Other important races on your ballot:

Other important races on your ballot:

Two seats

Other important races on your ballot:

Other important races on your ballot:

Other important races on your ballot:

	Grassroots North Shore is an all-volunteer group. Even without paid staff, we have financial needs. We produce a website, a newsletter, and some of the best, most informative events in the area. Please help us keep those things alive. We may be a small group but we're having a big impact! Our 2025 Fundraiser will enable our work to protect an open seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to keep us moving forward and to preserve our rights. Without your support, this would not happen. Find out the stakes and the opportunities from our knowledgeable speakers.
	At Law Forward, founder, Jeff Mandel, serves as President of this nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that protects and advances democracy in Wisconsin.
	Nick Ramos serves as Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
	Donate to our annual fundraiser.  Every donation will be matched dollar for dollar up to $4000.  Remember, your donation also includes a one-year membership to GRNS. If you prefer donating by check, please mail it to: GRNS, PO Box 170684, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53217-8056

If you prefer to donate via check, please mail your donation to:

Grassroots North Shore, PO Box 170684, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53217-8056

Grassroots North Shore enthusiastically endorses Judge Crawford for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice.

As a prosecutor, private practice attorney, and now as a Judge in the Dane County Circuit Court Branch 1, Susan has worked to protect our basic rights and freedoms and to keep Wisconsinites safe. From her initial role as Assistant Attorney General with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, to her work in the Departments of Corrections and of Natural Resources, she served the public interest. After leaving the state government for private practice, Judge Crawford safeguarded voters’ and workers’ rights, and represented Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to defend access to all levels of reproductive health care.

Judge Crawford has always prioritized following the law and getting the facts right in every case to ensure everyone appearing in her courtroom receives a fair and impartial trial. Grassroots North Shore knows she will continue her excellent work as a Justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

ARTICLE I. NAME OF ORGANIZATION

The name of the organization shall be Grassroots North Shore (GRNS).

ARTICLE II. PURPOSE

SECTION 1.

GRNS is registered as an Unincorporated Association with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.

SECTION 2.

GRNS is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit organization that works to advocate, educate and inform for progressive change and solutions.  Contributions to Grassroots North Shore are not tax deductible.

SECTION 3.

No monies from dues or donations to the organization shall inure to the benefit of any member or individual, other organization, or political candidate.

ARTICLE III. MEMBERSHIP

SECTION 1.   Eligibility

1. The single requirement for membership eligibility is that the individual favor a progressive ideology.
2. GRNS serves Milwaukee’s North Shore and Ozaukee County residents. Individuals from any geographic location may join.

SECTION 2.  Dues

Membership in GRNS is based on the annual payment of dues.  For the dues structure and amounts, refer to GRNS’ Policies and Procedures.

SECTION 3.  Categories of Involvement

1. Individuals/households that pay membership dues.
2. Advisory Members, who receive Steering Committee minutes.
3. Members of the Steering Committee.
4. Members of the Administrative Committee.
5. Supporters, who are non-dues paying individuals, that may participate in all activities except Voting.

SECTION 4.  Members must be in good standing to avail themselves of the benefits of membership.                                       

SECTION 5.  Resignations

1. Resignations shall be tendered to the Co-Chair(s) in writing.
2. Officer resignations shall be submitted to the Steering Committee in writing.
3. If a Member is being terminated for cause or disciplinary action, it shall be handled by a majority vote of the Steering Committee at a special meeting called for that purpose.

ARTICLE IV.  STEERING COMMITTEE

SECTION 1.

1. The Steering Committee shall be an elected group of individuals, comprised of 9 – 15 active members.
2. Their terms shall be for two years staggered, and have no limits.
3. This committee operates similarly to a Board of Directors.

SECTION 2.

The Steering Committee is responsible for overall policy and direction of the organization.  Authority will be delegated to Standing and Ad Hoc committees as appropriate. 

SECTION 3.

1. A Slate of Candidates is prepared by the Nominating Committee in November. The Slate is presented to the Steering Committee at the December meeting for suggested changes or approval.  If changes are recommended, they will be made and the slate re-presented to the Steering Committee at the January meeting.
2. Final approval shall be made by majority vote of Active Members at the Annual Meeting.

