Democrats Rehire Wikler for 2024 Races

Ben Wikler speaks to press. File photo by Graham Kilmer.

Wisconsin Democrats have had a trifecta of wins since Party Chair Ben Wikler took that job in 2019, so delegates at the party’s state convention last weekend chose him to lead through the next three challenges.

Since Wikler moved back to the Madison house where he grew up from Washington, D.C., where he directed MoveOn.org’s effort to stop Republicans from repealing the Affordable Care Act, here’s what Wisconsin Democrats have accomplished:

-Leading the effort that gave President Joe Biden a win in Wisconsin over President Donald Trump in November 2020, although by the narrowest of margins.

-Re-electing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to a second term in November 2022 with the most votes – 1.35 million – ever given a candidate for governor.

-Overseeing donation and voter turnout drives that helped elect Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz to the state Supreme Court, giving the court a four-vote liberal majority for the first time in 15 years.

At Saturday’s convention, Wikler laid out the next three challenges:

-President Biden must again win the state in November 2024, since Wisconsin will again be one of the few states that will decide who will be the next President.

-Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin must win a third term in that election.

-There must be ”Blue down-ballot wins” — including electing a Democrat in the Third Congressional District, where Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden ended 25 years of Democratic control last year, and getting more Democrats elected to the state Legislature in 2024.

“The fight for freedom for the entire country rests on what happens in our state,” Wikler said Saturday, adding: “Because we have a pro-democracy Supreme Court, we know that if we win in the presidential election in 2024, it will stay won. So, all we have to do is win.”

Wikler challenged Democrats to keep building “the kind of state that reflects our values – where everyone is celebrated, no matter where you live, where you or your parents were born, the color of your skin, or the language you speak, where all of us have equal dignity and worth that are recognized by our government.”

Wikler has built the largest staff – about 60 employees – of any state Democratic Party in the nation. He challenges the party’s 12-member “digital team” to come up with new ways to use social media and raise millions of dollars, which he can then direct to individual Democratic campaigns thanks to a Republican-passed 2015 change in election laws.

Wikler is a “fundraising powerhouse,” said Rep. Lee Snodgrass, of Appleton, also a state party leader. “If you don’t have the money, you can’t build the infrastructure – and his fundraising allowed us to have that year-round.”

State Ethics Commission reports document Wikler’s fundraising prowess: The party’s main account reported contributions of $23.8 million, and spending of $25.3 million, in 2022. The party disclosed donations of $22.5 million, and expenses of $23.8 million, in 2020 – the first full year Wikler led it.

Wikler has a national profile. His Twitter posts several times a day pound the party’s messages. A favorite of MSNBC, he is often interviewed on national TV networks.

But the Wikler-led party failed to defeat Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson last year. Wikler says the campaign of Democrat Mandela Barnes didn’t have enough late-campaign cash to run ads both defending him against GOP soft-on-crime charges and introducing Barnes.

And the Democratic Party faces two major challenges: The number of Democratic legislators continues to drop, which Wikler attributes to Republican-drawn district lines he wants challenged in court and redrawn before November 2024 elections. And, voters across rural Wisconsin overwhelmingly voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.

Still, Wikler’s first term impressed veteran observers of Wisconsin politics.

“Wikler has presided over a period of real accomplishment for Democrats in Wisconsin,” said UW-Madison Political Science Professor Barry Burden. “Aside from the re-election of Ron Johnson, the loss of the congressional seat held by Ron Kind, and the GOP’s institutionalized lock on the Legislature, Democrats have won essentially every prominent election since Wikler became chair.”

“Taking back control of the Supreme Court is the latest accomplishment that showcased the party’s fundraising and organizing,” Burden added. “Wikler appears to be beloved by regulars in the party and is often held up as a model for chairs in other states.”

Wikler’s reward? Two more years as party chair.

Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com