude that the Republicans are caving in to religious organizations on abortion restrictions. In furtherance of this unpopular policy, unrepresentative gerrymandered state legislatures impose strict regulations on abortion and other reproductive medical decisions,  endanger women in medical emergencies, restrict interstate travel for less-restricted care,  and attempt to ban a proven drug for treatment of miscarriages that also can induce abortions. 

 Voting Rights

         It does not require indoctrination for students to understand the Republican strategy to suppress their vote.   Republican strategist Cleta Mitchell was caught on tape speaking at a Republican strategy session outlining a comprehensive plan to suppress voting by those unlikely to vote for Republican candidates.  The plan includes limiting voting days and hours, eliminating on-campus voting places, denying the use of student ID as proof of voter eligibility, and keeping off the ballot any referendum whose likely outcome would be to demonstrate the unpopularity of Republican policy positions.  

         As if to justify suppressing the college vote, Mitchell  described college students as lazy, coddled by the convenience of on-campus voting:  "They basically put the polling place next to the student dorm so they just have to roll out of bed, vote, and go back to bed.”  The alternative would be to register and vote near the family home, dozens if not hundreds of miles away.    Of course, hers is a mischaracterization of modern students who work very hard just to qualify for admission to college and then proceed to take challenging coursework that encapsulates thousands of years of learning.    Most students are also compelled to earn money during their college days to pay today's greater student share of the cost.  Besides, the 26th Amendment to the Constitution (1971) that enabled 18-year-olds to vote did not specify greater inconvenience to exercise that right. 

            Certainly, increased time and travel costs will suppress the vote. Together with gerrymandering, high time costs are part of the overall strategy to solidify minority rule.   By contrast,  representative government requires allocating voting resources -- polling places, days and hours, voting machines, secure drop boxes, mail-ballot procedures, and, yes, on-campus voting --  so that all eligible demographics, including college students, experience roughly the same time and resource cost of voting.     

The past few weeks, I've focused a lot of newsletters on Representative Robin Vos's threat to impeach Justice Janet Protasiewicz and his sudden introduction of a bill (AD 415) to implement a so-called nonpartisan process for developing and adopting maps of electoral districts, a proposal that only looks nonpartisan until we examine the actual bill. And it turns out that the version adopted as amended allows the legislature to revise the proposed maps any way they choose — as long as the Republicans with their near veto-proof majority can persuade at least one Democrat to vote for it — and gives the partisan legislature the final say. The Assembly is currently on hiatus and will not return until next week. And the Senate has so far not taken up the redistricting bill the Assembly passed a couple of weeks ago. So all is quiet on the threat to impeach Justice Protasiewicz and the attempt to fool everyone into thinking the GOP has seen the light now and is in favor of nonpartisan redistricting, two parts of the three-part effort to keep legislative power out of the hands of the voting public: "fire" Meagan Wolfe, the current state administrator of elections; impeach the possible fourth vote on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to redraw the election maps; adopt a bogus version of the Iowa Model for nonpartisan redistricting. We're keeping an eye on all three.

Since last week's newsletter, The Big Lie-bowski has taken center stage again. This time the Big Lie isn't about "rigged elections." It's about the value of real estate. New York Judge Engoron has already issued a partial summary judgment declaring that "Donald J. Trump persistently committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets" (gift article: NYTimes, September 26, 2023).The trial on this civil matter is simply to assess how much the penalties (disgorgement) should be. In the ruling Judge Engoron has already issued, the business certificates (i.e. licenses) of all New York entities The Cowardly Lyin' owns and all business that are"controlled or beneficially owned by the individual defendants" have been cancelled and a receiver will be appointed to oversee all matters pertaining to those entities.

