by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
A few years ago things were fairly bleak on the Wisconsin political scene. Scott Walker, a right-wing Republican was governor, the legislature was controlled by the GOP, and the state supreme court had a conservative majority. It was all red, deep red, in a state that had spawned famed progressive "Fighting Bob" La Follette, one of the most influential senators in the entire history of the United Stagtes Senate - and been a hotbed of left-wing political unrest during the college protests of the 1960's.
But now the dark days of the Walker years seem to be finally drawing to a close.
First, Walker himself is out of office. He was defeated for a third term in 2018 by the state's director of public instruction, Tony Evers, by just over one percent of the vote. In fact, the GOP lost very Wisconsin statewide seat that was up for election in 2018. The Republican legislature passed a series of last minute bills to severely limit the powers of the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general, and Walker signed those before he left office.
Last Tuesday there was an election in Wisconsin, one in which the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries were being held - and a state supreme court seat was also up for grabs. The state's high court, which is technically non-political, nevertheless is extremely political and as of last week had five conservative justices who leaned far to the right and two progressive judges with a pronounced left lean.
One of the conservative judges, Dan Kelly, was defending his seat. He was being challenged by a progressive circuit judge from Dane County named Jill Karofsky. Donald Trump had stuck his nose into the race and endorsed the re-election bid of Kelly.
With the election drawing close and the coronavirus pandemic gaining steam, Governor Evers made a last-minute decision to postpone the election and issued an order to that effect. Republican functionaries in Wisconsin set up a howl, and a challenge went to the state's supreme court. That court overruled the governor's order and said that the election was to be held on Tuesday, April 7th, as originally planned.
Meanwhile over a million people had requested absentee ballots, and many had not received those ballots in the mail. A federal judge ruled to extend the deadline for casting absentee ballots, but the state GOP, smelling blood in the water, quickly challenged that ruling in the US Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the Republicans' favor and thwarted the effort to extend the absentee voting deadline. If people did not have their ballots, they could go stand in line and vote the old fashioned way - in person - and coronavirus be damned!
On Election Day in Wisconsin, one week ago today, many thousands of people risked their lives and stood in long lines in order to cast their ballots. Polling places were limited because: a.) GOP officials had closed many and were intentionally limiting access to the polls, and b.) many election workers were either ill or refused to work the polls during a pandemic. Added to the dangers of the pandemic in general was the fact that the weather was inclement across much of the state causing voters to stand for long periods of time in the rain.
The people who voted last Tuesday in Wisconsin really, really wanted to cast their ballots. They were exercising their basic constitutional right, and by standing vigilant in the face of extreme personal risk, they were also protecting the rights of everyone else to maintain their voices in a representative democracy. Regardless of how they ultimately voted, every person who physically went to the polls in Wisconsin last Tuesday sent a message that their votes were important - and they would not be denied their rights to cast ballots by petty politicians and political judges scheming to control the outcome.
And yesterday the Wisconsin election results were announced. Trump won the GOP presidential primary, Biden won the Democratic presidential primary, and progressive Jill Karofsky defeated the incumbent conservative supreme court judge, Dan Kelly - bigly - by close to 10 percentage points!
Several court challenges have already been filed, presumably by parties on both sides of the issue, and the will of the people could still ultimately be overturned by the courts. But this whole experience has taught a lot of people about the importance of the democratic process, and it is doubtful if the people - especially the tough people of Wisconsin - will let the courts have the last word on this important race.
The people of Wisconsin risked their very lives to vote in last Tuesday's election, and by God, they have been heard - and they will be heard!
Senator La Follette would be very proud!
Citizen Journalist
A few years ago things were fairly bleak on the Wisconsin political scene. Scott Walker, a right-wing Republican was governor, the legislature was controlled by the GOP, and the state supreme court had a conservative majority. It was all red, deep red, in a state that had spawned famed progressive "Fighting Bob" La Follette, one of the most influential senators in the entire history of the United Stagtes Senate - and been a hotbed of left-wing political unrest during the college protests of the 1960's.
But now the dark days of the Walker years seem to be finally drawing to a close.
First, Walker himself is out of office. He was defeated for a third term in 2018 by the state's director of public instruction, Tony Evers, by just over one percent of the vote. In fact, the GOP lost very Wisconsin statewide seat that was up for election in 2018. The Republican legislature passed a series of last minute bills to severely limit the powers of the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general, and Walker signed those before he left office.
Last Tuesday there was an election in Wisconsin, one in which the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries were being held - and a state supreme court seat was also up for grabs. The state's high court, which is technically non-political, nevertheless is extremely political and as of last week had five conservative justices who leaned far to the right and two progressive judges with a pronounced left lean.
One of the conservative judges, Dan Kelly, was defending his seat. He was being challenged by a progressive circuit judge from Dane County named Jill Karofsky. Donald Trump had stuck his nose into the race and endorsed the re-election bid of Kelly.
With the election drawing close and the coronavirus pandemic gaining steam, Governor Evers made a last-minute decision to postpone the election and issued an order to that effect. Republican functionaries in Wisconsin set up a howl, and a challenge went to the state's supreme court. That court overruled the governor's order and said that the election was to be held on Tuesday, April 7th, as originally planned.
Meanwhile over a million people had requested absentee ballots, and many had not received those ballots in the mail. A federal judge ruled to extend the deadline for casting absentee ballots, but the state GOP, smelling blood in the water, quickly challenged that ruling in the US Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the Republicans' favor and thwarted the effort to extend the absentee voting deadline. If people did not have their ballots, they could go stand in line and vote the old fashioned way - in person - and coronavirus be damned!
On Election Day in Wisconsin, one week ago today, many thousands of people risked their lives and stood in long lines in order to cast their ballots. Polling places were limited because: a.) GOP officials had closed many and were intentionally limiting access to the polls, and b.) many election workers were either ill or refused to work the polls during a pandemic. Added to the dangers of the pandemic in general was the fact that the weather was inclement across much of the state causing voters to stand for long periods of time in the rain.
The people who voted last Tuesday in Wisconsin really, really wanted to cast their ballots. They were exercising their basic constitutional right, and by standing vigilant in the face of extreme personal risk, they were also protecting the rights of everyone else to maintain their voices in a representative democracy. Regardless of how they ultimately voted, every person who physically went to the polls in Wisconsin last Tuesday sent a message that their votes were important - and they would not be denied their rights to cast ballots by petty politicians and political judges scheming to control the outcome.
And yesterday the Wisconsin election results were announced. Trump won the GOP presidential primary, Biden won the Democratic presidential primary, and progressive Jill Karofsky defeated the incumbent conservative supreme court judge, Dan Kelly - bigly - by close to 10 percentage points!
Several court challenges have already been filed, presumably by parties on both sides of the issue, and the will of the people could still ultimately be overturned by the courts. But this whole experience has taught a lot of people about the importance of the democratic process, and it is doubtful if the people - especially the tough people of Wisconsin - will let the courts have the last word on this important race.
The people of Wisconsin risked their very lives to vote in last Tuesday's election, and by God, they have been heard - and they will be heard!
Senator La Follette would be very proud!
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