How to Help Democrats Win in Wisconsin: Last-minute Recommendations for Donors

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Wisconsin has maybe the strangest political landscape in the country. In statewide elections, it’s a purple state, with very competitive races. But thanks to the country’s most gerrymandered state legislative maps — drawn by Republicans after the 2010 Census and made even more egregious after 2020 — the GOP has an incredible advantage in the State Senate and State Assembly, with rock-solid majorities in both. There are very few competitive state legislative races this year, and both Governor Tony Evers and Senate nominee Mandela Barnes have raised a huge sum of money. This means that small donors have few appealing opportunities to give to candidates. 

But we do see other strong options for how you can provide last-minute support to help Democrats in a state that is hugely important in national politics. Here are Blue Tent’s giving recommendations for Wisconsin:   

• Movement Voter Project Wisconsin Fund

• Democratic Party of Wisconsin

• Doug La Follette, Secretary of State 

Below we run through the electoral landscape in Wisconsin and explain our recommendations, as well as why we are not recommending certain candidates.

Grassroots Organizing

Blue Tent recommends that donors prioritize giving for organizing and voter mobilization over candidates, especially late in an election cycle, and that’s where donors should be focused now in Wisconsin.  

Movement Voter Project’s Wisconsin Fund is the best option for donors looking to make last-minute gifts to support mobilization work in the state. Blue Tent readers will notice that we keep recommending MVP’s state funds as the highest priority for small donors at this point in the election. That’s because we have high confidence in MVP’s knowledge of key battleground states and its relationships with front-line groups. (Read our strong recommendation for MVP.) As a funding intermediary, MVP does the hard work for donors of determining where, exactly, money will be most effective at the right moment. Investing through MVP will not only boost mobilization efforts in Wisconsin in the next few weeks, but also support longer-term efforts to build progressive power and protect democracy in the state.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin

This state party is widely seen as an outstanding example of how a Democratic state party should operate. When Blue Tent talked last year to the party’s chairman, Ben Wikler, we came away super impressed by his efforts to build a “permanent campaign” infrastructure in Wisconsin.

But while we believe that supporting the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is a strong option for small donors right now, a caveat here is that its hard to say for sure what your money will be spent on, since the party is engaged in a wide range of activities to help Democrats win this year and is not very transparent about what it’s spending priorities are. Still, we trust Wikler’s leadership and you should, too.

Doug La Follett, Secretary of State

Normally there’s not much to say about this office, which has been held by Doug La Follette since 1982 and doesn’t have enough power to be worth talking about. But Republicans are hoping to expand the ability of the SOS to supervise elections. La Follette is hoping to keep the office powerless, but if a Republican wins it there’s a chance for the GOP to entrench its control over the Wisconsin electoral machinery.

La Follette is the only Democrat running for statewide office who is facing a fundraising deficit, which is why we see supporting his campaign as a high priority.

LuAnn Bird, State Assembly

When her husband was paralyzed in a construction accident 30 years ago, Bird, a young mother, learned firsthand that many of the local public schools were not accessible. So she got herself elected to the school board and worked to make them accessible. Now a grandmother, she is running for an open seat in a new district that Biden won by only 2.2%. Her opponent, Robert Donovan, has relied on strong backing from the Milwaukee Police Association (he is from a family of police officers) and so far has avoided answering questions about abortion. 

Bird is the only legislative candidate we are recommending, since thanks to aggressive gerrymandering, Democrats have no chance to win back either chamber of the legislature. On the other hand, if they lose one seat in the State Senate and five in the State Assembly, Republicans will have a veto-proof supermajority. According to people who watch this closely that’s not the likeliest outcome, but it’s still something to watch and help insure against by supporting Bird's campaign. Otherwise, the Democrats running in the most competitive Assembly seats are fairly well-funded.

Other Candidates

Blue Tent does not recommend that small donors support any other candidates in Wisconsin at this time. While Governor Tony Evers and Senate nominee Mandela Barnes are both in critically important races, both candidates have been strong fundraisers and we believe small donors can achieve more impact with the recommendations above. Likewise, Attorney General Josh Kaul appears very well-funded at this point. Finally, we don't see strong giving options in U.S. House races in Wisconsin this year.