Wisconsin
Wikler, Dem legislative leaders say Harris-Walz ticket boosting Wisconsin Dems’ chances in November
![Wikler, Dem legislative leaders say Harris-Walz ticket boosting Wisconsin Dems’ chances in November Wikler, Dem legislative leaders say Harris-Walz ticket boosting Wisconsin Dems’ chances in November](https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/240821Wikler_Hesselbein_Neubauer.png)
State Dem Party Chair Ben Wikler told reporters today the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz ticket is creating excitement, including a surge in volunteers and large turnout at nominees’ events, like last night’s rally in Milwaukee.
That, he said, means good things for Dem candidates in downballot contests.
“This is a tipping point, turning point moment for the state of Wisconsin, and that’s true not just at the presidential level, and in Tammy Baldwin’s reelection, and then the 1st and 3rd, who knows? Maybe the 8th. Who knows which congressional districts?” he said to reporters after the Wisconsin delegation’s breakfast today. “It’s also true in our state Legislature that has been calcified for so long by a gerrymander meant to keep voters out and keep Republicans in. Now voters will have the final say, and voters are voting to move forward.”
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, echoed that sentiment.
“I would say that at the beginning, I was saying that a lot of the energy was coming from our candidates on the doors. We were talking and listening to what people wanted, and it was really exciting,” she said. “But now there’s a fusion at the top, and it’s just exploding. We’re getting so much excitement at the bottom and at the top of the ticket that I’m really excited for our chances.”
Hesselbein predicted Dems would get close this year to retaking the Senate–predicting 15 seats–and seal that effort in two years.
“We’re going to get really close this year in the Senate, but then in two years, we’re actually going to be able to flip the Senate, because the numbers there are even better than they are for this year,” she said.
Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, D-Racine, praised the effort Wikler is leading to help Dems flip the Assembly.
“We have hundreds of organizers who are out working every day with our candidates knocking on doors for the entire ticket, including state legislative candidates,” she said. “And then, of course, we all know that Ben and the state party are incredible fundraisers, and they are going to make sure our candidates have the air support that they need to get their message out to voters and can counter Republican misinformation about our candidates.”
She said Dems are running candidates in 97 out of 99 districts and are serious about her prediction Dems would retake the Assembly. She said under the new legislative maps, 52 of the districts went for Dem Gov. Tony Evers in 2022.
“So the path is right there. We’ve got a number of new blue seats coming to us with the maps. And then, of course, there are a number that are right in the middle,” she said. “We’re going to go fight for them. Those are seats we can win if we knock on the doors and we directly connect with voters. And our candidates are doing that every single day.”
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Wisconsin
Which song did Wisconsin choose for the DNC roll call?
![Which song did Wisconsin choose for the DNC roll call? Which song did Wisconsin choose for the DNC roll call?](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/62e14f6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/7271x3817+0+839/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnpr.brightspotcdn.com%2Fdims3%2Fdefault%2Fstrip%2Ffalse%2Fcrop%2F7271x5453%20455%200%2Fresize%2F7271x5453%21%2F%3Furl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa8%2F3b%2Fa83ec14b46fa95c0d6b8c14ce97c%2Fgettyimages-2167641029.jpg)
The NPR Network will be reporting live from Chicago throughout the week bringing you the latest on the Democratic National Convention.
DJ Cassidy and the Democrats played special tracks for each state and territory during Tuesday night’s roll call.
WATCH: The full Democratic National Convention celebratory roll call
But what song — or songs, in some cases — repped your state? We found them all so you don’t have to. Better yet, we offer some reasons behind the choices.
Alabama: Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
While Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ode to Alabama might seem like an obvious choice, the band was formed in Jacksonville, Fla.
Alaska: Feel It Still – Portugal. The Man
The rock band is from Wasilla, Alaska, where two of its members met in high school and began playing music together.
American Samoa: Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga
The song choice is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the territory’s position as the southernmost territory in the United States.
Arizona: Edge of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks
Singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks, known for both her solo career and her work in the band Fleetwood Mac, is from Phoenix.
Arkansas: Don’t Stop – Fleetwood Mac
Speaking of Nicks, her band’s track “Don’t Stop” became the official song of Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, with the band even uniting to perform at the former president’s first inaugural ball. Clinton is famously from Hope, Arkansas, and served as the state’s governor from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992.
