Weekly News From Your Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair   The last time Wisconsin held a spring election with no statewide race on the ballot was 2014. That year—a politically miserable year!—only 505,729 Wisconsinites bothered to vote.   This year, preliminary estimates suggest the number was 940,300. That’s an 86% jump.   In fact, it’s more than the number of voters in the 2015 spring race for State Supreme Court, the 2017 race for Superintendent of Public Instruction, and it’s not far from the number for the total votes in the 2018 State Supreme Court and 2021 DPI races. In 2022, turnout in places with few contested elections, like Dane County, was low—which means it was proportionately even higher in places with hard-fought contests.   In short, it’s a stunning figure.   It’s important to remember that, while we talk a lot about “turnout” as our goal, elections depend on who turns out. Republicans try to turn out Republican voters and suppress Democratic voters. We don’t suppress anyone, but we focus our time and effort on turning out Democrats.   The enormous increase in voter engagement this spring relative to previous years is a clear indication of the political landscape of this moment, and in some ways it rhymes with what has happened in elections across the country over the last year. In Virginia’s governor’s race in 2021, Democratic turnout was up sharply from previous years. But GOP turnout spiked up even higher.   In Wisconsin, GOP turnout shot up—but thanks to all of the tremendous organizing by you, candidates, Democrats, and allies across the state, turnout on our side shot up as well, and met the moment. We won some, they won some, and overall, it was a rough draw. Much like November elections. We have to expect that this fall, turnout will be massive, and races will be close.   There are at least three local elections this spring that were tied—and came down to a coin flip. As we work to prepare to reelect Governor Evers and AG Kaul, defeat Ron Johnson, and elect Democrats up and down the ballot, hold that in your mind. Expect the race to be tied. Expect the next voter you call to be the one who could tip us over the edge into victory.   We’re going to have to fight for every single vote, in rural and suburban and urban areas alike, across lines of race and ethnicity and gender—everywhere, and everyone. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do. That’s the way we’ll win.   In solidarity and gratitude for everyone’s tremendous efforts already this year   Ben    FIGHT   WisDem Chair and Wisconsin Labor Leaders Host Roundtable Against Ron Johnson’s Tax Plan   Ahead of Tax Day, WisDems Chair Ben Wikler hosted a roundtable with Wisconsin labor leaders to call out Ron Johnson and his support of Rick Scott’s GOP agenda that would raise taxes on 32% of Wisconsinites while hiking health insurance premiums.  The President of the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Union and Vice President of the Wisconsin Farm Union and spoke about how this agenda would raise taxes on Wisconsinites — including farmers, plumbers and working families across the state – and how Ron Johnson and other Republican politicians have rigged the tax code to benefit themselves and their ultra-wealthy donors. Meanwhile, Democrats are working to pass legislation to cap monthly insulin costs while pushing to make sure billionaires pay their fair share without raising taxes on anyone making less than $400,000.       Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler: “Ron Johnson and his Republican allies in the Senate and Republicans in Congress have done everything they could to stack the deck against regular Wisconsinites. In Ron Johnson's world, you have to pay to play.”  President of the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Union Corey Gall: “We know how important unions are and that blue-collar workers are the backbone of our country and the state's economy. Which is why it's so disappointing to hear that Ron Johnson and the Republican Party [are] running on an agenda that will raise taxes on 32% of [Wisconsinites], meaning that the folks who work so hard to provide for themselves and their families will have even more to pay. And why do the Republicans want to raise taxes on the working class? [So] they can pay for tax giveaways to the biggest donors.”  Vice President of the Wisconsin Farmers Union Darin Von Ruden: “We really need to find a senator that is going to be willing to do what's right for rural Wisconsin — and really all of Wisconsin on many different fronts. [Johnson is] having this continued process of voting no for dollars that can come into the state to help with many different things such as infrastructure, roads, bridges, and broadband. We need to find a senator that is actually looking out for the people of Wisconsin and not his own best interests.” .   