Project Democracy PAC: Bipartisan business leader ad in WI Supreme Court race viewed 2.8 million times in less than 3 weeks

MILWAUKEE, WI – Project Democracy PAC today announced that its digital ad in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election was viewed more than 2.8 million times during its 2 1/2 week run, and was viewed to completion by a whopping 74% of those who watched it. 

Project Democracy is a bipartisan PAC supporting candidates who promote and advance a strong democracy.  This spring, the group launched an independent statewide six-figure digital ad campaign urging voters to elect Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The ad can be viewed here, and the script appears below.   

“The large margin of Janet Protasiewicz’s victory, and the wide appeal and overwhelmingly positive response to our ad, show that defending democracy is a winning issue with Wisconsin voters,” said Tom Florsheim, Jr.  “Standing up for essential American values — representative government, the rule of law, the sanctity of the electoral process, and the fundamental right to vote — unites the public and transcends political affiliation.  Our democracy is too precious to lose, and as long as there are candidates who seek to undermine our elections, and weaken our democratic principles and institutions, bipartisan Wisconsin business leaders will stand up and push back.” 

Entitled Enough, the Project Democracy PAC ad digitally targeted specific audiences, including business executives and economic leaders throughout Wisconsin, and more than 200,000 state voters who identify as either moderate, centrist, independent, lean Democratic or lean Republican, or who identify respect of democracy and democratic institutions as an important issue.  The message features three respected Wisconsin business leaders: Elizabeth Brenner, a prominent civic figure, community volunteer and former business executive; Tom Florsheim, Jr, a Democrat and footwear industry executive; and Anoop Prakash, an automotive industry executive, lifelong Republican, former political appointee in the George W. Bush administration, and United States Marine Corps veteran.

Project Democracy PAC endorsed Janet Protasiewicz for Wisconsin Supreme Court because only she responded to a judicial questionnaire from Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy asking the candidates to share their judicial philosophy and views on recent court rulings impacting democracy in Wisconsin. Protasiewicz replied in full; Kelly refused to answer, or even acknowledge the inquiry.  In her response, Protasiewicz made clear her prioritization of “protecting democracy and the right to  vote.”  Kelly, on the other hand, embraced extreme election deniers, as well as attempts to overturn the legitimate 2020 presidential election: multiple media reports revealed that Kelly “was working as a ‘special counsel’ and had ‘pretty extensive conservations’” about a right-wing scheme after the 2020 presidential election to appoint to the Electoral College fake electors who supported Donald Trump – even though Joe Biden fairly won Wisconsin by more than 20,000 votes.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ad campaign comes on the heels of Project Democracy’s successful and widely-praised digital message in the 2022 Wisconsin Governor’s election.  Bipartisan Wisconsin business leaders last November urged a vote for Gov. Evers over Tim Michels to defend democracy against false claims of voter fraud and baseless attacks against election administration.  That ad was viewed to completion nearly 5 million total times for a 71% completion rate during the ad’s five-week runtime, averaging 173,000 impressions per day.

Project Democracy PAC is a political action committee that supports pro-democracy candidates and incumbents from both sides of the aisle.  The organization believes our future economic and social success relies on the stability and vibrancy of our democracy. Its mission is to protect and renew democracy by supporting candidates and leaders who promote and advance an effective democracy for all Americans.