AFP/AFP via Getty Images / AFP
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AFP
California: The Next Episode – Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Dogg,
California Love – Tupac Shakur, featuring Dr. Dre, Alright – Kendrick Lamar, Not Like Us – Kendrick Lamar
Nearly all of the above artists are legendary California musicians, with Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar born in Compton, and Snoop Dog born in Long Beach. Only Tupac does not count himself among the native Californians, having been born in New York City.
Colorado: September – Earth, Wind & Fire
Philip James Bailey, one of two lead singers of Earth, Wind & Fire was born in Denver. What’s more, he turned to Denver East High School friends Larry Dunn and Andrew Woolfolk to shore up the band after some original members left, according to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.
Connecticut: Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) – Stevie Wonder
It’s “kind of a perfect campaign song,” as Chris Willman, the chief music critic at Variety, notes on Morning Edition. Wonder is from Michigan, but that didn’t stop Barack Obama from making “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” a hallmark of his two presidential campaigns.
Delaware: Higher Love – Kygo & Whitney Houston
Higher Love has been a staple of President Biden’s campaign, with the track playing at the end of his 2020 acceptance speech.
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images / AFP
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AFP
Democrats abroad: Love Train – The O’Jays
Washington, D.C.: Let Me Clear My Throat – DJ Kool
The legendary rapper was born and raised in our nation’s capital.
Florida: I Won’t Back Down – Tom Petty
Tom Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida. His “American Girl” was also used by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
Georgia: Turn Down For What – DJ Snake and Lil Jon
Lil Jon made a surprise convention appearance to express his support for Kamala Harris. The rapper is from Atlanta, while DJ Snake, his counterpart on the track, is from Paris.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images North America
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Getty Images North America
Guam: Espresso – Sabrina Carpenter
The summer hit, which has over a billion streams on Spotify, is one of several songs that may have been chosen simply for their mass appeal — and understandably so. In June, Carpenter became the first artist since The Beatles to have two songs debut within the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100.
Hawai’i: 24K Magic – Bruno Mars
R&B and funk musician Mars is from Honolulu, Hawai’i.
Idaho: Private Idaho – The B-52’s
“Private Idaho” was a single off the Georgia band’s second album, though they didn’t play a show in the state of Idaho until 2011.
Illinois: Sirius – The Alan Parsons Project
“Sirius” was the walk-on music for the Chicago’s NBA team, the Bulls.
Indiana – Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough – Michael Jackson
Jackson was born in Gary, Ind. — the eighth of 10 children.
Iowa: Celebration – Kool & The Gang
A classic party anthem, Kool & The Gang actually hail from New Jersey. Meanwhile, Iowa passed on their hometown heroes of the band Slipknot.
Kansas: Carry On Wayward Son – Kansas
The band Kansas was formed in the state in 1973, hailing from its capital city of Topeka.
Kentucky: First Class – Jack Harlow
Rapper and singer Harlow was born in Louisville, Ky., and raised in Shelbyville.
Louisiana: All I Do Is Win – DJ Khaled
Rapper and producer DJ Khaled is from New Orleans.
Maine: Shut Up and Dance – WALK THE MOON
It’s a universally-adored pop hit, even if the state did borrow it from a Cincinnati, Ohio, band.
Maryland: Respect – Aretha Franklin
Using an anthem by the queen of soul — with roots in Tennessee and Michigan — is the only reason we can think of to pass on Billie Holiday, Toni Braxton and David Byrne, who are among other talent with Maryland ties.
Massachusetts: I’m Shipping Up to Boston – Dropkick Murphys
The American Celtic band was formed in Quincy, Mass. The song itself describes a sailor with a missing leg, who is going to Boston in search of a wooden prosthetic.
Michigan: Lose Yourself – Eminem
The rapper famously grew up in Detroit and his 2002 movie 8 Mile is set in the Motor City.
Minnesota: Kiss – Prince & The Revolution, 1999 – Prince & The Revolution
The celebrated musician was born in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1958. The singer also died in his home state in Paisley Park in 2016 at the age of 57.
Mississippi: Twistin’ the Night Away – Sam Cooke
One of the most influential soul singers of all time, Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Miss.
Missouri: Good Luck, Babe! – Chappell Roan
The 26-year-old from Willard, Mo., has found herself on a meteoric rise to stardom following the release of her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Montana: American Woman – Lenny Kravitz
Several of the songs remaining in the DNC roll call playlist veer towards simply keeping the party going, with no obvious ties between the tracks and their assigned states. But these hits are on-brand for a party building momentum around the goal of putting a woman in the White House.
