Presidential-level Turnout in Wisconsin Cities Drops Gov Scott Walker and AG Brad Schimel

Voters in city of Milwaukee gave Gov-elect Tony
Evers (D) a 125,000-vote winning margin last night.

Updated - Madison, Wisconsin—The nightmare Wisconsin Republicans fear became reality last night — people voted, reclaiming Constitutional liberties after a federal court case found many Republican-enacted voter-obstruction measures unconstitutional, (One Wisconsin Institute v. Thomsen, In These Times).

Republicans view unobstructed voter access as a threat to their power.

In Madison and Milwaukee, 92 and 73 percent of registered voters cast their ballots, (Madison, City of Milwaukee).

The turnouts generated massive winning margins for Democratic Party candidates, (Dane County Clerk, City of Milwaukee).

Scott Walker tweeted a passage from the Bible this morning following his defeat. Walker's Tweet reads: "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

It wasn't God who beat Walker, though, it is Wisconsin voters against whom Republicans may act.

Metro administrations are fearful of more Republican retaliation against local control, a democratic exercise attacked by Republicans the last seven years.
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The federal voting rights court case, One Wisconsin Institute v. Thomsen, is now before the full United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, (Marley, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

The Seventh Circuit includes four new judges who were nominated by Donald Trump.

The four judges are expected to be hostile to voting rights, and were nominated because of their rightwing jurisprudence and fidelity to the Republican Party.

The Trump-nominated judges are: Amy C. Barrett, Michael B. Brennan, Michael Y. Scudder, Jr., and Amy J. St. Eve.

Matt Flynn Hits Factory Farms Again, Wants Community Control

Madison, Wisconsin — Matt Flynn, candidate for the nomination of the Democratic Party primary for governor, continued his campaign message for clean water and local control today.

In June, Flynn became the first and remains the only candidate criticizing the corrupt Wisconsin Supreme Court decision green-lighting a proposed massive factory farm in central Wisconsin.

Note Flynn today:

I'll restore local control so we can stop CAFOs, We must save our state's greatest agriculture industry, and help family farms. https://t.co/OL40Wg4kev via @WPR #WIVotes #wispolitics

— Matt Flynn (@ForwardWFlynn) August 12, 2018

How the votes of clean-water citizen action groups representing 10,000s of likely Democratic Primary voters will be distributed among the candidates for governor remains an unknown.

Each citizen action group is roughly the equivalent of a legislative candidate field operation all of which have working for years across the state.
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With respect to Foxconn, which will deplete and pollute our water, one candidate has come out with a vow to halt Foxconn in its tracks, and get this parasite out of Wisconsin:

Beating Walker. Stopping Foxconn. Let's #winwithflynn! https://t.co/fDXePmxrrA

— Matt Flynn (@ForwardWFlynn) August 13, 2018

Wisconsin Is Perched Atop the Capitol as Election Day Comes Aug 14

Clean water activists in Saratoga, Wisconsin fight for
water and oppose the siting of a proposed factory farm.
Clean water activists statewide fear a future where
clean and safe lakes will become a memory, and vow
August 14, Election Day, as a milestone in taking
Wisconsin back from industrial interests allied
with religious Evangelicals and racists who tend
to cross-pollinate here.

Madison, Wisconsin — The Wisconsin midterm elections are held on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

The most significant result will be the winner of the nomination of the Democratic Party primary for governor.

The Democratic nominee will face Gov. Scott Walker (R), an arsonist who is destroying long traditions, institutions, community democracy, a world-class University system, voting rights, rivers, lakes and aquifers that have been actively preserved or built over generations, (NYT, The Progressive, Mal Contends).

The product of labor, intellect, time away from families, energy, entire lives and whole communities, Wisconsin as a state is poised at the very top of the capitol and if it falls this November, noone is confident the shattering is repairable.

These are the electoral stakes.

There has been citizen action and inspiring ferment the last several years rivaling the peace movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

But with every political step froward, the menace of groupthink, patronage, and narcissism embodied in Democratic Party of Wisconsin functionaries, aides and political operatives slimes the terrain, leaving behind a trail of Republican victories against families and communities.

As a group, Wisconsin democrats constitute the most maladroit bunch of political operatives and policymakers in state history.
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Whether citizen action, innovative municipal policy, campaign brilliance and powerful electoral tailwinds are sufficient to propel a Matt Flynn, Paul Soglin, Kathleen Vinehout, Kelda Roys or a Mahlon Mitchell to victory Tuesday may decide if the state of Wisconsin continues to exist.

