The Progressive Midwesterner

Brian Hagedorn, the far-right candidate in the open-seat Wisconsin Supreme Court election to be held April 2, has lost the endorsement of the normally right-wing Wisconsin Realtors Association. This is in response to the fact that Hagedorn founded a school that discriminates against the LGBTQ community: BREAKING: Wisconsin Realtors have UNENDORSED @judgehagedorn after revelations that he founded a school that discriminates against the LGBTQ community. https://t.co/mgnOjpMbDy — Democratic Party WI (@WisDems) February 21, 2019 Hagedorn's track record of bigotry proves that Hagedorn cannot be trusted to decide cases that appear before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a fair and impartial manner. Hagedorn's opponent is Lisa Neubauer, currently the Chief Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and she is running for Wisconsin Supreme Court to continue her track record of being a principled jurist who upholds the rule of law, not bigotry.

Do y'all remember when President Donald Trump and then-Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker promised people in Southeastern Wisconsin that a giant liquid crystal display (LCD) factory by electronics manufacturer Foxconn was going to bring massive amounts of jobs to Wisconsin? Well, Walker was voted out of office by the people of Wisconsin last year, and Louis Woo, a special assistant to Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, is saying that Foxconn may not build the giant factory that Trump, Walker, and Foxconn promised after all: When Terry Gou, founder and CEO of the (Taiwanese) manufacturer Foxconn, came to Wisconsin to celebrate his company's first American factory, he was in a Midwestern state of mind. “This is our home, my home, Wisconsin,” he told an audience including then-Governor Scott Walker in 2017, citing Walker's strong family traditions as a reason he was so eager to work in the state. The deal guaranteed 3,000 factory jobs for Wisconsin workers with Walker and President Trum...

After eight years of busting labor unions, mismanaging Wisconsin state government, and alienating some of his own former state cabinet members, it appears that Wisconsinites have finally had enough of Scott Walker's destruction of Wisconsin. It is my hope that this is the final time that I will write a blog post criticizing Walker. Unlike the failed 2012 recall attempt against Walker and the 2014 general election, this time feels a lot different in regards to Democratic prospects of defeating Walker. One reason why Walker is in bigger electoral trouble than in previous elections is because of the Democratic challenger who is running against Walker this year. Unlike past Democratic opponents against Walker, which included Tom Barrett and Mary Burke, Tony Evers is already well-established in Wisconsin politics as the state superintendent of public instruction, so he had an iron-clad electability argument that was one of numerous reasons why he was able to win the Democratic guber...

TRIGGER WARNING: This blog post contains content including profanity and referencing an act of sexual assault that did not occur in real-life. Reader discretion is advised.

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) has resorted to desperate measures in his re-election bid in Wisconsin. Actually, that's a major understatement. In a desperate attempt to smear Wisconsin State Superintendent and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Tony Evers, Walker has resorted to airing ads on Wisconsin television stations that come very close to being child pornography: Three months ago, Gov. Scott Walker called his opponent "pathetic" for using the word "goddamn" in a speech to supporters. But now, the Republican incumbent is airing an ad that flashes the partially blurred words "blow job" and zooms in on a young girl's breasts. https://t.co/ze2cgd7Tte — Patrick Marley (@patrickdmarley) September 7, 2018 Make no mistake about it, Scott Walker is resorting to broadcasting sexually explicit content on Wisconsin television stations, without regard to either what programs the stations are airing at any given time or any standard of human decency. I ...

Her name is Sarah Godlewski. She's one of many shareholders of the NFL's Green Bay Packers, a team literally owned by its most loyal fans . She co-founded an investment venture designed to invest in socially-responsible companies. She helped reduce wasteful spending in the U.S. Department of Defense's budget. Now, she's running for the Democratic nomination to be Wisconsin's next state treasurer, an office that Wisconsin voters saved just a few months ago. Although the Wisconsin state treasurer's office currently has little actual power, Sarah has promised to protect Wisconsin taxpayers and consumers , and Sarah supports expanding the state treasurer's power to protect Wisconsin taxpayers. If elected, Sarah has promised to publish an annual report on how Wisconsin taxpayer dollars are being spent, and Sarah has promised to advocate for Wisconsin consumers in their collective struggle against those who seek to financially exploit Wisconsinites. Furthermor...

