| TO: Interested Parties FROM: Ben Wikler, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair SUBJECT: Our Victory Against The August 2024 Constitutional Amendments DATE: August 16, 2024 |
| I. Introduction |
| On Tuesday, Wisconsinites rejected two intentionally confusing Constitutional amendments engineered by Republican politicians to undermine the Governor and grab power for themselves at the expense of our first responders, our child care providers, and local communities. The rejection of these amendments by voters at a statewide referendum is historic, and demonstrates the power of Democratic and progressive organizing in Wisconsin. 12 of the last 13 Constitutional amendments in Wisconsin have passed, making Tuesday’s vote only the second time since 1996 that a Constitutional amendment has been defeated at the ballot box. Moreover, the vote was far from a typical Wisconsin nailbiter: voters rejected the two measures by margins of 15% and 16%, respectively. This was a landslide that reached every corner of the state: Both ballot questions would have lost even if both Dane County and Milwaukee County were removed from the vote totals. . This outcome was far from assured. In fact, the fundamentals in this fight were never on the side of the “No” campaign. Thanks to their gerrymandered stranglehold on Wisconsin’s Legislature, Republican politicians were free to word these amendments however they wanted, and in fact later admitted themselves that the wording was confusing to voters. Republicans were also free to place the amendments on whatever ballot they chose, enabling them to pick the version of the electorate they thought was most favorable to them, a tactic Assembly Speaker Robin Vos acknowledged ahead of the vote on constitutional amendments in April 2024. Internal polling in June suggested that the GOP’s gambit would pay off, with both measures on track to pass. Republicans made a bet on an easy win. It was a bad bet. |
| II. How We Got Here |
| Republican politicians in Wisconsin have increasingly turned to Wisconsin’s Constitutional amendment process as a means of getting around the Gov. Evers’ veto, embedding their extreme agenda directly in Wisconsin’s founding document. It is the latest radical turn for a party that has long treated our state as a laboratory for power grabs and political excesses even after losing the Governorship, the Supreme Court majority, and now it its gerrymandered maps. Last April, Republicans pushed amendments seeking to ban municipalities from utilizing private grant funding to assist in election administration. These amendments—fueled by Donald Trump’s “Zuckerbucks” conspiracy theory—passed comfortably. The defeat stung, but as Wisconsin Democrats, we did what we always do: learn, adapt, and double down on organizing everywhere. This time, Republicans sought to amend Wisconsin’s Constitution as revenge for Governor Evers using COVID emergency funds to keep Wisconsin afloat amidst the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Led by Robin Vos, Republicans in Madison infamously abdicated in the face of a once-in-a-generation public health crisis, remaining out of session for more than 300 days and turning Wisconsin’s Legislature into one of the least active full-time bodies in the country. Luckily, Wisconsin had a Governor committed to doing the right thing. While Robin Vos and Republicans stepped down, Gov. Evers and Democrats stepped up, using the authorities of the Governor’s office to quickly distribute federal assistance to save lives, support small businesses and enable Main Streets across the state to recover. As health care providers across Wisconsin worked to get back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Evers directed over $100 million to local and Tribal governments and non-profit health organizations to expand access to health care and reduce health disparities among communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Communities have used the funds from the Healthcare Infrastructure Capital Investment program to develop new care facilities, support first responders, and expand access to mental health care. Small businesses are flourishing because of Gov. Evers’ Main Street Bounceback program. More than 8,500 small businesses in all 72 counties have opened or expanded thanks to Gov. Evers, not only creating new jobs and filling openings, but revitalizing downtown areas and priming economic growth. And thanks to funding Gov. Evers allocated through the American Rescue Plan’s Broadband Access Grant, more than 410,000 homes and businesses now have access to high-quality, high-speed internet, ensuring more Wisconsinites are connected to broadband than ever before. Since taking office, Gov. Evers invested more than $177 million in federal funding to expand broadband to Wisconsin homes and businesses. The Republican answer to this good work was to push the confusing and risky amendments to Wisconsin’s Constitution that Wisconsinites just rejected in overwhelming fashion. Had they passed, these amendments would have given Republicans politicians in the Legislature total control over all federal dollars, including emergency funding. With Republicans frequently keeping the Legislature out of session, these amendments would have risked bottlenecks on critical emergency assistance, creating delays in getting funds out the door to first responders. By rejecting this power grab with overwhelming margins, voters sent a clear message: they trust Gov. Evers to do the right thing for Wisconsin, they deeply appreciate his leadership through the worst of the pandemic—and they have no patience for the GOP’s power grabs, political games, and extreme agenda. |
| II. How Democrats And Allies Won A Historic Victory |