Make no mistake, Nov. 6 could signal the long-feared exodus of intellectuals, writers, artists and business and cultural innovators from the progressive state.

If gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers — pushed behind-the-scenes by some Democratic Party incompetents who bequeathed to us Scott Walker and Donald Trump  — wins, Wisconsin loses.

"We’ve got to get back to being decent," said Sally Mather of Mazomanie, commenting on the mid-terms in this morning's New York Times.

Yes. But we have to win first.
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Matt Flynn and Paul Soglin stand apart by vowing to rescind the illegal Foxconn contract that promises to wreak havoc as Wisconsin families will collectively cough up $ billions to finance the most insidious of corporate bad actors.

Wisconsin voters are anxious, and many voters are still making up their minds today.
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Looming in the background are two federal voting rights cases  — One Wisconsin Institute v. Thomsen (U.S. District Court of the Western District of Wisconsin and Frank v. Walker — which are being heard by a three-judge panel at the Count of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, (Marley, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

The three judges are: Frank Easterbrook, Michael Kanne and Diane Sykes.

Easterbrook and Sykes are corrupt and craft their election-law opinions to most benefit the Republican Party.

Both judges would be willing to issue an order in the next eight weeks eviscerating the effect of pro-voting rights decisions that have resulted in high voter turnouts during the last two years.

Stay tuned.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Election — Madison Pushes Turn-out as Progressive-Liberal Candidates Win 54 Percent of Votes

Looming over Wisconsin's Supreme Court race is Gov.
Scott Walker, reviled for selling out the state to dark
money and corporate special interests. The Spring
general election will be held April 3.

Wisconsin election shows Blue Wave amassing

Madison, Wisconsin—Led by record-breaking voter turn-outs in Madison that saw numerous precincts scrambling for more ballots, two Supreme Court candidates dubbed Sandernistas, combined for 54 percent of the vote against a Scott Walker-backed extremist.

Rebecca Dallet and Michael Screnock will advance to the April 3 general election, as progressive Tim Burns' supporters signaled their intention to defeat Screnock.

Progressive-liberal voters prevailing over Screnock is another sign the national Blue Wave is still building.

The Spring Primary race saw massive infusions of dark money and the Republicans' voter-suppression regime that would appear to be insufficient to build a wall against Wisconsin voters after Wisconsin's Lost Decade, 2011-2019 and 13 months of Trump's madness.

Unofficial statewide results from WTMJ-Milwaukee, show

Michael Screnock 46%, 247,480 votes
Rebecca Dallet     36%  191,155 votes
Tim Burns             18%    95,422 votes

At voting sites on Madison's east side to the southwest side, polling stations were running out of ballots around 5:00 p.m.

One polling place in the Meadowood neighborhood (wards 92 and 95), received visits from poll workers from three different neighboring precincts in the course of some 90 minutes, asking for more ballots. The ballots were given, followed by phone calls to the City Clerk's office by the Meadowood chief election inspector.

No reports were made by poll workers of voters having to wait to vote because of no ballots, as election couriers from the City Clerk's office rushed around the city delivering stacks of ballots as city roads iced up after dark.

Logan Wroge of the Wisconsin State Journal reports:

Despite heavy snowfall in northern Wisconsin and flooding in the southern part of the state, Tuesday’s spring primary saw an above-average statewide turnout with 11.7 percent of the voting-age population casting ballots.

In the past two decades, there have been five spring primaries involving state Supreme Court candidates that averaged a 7.3 percent turnout, according to the State Elections Commission. ...

Dane County, which held a handful of local primaries along with the Supreme Court race, saw an 18.7 percent turnout, and 20.3 percent of voting-age Madison residents heading to the polls.

The Madison polling sites running out of ballots were stocked with ballots assuming roughly a 30 percent turn-out, a chief election inspector said last night.

In Dane County the Dallet-Burns combined votes totaled 82.6 percent against 17.3 for Screnock (Dane County, 2018 Spring Primary results, (unofficial)).

The outspoken progressive Tim Burns, whom observers noted pushed Dallet to take several progressive positions, writes this morning:

Thanks so much everyone and congratulations to Judge Dallet. No regrets here. Great campaign team. Said exactly what I thought had to be said—no compromising on that. I’m honored by your support. Will continue to work for a better state and world.

— Tim Burns (@Burns4WI) February 21, 2018

For the Spring General election on April 3, informed campaign sources in Madison say they expect record campaign spending and record voter turn-out.

