The Race to Replace Ben Wikler as Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair
Three candidates running, including Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy.
Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Ben Wikler speaks ahead of a visit from President Joe Biden on Friday, July 5, 2024, at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
The race to replace Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler is shaping up less than a week after he announced plans to step down from the role. Three Democrats have already announced campaigns for the leadership position.
Wikler has been credited with transforming the Democratic Party of Wisconsin into a fundraising powerhouse, to the tune of around $200 million in the past five years. Since Wikler took the helm in 2019, Democrats have won 10 of the past 13 statewide races, according to WisPolitics.
In short, Democratic Party of Wisconsin 5th Congressional District Chair Alicia Halvensleben said Wikler will “leave some big shoes to fill” for whoever the next party chair is.
“And hopefully they can really build on on the infrastructure that Ben has put in place and make sure that we’re continuing to be successful in the way that we have been,” Halvensleben said.
The most recent Democrat to announce a bid for state party chair comes from La Crosse. William Garcia, who chairs the county Democratic Party and the state’s 3rd Congressional District, launched his campaign Monday on a sidewalk outside of Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s district office.
Former Democratic Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Devin Remiker and Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy launched their campaigns within a day of Wikler’s announcement.
Democratic political operative Joe Zepecki told WPR he’s considering a run and will make a decision this week.
Remiker, who was executive director from 2021 to 2023, has said he was able to learn from Wikler’s leadership and is running to “build upon his legacy.”
Kennedy has said he’s running to ensure the state party “continues to be equipped to win elections in 2026 and beyond.”
The party’s next leader will be elected via a ranked-choice vote of delegates from around the state on June 15 at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s state convention in the Wisconsin Dells.
William Garcia touts ‘reverse vision’
Garcia told reporters on Monday that he has a “reverse vision” compared to the others in the race. While he lauded Wikler’s “incredible energy, focus and determination,” he said his experience working with grassroots Democrats at the local level sets him apart.
He described Remiker and Kennedy as “party insiders” who don’t know how county parties work.
“Right now, it’s all too top-down,” Garcia said. “It’s too much coming down from the state party and not enough going up from the grassroots where it belongs.”
When asked if he has a plan to continue Wiker’s fundraising success, Garcia said he doesn’t think anyone else can match it.
“My intention is to do what leaders around the world do, and that is hire experts and do what they tell me to do,” Garcia said. “I intend to put in six hours a day, eight hours a day of fundraising on top of the other mini duties, because I know how important it is to keep Wisconsin’s Democratic Party strong.”
Garcia called it “super problematic” to have both conservative and liberal billionaires dropping millions of dollars into Wisconsin elections. He said until comprehensive campaign finance reform is enacted, Democrats have to play the game.
“It must stop,” Garcia said. “But until we have a law that stops it, I’m going to be raising money like a crazy person to make sure that we can compete.”
‘Inheriting a party that is on very strong footing’
Democratic strategist Sachin Chheda told WPR Wikler has “taken the state party to the next level.” He said the next chair will have their work cut out for them ahead of the 2026 elections for governor and congressional seats.
“But they’re also inheriting a party that is on very strong footing, that has a tremendous donor base, that has activists that are motivated and engaged all over the state,” Chheda said. “So, I think it’s a moment where it’s looking up.”
Chheda said on the heels of Dane County Judge Susan Crawford’s decisive April 1 Supreme Court victory over former former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is having a “moment of strength.” He said that’s also due to what he described as “chaos” coming out of Washington D.C. during President Donald Trump’s second term.
“I don’t think the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, in the next iteration, is going to be just for activists. And I don’t think it has been just for activists, even under Ben Wickler,” Chheda said. “But I do think that it is a moment where we’re going to see a lot more people interested in the story that Democrats have to tell about how to build a stronger America because of the failures that Donald Trump is already showing in the way he’s doing the job.”
Editor’s note: WPR’s Hope Kirwan contributed to this report.
The race to replace Ben Wikler as Wisconsin Democratic Party chair is shaping up was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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