ARTICLE V.  ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE

SECTION 1.  Purpose

The management of business shall be vested in an Administrative Committee, which shall be   comprised of the Co-Chair(s), Treasurer, Secretary and one (1) Active Member.

SECTION 2.  Membership

The Active Member shall be appointed by the Co-Chairs with notice to the Steering Committee.  The term of office shall be annual.

SECTION 3.  Responsibilities

Duties of the Administrative Committee shall be to assist the Co-Chairs with conducting the business of the association:  approval of expenditures over the amount stated in GRNS’ Policies and Procedures, and administrative matters that come before it.

ARTICLE VI.  ADVISORY MEMBERS

SECTION 1.

A group of indeterminate size shall comprise the Advisory Members.  In general, they are former officers and members of the Steering Committee.  Other persons with specific expertise may also be included.

SECTION 2. 

They shall have no specific term of office and no term limits.

SECTION 3.

Advisory members are appointed during the annual nominating process, but are not included in the slate of elected candidates.

SECTION 4.

Advisory members may attend Steering Committee meetings; however, they do not vote.

ARTICLE VII. OFFICERS 

SECTION 1.

The officers of this association shall be the Chair/Co-Chairs, Secretary, and Treasurer. All officers must be Active Members of the association.

1. The association may be led by either two (2) Co-Chairs or one (1) Chair.
2. Co-Chair terms are staggered.
3. The incumbent Co-Chair has the final say over who shall become their Co-Chair
4. Co-Chairs decide how they will divide responsibilities. They shall, however, provide back-up for each other.

SECTION 2.  Terms of Office

1. The term of office for Chair/Co-chairs shall be two (2) years. Other Officers are appointed.
2. The election of Officers shall be conducted annually, for those positions whose terms have ended.
3. Vacancies shall be filled by the Chair/Co-Chairs. Interim appointments shall be effective until the next regular election.

SECTION 3.  Duties - Chair/Co-Chairs

The Chair/Co-Chairs shall preside at Steering and Administrative Committee meetings. They shall appoint committees, name chairpersons of Standing or Ad Hoc committees, and be an ex-officio member of all committees.

SECTION 4.  Duties - Treasurer

The Treasurer shall receive and maintain custody of all funds, pay all bills, collect monies due, keep full and accurate accounts, and present a Treasurer’s Report to the Steering Committee at each regular meeting.  Refer to GRNS’ Policies and Procedures to determine who shall sign checks.

SECTION 5.  Duties - Secretary

The Secretary shall attend and record Steering and Administrative Committee meetings.  All other committees are responsible for their own administrative functions. The Secretary shall send a copy of the Bylaws to all new Steering Committee members.

ARTICLE VIII. MEETINGS OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE

SECTION 1.  Regular Meetings

1. Regular meetings of the Steering Committee shall be held monthly. The date, time, and place shall be as specified in the GRNS’ Policies and Procedures.
2. The Quorum for a regular meeting shall be five (5) of the Active Members. A simple majority of those present and voting shall be sufficient.
3. Meetings may be in-person or virtual.

SECTION 2.  Special Meetings

1. Special meetings may be called by the Chair/Co-Chairs, the Administrative Committee, or by request of two-thirds (2/3) of the Active Members of the Steering Committee.
2. Notification to those invited shall be given electronically seven (7) days before the meeting.
3. The Quorum shall be five (5) Active Members of the Steering Committee in attendance. A simple majority of those present and voting shall be sufficient.
4. Meetings may be in-person or virtual.

SECTION 3.  Annual Meeting

1. An annual meeting of members and supporters shall be called by the Steering Committee during the first quarter of the year.
2. This shall be a combination business/informational meeting, to include the approval of the slate of officers and Steering Committee candidates.
3. Only Active Members may vote.

SECTION 4.  Record of Proceedings

1. A record of all regular and special meetings of the Steering Committee shall be kept by the Secretary.
2. This record shall include a Treasurer’s Report and Committee Reports. All decisions, matters of a financial nature, and Motions/Seconds/Votes shall be documented.  It is not required that the full extent of discussions be included. 
3. This record shall be approved by the Steering Committee at their next regular meeting.
4. Once approved (and corrected, if applicable) the record shall be archived electronically.

ARTICLE IX. STANDING AND AD HOC COMMITTEES

SECTION 1.  Formation
The Chair/Co-Chairs may create or disband standing or ad hoc committees as needed.