Wisconsin Court Candidate, Tim Burns, Called a Sandernista; "Fine with That," Says the Progressive

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Madison, Wisconsin—The rightwing Republicans and corporatist Wisconsin Democrats are misreading the electorate.

Tim Burns, one of three candidate running for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, stands to benefit.

The latest, the rightwing go-to attorney, Rick Esenberg, looks to inject a some late mischief into the Feb. 20 primary by opining non-GOP candidates are "Sandernistas."

The quick-hitting Burns camapign tweets, "I'm fine with that."

I don’t think so either... but if @RickEsenberg doesn’t like me... I’m fine with that. pic.twitter.com/oreJeedwDe

— Tim Burns (@Burns4WI) February 19, 2018

Some 12 percent of voters are expected to turn out on Feb. 20.

Politicalization of Wisconsin Families Will Hurt GOP

The fight to strip public unions of the right to bargain is obviously far from over.

One result is certain. The depoliticalization that allowed Gov. Walker to be elected by some 26 percent of the Wisconsin eletorate in 2010 is over.

The politicalization of Wisconsin citizens caused by this corrupt, mean-spirited weapon used against Wisconsin families and the resulting massive demonstrations and action is a phenomena not seen here since the civil rights and peace demonstrations of the 1960s-70s.

Republicans are having second thoughts now. They should.

The people speak against Gov. Walker

Thinking Ahead to 2012 Senate Race

Senate Guru as always keeps its keen eye on the future of the U.S. Senate.

Guru, the nation's top political blog focused on U.S. Senate races across the country, makes the following prediction for Wisconsin's 2012 U.S. Senate race (a presidential election year):

My guess is that any Republican of note with Senatorial ambitions will wait for Senator Herb Kohl to retire in 2012, when he will be 77-years-old. In fact, here's the earliest prediction on WI-Sen-'12 that you're going to find anywhere: Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin will beat Republican Rep. Paul Ryan by five to ten points, enjoying the coattails of President Obama's re-election bid.

I have been critical of Herb Kohl in the past, but few can doubt that as a civic-minded American, Herb Kohl will rank as one of the premier individuals who have benefited not just Milwaukee but the entire state during his private and public career here.

As for Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Middleton), up for re-election next year, Guru shows Russ trouncing everyone. [That is why a Mark Neumann run for governor vis a vis senate looks almost certain.] No one touches Russ.

As for succeeding Kohl, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) and Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) would both make inspiring and historical choices as the first woman U.S. Senator from Wisconsin. Both are already poised to join the likes of Kastenmeier and La Follette.

As someone who worked hard in the field in 1998 for Baldwin's first election to Congress, I'm leaning to Rep. Moore based solely on the strength of Moore's courageous vote against a resolution effectively absolving Israel its responsibility for its crimes against humanity committed in Gaza.

Moore really had nothing to gain from the vote, except for standing up for a people brutalized in a continuing crime. That's the type of courage that we'll need more of in the years ahead. And we would like to see Baldwin exhibit the same grit as Moore in meeting a defining moral issue of our times.

Veterans Blasting Dave Obey

Suffice to say that many activist veterans are not too happy with Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wausau).

Though generally regarded as a progressive, the words I most often hear from folks across the political spectrum (from small business owners to anti-war activists) describing Obey are swearwords directed at Obey's personality and several parts of his anatomy.

From a veteran's e-mail emblematic of veterans dismay of Obey's apparent shafting of our veterans on health care:

Obey is the Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, One of his priorities is health care.

Obey has been a driving force behind doubling federal investments in medical research and in expanding access to affordable health care. He believes every American should be covered by affordable health insurance,that managed care patients need a Bill of Rights, and that Medicare should provide affordable prescription drug coverage for seniors.

And yet this individual has led the charge against mandatory funding for veterans health care.

With his history as chairman or senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, this individual has participated in some of the biggest back‐room deals in the history of Congressional spending where passing massive appropriations measures; not read by many of those asked to vote on them, has been made easier by the fact that they contained a little something for nearly everyone.

Veterans have watched as militants from both parties, when in power, have hijacked the spending bills and turned them into partisan war zones. The results have been that the bills cannot pass. As a result, our government is continually running on stopgap resolutions, and many late nights of angry debate are resolved through passage of bills loaded with special interest funding. Veterans are not some special interest item.

