A key fight over democracy is currently taking place in Wisconsin. On April 4, voters in the state will choose a new judge for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. That judge will determine the seven-person court’s majority, a majority that will either uphold or possibly strike down the state’s gerrymandered voting maps that are so heavily weighted toward Republicans as to make it virtually impossible for Democrats to win control of the legislature.
As a Pennsylvanian, I know too well the consequences of Operation Redmap. Our state legislature was deemed one of the least effective in the nation. But because of our state’s judicial system, we were able to correct that state government gerrymandering in 2020. We finally have a very slight majority in the state House, and we should see a bigger change in the state senate after 22. It gives us hope that the entire PA State government becomes more effective in the new competitive atmosphere.
I hope WI can win back electoral fairness. The effects of Operation Redmap has and will take decades to erase.
Today's LFAA presents an excellent overview of what we who reside in Wisconsin are dealing with politically. It has been, to say the least, very frustrating.
I would amplify the point about Democrats winning state-wide races, such as Governor and Attorney General, despite the gerrymandered Assembly and Senate districts. Many of us believe that it demonstrates that the prevailing sentiment here generally leans toward the Democrats. But we lost a heartbreaker in the race for the US Senate when our very bright young progressive Lt. Governor, Mandela Barnes, received fewer votes than Senator M T Suit, who was re-elected for his third term.
Our State Assembly Majority Leader, Robin Vos, lives at the other end of the county where I live. He was fond of saying "Republicans in Wisconsin win elections because we field better candidates" to which I replied to the TV "If you run superior candidates, then why not allow fair districts?!" Somebody must have said that to his face, because he quit saying it. On his face he wears not a smile, but a smug sneer.
Brian Tyler Cohen had Ben Wikler, the Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, on his show recently. It aired on Youtube about a month ago. Ben Wikler referred to a "Doom Loop" if Judge Janet is not elected on Tuesday. If the majority of people in Wisconsin can't be represented in the Wisconsin Legislature, and if the State Supreme Court is controlled by -- let's face it -- Republicans -- there will be no legal recourse to restore fairness in our electoral process. Doom Loop -- no way out, other than to persuade people who tend to vote for Republicans to vote instead for Democracy.
This is the fight for democracy and as always follow the money. We have got to find a way to get money out of our elections. I would like to see federally funded elections with a cap and a federal election board
Frightening! The Founding Fathers and the Framers must be rolling over in their graves because of what’s happening in Wisconsin. Please get out and vote to restore some semblance of fairness there.
Operation Redmap was well documented in an NPR podcast some years ago. The implications are frightening. Now we are seeing applied to even local elections.
I believe it was first employed in your state of Maine, if l am correct. The fabricated report that the incumbent was against 4th of July fireworks was used to flip a state senate seat.
How easy it is to erase years of hard earned voting rights! The will of the people is being trampled by the greed of the monied.
I write not to diminish the stakes of Wisconsin’s State Supreme Court’s election, but to underscore the consequences of our no longer having meaningful federal voter protection safeguards whose provisions would supersede state law in conflict with any of its stipulations. I understand that the Freedom to Vote Act, which would ensure eligible votes, nationwide, are cast, counted correctly, and certified without interference and without their being diluted through partisan gerrymandering, will be re-introduced in the 118th Congress. While, in my view, it will not pass, contrary to its failure to pass in Jan. 2022, due to Manchin and Sinema joining the 50 Republicans who filibustered the bill, this time, it is incumbent upon all of us to call out every Republican and Democrat who blocks these minimum criteria for assuring free and secure elections.
Gerrymandering is as corrupt as hell, but A-OK with SCOTUS. If the vote is the beating heart of our constitutional governance, and a right worth dying for, what is the degree of corruption that winks at it being stolen from massive numbers of Americans?
Boy are those judges on state Supreme Courts critical to our democracy….as usual special thanks to Heather for pointing out just how painfully true that is on April 4th in Wisconsin….and Boy do we need Heather’s ‘heads ups’ on these fair election matters in every state in the nation….if we want our democracy to survive!