SECTION 2.  Standing Committees  

 A detailed description of each committee is provided in the GRNS’ Policies and Procedures.

1. Communications
2. Endorsements
3. Events
4. Finance
5. Fund Raising
6. Issues
7. Membership
8. Nominating
9. PEC (Politics, Elections, Campaigns).

ARTICLE X. AMENDMENTS

SECTION 1.

These articles may be amended, or new ones added, by a majority vote of the Steering Committee members present at any regular meeting of the association, or any special meeting called for that purpose.

SECTION 2.

Proposed amended articles or additions to the Bylaws must be introduced to the Steering Committee membership for review at least seven (7) days prior to the meeting at which they will be discussed and approved.  Distribution of this material will be electronic.

ARTICLE XI. DISSOLUTION

Grassroots North Shore may be dissolved at any time by the written consent of not less than two-thirds (2/3) of the Steering Committee. If the Association is dissolved, after all bills have been paid and all receivables collected, all monies remaining at that time shall be donated to a nonprofit organization selected by the Administrative Committee.

ARTICLE XII.  PARLIAMENTARY

When information regarding a specific situation has not been included in these Bylaws, reference to Roberts’ Rules of Order as a guideline is recommended.  A less formal, pared down system of rules may be used.

We, the undersigned, are Co-Chairs of the Grassroots North Shore Steering Committee at this time, and we consent to, and hereby do, adopt the foregoing Bylaws, consisting of the five (5) preceding pages, as the Bylaws of this Unincorporated Association.

ADOPTED AND APPROVED by the Steering Committee on this 19th day of August, 2021.

Grassroots North Shore is a progressive organization supporting candidates and policy proposals that share our values. But because we are a volunteer group that believes in representing the views of our members and supporters, those of us responsible for creating this web site and organizing GRNS events want to know what YOU think are the most important progressive values. So please send your suggestions to

[email protected]

Our Values:

• Providing equal opportunity in education, housing, transportation, health care, and employment;
• Levying fair and progressive taxes on individuals and corporations;
• Ensuring that all citizens can vote without onerous (and spurious) regulation of access to the ballot box; and
• Ensuring a woman’s right to choose and maintain control of her reproductive freedom.

Send in your ideas and watch for your collective wisdom to show up on this page soon!

Our Key Issues in 2025: Working to protect our freedoms and our democracy!

• Defending Democracy: Fighting Fascism and Forces of Intolerance
• Environment: Climate Crisis, Air and Water Quality
• Gun Violence Crisis
• Protecting and Preserving Public Education
• Criminal Justice Reform
• Immigration Reform
• Healthcare Access for All
• Reproductive Rights and Access
• State Policies and Local Control
• Separtation of Powers in WI Government (e.g., August Ballot Measures)

Issue/Event Endorsements
Any request that Grassroots North Shore receives inviting us to endorse an event or join in a public statement must be referred to the Issues Committee. If the committee determines it to be consistent with issues we are pursuing, the committee must vote whether or not to endorse the issue/event within 3 days after being asked to make the endorsement. This vote may be in-person or by email and requires a simple majority to pass. This action will be reported at the next Steering Committee meeting. The endorsed event/position statement may be announced to our supporters through the newsletter. If we have agreed to promote an event or action, it may also be shared using our social media channels.

If the issue/event is outside of the issues we are pursuing, consideration of whether to endorse will be referred to the Grassroots North Shore Co-Chairs, who will follow a process like that above to make their decision.

Rapid Response Protocol
Rapid Response Protocol is initiated when an issue or action, which requires less than a one - week response time, is received from one of our recognized partner organizations.

Steps:

1. The request is relayed to the Grassroots North Shore Co-Chairs by phone or in writing.
2. If the Steering Committee meeting will occur within 1 - 2 days, the decision to respond is made at the meeting. If not, the Co-Chairs will decide whether to support the request considering its relevance to issues we have designated as our top concerns.
3. If the request calls for immediate action, the Co-Chairs may consider informing our committee members, volunteers, partner organizations and personal contacts with discretion.

