Democrats are asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to step in to prevent a Green Party candidate from appearing on Wisconsin ballots. 

Monday’s legal filing is the Democrats’ latest move in a battle over ballot access in a state known for its razor-thin election margins.

The Democratic National Committee filed what’s known as a petition for original action this week, arguing that the state’s high court should take up the issue.

The petition asserts that Jill Stein and Butch Ware, the Green Party’s candidates for president and vice president, cannot legally appear on Wisconsin ballots.

According to the petition, that’s because the Greens don’t have have any statewide office holders or state legislative candidates who are needed to nominate presidential electors in Wisconsin.

But Jason Call of the Stein campaign called those legal arguments meritless.

“This is a completely frivolous lawsuit intended to waste our time and resources,” Call said. “We had legal counsel look at it already, and basically what the Democrats are trying to exploit is a missing part of the Wisconsin election code that does not define how third parties, how minor parties, should select their electors.”

DNC representatives did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

The arguments made in the petition echo arguments brought forth by the DNC in complaints filed with the Elections Commission.

Democrats first filed a version of that complaint on Aug. 14, but the commission dismissed it on a technicality after determining the complaint failed to name an election official as a respondent. The DNC has since filed what was essentially the same complaint, but with Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe also named as a respondent. However, the commission disposed of that second complaint without consideration.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has a meeting scheduled for Aug. 27 to certify candidates for November’s election. Wisconsin’s high court should intervene before then, and order the WEC to block the Green Party, the petition argues.

“Although this Court rarely exercises its original jurisdiction, the Court does so
when the ‘questions presented are of such importance as under the circumstances to call for [a] speedy and authoritative determination,’” the petition says.

In an interview Tuesday, Call said, going forward, the complaints have motivated the Green Party to put forth candidates in more races in Wisconsin.

“If this is how the Democrats want to play, we will. We will play hardball right back,” he said. “If the Democrats want to behave in an anti, not undemocratic, but anti-democratic, way, then we will certainly throw candidates at them. And if they want to call us spoilers, they can, but certainly we will spoil their efforts at trying to keep us off the ballot.”

Call told WPR the Green Party’s plan is to put forth those Wisconsin candidates in time for the Nov. 5 election.

But, Pete Karas, the elections chairperson for the Wisconsin Green Party, said Call misspoke about the timing of that plan.

The deadline for Wisconsin partisan candidates to file ahead of this fall’s election was June 3, and a primary for Congressional and state legislative races took place Aug. 13. Write-ins can file before noon on the Friday before Election Day.

Karas said Wisconsin’s Green Party plans to field candidates in 2026 for governor, Wisconsin attorney general, state treasurer, secretary of state and every competitive state legislative race.

“We’re very upset about the way the Democrats have been undemocratic,” he said. “We’re going to target every purple district in the state. The Democrats may perceive this as spoiling their chances to win these upcoming elections, and they can perceive it however they wish.”

Stein last appeared on Wisconsin ballots in 2016, when she secured more than 31,000 votes in the state.

In 2016, former President Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin by a margin of about 24,000 votes. Four years later, in 2020, President Joe Biden edged out Trump in Wisconsin by less than 21,000 votes.

Karas rejected the assertion from some Democrats that the Green Party could hurt progressive causes by enabling Trump’s victory. He criticized how both the Republican and Democratic candidates have responded to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“Our feeling is we have two candidates, the two corporate candidates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, who are both pro-genocide, and that is a line that cannot be crossed,” Karas said. “And there are plenty of people out there who will not support that, and will support the only anti-genocide candidate on the ballot.”

Karas said Wisconsin needs to allow ranked choice voting and called the two-party system a failure.

“I don’t think you can spoil a bad system,” he said.

The Detroit Lions close out training camp this week with a pair of practices before their preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before practice, coach Dan Campbell explained that there are two main goals for Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s practices.

“The trick here is to continue to get, really the core of this team prepared for game one (vs. the Rams), but also continue to develop the back end of the roster yet knowing they’re going to take a majority of these reps against Pittsburgh,” Campbell said.

