CHICAGO — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday declared himself to be “jazzed as hell” that 94 of the state’s 95 delegates had thrown their support to Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee — perhaps so jazzed that he stumbled awkwardly through his ceremonial roll call speech during the second night of the party’s national convention.

Surrounded by Wisconsin Democrats sporting cheeseheads as “Jump Around” played in the background, Evers ran through the highlights of the state’s athletic teams and thanked Wisconsinite Jason Rae, secretary of the Democratic National Committee, who called the roll at the convention for the second time in that post.

“As the proud governor of the great state of Wisconsin, we’re home of the Green Bay Packers. We’re home of the Wisconsin Badgers. We’re home of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Milwaukee Bucks as well as U.S. senator— our best U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and our great congressional folks Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan,” Evers said.

“I’m here because I’m jazzed as hell to announce that Wisconsin has one vote ‘present’ and 94 votes for —” the second-term Democrat said before pausing and laughing after seeming to lose his place in his remarks.

The “jazzed as hell” line was a reprisal from his 2022 victory speech, having secured a second term after fending off a challenge from Republican businessman Tim Michels.

“You got me going here,” he said. “Former Wisconsinite, former state — oh my God,” he said.

More: Tony Evers’ adventurous roll-call moment at DNC got social media buzzing

Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Ben Wikler, standing alongside him, cheered, “We love you, Tony!”

“Ninety-four votes for—” Evers continued, looking down at prepared remarks as Wisconsin delegates chanted his name, “I’ll get there, Jason, I’ll get there.”

“Ninety-four votes for former Wisconsinite, Vice President, and our next president of the United States of America, Kamala Harris,” he said.

From the ages of 3 to 5, Harris lived on the west side of Madison, before leaving in 1970. Harris visited her childhood home when she campaigned in Madison in March. Both of her parents worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during her childhood.

Asked about the roll call flub, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said, “Tony Evers isn’t a slick or polished politician — and that’s what Wisconsinites love about him.”

“He’s a former teacher from Plymouth who’s got the good grace and humility to laugh if he misspeaks and still be jazzed as hell,” Cudaback said in a statement.

Evers isn’t the first prominent Wisconsinite to slip up during a DNC roll call. During the 2020 convention, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes represented Wisconsin and cast 67 Wisconsin votes for “Joseph Bidens.” He quickly corrected the glitch by saying “Joseph R. Biden” before the broadcast cut away.

The governor’s roll call speech came on the same night Harris rallied more than 15,000 supporters at Fiserv Forum, breaking away from the DNC to speak to a raucous crowd in the packed Milwaukee arena that hosted the Republican convention last month.

That event was the biggest rally the campaign has had in Wisconsin to date, and among its largest nationally.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

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.”