Congressman Obey may have relished his battles with Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George Bush. And for someone who has never served in uniform, some may argue he fought his battles well enough. However in taking on the veteran community he has targeted a much stronger group with a determination he has not yet fully encountered. It is time we and our allies in Congress go head to head with Congressman Obey and his allies in Congress. The veteran community has them surely out numbered and the only weapons we will need to use is the ballot. His lengthy stay in Congress and all the power he has acquired and uses as one individual does not serve the democratic principles defended by those who have protected this country. It appears that he is the problem. Ladies and gentlemen; let’s saddle up!
-Robert E. McNulty, Sr.

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'Ballot Security' in Wisconsin Has Civil Rights Workers Wary

It has brought to our attention that "(s)enior Justice Department officials told civil-rights organizations they plan to deploy hundreds of poll monitors in November to prevent voting-rights violations and deter fraud (Perez, Wall Street Journal, September 9. 2008).

In light of the Wisconsin DOJ/GOP's efforts at voter suppression (that now looks to fail) and the McCain Campaign project sending misleading absentee ballots to voters, the presence of U.S. DOJ officials at polling places has civil rights groups nervous, though it's not confirmed that the DOJ officials will be in Wisconsin at this point.

As Evan Perez writes in the Wall Street Journal:

Some critics of the Bush administration said the Justice Department appears to be giving equal weight to preventing vote fraud and enforcing laws aimed at helping minorities cast ballots. 'For the department, the focus should be on voter access,' said Kristen Clarke, voter-participation co-director for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. 'It does seem the criminal division is spending some of their capital on vote fraud, which is disconcerting.' ... In the 2006 election, the department came under criticism from Democrats and some judges for pursuing cases involving Democrats that courts later ruled should never have been brought.

The U.S. DOJ pursuing voting so-called fraud cases in Wisconsin that should never have been brought is not a new development in Wisconsin. As Scott Horton lays out in Harper's (Sept. 7, 2007):

We know that (US Atty) Steven Biskupic, the U.S. Attorney in Milwaukee, was initially put on a list of those to be fired by Karl Rove’s office. Then suddenly Mr. Biskupic got deeply engaged in a series of truly dubious cases, all of which had a distinctly Rovian political flavor. First, Biskupic became one of the nation’s most enthusiastic participants in the 'voting fraud' fraud. He brought an array of insane cases, including one against a grandmother, which were detailed by The New York Times in an acid review of Biskupic’s mercenary political style. These cases generally involved voters who made honest mistakes about registration, but were prosecuted anyway (with many convicted). The targets were always Democrats who were from the major threat communities publicly identified by Rove—minority groups from the inner city. And the prosecutions were transparently pursued for purposes of voter suppression (i.e., an arguably criminal agenda).

The recent creation of a state nonpartisan task force charged with investigating voter fraud allegations (announced in mid-September) and chaired by Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm and Wisconsin Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen, co-chair of McCain’s campaign, does not assuage concerns that one political party, the GOP, dedicated to voter suppression as one tactic of its electoral strategy, will prove successful in disenfranchising 1,000s of Wisconsin voters.

Chisholm is an honest DA, but I do not understand why he is trucking with dishonest players investigating fictitious voting fraud when even U.S. Attorney Stephen Biskupic concluded that no widespread fraud existed in the 2004 election.

Van Hollen, Chisholm, and anyone claiming an interest in fair elections ought to be conducting an investigation into McCain's dirty-trick absentee ballot applications stunt.

The fact that even the Milwaukee police department (not known for it judicious investigative techniques as its unwise forays into federal election law and voter fraud show) has been discredited and knocked down so hard it ought never be able to stand does not inspire confidence in those simply wanting to cast a vote because the GOP has not renounced its commitment to keeping the wrong-voting people from casting their ballots.

To help fight voting suppression and its allies, the nonpartisan Election protection coalition (http://www.866ourvote.org/) is a great resource.

Readers are invited to post other resources in comments. The stakes are high.

The ACLU and NAACP hit the state voter fraud task force on Sept. 17.

ACLU, NAACP Object To Discriminatory Election Enforcement In Wisconsin (9/17/2008)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: liberty@aclu-wi.org

The ACLU of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP are deeply troubled by the apparent discriminatory focus of the "election fraud" task force set up by Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.

The formation of a voter fraud task force only in Milwaukee County reinforces an unsubstantiated perception that City of Milwaukee residents are more prone to commit election fraud. And, regardless of intent, a racial subtext is barely below the surface, given the fact that Milwaukee is the only majority-minority city in the state.