Nebraska: Firework – Katy Perry
Nevada: Mr. Brightside – The Killers
The rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers and Dave Keuning.
New Hampshire: Don’t Stop Believin’ – Journey
New Jersey: Born in the U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen
“The Boss” is famously from Long Branch, N.J.
New Mexico: Confident – Demi Lovato
The singer-songwriter was born in Albuquerque, N.M.
New York: Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys
The song serves as an ode to New York City by the two artists, who are from Brooklyn and Manhattan respectively.
North Carolina: Raise Up – Petey Pablo
The rapper and record producer is from Greenville, N.C.
North Dakota: Girl on Fire – Alicia Keys
Northern Mariana Islands: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Ohio: Green Light – John Legend featuring André 3000
Legend was born in Springfield, Ohio, while André 3000 hails from Atlanta.
Oklahoma: Garth Brooks – Ain’t Goin’ Down (’til the Sun Comes Up)
Country singer Brooks is from Tulsa.
Oregon: Float On – Modest Mouse
The rock band was formed in Issaquah, Wash., in 1993, but is now based in Portland, Ore.
Pennsylvania: Motownphilly – Boyz II Men, Black and Yellow – Wiz Khalifa
Vocal group Boyz II Men is from Philadelphia, with the music video for “Motownphilly” filmed across locations in their home city. Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” is about growing up in Pittsburgh, Pa. The colors represent that city’s NFL team, the Steelers.
During their 2011 Super Bowl match-up against the Green Bay Packers, the team used the track as their fight song, while their opponents used a remix, “Green and Yellow,” as their own.
Puerto Rico: Despacito – Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee
Both Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee hail from San Juan, Puerto Rico. A remix of the hit track featuring Justin Bieber was released in 2017.
Rhode Island: Shake it Off – Taylor Swift
Swift owns the single most expensive home in the state of Rhode Island — an entire estate called High Watch, which she purchased in 2013.
South Carolina: Get Up I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine – James Brown
James Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in Barnswell, S.C.
South Dakota: What I Like About You – The Romantics
Tennessee: 9 to 5 – Dolly Parton
Country music star Dolly Parton was born in Pittman Center, Tenn., and currently lives just outside of Nashville. Her Dollywood theme park and resorts are located in Pigeon Forge.
Texas: TEXAS HOLD EM’ – Beyoncé
This one’s a little self-explanatory.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for iHeartRadio / Getty Images North America
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Getty Images North America
Utah: Animal – Neon Trees
The rock band formed in Provo, Utah, in 2005.
Vermont: Stick Season – Noah Kahan
The 27-year-old is from Stratfford, Vt.
Virgin Islands: VI to the Bone – Mic Love
The rapper hails from the Virgin Islands.
Virginia: The Way I Are – Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson and D.O.E.
Timbaland is from Norfolk, Va., while Keri Hilson is from Decatur, Georgia, and D.O.E. is from New York.
Washington: Can’t Hold Us – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
The rapper is from Kent, Wash., while Ryan Lewis is from Spokane.
West Virginia: Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
While Denver is from New Mexico, his hit song describes the natural beauty of West Virginia, including the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River.
Wisconsin: Jump Around – House of Pain
The 1992 hit is played at University of Wisconsin home football games as students and fans jump and cheer, becoming synonymous with the state’s flagship university.
Wyoming: I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
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Note: A previous version of this story misspelled Bruce Springsteen’s birthplace. It is Long Branch, New Jersey. It also incorrectly identified when The Killers formed. That was in 2001.
Copyright 2024 NPR
Wisconsin
Tony Evers’ ‘jazzed as hell’ DNC roll call speech leads to awkward stumbles
![Tony Evers’ ‘jazzed as hell’ DNC roll call speech leads to awkward stumbles Tony Evers’ ‘jazzed as hell’ DNC roll call speech leads to awkward stumbles](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/08/21/USAT/74881789007-xxx-jc-70457-dcb.jpg?auto=webp&crop=5615,3159,x0,y0&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Gov. Tony Evers struggles with nominating roll call at 2024 DNC
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers struggled announcing the state’s delegates for Kamala Harris’ nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Tuesday night.
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.
Wisconsin
Democrats ask Wisconsin Supreme Court to boot Green Party from ballot
![Democrats ask Wisconsin Supreme Court to boot Green Party from ballot Democrats ask Wisconsin Supreme Court to boot Green Party from ballot](https://www.wpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/25645616081_618ac6a5f2_o-scaled.jpg)
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.
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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.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
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