WISCONSIN: There is an even more important State Senate race on Tuesday in thd 8th District of Wisconsin between Dan Knodl (R) and Jodi Habush Sinykin (D). If Knodl wins, the Republicans will gain their supermajority. They will then be able to override any Governor Evers veto. They've indicated they will start impeachment of the governor and a list of other democrat officials. God help Wisconsin.
In addition, Republican-appointed members of various boards have refused to leave their seats when their term ended. Wisconsin also had fake Presidential electors who were not charged. Republicans are totally crooked and will do anything to screw justice and retain control. Their “$ponsor$” pay them well for serving the rich. —Wisconsin voter.
Just amazing to me, how much of a contribution to political public discourse Professor Richardson provides - almost daily, week in week out - during this fraught period in American history. IMHO she deserves the Medal of Freedom.
The issue here that is most troubling to me is how little traction critical issues like these in Wisconsin are getting in the media. Republicans have been playing their long game and are now so close to bringing it to its ultimate conclusion--entrenched single party rule. That is a BIG THING. Way bigger than Trump being indicted.
Grover Norquist should be called out to the American public as the chief strategist of new American Fascism. The media blares out the "news" every time Republicans point at George Soros for funding advancing democracy but you don't hear callouts about Koch for funding single party rule.
The Republicans have no trouble calling Democrats communists and getting it reported and amplified when it is a lie. Why hasn't national Democratic leadership been calling out the fascists in the Republican party when it is the truth?
I donated til it hurt to pitch out Ron Johnson, along with a flood of money to oppose the Texas trio. Money flushed due to gerrymandering and the destruction of democracy in Wis and Tx. Wish there was some way to oust Grover Norquist from the human race.
Thank you, Professor Richardson for highlighting republicans efforts to destroy Wisconsin’s two party system,
“In the 2022 election, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for governor, Tim Michels, promised, “Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor.” In plain sight, the repubs’ Operation REDMAP has openly created a Repub stronghold, thanks to Big Money Koch Brothers and gerrymandering and changing election procedures. And courts. Journalist Dan Shafer, “notes that Supreme Court terms are for ten years” so if they aren’t shifted in the election, the court and the maps remain. No checks and balances. What can “We the People “ do in the short and long term? This is another warning about repubs intention to destroy our Democracy. One state at a time.
As a Pennsylvanian, I know too well the consequences of Operation Redmap. Our state legislature was deemed one of the least effective in the nation. But because of our state’s judicial system, we were able to correct that state government gerrymandering in 2020. We finally have a very slight majority in the state House, and we should see a bigger change in the state senate after 22. It gives us hope that the entire PA State government becomes more effective in the new competitive atmosphere.
I hope WI can win back electoral fairness. The effects of Operation Redmap has and will take decades to erase.
Thanks Heather, while the focus is on Trump , this is the real issue for Democracy.
Today's LFAA presents an excellent overview of what we who reside in Wisconsin are dealing with politically. It has been, to say the least, very frustrating.
I would amplify the point about Democrats winning state-wide races, such as Governor and Attorney General, despite the gerrymandered Assembly and Senate districts. Many of us believe that it demonstrates that the prevailing sentiment here generally leans toward the Democrats. But we lost a heartbreaker in the race for the US Senate when our very bright young progressive Lt. Governor, Mandela Barnes, received fewer votes than Senator M T Suit, who was re-elected for his third term.
Our State Assembly Majority Leader, Robin Vos, lives at the other end of the county where I live. He was fond of saying "Republicans in Wisconsin win elections because we field better candidates" to which I replied to the TV "If you run superior candidates, then why not allow fair districts?!" Somebody must have said that to his face, because he quit saying it. On his face he wears not a smile, but a smug sneer.
Brian Tyler Cohen had Ben Wikler, the Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, on his show recently. It aired on Youtube about a month ago. Ben Wikler referred to a "Doom Loop" if Judge Janet is not elected on Tuesday. If the majority of people in Wisconsin can't be represented in the Wisconsin Legislature, and if the State Supreme Court is controlled by -- let's face it -- Republicans -- there will be no legal recourse to restore fairness in our electoral process. Doom Loop -- no way out, other than to persuade people who tend to vote for Republicans to vote instead for Democracy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x-j2d174eU
This is the fight for democracy and as always follow the money. We have got to find a way to get money out of our elections. I would like to see federally funded elections with a cap and a federal election board
Frightening! The Founding Fathers and the Framers must be rolling over in their graves because of what’s happening in Wisconsin. Please get out and vote to restore some semblance of fairness there.