The truth is that voting irregularities can and do happen throughout Wisconsin - but when they do not occur in Milwaukee, they are called "mistakes" and not "fraud." There was, for example, no law enforcement outcry when earlier this year we learned that hundreds of voters in Oconomowoc voted at the wrong polling place for years, in ways that likely influenced local election outcomes. There is no evidence that voting errors in Milwaukee are any more grounded in "fraud" than were the voting errors in Oconomowoc.

Nor does unlawful voting only occur in Milwaukee. To the contrary, the clear majority of allegations of vote fraud in 2006 occurred outside the city of Milwaukee, in dozens of communities around the state.

The ACLU and NAACP also question involvement by the Milwaukee Police Department in any election task force until such time as there is public disclosure of the role of officers in publishing a biased report earlier this year on the 2004 election making recommendations they had no authority to make, without the approval of their superiors.

The much ballyhooed, but practically non-existent, phenomenon of voter fraud does not warrant the development of a "task force" anywhere, but certainly not just in Milwaukee. Indeed, as law enforcement officials recognized this morning, the City Election Commission has made great strides in promoting fair and transparent elections, and the creation of a "fraud" task force only undermines faith in those elections. State and local officials should focus time and resources on facilitating election administration, not frustrating the rights of persons lawfully entitled to vote.

-30-

866 Our Vote Fights Vote Suppression

Though Attorney General Van Hollen's voter suppression effort looks to fail, few doubt that the GOP has more tricks up its sleeve.

The nonpartisan Election protection coalition (http://www.866ourvote.org/) is fighting voter suppression and is a great resource. Look them up.

Any problems or concerns: Call 1 866 OUR VOTE (1 866 687 8683).

Van Hollen's Voter Suppression Set to Fail

In this day and age we're still fighting off voter suppression?

Yes, it's the age of the ahistorical GOP.

But Wisconsin citizens can take solace in the fact that Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's scheme that forgets that the civil rights movement ever happened (and fails to appreciate the immorality of suppressing voters) looks doomed to fail.

Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi will not rule on a dismissal motion until a couple of weeks out from the election.

Van Hollen and Wisconsin GOP will play Chickenlittle running around telling everyone that an implied conspiracy of fraudulent voters will corrupt the election, but the GOP's proposed remedy to this election conspiracy fantasy, voter suppression, will not be implemented in time to impact the November 4 election. That's the take-away of Judge Sumi's hearing yesterday.

This ditches Van Hollen's scheme to run Wisconsin's voter registration list with the DOT database in the hope those voters with less time and money on their hands will be knocked off the voting rolls, or prevent as many as possible from voting in a forced two-day, provisional-voting process amid long lines and confusion.

RF Jr. on Voter Suppression

RFK Jr. is sounding the alarm about GOP dirty tricks, including Van Hollen's perfect match scheme. Though Van Hollen is not the original inventor, he's just an unoriginal tool.

From Air America:

There are about 30 scams the Republicans are deliberately using, particularly in the swing states to get Democratic voters off the rolls. These scams originate in the so-called Help America Vote Act which was passed after the Florida debacle in the year 2000. ... And instead of reforming what happened in Florida it basically institutionalized all the problems that happened in Florida. And institutionalized a series of impediments that make it very difficult for democrats to register, for democrats to vote and then for democrats to have their vote counted.

One of these requirements under HAVA is called 'the perfect match,' and what that does is little known but it is devastating. A quarter of the voters in Colorado have just been removed from the rolls because of this--[and] just this one scam. And what it does is, they use a computer system to compare your registration application to all [your] other government records in the state. So they'll look at your Social Security records, your Motor Vehicle records, and any time you've had any interaction with the government, and if there is any information on your voter registration that is different than the information on another government record that they find, they remove you from the voting rolls.

For example, if I registered as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and yet my motor vehicle license said Robert Frances Kennedy Jr., I'd be removed from the rolls. If your initial is different, if you leave an initial out, if you leave a "Jr." out, if you leave a hyphen out in your name. And what they've done is a study in New York that said 80% of the errors are errors by state clerks taking down this information. And particularly [in] immigrant communities, [where] people tend to vote Democratic, people have names spelled Muhammad with an "o" instead of a "u"

GOP Chair Met Van Hollen at Convention, Talked 'Follow-law' Shop

Interesting piece in the State Journal by Mark Pitsch this morning.

Reince Priebus, the Wisconsin GOP party chairman, confirms that he

had multiple conversations with Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's top aide before Van Hollen filed a lawsuit against the state election agency to compel expanded voter registration checks.