There are eight Democratic candidates who are actively seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination in the race for Governor of Wisconsin. Seven of them are candidates that I believe are capable of defeating Scott Walker, should any one of them win the Democratic nomination. The other is Matt Flynn, a former chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin who, as an attorney, helped cover-up sexual abuse committed by priests of the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. I strongly believe that Flynn is completely unelectable as a statewide candidate in Wisconsin, because of the fact that he helped cover-up sex abuse committed by Catholic priests and because of his belligerent attitude toward those who stand with victims of sexual assault and have the courage to publicly criticize Flynn because of his role in enabling pervert priests. For example, Flynn has publicly called for those who have called for Flynn to end his gubernatorial bid to “jump in a lake” . Two members of the Wisconsin ...

The office of the Secretary of State of Wisconsin, currently held by Doug La Follette, doesn't have any significant authority over election administration in Wisconsin , although that didn't stop La Follette, a Democrat who is facing a strong primary challenge from Madison city council member and roller derby athlete Arvina Martin, from complaining about efforts in Arvina's hometown of Madison to make it easier for differently-abled people to vote: I went to the @MadisonWIClerk ’s office to vote and check out what @DougLaFollette called “suspicious computers.” /1 pic.twitter.com/N3OhtBDJsX — Arvina Martin (@Arvina4WI) July 25, 2018 You have to read Arvina's entire thread of tweets to understand how the voting machines that differently-abled voters in Madison can use work, but, in short, the machines allow voters whose disability makes it impossible to use a pen to fill out a traditional paper ballot to use a touch-screen voting machine to print out a paper ballot....

Despite a very large gubernatorial candidate field seeking the Democratic nomination in Wisconsin (including ten candidates who were invited to speak at the Wisconsin Democratic convention a few days ago, eight of which received at least 8% of the vote in the non-binding convention straw poll ), the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association (WBA), a trade group representing the right-wing corporate media in Wisconsin, only intends to invite a total of four candidates to a scheduled Democratic gubernatorial debate: The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association says no more than 4 candidates will be invited to its debates on July 21 for Republican Senate candidates and July 27 for Democratic governor candidates. Criteria includes being in top 4 of latest @MULawPoll pic.twitter.com/ilwGLcSAoH — Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) June 4, 2018 It's important to note that, unless Marquette University does another pre-election opinion poll before the scheduled July 27 debate, the Marquette poll that was r...

As I do not live in Wisconsin, I was unable to attend this year's Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, so I wasn't able to hear Kelda Roys address the convention. However, someone at the Kelda Roys campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Wisconsin live-tweeted highlights of her speech, and I'll post a few tweets from the livetweet in question below: In our Wisconsin, every baby will be welcomed by parents who have 12 weeks of paid leave. #WiDems18 #Kelda2018 — Kelda Roys (@keldahelenroys) June 1, 2018 It’s time to unleash the real power of our economy by allowing student loan refinancing, expanding public service repayment, and making all UW’s 2 year colleges tuition free. #WiDems18 #Kelda2018 — Kelda Roys (@keldahelenroys) June 1, 2018 And as a mother and your next governor, it’s time to stand up to the gun manufacturers lobby and pass meaningful gun safety laws. #WiDems18 #Kelda2018 — Kelda Roys (@keldah...

This is how the frontrunner in the crowded race for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Wisconsin is acting about his campaign: “I think it’s a one-person race,” Evers responded on “UpFront,” produced in partnership with WisPolitics.com. “When you have a 10-point lead, I’ve run statewide three times. There’s no other candidate that can say that. Last time I got 70 percent of the vote and won 70 of 72 counties, including Ozaukee County, which hardly ever has gone to a progressive. So no, I think it’s a one-person race,” he said. “I feel very confident that we’re going to win that primary and beat Scott Walker,” Evers said. For added context, UpFront is a Wisconsin adaptation of ABC's This Week political talk show that airs on the ABC affiliate in Milwaukee. Literally every poll I've seen of the Wisconsin gubernatorial Democratic primary has had Evers ahead of a very large field of candidates, largely because Evers is the only Democratic candidate who has w...

