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| © AP Photo/Scott Bauer Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. |
By Zach Montellaro, POLITICO
The Wisconsin Democratic Party raised $10 million in the second quarter of the year, girding for battles in both the presidential race and the state legislature in one of the country’s most closely divided battleground states.
Party officials said the $10 million haul, which is split between the party’s federal and state accounts, is the best quarter it has recorded in its history.
“I don’t think there’s a Democrat in Wisconsin that’s going to take Donald Trump for granted. That was done once before,” Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said in an interview with POLITICO.
Flipping Wisconsin back into the blue column in the Electoral College is goal No. 1 for state Democrats in 2020. Wisconsin has already attracted tens of millions of dollars in spending and sits atop Trump and Joe Biden’s target lists, with the campaigns and outside groups combining to spend or reserve over $35 million on TV and radio ads there from March through the general election, according to Advertising Analytics.
But state Democrats are also focused on building enough state legislative power to affect redistricting in 2021, with Republicans just three seats away from veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
Recent public polling in the state from both the Marquette Law School and Siena College/The New York Times showed Biden with a 9- to 11-point lead over Trump.
“I think we have an outstanding chance and I’m convinced that Joe Biden will win. But we just cannot let down our guard,” Evers said. “We have good momentum” in the state, he said, citing his own election in 2018 and Democrats’ blowout win in a 2020 state Supreme Court election.
Party officials said that Wisconsin Democrats have about $12 million in cash on hand between their state and federal accounts.
Wisconsin Republicans control both the state Senate and state Assembly, and Democrats are campaigning in the 2020 state elections to “Save the Veto” for Evers after repeated and bitter clashes over the last few years. The Democratic governor and the Republican statehouse have butted heads on everything from holding the state’s scandal-plagued primary in the midst of a pandemic to the legislature’s ability to dismiss Evers’ cabinet members without his blessing.
The battle for the statehouse is also important for both parties, with the next legislature in charge of drawing the state’s congressional and legislative lines for the next ten years.
“If we lose that three-person margin, they’ll draw their maps, likely draw them even worse than they are now,” Evers said. “One of the first bills I get in the next session will be those new maps, and I’ll veto them, and they’ll override that veto.”
Evers recently rolled out applications for a commission to draw the state’s maps. Evers is promoting the commission’s mandate as being public and nonpartisan, but the legislature is under no obligation to consider the maps that the commission ultimately draws.
Wisconsin is a top target for both parties in the redistricting battle, and Wisconsinites are well represented among national Republicans’ redistricting-focused efforts this cycle. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan is advising the Republican State Leadership Committee, and former Republican National Committee chair and White House chief of staff Reince Priebus is on its board of directors. Former Gov. Scott Walker is helping to lead the National Republican Redistricting Trust.
Democrats have also launched an aggressive campaign focused on the map lines, spearheaded nationally by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a group helmed by former Attorney General Eric Holder, and the Democratic Legislative Committee.
Democrats got crushed by Republicans during the post-2010 map-drawing cycle, both in Wisconsin and across the country, after Republicans outmaneuvered and outstrategized Democrats with its REDMAP program, which focused on key state legislative races.
“I’m a former educator, right?” Evers said. “You learn from your mistakes, and that was a huge one. … We learned from that experience, [and] we also learned how important it is for a party itself to focus its efforts.”
Read more at POLITICO
The Wisconsin Democratic Party raised $10 million in the second quarter of the year, girding for battles in both the presidential race and the state legislature in one of the country’s most closely divided battleground states.
Party officials said the $10 million haul, which is split between the party’s federal and state accounts, is the best quarter it has recorded in its history.
“I don’t think there’s a Democrat in Wisconsin that’s going to take Donald Trump for granted. That was done once before,” Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said in an interview with POLITICO.
Flipping Wisconsin back into the blue column in the Electoral College is goal No. 1 for state Democrats in 2020. Wisconsin has already attracted tens of millions of dollars in spending and sits atop Trump and Joe Biden’s target lists, with the campaigns and outside groups combining to spend or reserve over $35 million on TV and radio ads there from March through the general election, according to Advertising Analytics.
But state Democrats are also focused on building enough state legislative power to affect redistricting in 2021, with Republicans just three seats away from veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
Recent public polling in the state from both the Marquette Law School and Siena College/The New York Times showed Biden with a 9- to 11-point lead over Trump.
“I think we have an outstanding chance and I’m convinced that Joe Biden will win. But we just cannot let down our guard,” Evers said. “We have good momentum” in the state, he said, citing his own election in 2018 and Democrats’ blowout win in a 2020 state Supreme Court election.
Party officials said that Wisconsin Democrats have about $12 million in cash on hand between their state and federal accounts.
Wisconsin Republicans control both the state Senate and state Assembly, and Democrats are campaigning in the 2020 state elections to “Save the Veto” for Evers after repeated and bitter clashes over the last few years. The Democratic governor and the Republican statehouse have butted heads on everything from holding the state’s scandal-plagued primary in the midst of a pandemic to the legislature’s ability to dismiss Evers’ cabinet members without his blessing.
The battle for the statehouse is also important for both parties, with the next legislature in charge of drawing the state’s congressional and legislative lines for the next ten years.
“If we lose that three-person margin, they’ll draw their maps, likely draw them even worse than they are now,” Evers said. “One of the first bills I get in the next session will be those new maps, and I’ll veto them, and they’ll override that veto.”
Evers recently rolled out applications for a commission to draw the state’s maps. Evers is promoting the commission’s mandate as being public and nonpartisan, but the legislature is under no obligation to consider the maps that the commission ultimately draws.
Wisconsin is a top target for both parties in the redistricting battle, and Wisconsinites are well represented among national Republicans’ redistricting-focused efforts this cycle. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan is advising the Republican State Leadership Committee, and former Republican National Committee chair and White House chief of staff Reince Priebus is on its board of directors. Former Gov. Scott Walker is helping to lead the National Republican Redistricting Trust.
Democrats have also launched an aggressive campaign focused on the map lines, spearheaded nationally by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a group helmed by former Attorney General Eric Holder, and the Democratic Legislative Committee.
Democrats got crushed by Republicans during the post-2010 map-drawing cycle, both in Wisconsin and across the country, after Republicans outmaneuvered and outstrategized Democrats with its REDMAP program, which focused on key state legislative races.
“I’m a former educator, right?” Evers said. “You learn from your mistakes, and that was a huge one. … We learned from that experience, [and] we also learned how important it is for a party itself to focus its efforts.”
Read more at POLITICO