But Reince Priebus, the party chairman, defended his contacts with Deputy Attorney General Ray Taffora, his comments in Van Hollen's presence this month at the Republican National Convention criticizing the election agency, and meetings between GOP lawyers and the Justice Department lawyers handling the lawsuit. ... 'It's important that in my comments to the delegation and even standing around in the breakfast room or the staff room with J.B., there was nothing more I said than the continuation of my general feeling that the Government Accountability Board needs to follow the HAVA law,' Priebus said. 'There was no strategizing.'

No strategizing, just following the law?

The problem is the GOP's view of following the law led to its voter suppression efforts. Must have been a fun party though.

The GOP knows fully well it's trying to suppress turn-out in what it hopes will be a close race this November.

Can't have too many of those non-driving blacks voting.

Does this piss off everyone?

But maybe it went down like this:

Reince Priebus: Hey JB, you know: We really to need to follow the law and stuff.

J.B. Van Hollen: Yep, we need to follow the law; just have to. Protect voters.

Reince Priebus: Yep.

Anti-Catholic Pol's Slate of Candidates Revealed

Update II: Clean Sweep WI's PAC report.

Update: MJS: Democratic Party begins endorsing incumbent Assembly members

Tom Reynolds' Clean Sweep Wisconsin (CSW) slate of candidates running in the Milwaukee area are revealed in CSW's July campaign finance report.

The report indicates seven Assembly candidates (one since disqualified) and one State Senate candidate, Nicholas E. Cosey, (since disqualified) as recipients of CSW's PAC money.

The former Wisconsin state senator, Reynolds, has been disavowed by establishment Republicans and Democrats, and criticized for the dealings of his PAC in running rightwingers in Democratic primaries while denying that he is doing so.

Reynolds is being investigated by the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board for filing an anonymous and frivolous election challenge to former CSW candidate Cosey's opponent, incumbent State Sen. Spencer Coggs (D-Milwaukee).

Reynolds has been ostracized for, among many extremist public positions, his close associations with anti-Catholic and assorted rightwing organizations, and bizarre behavior as a state senator.

Although Reynolds and his recruited opponents running in Democratic primaries stand little chance of posing a threat to incumbents in the September Democratic primary, it is instructive to note who Reynolds' people are because of the toxic nature of Reynolds' ideology.

Listed below are the six remaining CSW candidates on the right column of the chart below and the amount contributed by CSW.

CSW's Candidates' Campaign Contribution

(D-15) - Josh Hoisington (CSW contributed $75)

(D-8) - Jose Guzman (CSW contributed $80)

(D-20) - Philip Landowski (CSW contributed $75)

(D-17) - Samantha H. Bady (CSW contributed $75)

(D-10) - Charisha Allen (CSW contributed $75)

(D-16) - David D. King (CSW contributed $75)

Updated - Anti-Catholic Reynolds' Candidates Avoiding Press

Update: Daniel Bice has the audio of a Tom Reynolds phone call to state Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee, 20), “a veteran Milwaukee Democrat, (who) has a direct and personal interest in what Reynolds was doing, so she signed up - using a fake name - with Clean Sweep Wisconsin.”

This is the link is to the audio of the Reynolds phone call, and the URL is: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=770314

Transcription of the Reynolds call, in part, follows:

“… In Milwaukee here, we are working on a full slate of 12 candidates; eight on the north side, and four on the south side. And we are at eight or nine candidates right now. ... We have a candidate against Sinicki and a candidate against Staskunas. And we're still working on Zepnick and Colón….”

An anti-Catholic-Reynolds ally in Colón’s district? That likely will not play especially well there; though it’s a fair bet that Reynolds’ brand of politics and hate will not play well anywhere in the Milwaukee area. See the Milwaukee-area Democratic State Reps chart at the end of this post.
***
What does a rightwing candidate recruited by a notorious anti-Catholic, Tom Reynolds, say if his/her name is on the ballot challenging Milwaukee-area Assembly Democrats in the September primary?

As little as possible.

And he/she hides from the public, staying in the shadows, an odd posture for candidates for public office, though consistent with the past odd behavior of former state senator Reynolds who reportedly had asked of prospective staff whether they were virgins.

The silence from the Reynolds candidates goes double for Reynolds' anti-Catholic PAC, Clean Sweep Wisconsin, whose motto should be: Stay in the closet with the brooms.

Reynolds' Clean Sweep Wisconsin's project to recruit some 12 candidates to run against Milwaukee-area Democratic incumbents (first revealed in the Wisconsin State Journal in late June) in the Democratic primary has an opaque website, Clean Sweep Wisconsin (CSW).