The first, second, and third teams all got a good amount of work on Tuesday, although the intensity was a little down, given that the team was in shells (not fully padded).

Here are the biggest takeaways from Tuesday’s practice.

Kingsley Eguakun with the first team

Ever since Kevin Zeitler suffered an injury during the joint practices with the Giants, the Lions have filled his spot primarily with second-year lineman Michael Niese. But on Tuesday, undrafted rookie Kingsley Eguakun got the honors, demonstrating his somewhat meteoric rise over the past couple weeks.

It wasn’t long ago that Eguakun took over primary center duties with the second-team offense. He started both preseason games and performed strongly in each contest. This is a huge opportunity for him not only to get in good reps against strong competition but also to prove he’s versatile enough to back up several positions on the roster.

“He’s a guy that’s continued to get better and we anticipate that he’ll keep going,” Campbell said of Eguakun last week. “I mean he is, he’s a smart guy, works his tail off and I do think he’s got flexibility. Starts with center but I think he can mix it up at guard.”

It wasn’t a perfect day for Eguakun. Derrick Barnes blew right by him on a blitz. Still, Eguakun has clearly worked his way onto the roster bubble and will have one more week to make his case.

Here’s a breakdown of the top three offensive lines (left to right):

OL1: Taylor Decker, Graham Glasgow, Frank Ragnow, Kingsley Eguakun, Penei Sewell,
OL2: Jamarco Jones, Jake Burton, Michael Niese, Kayode Awosika, Colby Sorsdal
OL3: Jamarco Jones, Jake Burton, Duke Clemens, Bryan Hudson, Colby Sorsdal

Bounce-back day for the WR-X candidates

On the day in which Campbell loudly declared Kalif Raymond was the team’s WR3, the big-bodied receivers finally appeared to have something to say about it.

When the team opened up with one-on-one red zone drills, both Donovan Peoples-Jones and Daurice Fountain stood out—each winning both of their reps for scores. Fountain had a nasty release against Brandon Joseph to create plenty of separation for an easy score, then physically bettered Khalil Dorsey for another score on a contested post route. Peoples-Jones, too, had physical wins, besting Kerby Joseph twice in a row.

Even better, both of those players ended up making plays during team drills, albeit with the second and third teams. Fountain elevated to grab a high throw from Hooker during an end-of-game drill, while Peoples-Jones had a big gain after creating significant separation on his release opposite Essang Bassey.

Big plays

Working on situational downs—particularly long distance to-go plays—the Lions’ offense created a pair of explosive plays.

On the first—and second-and-15ish—the Lions simply ran the ball with Craig Reynolds, who got skinny on the right side of the line, beat the safety to the edge, and turned it upfield for a touchdown around 70 yards long. It was a perfectly-blocked play, and Reynolds showed both good vision and explosion to get where he needed to be on time.

The second was just a perfect play call. The Lions defense blitzed from their right, but Detroit countered with a receiver screen to Isaiah Williams right where all those defenders had vacated. To his credit, Williams made the catch and immediately darted downfield. He only had one defender to beat, and did so easily for a 50+ yard touchdown.

Situational work

The Lions first-teamers ran the first of two situational drills to end practice. The situation:

Down 6 points, 20 seconds left with no timeouts, third-and-12 from the opponents’ 17-yard line

The offense made quick work of the defense, with Jameson Williams picking up 12 yards on a fantastic play from Jared Goff. With Brian Branch crashing down as a blitzer, Goff stood confidently in the pocket and delivered a perfect ball to Williams, who was just breaking on the out route to make the catch, get out of bounds, and give Detroit a new set of downs.

Goff went right back to Williams on the next play and delivered a dime into his breadbasket, but with Ennis Raketstraw in tight coverage, Williams couldn’t complete the catch going to the ground. I would probably qualify this as a drop. Regardless, Goff targeted Amon-Ra St. Brown, who—at the very last minute—created ample separation from Rakestraw for the game-winning score.

Hendon Hooker took over for his own situational drive:

Down 1 point, 46 seconds left with one timeout, first-and-10 from his own 20-yard line

The offense got off to a rough start, as Jack Campbell exploded through the line on a blitz, and got to Hooker, forcing a 6-yard loss and the use of the offense’s only timeout.

