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.

Alyssa Wahlborg knows that her politics don’t always gel with that of the community where she attends college. 

While a lot of students and faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater might lean left, the larger community “leans a bit red,” she told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” Nevertheless, Wahlborg sees hope that the Democratic Party can make gains in rural Walworth County and elsewhere. 

“Having conversations with people on our campus makes you realize how blue we can get, and how we can flip our district,” Wahlborg said. “We even flipped our city council blue. We (elected) Democrats to our school boards.”

Democrats have found new optimism since Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket.

“There really is a passion that we’re seeing kind of reemerge now that Kamala Harris is the nominee,” Wahlborg said. “We’re just finding a lot more excitement on our campus, even when we’re canvassing. We’re finding excitement as we’re connecting with voters and young people, especially.”

That surge in optimism is noticeable on college campuses around Wisconsin, said leaders from College Democrats of Wisconsin. “Wisconsin Today” connected with three student political activists ahead of the Democratic Convention in Chicago. 

In July, “Wisconsin Today” heard the perspectives of three College Republican leaders ahead of the Republican Convention in Milwaukee.  

Tufts University reports that 8 million citizens have reached voting age for the 2024 presidential election.  Although young people haven’t historically voted in high numbers, there are signs that that is changing, especially in Wisconsin.

The U.S Census Bureau reported that Wisconsin led the nation in the percentage of people under 25 who voted in the 2022 Midterms. 

Matthew Lehner, the chair of the College Democrats of Wisconsin and a student at UW-Eau Claire, said that the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning federal abortion rights is motivating young people. 

“Voters don’t forget what politicians and people in power do to them, and we certainly will not forget what was handed down by the six right wing justices on the Supreme Court,” Lehner said. 

Climate change is also on the minds of many young voters, Lehner said. “We are in the fight for our climate, we’re in the fight for our planet,” he said. “Young people are looking to politicians of all parties and asking, ‘What are you going to do to protect the environment? What are you going to do to reduce emissions?’”

Wahlborg said that economic issues are also important, including the cost of higher education and providing healthy food to places that are food deserts. 

While the students are energized by Harris’ elevation to the top of the ticket, Sam Brewer, a Lawrence senior who is active with Lawrence Student Democrats, is just as excited by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz being named the vice presidential pick. 

Brewer is a Minnesota native who spent time this summer canvassing for Democrats in his home state. 

“I might be a little biased. Walz has been my governor, and I feel like he’s done a great job,” Brewer said. “It’s incredible when you look at the things that he’s accomplished. He’s provided free meals to children in schools. He’s worked to allocate money towards affordable housing. He’s helped enshrine reproductive freedom here in Minnesota. He did this all with a very slim legislative majority. Walz really has delivered for Minnesota, and I look forward to seeing him deliver for the United States.”

In 2023 over 72% of assisted living facilities in Wisconsin received zero complaints

There’s no question that Wisconsin’s aging population will present challenges in the healthcare industry in the coming years, including the state’s assisted living industry, which is experiencing a steady increase in seniors utilizing services at more than 4,000 facilities throughout the state.

According to the Wisconsin’s Department of Health Services, “The state’s population aged 65 and older is expected to grow by 640,000, or 72%, between 2015 and 2040, which is six times higher than the projected overall Wisconsin population growth of 12%.”

Many of those seniors can expect to find quality care in assisted living facilities throughout Wisconsin, which are already serving well over 40,000 individuals with very diverse needs, ranging from relatively independent seniors to those experiencing advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, developmental and physical disabilities. It’s an important industry and one that is highly regulated.

Journal Sentinel series focused on small percentage of facilities

Providing care to such a vulnerable population warrants government oversight and understandably draws attention from the media and public at-large. A recent series of stories published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel focused on challenges facing a small percentage of assisted living facilities in Wisconsin, highlighting some unfortunate and tragic circumstances involving residents.

To be sure, our industry is committed to providing safe and quality care to its residents, and while those situations highlighted in the Journal Sentinel’s coverage should not be downplayed, they are also in the minority. In 2023 over 72% of facilities received zero complaints. And, of the complaints received, over half were unsubstantiated.

Exceptional investigation on assisted living care forces uncomfortable conversations

Anyone interested in learning more about Wisconsin’s assisted living industry can access  the most recent report from the Department of Health Services Division of Quality Assurance titled the “State of Assisted Living,” it reviews the 4,005 assisted living providers in Wisconsin. Our state has a two-pronged regulatory approach that incorporates unannounced survey visits and investigating complaints.       

In short, the vast majority of Wisconsin’s assisted living providers are doing a tremendous job of providing quality care and services.

It is also important to clarify that assisted living facilities are meant to be an individual’s home that can help provide activities of daily living.  Admission into an assisted living facility requires an assessment that involves input from the resident (or legally authorized individual), and the resident’s physician. The state holds providers accountable to that assessment. 

The state can grant waivers to allow for additional hours of nursing/specialized care, but approval is on a case-by-case basis. The assessment dictates what and how care services will be provided and staffed. As in other healthcare facilities, failure to follow through would lead to regulatory action from DQA.

Medicaid funding is top challenge for assisted living facilities

The top challenges facing assisted living today are competing in the labor market for quality caregivers and a woefully underfunded state Medicaid long-term care program, i.e., Family Care.  Further, the need for assisted living will grow as Wisconsin’s population continues to age.           

An increasing number of seniors are having to rely on Family Care to obtain their long-term care services. Family Care pays much less than the actual cost of providing care – a situation that puts providers at a further disadvantage of being able to offer competitive wages and benefits compared with the service and light industry sectors. For example, the Family Care program has assumed caregiver wages are $13.02 per hour wherein reality, caregiver wages average $17 per hour. 

The Family Care program was not designed to quickly react to economic market fluctuations compared with other industries that can simply raise prices to offset higher costs. Therefore, it is impossible for assisted living providers to compete with other industries and companies such as warehousing, restaurants, retail, gas/convenience stores, etc. when hiring workers.

Finding hope while friends faced loss. We feared for dad’s life after selling our dairy herd.

The state needs to continue instituting much needed changes to its Medicaid Family Care program to recognize actual costs, such as caregiver wages and inflation on goodsservices. On Aug. 1, Gov. Tony Evers directed DHS to invest $258 million into the Family Care program. The funding will raise caregiver wage assumptions from $13.02 to $15.75 per hour. This investment is desperately needed and will be a lifeline to assisted living providers who are struggling to make ends meet – and in particular, avoid assisted living facilities from shutting down or exiting the Family Care program.

Overall, assisted living facilities are committed to providing outstanding quality and compassionate care required to meet the ever-changing needs of Wisconsin’s frail elderly and disabled citizens. While the state’s recent investment in Family Care is greatly needed and appreciated, more work will need to be done to support the growing care and living needs of Wisconsin’s aging population.    

Michael S. Pochowski is president and CEO of the Wisconsin Assisted Living Association.