Clean Sweep Wisconsin's site reveals not one candidate today, the day after the deadline for candidates filing for state Assembly, though the site boasts that, "We need to elect NEW people to state offices to make our government accountable and work for the people again, instead of the special interests...are YOU willing to help."

Voters might ask of CSW candidates: Are YOU willing to reveal yourself?

Five incumbent Milwaukee-area Democratic state representatives have no primary opponent, the State Elections Board reveals.

Repeated phone calls to Clean Sweep Wisconsin's phone gets a Reynolds' answering machine or a non-answer. Not exactly Emily's list which proudly promotes their endorsed candidates.

Two Reynolds' candidates revealed in the Milwaukee press are Phil Landowski (running against Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee)) and Josh Hoisington (running against Tony Staskunas (D-West Allis), West Allis being Reynolds' home turf), as reported by Daniel Bice in Sunday's Journal-Sentinel.

Phil Landowski, running in the 20th Assembly District democratic primary offers the following on his "On the issues"web page:

Life - The regressive programs and agendas based on an ideology of eugenics were formed nearly a century ago by political and corporate elites who sought stratification of society based on ‘class’ and ‘desirability’. This backward paradigm flies in face of all things pertaining to life and liberty. I support all legislation that attempts to protect the most vulnerable of our society, which includes the pre-born.

Kudos to Phil Landowski, interviewed in the Journal-Sentinel, to have the guts to publicly speak his mind, and not hide from the public he is running to represent, though his prose may lean to the turgid for a candidate for public office.

As for the other Reynolds' Clean Sweep Wisconsin candidates besides Landowski and Hoisington, we'll have to wait until they crawl out of their closets or are outed as CSW candidates posing as Democrats.

Below is a list of Milwaukee area Democratic state representatives and their Democratic primary opponents.

Incumbent Rep. - Primary Opponent [CSW-IDed as confirmed]

Tony Staskunas (D-15) - Josh Hoisington (CSW)
Pedro Colón (D-8) - Jose Guzman, Laura L. Manriquez
David Cullen (D-13) - No opponent
Jason Fields (D-11) - Deon Price
Tamara Grigsby (D-18)-- No opponent

Frederick Kessler (D-12) - No opponent
Jon Richards (D-19) - No opponent
Christine Sinicki (D-20) - Philip Landowski (CSW), Steven Sutherland
Barbara Toles (D-17) - Samantha H. Bady

Annette Williams (D-10) - Charisha Allen
Leon Young (D-16) - Richard M. Badger, David D. King, Andy Parker
Josh Zepnick (D-9) - No opponent

Sheldon Wasserman (D-22) (Confirmed noncandidacy) - Andy Feldman, Guy Johnson, Dan Kohl, Sandra Pasch, Rosemary Ponik

Anti-Catholic Man's First Salvo at Assembly Dems

The first candidates for Tom Reynolds' (R-Outer Reaches) Clean Sweep Wisconsin's project to run some 12 candidates against Milwuakee-area Democratic incumbents in the Democratic primary are now public.

The Reynolds' folks are: Phil Landowski (running against state Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee)) and Josh Hoisington (running against Tony Staskunas (D-West Allis), West Allis being Reynolds' home turf), reports Daniel Bice in yesterday's Journal-Sentinel.

Reynolds, almost universally blasted during his tenure in the state senate (see Waxing America's profile on Reynolds and his anti-Catholic cavorting from 2005 and Milwaukee Shepherd-Express on Reynolds), has reportedly convinced several candidates to run against incumbent Assembly Democrats for reasons not entirely clear.

Bice notes, "State Republican Party officials emphasized last week that they are not affiliated with Clean Sweep and won’t be giving it any help."

Bice does not offer auspicious press for Reynolds' people. Of Landowski, Bice profiles in part:

Landowski is a graduate of Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist Christian school that barred interracial dating as recently as 2000 and has been accused of being anti-Catholic. Landowski said he opposed the ban as a student and isn’t sure if he would send his children to Bob Jones.
But his alma mater is the least of the first-time candidate’s concerns.
Landowski was busted in ’99 for carrying a concealed weapon, a charge that was later reduced to a civil violation and fine.

The status of Reynolds' purported targets in his ambitious project are listed below:

Tony Staskunas (D-16) - Reynolds man, Hoisington, has him in his sights
Pedro Colón (D-8) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.
David Cullen (D-13) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.
Jason Fields, (D-11) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.
Tamara Grigsby, (D-18) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.

