Anti-Trump protests gave way to local fervor that helped turn Wisconsin back to blue

[workinclasszero]

By Peter Slevin November 23 at 6:37 PM

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Two years ago, before Donald Trump was elected, Anna Rybicki would not have been seated at the dining room table at her home on Rust Street, devising a school reform strategy with five allies. She would not have attended a three-day community organizing workshop or made a pitch to the school board.

“It has changed my life, him getting elected,” said Rybicki, 39, a lawyer who has been a stay-at-home mother since 2011. “I never cried; I mobilized. That’s what felt good to me. I went to every meeting of everything.”

Since the eruption of nationwide anti-Trump protests in January 2017, a central question has been whether the energy would persist. The signs in Wisconsin so far have been positive for Democrats: They unexpectedly won a state Supreme Court race in April and flipped a reliably Republican state Senate seat in June. On Nov. 6, they defeated GOP Gov. Scott Walker for the first time in four tries. The statewide turnout percentage was among the highest in the country.

In Eau Claire, population 68,000, voters toppled a Republican-appointed judge and elected liberal City Council candidates this year. That pointed to an unexpected development: Democratic activism spurred by a national election is being channeled into changes at the local level.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/anti-trump-protests-gave-way-to-local-fervor-that-helped-turn-wisconsin-back-to-blue/2018/11/23/cca2b672-edb7-11e8-baac-2a674e91502b_story.html

[BlueWI]

1. Yes!

Congrats to all who have made these accomplishments possible!

Time to do our part in creating Blue Wave 2.0 in 2020!!

[onetexan]

2. In deed this is very encouraging

We need to keep momentum going to 2020!

[jodymarie aimee]

3. for the millionth time.. WE ARE NOT BLUE

Folks are erroneously saying Wisconsin went blue.....No, we got a DEM Governor..Trifecta broken...

Wisconsin had a Republican trifecta

Midterms we got a Dem Gov, but on the state level....I am talking about who makes the laws.....Assembly is 63/36 Republicans ...Senate is 18/15 Republicans....

[BlueWI]

4. It's a WaPo headline.

For now, I will accept this recognition that our efforts made a difference in 2018 - no more Walker, and we are trending towards blue, not only with the Evers win, but with the huge wins in the Treasurer's race, the AG race, and the US Senate. Not to mention holding on to Secretary of State, our assembly rep and Senate rep in Western Wisconsin, and some big wins in the city council locally and the Wisconsin Supreme Court this spring.

So it's an understatement to say we only won the governor's office. A better balance has been achieved ahead of the critical 2020 election. Time to keep putting the work in. Meanwhile, I will take time to congratulate our team on a job well done.

[lostnfound]

6. Every discussion of wisonsin should start with "36% foot on the scale"

Impressive voter suppression, gerrymander, and perhaps plain old fashioned cheating.

Wisconsin State House +8 gap -> - 28 gap = -36% distortion
popular vote: 53-45 = +8
seats won: 36-64 =-28

We need the old Wisconsin back. If the gap of 36% held (which it wouldn’t, but IF it did) we would need 50% + 36% = 86% to get a simple majority??

All things being equal or fair, you would expect around a 53% popular vote to result in 53% house seats being won by Democrats. If you came up with 36%, you were robbed. By what?

[dembotoz]

5. nice article

welcome the good news...for so long there was so little of it

[CaptYossarian]

7. You're not a workin class zero

The bottom of the totem pole supports the whole thing. It wouldn't stand tall and proud without a strong base.