In 2023 members of this congregation participated in Get Out the Vote efforts for the Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Although the election was nonpartisan, the outcome determined if there would be a conservative or progressive majority on the seven member court. Janet Protasiewicz was elected to a 10-year term on the court, securing a 4 to 3 progressive majority.
Last year, Justice Ann Walsh announced that she would not be running for another 10-year term. As a member of the progressive majority, her retirement will once again put the ideological makeup of the court on the ballot. Susan Crawford, a state judge in Madison who worked earlier in her career for Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, will face off against Brad Schimel, a state judge in Waukesha County who previously served as the state’s Republican attorney general.
The 2023 election became the most expensive judicial race in history, and this year’s race is gearing up to be a repeat, with billionaires Elon Musk and George Soros among the many making large donations. The stakes are very high, with major cases pending before the court dealing with reproductive rights, union rights, election law, and congressional redistricting. This is also the most significant election since November, and will serve as a litmus test for the power and reach of the new administration inn Washington.
If you are interested in working on getting out the vote for this important election, I have two actions available:
- POSTCARDS – The Center for Common Ground is participating in a postcard writing campaign through their Reclaim Our Vote program. The goal is to reach 94,000 Black voters in Wisconsin to alert them to the importance of this election. Most of the addresses went very quickly but I was able to get 200 before they were all gone. The postcards are to be mailed March 1 to 11. Many of you have written Reclaim Our Vote postcards in the past. It typically takes about one hour to prepare twenty. I will provide the postcards, the addresses, and the instructions, and you will prepare, stamp, and mail them. The script for the postcards will be provided, and they must be hand lettered.
- LETTERS – Vote Forward has an active letter writing campaign with lots of addresses available. The goal is to reach over 67,000 voters in historically underrepresented communities. Many of you have written Vote Forward letters in the past. It also typically takes about one hour to prepare twenty. I will provide the letter templates (either PDF or hard copy), the addresses, and the instructions, and you will prepare, seal in envelope, stamp, and mail them. These are form letters, with spaces for you to hand letter the voter’s first name, a short, personal message on why voting is important to you, and your first name. The envelopes must also be hand lettered with the voter’s name and address.
If you would like to work on either (or both!) of these actions you can email me (Ken Rock) at vote@uucolumbia.net or come see me at social hour on Sundays after service. I will bring the materials with me then, or if you are anxious to get started I can make arrangements to get them to you sooner.
Even in this time when powerful forces have so much influence on our elections, direct voter contact has still proven to be an effective way to increase turnout. We can make a difference!
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