Frederick Kessler, (D-12) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.
Jon Richards, (D-19) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.
Christine Sinicki, (D-20) - Reynolds man, Landowski, has her in his sights
Barbara Toles, (D-17) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.

Sheldon Wasserman, (D-22) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.
Annette Williams, (D-10) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.
Leon Young, (D-16) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.
Josh Zepnick, (D-9) - Awaiting the Reynolds ax.

Tuesday, July 8, is the filing date for Assembly candidates. Will keep you posted.
Check out the Journal-Sentinel for more info.

Anti-Catholic Nut Tom Reynolds' Guys to Be Revealed Next Week

Clean Sweep Wisconsin's foray into the state Assembly races is being fronted by former state senator Tom Reynolds (R-Outer Reaches).

Reynolds has created Clean Sweep Wisconsin's PAC and is recruiting numerous rightwing candidates to run in the Democratic primaries of Milwaukee state representatives.

The Wisconsin State Journal's Mark Pitsch politely describes Reynolds as "eccentric".

But with Reynolds, politeness obscures reality.

The Milwaukee Shepherd-Express' Lisa Kaiser leads her piece from June thusly:

Former state Sen. Tom Reynolds—the kooky right-wing legislator who allegedly asked his staffers if they were virgins, and who superimposed the faces of his family on Mary and Joseph on their Christmas cards—is attempting a comeback.

Just how kooky is Reynolds? And why would any candidate associate him/her self with this guy?

He's indescribably kooky: Reynolds is an anti-Catholic, homophobic nut. From Waxing America's profile on Reynolds from 2005:

Wisconsin State Senator Tom Reynolds needed his own post about his cavorting with the anti-Catholic crowd. To set the record straight, in 2003 Reynolds attended the International Conference on Homo-Fascism. These are the folks who brought us 'An Urgent Plea to Roman Catholics'. Since that conference (Homo-Fascism) in 2003, Reynolds has refused to disavow these religious bigots ...The purpose of the post is look at what Reynold's buddies say about the Roman Catholic Church:

An Urgent Pleas to Roman Catholics
The Word of God and the word of the Roman Church are at direct odds with each other on many foundational issues including, most critically, how one receives forgiveness and salvation from God. It is impossible for one to be obedient to both the Roman Church and the Bible, just as it is impossible to follow both the pope and Jesus. ...

It will be enlightening to list Reynolds' slate of candidates next week (July 8 is the filing date for Assembly candidates) and see who will carry out the political vision of Reynolds' Clean Sweep Wisconsin.

Wonder if that means all Catholics and non-virgins will be swept away this election cycle.

Recusal Standards: A Partial Solution to Judicial Mess

by mal contends

Public financing, education, and aggressive journalism point the way out of the unholy mess the election of Wisconsin Supreme Court justices has become.

So bad is Wisconsin that we are now a poster child for a nationwide problem with electing judges.

Another part of the solution proposed is more aggressive recusal rules, negating the rationale behind buying a Supreme Court seat.

From the Brennan Center for Justice's Justice Under Seige:

... Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, ... (Wisconsin's) largest business lobby, helped kick Justice Louis Butler—Wisconsin's first and only black Supreme Court Justice—off the bench. ... Moneyed groups spending millions, effectively buying seats on state judicial benches, is not just grist for John Grisham's latest bestseller, it's part of a national trend recently highlighted by a Brennan Center op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

This morning's New York Times picks up the torch from the nationwide problem identified by the Brennan Center:

(S)pecial interests are finding that buying up judges likely to side with them in big-dollar cases is a good investment — the real-life grist for John Grisham’s new fictional legal thriller, 'The Appeal.”'

Events this month in Wisconsin and West Virginia only deepen these concerns. On April 1, the first and only African-American member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Louis Butler, lost his seat after a nasty, racially charged campaign in which his opponent, Michael Gableman, was aided by a barrage of TV advertising, paid for by the state’s largest business lobby…

In response to such travesties, judicial reformers have stepped up their call for public financing and strict fund-raising rules for state judicial contests or a switch to a nonelective merit selection system.

But with states in no rush to make these changes, a new report from the Brennan Center for Justice smartly focuses on an effective if less sweeping antidote that would be more achievable in the short-term: persuading jurisdictions to strengthen their recusal rules.

Surely special interests would be less inclined to invest so heavily in judicial elections if they knew the recipients of their largess likely would be barred from sitting on their cases.

Public financing, education, aggressive journalism and stronger recusal rules: That's sounds like a sensible start. I wonder if Fraley, Sykes, Belling, et al will go along.