Rebecca Kleefisch’s Tax Claims Found to be “Mostly False”   Shocking no one, a central claim in one of Rebecca Kleefisch’s first campaign ads this cycle – that she cut taxes for Wisconsinites – was deemed “Mostly False” by PolitiFact.  Kleefisch is yet again misleading Wisconsinites. As lieutenant governor, Kleefisch lied about her record on everything ranging from health care to the economy. “Mostly False,” “False,” “Ridiculously False,” “Pants on Fire,” and the “Lie of the Year” are all phrases that have been used to describe claims made by Kleefisch.  Kleefisch even spread several of PolitiFact’s “Lies of the Year” — her claim that the Affordable Care Act was “a government takeover of health care” and her belief in debunked conspiracies about government “death panels.”  She also earned a “Mostly False” for claiming her cold call persuaded a company to relocate to Wisconsin from Illinois, with PolitiFact saying Kleefisch “played a minimal role.”  What is true about Kleefisch’s record on taxes is that her wealthy friends, donors, and big corporations benefited during the Walker-Kleefisch administration. In their first budget, $366 million went to tax cuts for multi-state corporations and $436 million in tax cuts for capital gains relief for the wealthy.   Ron Johnson Admits He and His Biggest Donors Benefited From Changes He Had Made to 2017 Tax Bill   This week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Ron Johnson admitted that he and his biggest donors benefited from the changes that were made to the 2017 tax bill in order to earn Johnson’s vote — something Democrats have said for months.  “Now, did my business benefit? Sure. Did some of my donor businesses? Sure. When you give tax relief to everybody, everybody benefits,” Johnson said. But not everyone benefits the same amount. Johnson’s tax cut went overwhelmingly to the top 1% – while the bottom two-thirds only got 4% of the benefit.  In a meeting with his supporters, Johnson acknowledged the Oshkosh-based plastics business he owned — Pacur LLC — benefited from the small-business tax provision along with some of his prominent donors. ProPublica reported in August that the tax break Johnson championed resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in deductions to just three ultra-wealthy donors who funded his campaigns.  Ron Johnson’s admission highlights where his interests lie — not with the people he was voted to represent, but instead the billionaires who he claims already pay their fair share in taxes.    Attorney General Josh Kaul Pushing for Safer Wisconsin Package   This week, Attorney General Josh Kaul pushed the Legislature to take up  the $115 million Safer Wisconsin legislative package and stop standing in the way of getting resources out to communities.  "We can't stop now," He said. "It is April — it's going to be more than a year before the next state budget passes. We need to get resources to public safety professionals."  The major features of Attorney General Kaul’s Safer Wisconsin package include: Strengthening community trust and preventing crime. Keeping guns out of the hands of those who've been proven to be dangerous. Addressing substance use disorder and mental health crises. Holding offenders accountable. Funding for community policing and crime victim services. Democratic leaders have voiced their support of AG Kaul’s Safer Wisconsin, praising the gun control proposals and building community trust. Safer Wisconsin builds off of Attorney General Kaul and Governor Evers’ previous $45 million investment into supporting victim services and violence prevention.    Democrats Invest $115 Million In Wisconsin Infrastructure   Thanks to President Biden and Congressional Democrats, Wisconsin is slated to receive millions from President Biden’s infrastructure law, funding projects across the state. The federal dollars will build on Governor Evers’ work to rebuild Wisconsin’s roads and bridges while expanding access to high-speed internet, reliable public transportation and clean drinking water.  The Biden-Harris administration announced that Wisconsin will receive $115 million to be split across state government and local municipalities. Though the exact breakdown of the funds have not yet been finalized, a dedicated portion of funds will be allocated to urban areas to invest in transit projects: Milwaukee will receive $32 million; $12.5 million is on its way to Madison; Kenosha will receive $123,725; Green Bay will bring in $3.4 million; and Appleton will receive just shy of $4 million. The Walker-Kleefisch administration put politics over helping Wisconsinites when they  rejected over $810 million in federal funding to invest in high speed rail  — turning their backs on the creation of up to 10,000 jobs for the state – just because the funding came from a Democratic administration. Thankfully, both Governor Evers and President Biden are committed to doing the right thing and investing in Wisconsin.