| Tuesday’s landslide defeat was a political earthquake that reflected the dedicated and relentless organizing not only by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, but by allies, elected leaders and grassroots activists across the state. This was a come-from-behind victory. Internal polling conducted ahead of the campaign in early June indicated Question 2 passing by 10 points, with 53% yes to 43% no. This same polling also showed Question 1 passing with 43% yes to 40% no—and 17% undecided. What happened next? A massive campaign to educate the public and turn out voters to reject this power grab. WisDems was a proud partner in the movement-wide mobilization to defeat these Constitutional amendments. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s contributions to the effort included: Organizing. Democratic Party of Wisconsin organizers and volunteers worked across the state to mobilize voters on the doors, over the phone and online. Between the WisDems endorsement of “Vote No” at its convention in June and the poll closing on August 13, WisDems volunteers knocked on more than 300,000 doors and placed more than 500,000 phone calls. This wave of action crescendoed over the GOTV period of August 10 through Election Day, in which volunteers completed more than 2,500 action shifts, knocking on more than 110,000 doors and making roughly 100,000 phone calls. Paid Media. WisDems invested $100,000 in digital advertising and $150,000 in television advertising, as well as a five-figure investment in SMS mobilization. Communications. Democratic leaders and grassroots activists fanned out across the state in the weeks ahead of the August 13 primary, holding press conferences in La Crosse, Eau Claire, Wausau, Green Bay, Madison, and Ozaukee County. WisDems also mobilized grassroots activists online, distributing a social media toolkit and deploying a website to guide digital organizing. Here’s a sample of the coverage generated by these efforts: |
| WKOW: “First Responders Gather to Encourage ‘No’ Vote on August Ballot” [WKOW, 8/12/24]NEWS 8000: “La Crosse Officials Hold ‘Vote No’ Press Conference Ahead of Primary Election” [News 8000, 8/12/24]APPLETON POST-CRESCENT: “Constitutional Amendment Questions On Wisconsin’s August Ballot Could Affect Child Care, Providers Warn.” [Appleton Post Crescent, 8/7/24]WIZM: “Wisconsin Democrats Call For Public To Vote Against Set Of Republican-Written Amendments On The August Ballot” [WIZM, 7/3/24]EAU CLAIRE LEADER-TELEGRAM: “Democratic Legislators Urge Public To ‘Vote No’ On Constitutional Amendment Questions” [Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, 7/10/24] |
| WisDems was one part of a coalition-wide effort led by Governor Evers, who barnstormed across Wisconsin; Democratic legislators and other elected officials, who spoke out and held town halls; and an array of allied groups who joined together, led by Wisconsin Conservation Voters, in the Wisconsin Votes No coalition. Wisconsin Votes No included Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin; Power to the Polls; Blue Green Alliance; Evergreen Action; the Wisconsin Farmers Union; The Wisco Project; LIT (Leaders Igniting Transformation); Forward Together Wisconsin; For Our Future Wisconsin; and the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC). This coalition invested nearly $1.9 million on a variety of tactics including door-to-door canvassing, mail, yard signs, pledge cards, and digital ads. Additional groups who organized and communicated to defeat the ballot initiatives included the Working Families Party, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, AFSCME, Protect Wisconsin’s Constitution, Oregon Area Progressives, A Better Wisconsin Together, 350 Wisconsin, Main Street Alliance, Standing Up for Racial Justice, and America Votes—among others. |
| IV. Results: A Statewide Landslide |
| Thanks to the efforts across our coalition, voters were informed of the actual impact of these confusing questions, and defeated them by landslide margins: 57% to 43% on Question 1, and 58% to 42% on Question 2. What’s more, the no vote was strong across the state. “No” won by large margins across the rural 3rd Congressional District in western Wisconsin, including in Eau Claire (68% to 32% for Question 2) and La Crosse (69% to 31% for Question 2). The “no” vote also turned out in traditional Republican strongholds, such as Ozaukee County, where the “no” vote lost by just a handful of votes. Remarkably, “No” won in a majority of Wisconsin counties—37 for Question 1, and 38 for Question 2, which won Pepin. 24 and 25 of these counties had voted for Trump in 2020. Every county that voted for Biden rejected these referendums. The largest margin and largest number of “No” votes came from Dane County, which rejected the ballot questions 82-18, a 64% margin, with 137,194 “No” votes and 30,135 “Yes” on Question 1. Milwaukee delivered the second largest share, with 104,180 “No” and 42,065 “Yes.” Statewide, turnout surpassed 26% of the voting-age population—the highest turnout in a fall partisan primary during a presidential election year since 1964. By every metric, the Vote No campaign conducted by our coalition did its work, turning Wisconsinites out to reject these risky and misleading constitutional amendments by landslide margins. |
| V. Looking Ahead To November |
| Republican politicians in Madison pushed these amendments because they recognized their grip on power was waning with new, fair maps. In November, for the first time in more than 13 years, the majority will determine the majority in Madison. The landslide defeat of these amendments reflects the electric enthusiasm on the ground to defeat the GOP stranglehold on power in Wisconsin and should be a warning to Republicans up and down the ballot that full accountability is coming. Democrats have a clear path to a majority in the State Assembly this cycle, and a path to a full trifecta in 2026. Winning a State Assembly majority in November would translate immediately to an end to Republican efforts to tamper with Wisconsin’s Constitution. Majorities in both chambers would enable Wisconsin’s Legislature to finally turn to the people’s business: building a Wisconsin that works for everyone. |
