Wikler’s unfinished business: Dems eye Wisconsin Capitol trifecta

Ben Wikler will leave as state Dem chair this weekend with one box unchecked on his to-do list — a Dem trifecta in the Capitol.

And he says flipping two seats in the state Senate and five in the Assembly next fall are the key to completing an agenda that includes restoring workers’ rights, ensuring access to health care and fully funding schools.

“The great unfinished task is to win the legislative majorities and be able to deliver the change in people’s lives that Democrats have been fighting for this entire time,” Wikler said in a new WisPolitics interview in advance of Dems’ state convention this week in Wisconsin Dells. “I often say to our staff that the only real measure of our work is the impact it has on people’s lives. It’s not the number of doors we knock or dollars we raise, or even the number of elections that we win, it’s the change that people who serve in public office can create by delivering policies that make life better for people.”

>> WisPolitics is now on the State Affairs network. Get custom keyword notifications, bill tracking and all WisPolitics content. Get the app.

Pulling that off will be up to Wikler’s successor, with three people vying to replace him at the convention: 3rd CD Chair William Garcia, former state party Executive Director Devin Remiker and operative Joe Zepecki. Wikler has endorsed Remiker.

The winner will also be tasked with carrying on the fundraising success Wikler has established. When he announced in April that he wouldn’t seek a fourth two-year term, the party said Wilker had raised $206 million since taking office in early June 2019 through its state and federal accounts.

That success has been built on major donors like LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who’s donated $14.7 million to the party’s state accounts since Wikler took office, as well as its small-dollar operation. The party reported more than $4 million from donors giving $200 or less in 2024 through its federal account after pulling $3.5 million from those small-dollar contributors in 2023.

One of the key questions insiders have on the party’s future is whether Wikler’s successor can keep up the pace.

Wikler, though, isn’t concerned.

“I think fundamentally, donors invest in the Democratic Party of Wisconsin at all levels, including people who are chipping in five bucks a month, because they share the values of the party, and they see the party as an effective way to advance victories in elections,” Wikler said. “And I think the party is going to be able to carry that trust forward by continuing both to do the things that really work, like year round organizing, and to keep innovating.”

Wikler, who worked for MoveOn.org before becoming chair in 2019, announced in April that he wouldn’t seek reelection. That decision came shortly after liberal Susan Crawford won the April 1 state Supreme Court race by 10 points and on the heels of Wikler’s unsuccessful bid for national party chair.

At the time, Wikler said he wouldn’t endorse in the race to replace him. But he reversed course last month to back Remiker, who served as executive director and political director for Wikler.

Wikler said he decided to endorse because he wanted to let delegates know about what he observed from Remiker during their time working together.

Following the announcement last month, Zepecki posted a video on Facebook criticizing Wikler for endorsing in the race after saying he wouldn’t.

“Ultimately, I feel like it’s my duty to the party to share the information I have, to support the voting delegates to our state convention as they make their decision,” Wikler said. “It wouldn’t do anybody any good for me to sit on what I’ve seen.”

Wikler ends his time at the party’s helm on a high note after Crawford’s victory in April over former GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County judge. Still, the party in Wisconsin — and nationally — is soul searching after Donald Trump won the presidency, including taking the Badger state’s 10 electoral votes. 

Wikler said the party began a debriefing shortly after the election and got back to organizing, including being on the doors in January and mobilizing volunteers. He said a key in that approach was having volunteers talk to friends, family and neighbors for a personal pitch. He said it was a better approach than “outsourcing” the work to Elon Musk’s super PAC and the conservative group Turning Point USA. Both did GOTV backing Schimel in Wisconsin’s spring race.

Wikler said the party learned a lesson in November about “showing up in nontraditional places” to reach voters, including platforms such as TikTok. 

“But the fundamental truth in politics is that information moves at the speed of trust, and building trust with voters is something that takes time, and we’ve been putting in that time in a way that allowed us to really deliver a message about Elon Musk and Brad Schimel’s corruption and the fight for a state where everyone would get a fair shake in the spring election, and that paid dividends, and that same trust we’re carrying forward into the midterms.”