Revised April 2023

ENDORSEMENT GUIDELINES

1. GRNS may endorse candidates in county, state, and national elections after a partisan primary election (if needed) has determined the candidate(s) for the general election. GRNS may endorse candidates in local non-partisan elections (municipal, school board, judicial) in the rare instance when a candidate representing the vision and values of our organization faces a challenge from a candidate with opposing views of principle, or on state or national issues.
2. Candidates must request an endorsement from GRNS. A request for endorsement can be made by the candidate or their campaign representative. GRNS will acknowledge receipt of a request within a day.
3. Except as provided in paragraph 9, no endorsement will be made until nomination papers have been filed. The request for endorsement must be received at least 30 days in advance of the election.
4. Candidates requesting endorsement must provide information via their responses to our questionnaire and/or a campaign summary. The information received may be edited for format, and then will be published in the newsletter and on the website. A request for endorsement with incomplete information will be returned with instructions on how to complete and resubmit it.
5. An Endorsements Committee will review the information received and determine as quickly as possible whether or not to re commend an endorsement.
6. Endorsements Committee recommendations must be approved by the Steering Committee within two days of the Endorsements Committee’s recommendation. The Steering Committee will be notified of the Endorsements Committee recommendation via email and decide whether to approve.
7. The requestor will be notified by e‐mail of the endorsement decision.
8. Candidate endorsements are usually in the following format: GRNS endorses candidate A for office X with a brief comment covering why the endorsement is being made.
9. Candidates who request our endorsement and who GRNS has endorsed previously will be endorsed again absent new information that causes concern without going through the full endorsement review process. The candidate will supply relevant updated information for our endorsement statement.
10. Except as provided in paragraph 9, GRNS does not endorse in contested primaries where there are multiple candidates running who represent the vison and values of our organization. However, the Endorsements Committee may send standardized questionnaires for each office to Democratic candidates in the race to gather standard information and publish it on the website and newsletter in order to help voters make a decision.
11. In an effort to provide voters with information about nonpartisan election candidates when GRNS is not endorsing, the Endorsements Committee will send questionnaires to all candidates in contested elections and publish their responses on our website. For candidates who do not return the questionnaire, there will be a statement indicating that they did not respond to our request.

"The plan is called Project 2025 — a collection of policy transition proposals that outline how, should Trump win the November election, he can vastly remake the federal government most effectively to carry out an extremist far-right agenda" (Democracy Docket, July 9, 2024).

Red Wine & Blue has a colorful and succinct account of Project 2025, highlighting seven key goals.

• Take Away Our Reproductive Rights: They plan to institute a national abortion ban and reverse the FDA approval of abortion pills — they already have a case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Until then, they’d track, limit, and ultimately ban the mailing of abortion pills, restrict doctors’ ability to provide telehealth for medical abortions, and strictly scrutinize the companies and factories that make abortion pills.
  
  Rooted in right-wing Christian nationalism, Project 2025 uses religious justification to demonize recreational sex and contraception. The plan calls for restricting our access to STD testing, birth control and IVF.
  
  
• End Public Education: The plan suggests eliminating teachers’ ability to organize together, overhauling the U.S. Department of Education’s curriculum to align with extremist viewpoints, and ultimately eliminating the Department of Education. Instead of supporting public education, the plan would divert public money to private and religious school attendance. And a blow to many who have recently been helped, it would roll back student debt relief efforts.
  
  
• Persecute LGBTQ+ Americans: The plan demonizes and potentially criminalizes transgender people and would prevent transgender people from serving in the military. It would remove federal protections for all LGBTQ+ people, allowing them to be fired for their sexual or gender identity. Project 2025 says that the U.S. government should maintain a “biblically based” definition of marriage and family, that of heterosexual, two-parent families only.
  
  
• Encourage Racial Discrimination: The plan would ban efforts in the federal government and potentially fire government workers who have participated in DEI training. It also specifically calls to end diversity, equity, and inclusion offices in the military. They would stop federal agencies from collecting data that could be used to address racial inequality. And the plan would end the Fair Housing Act which would allow housing discrimination against non-white Americans.
  
  
• Mass Deportation and Reduce Immigration: It calls for the mass deportation of immigrants and the dismantling of the foundations of our immigration system, notably going around Congress and the courts to do so.
  
  It would suspend applications for legal immigration and reduce visas for the agricultural, construction, and hospitality sectors. It would reduce protections for immigrants seeking asylum to escape human trafficking and domestic or gang violence. It would rescind protections for Dreamers — immigrants who came to America as children and grew up here.
  