And this just in: Judge Engoron has issued a gag order against Donald Trump. If he violates the order, he will go to jail for 30 days, apparently. See the Washington Post's account here. Or this much longer and more detailed account in The Messenger. Now taken down, the post on Truth Social that prompted the gag order attacked Judge Engoron's staff. It apparently read "Schumer’s girlfriend, Alison R. Greenfield, is running this case against me. How disgraceful! This case should be dismissed immediately!!" In the election denial case, prosecutor Jack Smith requested a limited gag order and followed up with a reply to Trump's filing with an even more urgent argument. You can see Glenn Kirschner's take on the latest on YouTube. Judge Chutkin scheduled a hearing on the gag order motion for October 16.

Also, in Congress, Kevin McCarthy has just been booted from his speakership. In the Washington Post, Phillip Bump headlines his analysis of the Republican party's trajectory over the past decade The future of the GOP is now its past. Even Newt Gingrich, the original Congressional bomb thrower, is arguing that "Republicans must expel Matt Gaetz," calling Gaetz "an anti-Republican who has become actively destructive to the conservative movement." So now there's a pro-tem speaker, Representative Patrick McHenry, until a new speaker is elected. What a day! But the government is still up and running. Justice Thomas actually recused himself from the Supreme Court decision not to hear John Eastman's appeal to keep his evidence of crime (by which I mean his emails) from prosecutors. And Ukraine continues to receive robust support from other nations, including the United States. Some of the more hopeful signs that democracy may yet survive.

So much drama for the media to qvell* over. In the real world, there are still meaningful ways to help realize the policies we desire. If you act quickly, you can participate in Vote Forward's letter-writing campaign for elections this November in Ohio and Virginia. As you might recall, Ohio voters have a chance to pass a constitutional amendment to guarantee access to abortion in that state. Sign up for the Ohio Ballot Initiative. In Virginia, the November election provides a chance to flip the lower house from red to blue. You can participate in several issue-oriented letter-writing campaigns. For example, Climate Change or Reproductive Freedom.

In other news, North Shore Fair Maps is holding a vital zoom you really don't want to miss on Monday, October 11, at 7 pm — Math, Science, and Maps — with guest speaker Attorney Sam Hirsch (from the law firm Jenner & Block) providing insights into the second gerrymandering lawsuit filed in August with the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Robert Yablon (from the Democracy Research Initiative) will bring us up to speed on the Legislature's "recusal / impeachment" power play. It really is the maps, stupid, that have turned Wisconsin into a perpetually bitter political battleground. If it's true that Democrats would need a huge majority of the votes in any given election to eke out a tiny majority in the Assembly, then MAGA Republicans can clearly ignore constituents and their policy preferences. Under the 2011 maps and strengthened by the 2021 maps, Wisconsin voters are trapped. North Shore Fair Maps and a coalition of advocacy groups are both calling attention to the matter and fighting it with every tool at their disposal. Join in and sign up

Before I dive into the contentious issues brewing in our state, I want to call your attention to the next big Grassroots North Shore event: Winning the Messaging War, to be held on Sunday, November 12. Our featured speakers are David Pepper (author of Saving Democracy), Melissa Agard (Minority Leader in the WI Senate) and Mandela Barnes (President of Power to the Polls). Although the event itself is still six weeks away, we'd like to hear your questions and concerns. We especially welcome questions for David Pepper who will have to appear in a pre-taped interview owing to scheduling issues. So submit your questions as soon as possible.

Over the past two weeks, the Wisconsin legislature, especially the Assembly, went berserk. In the Assembly, MAGAites hurriedly crafted a bill supposedly designed to implement a fair and nonpartisan process for drawing election districts — AB 415 — at 3am on Tuesday and then presented the bill for amendment and passage Thursday night. No committee hearing. No public hearing. No time to read and think carefully about the bill's effects.