Believe it or not, Tom Barrett, a longtime career politician who is currently the Mayor of Milwaukee, is considering whether or not to launch what would be his fourth gubernatorial bid in Wisconsin : Yep, (Milwaukee) Mayor Tom Barrett is thinking about running for governor.  For a fourth time.  Sources confirmed this week that the fourth-term mayor has been sounding out his team of advisers about entering the Democratic primary for governor later this year. If he runs, he would need to submit his nomination papers by June 1. Barrett has run for governor three previous times. Two of them, one in a general election and one in a recall election, ended in losses to Republican Scott Walker, and the third ended in a Democratic primary loss to Jim Doyle. I'm not from Wisconsin, but it's inherently clear to me that Kelda Roys is a far better gubernatorial candidate than Tom Barrett ever could be. Kelda has real plans to fix Wisconsin's problems, including ideas t...

Across America, there is a wave of energy for Democratic candidates for public office, and that's no different in the Heartland. Many Midwestern states have seen more Democrats file to run for seats in Congress or state legislative seats in this year's elections than in recent election cycles. In this wave of endorsements from The Progressive Midwesterner, I will endorse multiple candidates who are running as a Democratic candidate in an officially partisan race or are running as a de facto Democratic candidate in an officially non-partisan race. North Dakota Tax Commissioner - Kylie Oversen Kylie Oversen, the chairwoman of the North Dakota Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party (DNL), is running for the statewide elected office of North Dakota Tax Commissioner. The Progressive Midwesterner endorses Kylie's campaign for tax commissioner in North Dakota, and you can learn more about Kylie's campaign here . People like Kylie are the future of the Democratic Party, no...

I'm excited to announce that I endorse Kelda Roys for the Democratic nomination for the office of Governor of Wisconsin! A few days ago, Kelda released this web video in which she talks about her efforts to ban the usage of the neurotoxin Bisphenol A in plastic products, such as baby bottles: Kelda's web video got a ton of national attention, not because of her opposition to unhealthy chemical compounds in plastic, but because, during the video, Kelda breastfed her infant daughter while continuing to talk about her opposition to Bisphenol A. The video has been featured by, among others, People magazine , Cosmopolitan magazine , and Bustle . I was going to hold off until after my home state of Illinois held its primary elections later this month, but, since her campaign has received a ton of national attention, I'll say this now...I proudly endorse Kelda Roys for the Democratic nomination for the office of Governor of Wisconsin! The biggest reason why I'm end...

I'm only going to write one blog post on The Progressive Midwesterner during the Winter Olympics this year, but it's for a good reason. Kriss Marion, a farmer, political activist, and a member of the Lafayette County, Wisconsin Board of Supervisors, is running for a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate in the 17th Senate District of Wisconsin, which includes parts of southwestern Wisconsin and is home to many farms and small towns. I endorse Kriss Marion in her state senate race in Wisconsin. Marion's campaign website and Twitter page can be found at the links in this sentence. Marion's political advocacy led to Wisconsin's ban on the sale of home-made baked goods to be ruled unconstitutional by a judge in her home county in Wisconsin, and Marion supports implementing a "cupcake law" in Wisconsin that would officially legalize and regulate the sale of home-made baked goods in Wisconsin. My home state of Illinois passed a "cupcake law" in 201...

Last night, Democratic nominee Patty Schachtner defeated Republican nominee Adam Jarchow in a special election for a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate, doing so by a margin that would make Katie Ledecky's runaway swimming performances look like photo finishes by comparison. Based on election night results , Schachtner received 54.82% of the total vote to Jarchow's 44.55% of the total vote in the 10th Senate District of Wisconsin, a district in western Wisconsin where Donald Trump got 55.30% of the vote in the 2016 presidential election . There was one other state legislative special election in Wisconsin, and that was for a Wisconsin State Assembly seat in the Milwaukee suburbs-based 58th Assembly District of Wisconsin. While the Republican candidate won that race, the Democratic candidate in that race got well over 40% of the total vote in a district that is usually one of the most Republican areas of not just Wisconsin, but the entire country. While far-right outside gro...

Prior to entering the very large Democratic primary field for Governor of Wisconsin, Paul Soglin publicly opposed Scott Walker's corporate welfare giveaway to Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, which will result in billions of dollars of Wisconsinites' taxpayer dollars being used to fund a private corporation. However, just a couple of weeks or so before Soglin publicly compared the Foxconn giveaway to $100 million NFL tickets, he was all in for corporate welfare for Foxconn if they set up shop in Madison , which is the city where Soglin is currently mayor: Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said Thursday he is recommending Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn take over the shuttered Oscar Mayer site or either of two undeveloped sites on the city’s edges for what is believed to be a possible medical-related facility. [...] The mayor said he would be willing to consider offering tax incremental financing for a potential Foxconn project, but he said the...