  And in a huge change, Project 2025 would dismantle the Department of Homeland Security, which, in addition to protecting our borders, counters terrorism, protects cybersecurity, and responds to natural and man-made disasters.
  
  
• Insert Christian Nationalist Ideology into the Mainstream: The plan assumes that America is Christian and that Christianity and its beliefs should have a privileged place in society, over other religions and civil laws.
  
  
• Give Unchecked Power to the President: Project 2025 plans to end the FBI’s efforts to combat disinformation and reduce the military’s efforts to counter extremism and domestic terrorism. It removes Congress’s ability to review U.S. foreign arms sales. It also reduces Congressional power by limiting their oversight committees and shifting their oversight power to the Executive branch.
  
  The plan would reinstate an executive order from Trump’s first term (Schedule F) to reclassify tens of thousands of current, non-political government employees, eliminating their employment protections and making them easier to fire. A Trump administration could then use Project 2025’s database of applicants (that “extremist LinkedIn”) and training academy to replace those fired civil servants and pack all levels of the federal government with loyalists who will not check his power.
  
  Project 2025 also plans to end the current norms and policies that keep the Department of Justice and the FBI independent from the White House. This would allow the President to interfere with how both agencies are led and operate, and to use both agencies for self-serving political purposes. He could put his loyalists in control and use the agencies to go after anyone he perceives as an enemy. These changes would also allow for Executive Branch involvement in how election-related federal offenses are investigated. Now imagine a repeat of “The Big Lie” and January 6th, this time with all these changes in place. If Project 2025 is successful, what limited Trump’s power in his first term may not exist to stop him again.

Ballot Question / Constitutional Amendment

The November 5 ballot has one more Ballot Question (Constitutional Amendment). This one undermines the right to vote. Like the other four this year, we urge everyone to VOTE NO.

The current language reads: "Every United States citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district in this state is a qualified elector of that district who may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or at a statewide or local referendum." The text of the ballot question reads: "Shall section 1 of article III of the constitution, which deals with suffrage, be amended to provide that only a United States citizen age 18 or older who resides in an election district may vote in an election for national, state, or local office or at a statewide or local referendum?" In other words, the amendment would change "every United States citizen" to "only a United States citizen." See Ballotpedia for the full text.

Here are key reasons to VOTE NO on this proposed amendment.

1. It is already illegal for non-citizens to vote. So making the change is unnecessary.
   
   
2. It's vanishingly rare for someone who is not eligible to try to vote. Since 2019, only three people who were not eligible nevertheless tried to vote in Wisconsin!
   
   
3. The legislature originally passed this language as a bill but Governor Evers vetoed it. Because the GOP-gerrymandered legislature could not muster the votes to override the veto, it is trying to amend the constitution instead. The Governor cannot veto a proposed constitutional amendment.
   
   
4. More importantly, the change opens the door to unwarranted challenges to voter registration and participation by allowing election officials, poll observers, and others to challenge voters to prove their citizenship with a birth certificate, naturalization papers, or a passport, documents to which as many as one in 10 Americans lack easy access.

In short, this amendment would turn a right belonging to every US citizen, into a privilege that can be challenged when people register to vote, go to the polls, or have their names stricken from the voter rolls.

Side-by-Side Comparison of Key Campaign Issues

Grassroots North Shore enthusiastically endorses Dora Drake for Wisconsin’s 4th Senate District. She formerly represented Assembly District 11. On July 30, 2024, she was elected to complete the remainder of the term for Senate District 4. That term ends in December 2024. Now she is competing for the nomination to win a full 4-year term beginning in January 2025. We know she will be a great senator for District 4.

During her tenure as State Assembly Representative for District 11, Assemblywoman Drake has concentrated on ensuring public safety, expanding victim protective services, funding preventive programs, and funding mental health services.

In addition, Assemblywoman Drake has worked to ensure access to a quality public education by every child and to create a sustainable workforce by increasing access to apprenticeships that expand our workforce pipeline. Grassroots North Shore knows that Dora Drake will continue her hard work to support families and community members of all ages and backgrounds, and we strongly recommend that you vote for her in on August 13.

City of Milwaukee Drop Boxes
available beginning Monday, October 14, at 10:30am.

Early In-Person Voting in the City of Milwaukee
begins on Tuesday, October 22 and ends on Saturday, November 2.