Fountain made up all the yardage with a 20-yard, full-extension grab over the middle, and Kaden Davis added another 14 with a crossing route. But both plays ate up clock and necessitated spikes. Two failed passes later, the Lions lined up for a kick of at least 65 yards, and Jake Bates’ attempt was not close.

Odds and ends:

• Bates’ day was, again, up and down. He had makes from 28, 33, 38, 38, 43, and 48—plus an extra point. But he also had a miss from 38 yards and the kick from 65+ yards.
• I thought both Hooker and Nate Sudfeld struggled with their accuracy on Tuesday.
• It’s often telling which players are receiving passes from Jared Goff during individual drills. For example, Goff will make sure he’s throwing to Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Kalif Raymond every single series of reps. The last receivers in that sequence on Tuesday were Peoples-Jones, Brock Wright, and Shane Zylstra.
• Other standouts in one-on-one WR/DB drills: Kerby Joseph with blanket coverage and a pick against Raymond, Brian Branch with a breakup against Kaden Davis, and Tom Kennedy topping Loren Strickland so badly that he essentially had to give up on the rep.
• Pairing with Carlton Davis with the first-string defense was Khalil Dorsey at the opposite cornerback position. He’s come a long way this offseason and looks like he’ll provide decent depth at cornerback this year, while also being one of the best special teamers on the roster.
• Speaking of special teams, the same players continue to stand out during blocking/attacking drills: Sione Vaki, Craig Reynolds, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin. Today, I saw some improvements from James Mitchell, too.

The group attempting to recall four Milwaukee Public Schools board members fell thousands of signatures short.

The group turned in petitions that appeared to have unverified names signed by the same person. In some instances, addresses were linked to abandoned homes, according to documents submitted to the Milwaukee Election Commission. 

“The people of Milwaukee have emphatically rejected this dishonest effort to remove good public servants from our democratically elected school board,” said Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association President Ingrid Walker-Henry. 

Members of the MPS School Board Recall Collaborative did not respond to requests for comment. 

At a July 24 press conference, weeks before they turned in the petitions, the recall group announced they had 37,000 of the 60,000 signatures needed to unseat MPS board president Marva Herndon, vice president Jilly Gokalgandhi, board member Erika Siemsen and at-large board member Missy Zombor. 

On Aug. 12, the group submitted a total of 29,787 signatures to the Milwaukee Election Commission. 

Their efforts were launched following several tumultuous weeks for the school district. In May, it was revealed that MPS had failed to file audits with the state Department of Public Instruction, leading to the loss of millions of dollars and the resignation of Superintendent Keith Posley. 

Gov. Tony Evers has since called for operational and instructional audits of MPS. 

MPS School Board Recall Collaborative called for more transparency within MPS and on the school board. 

But it soon became apparent the recall itself was shrouded in secrecy. 

When asked who was funding the efforts and who was paying canvassers, the only response by organizer Tamika Johnson  was “anonymous donors.” 

Walker-Henry said the public faces of the recall effort were a “private voucher school teacher and the founder of a now-shuttered private charter school.” 

“From the beginning when libelous assertions were made about MPS and MTEA, we have been alarmed at the clear anti-public education motivation of these recall efforts,” Walker-Henry said. “The people of Milwaukee should remember that this campaign was fueled by individuals and groups whose sole vision of education in Milwaukee is its complete privatization.” 

MTEA and Zombor filed complaints with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission last month. Zombor received an email July 22 from commission staff counsel David Buerger, saying her complaint would be investigated. 

On Tuesday, Zombor said the Ethics Commission has a yearslong backlog and she’s not confident the recall group will be looked into before the next MPS school board election. 

Gokalgandi’s term expires in April 2025. The other four board members will serve through April 2027. 

“I believe that the city of Milwaukee voters want school board members that believe in public schools,” Zombor said. “I think they want school board members who are going to build the district up and not tear it down. Even parents, regardless of where they send their kids to school, want a school board that has the best interest of public schools in mind.”