by Lincoln Miller
As the dust settles on the 2022 midterm elections here in Wisconsin, Democratic Governor Tony Evers has won a second term to the state’s executive office, preventing its takeover by right-wing puppet Tim Michels. Governor Evers’ victory is bolstered by the Wisconsin State Assembly’s Democratic caucus holding enough seats to prevent the formation of a Republic supermajority that could potentially override the governor’s veto. His second term will not only keep attacks on reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, the denial of legitimate elections, and the assault on working families at bay, but opens up a path to the restoration of Wisconsin’s democracy out of the clutches of the Wisconsin GOP and, as a native Wisconsinite, back to the democracy I knew growing up.
Back in 2010, Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker rode a reactionary wave into office that would come to fundamentally change the face of Wisconsin on the national stage. Walker’s incumbency represented not only a backlash to national politics at the time, but the conquering of a long held progressive bastion for national Democrats. In a state that had banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 1982 and had long been the prime residency of America’s labor unions, Walker was able to turn Wisconsin’s progressive streak upside down in two monumental ways:
The redistricting of 2010 would produce a Republican-favoring gerrymander that would lock Democrats out of control of the state legislature to this day. In the 2018 state assembly elections, Democrats won approximately 53% of the vote, but won only 36 out of 99 seats up for re-election. Under fair maps, Democrats should have easily won control of the chamber. This gerrymander has been reinforced in the 2020 redistricting cycle and will continue to produce unequal results until overturned.
In 2011, a wave of protests hit the Wisconsin State Capitol building as former governor Walker prepared to sign a bill that would strip public sector unions of their collective bargaining rights, effectively defanging them from negotiating for better pay and benefits with their employers. Thousands upon thousands of workers descended upon the Capitol for months to make their voices heard, only to be ignored by Walker. This bill, known as Act 10, would be signed into law without care or consideration of those affected.
The latter shift is of particular importance to me as the son of an educator, and has been deeply formative to the values I hold today. Standing in the Capitol rotunda shoulder to shoulder with my family, teachers from my own elementary school, and other community members at the age of 8, I witnessed the largest protest movement in Wisconsin history firsthand. Such an experience cultivated a sense of solidarity with those around me and opened my eyes to the lengths conservative politicians will go to to deny the will of their constituents for the benefit of the capitalist echelon of society.
But now, you may ask, what about the gerrymandered maps? Well, with the re-election of Governor Evers, Wisconsin has a clear path towards restoring democracy and repealing Act 10. With him holding the executive branch, efforts to further disenfranchise voters in Wisconsin can be prevented. Although Governor Evers’ veto is of utmost importance, the key to turning the tide in democracy’s favor rests on April 4, 2023. On that date, an election will be held to fill an open seat on the Wisconsin State Supreme Court with the potential to change the ideological leaning of the court from conservative to liberal.
Should the Democrat-endorsed justice prevail, there is an overwhelming possibility that left-wing action groups can sue to have the gerrymandered maps overturned and win the case. This in concurrence with Democrats actually winning both chambers of the Wisconsin state legislature under fair maps in the 2024 elections, true progressive legislation could be passed in Wisconsin for the first time in over 15 years. Young voters coming out to vote in what is likely to be a low-turnout election could be a key impact in determining whether or not reactionary politics will be defeated in Wisconsin, or if they’ll be free to entrench themselves for decades to come. And whether or not you believe in the efficacy of voting, this spring’s upcoming State Supreme Court race is a make-or-break moment for democracy in the state I’ve called home my entire life.
Cover Photo by Lucy Gillard