Staff Reports
A lavish outlay of funds! A group with a singular concentration on state legislative battles is contributing a minimum of $1 million to aid Democrats in the legislative races of Wisconsin. As reported by The New York Times, although The States Project, an outside organization with significant pockets, has not yet unveiled its 2024 budget, it has pledged to donate at least one million dollars to the Badger State. The States Project website claims, "Our electoral work focuses on seizing governing majorities in the states by increasing the effectiveness and funding of state legislative campaigns." It ardently asserts that "state legislatures in the United States are the most formidable agents of change." Inspiring dramatic music please!
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With a Democratic-Republican divide that is virtually identical, the cheesehead state is one of the seven crucial battleground states preceding the 2024 general election. The Democrats have an opportunity (for the first time in over a decade) to flip the Wisconsin State Assembly with the recent distribution of new maps. Outside organizations are salivating and licking their chops at the opportunity to turn this into blue.
"Maps can render a chamber uncompetitive, but they cannot win a chamber," co-founder of the States Project Daniel Squadron remarked. He noted that Michigan, a state dominated by the Democratic Party, was influenced by "good candidates who have an excellent rapport with their constituents or voters and a solid understanding of who their voters are." Have you begun to avert your eyes?
Wisconsin's previous legislative maps, which were allegedly among the most gerrymandered in the country, were deemed unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. Subsequently, the Republican Party maintained an iron hold on power. Over the past 12 years, they have maintained a substantial majority of at least 60 of the 99 Assembly seats in the state. The state Assembly was dominated by Republicans for the past two decades and eighteen years. They are expected to maintain their Senate dominance, according to experts.
As part of their annual $60 million budget, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is also easing the gears for their Wisconsin counterparts by tossing $24,000 at each chamber of Wisconsin's legislature, the Senate and Assembly. The timing of the release of the revised maps is considered an opportune moment to increase support for Democrats in the states. "With state legislatures playing a role in the narrative of 2022 and, hopefully, 2024, there is a great deal of vitality down ballot," chirped Vicky Hausman, a founder of the Democratic super PAC Forward Majority. An absolute whoop-de-doo!
However, that is not entirely one-sided! Although the Republican State Leadership Committee has not yet released their budget, Wisconsin is already in their sights as a potential location to protect legislative majorities. Matt Fisher, spokesman for the Wisconsin Republican Party, naturally cast shade at the "hopelessly dependent" Wisconsin Democrats, asserting that Wisconsin residents are at last rejecting the "WisDem charade" and embracing traditional Republican values.