Boss Vos presented it as a nonpartisan redistricting law based on the Iowa model. But according to the Iowa State Auditor, the Wisconsin bill omits KEY PROVISIONS that safeguard against reverting to the same kind of rigged maps we have had since 2011. As two Iowa officials note, "The clearest and most consequential difference [from the Iowa model] is that Wisconsin’s proposal rejects our system of judicial review. In Iowa, the legislature has limited opportunities to accept or reject the maps drafted by legislative staff. If lawmakers fail to reach consensus, the maps are drawn by the Iowa Supreme Court and enacted" (WisDems: Bipartisan Iowa leaders: 'The proposal currently in front of the Wisconsin Legislature cannot be accurately called the Iowa Model').

As the bill heads to the Wisconsin Senate, you might wonder why Vos suddenly chose to adopt a bill that pretends to create a nonpartisan process for redrawing our election districts in time to be adopted for 2024 elections. Here's why: "Vos offered the plan to nullify pending lawsuits over the 2022 redistricting" (Wisconsin Examiner, September 15, 2023). In other words, the goal is to prevent the Supreme Court of Wisconsin (SCOWIS) from reviewing the maps it approved when the court still had four conservative justices sitting in judgment. Now that there are four progressive justices, they fear that SCOWIS will throw out those maps and adopt ones that are truly nonpartisan.

The same change in the make-up of SCOWIS prompted the threat to impeach Justice Protasiewicz. Never mind that the only grounds for impeachment our state constitution recognizes are corrupt conduct in office or commission of a crime. In short, Vos has been pulling out all the stops so that the power to stay in power remains in the hands of the MAGAites.

TAKE ACTION

• In his weekly newsletter on September 22, Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler noted that the Assembly gaveled out of session last Thursday and won't be back in session until October 10. So, for the rest of this week and all of next week, the Assembly cannot impeach anyone! He goes on to say:
  You made this happen. Without your voice, your outrage, and your organizing, it’s entirely possible—and in fact, based on what we’ve heard, more than likely—that Robin Vos and the Assembly Republican caucus would have already voted to impeach Justice Janet Protasiewicz by this moment, and Wisconsin would have been at the center of an explosive constitutional crisis.
  So, keep it up. Keep calling and writing your Assembly representative and the state Senator to let them know how you feel about the bogus effort to take the judiciary out of the redistricting process and the equally bogus effort to impeach Justice Protasiewicz. Even if your elected officials are Democrats. (After all, Representative LaKeisha Myers voted for the amended AB 415, the only Democrat to do so.) Legislative staff keep a running account of public views, even if those views don't always sway legislative opinions. To find your legislators and their contact information, visit the Legislature's home page.
  
  
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• Sign up for a Poll Worker Info Session with the Wisconsin Democrats. The Voter Protection Team has added Saturday sessions from 11:00 - 11:30am on September 30, October 14, and October 28. If you'd like to get involved in volunteering with the Dems, this is a perfect opportunity. It's also one of our final big chances to spread the word ahead of the November deadline to submit poll worker nominations. See all the available days and times and sign up. And bring a friend!
  
  
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• The Wisconsin Senate recently voted to fire Wisconsin Elections Administrator Meagan Wolfe. She is being pushed out of her job as the state’s top election official. She is non-partisan and non-ideological and carries out decisions made by the Commissioners. A significant part of her job is ensuring that local clerks and other election officials have the resources and technology they need to conduct a safe, accurate, and successful election.
   
  Here's what you can do:
  Please write a thank you note WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe. Feel free to use one of the sample messages on the page linked above or personalize the message to put it in your own voice.
   
  Mailing Address:
  Administrator Meagan Wolfe
  Wisconsin Elections Commission, Second Floor
  201 West Washington Avenue
  Madison, WI 53703

As I was finishing this newsletter, a news flash arrived. Apparently when it convenes on Thursday, the Senate will not take up the redistricting bill the Assembly passed late last week. That's a huge relief. As Ben Wikler says, the public outcry about impeachment has the upper hand right now. And it seems we might have at least temporarily derailed the bogus Assembly bill also. Make your voices heard. Call and write your legislators!