Operation Redmap was well documented in an NPR podcast some years ago. The implications are frightening. Now we are seeing applied to even local elections.
I believe it was first employed in your state of Maine, if l am correct. The fabricated report that the incumbent was against 4th of July fireworks was used to flip a state senate seat.
How easy it is to erase years of hard earned voting rights! The will of the people is being trampled by the greed of the monied.
I write not to diminish the stakes of Wisconsin’s State Supreme Court’s election, but to underscore the consequences of our no longer having meaningful federal voter protection safeguards whose provisions would supersede state law in conflict with any of its stipulations. I understand that the Freedom to Vote Act, which would ensure eligible votes, nationwide, are cast, counted correctly, and certified without interference and without their being diluted through partisan gerrymandering, will be re-introduced in the 118th Congress. While, in my view, it will not pass, contrary to its failure to pass in Jan. 2022, due to Manchin and Sinema joining the 50 Republicans who filibustered the bill, this time, it is incumbent upon all of us to call out every Republican and Democrat who blocks these minimum criteria for assuring free and secure elections.
Gerrymandering is as corrupt as hell, but A-OK with SCOTUS. If the vote is the beating heart of our constitutional governance, and a right worth dying for, what is the degree of corruption that winks at it being stolen from massive numbers of Americans?
Boy are those judges on state Supreme Courts critical to our democracy….as usual special thanks to Heather for pointing out just how painfully true that is on April 4th in Wisconsin….and Boy do we need Heather’s ‘heads ups’ on these fair election matters in every state in the nation….if we want our democracy to survive!
WISCONSIN: There is an even more important State Senate race on Tuesday in thd 8th District of Wisconsin between Dan Knodl (R) and Jodi Habush Sinykin (D). If Knodl wins, the Republicans will gain their supermajority. They will then be able to override any Governor Evers veto. They've indicated they will start impeachment of the governor and a list of other democrat officials. God help Wisconsin.
In addition, Republican-appointed members of various boards have refused to leave their seats when their term ended. Wisconsin also had fake Presidential electors who were not charged. Republicans are totally crooked and will do anything to screw justice and retain control. Their “$ponsor$” pay them well for serving the rich. —Wisconsin voter.
Just amazing to me, how much of a contribution to political public discourse Professor Richardson provides - almost daily, week in week out - during this fraught period in American history. IMHO she deserves the Medal of Freedom.
The issue here that is most troubling to me is how little traction critical issues like these in Wisconsin are getting in the media. Republicans have been playing their long game and are now so close to bringing it to its ultimate conclusion--entrenched single party rule. That is a BIG THING. Way bigger than Trump being indicted.
Grover Norquist should be called out to the American public as the chief strategist of new American Fascism. The media blares out the "news" every time Republicans point at George Soros for funding advancing democracy but you don't hear callouts about Koch for funding single party rule.
The Republicans have no trouble calling Democrats communists and getting it reported and amplified when it is a lie. Why hasn't national Democratic leadership been calling out the fascists in the Republican party when it is the truth?
Can anyone enlighten me?
I donated til it hurt to pitch out Ron Johnson, along with a flood of money to oppose the Texas trio. Money flushed due to gerrymandering and the destruction of democracy in Wis and Tx. Wish there was some way to oust Grover Norquist from the human race.
Thank you, Professor Richardson for highlighting republicans efforts to destroy Wisconsin’s two party system,
“In the 2022 election, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for governor, Tim Michels, promised, “Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor.” In plain sight, the repubs’ Operation REDMAP has openly created a Repub stronghold, thanks to Big Money Koch Brothers and gerrymandering and changing election procedures. And courts. Journalist Dan Shafer, “notes that Supreme Court terms are for ten years” so if they aren’t shifted in the election, the court and the maps remain. No checks and balances. What can “We the People “ do in the short and long term? This is another warning about repubs intention to destroy our Democracy. One state at a time.
Why on Earth can't the US have an independent, apolitical, electoral commission like most Westminster based democracies?