Well, the Spring 2024 election is now behind us. You can find the significant results yourself, but a clear take-away is that the Democratic Party is showing its basic unity. The "uninstructed" vote, a protest vote designed to register opposition to the Biden administration's Israel policy — calling for a ceasefire and a two state solution to end the Israel-Gaza war while continuing its supply of US materiél to Israel — has some strength behind it but it's unclear whether people who recorded an uninstructed vote will stay home or vote for someone other than Biden in the general election in November. Biden won 88.6% of the votes in the Democratic presidential preference primary while uninstructed votes accounted for 8.8% with Dean Phillips at 3.1%.

Meanwhile, on the red team's side, Butternut Berlusconi managed to acquire 79.2% of the Republican vote, with Nikki Haley earning 12.8%, Ron DeSantis 3.3%, uninstructed 2.2%, Chris Christie 1.6%, and Vivek Ramaswamy trailing everyone with 0.9%. That adds up to ~20% of the primary vote going somewhere other than to Boss Tweet.

The press can make any news into bad news for someone. And the Journal Sentinel made sure to to tell us that "voters who chose 'uninstructed delegation' in Wisconsin's presidential primary Tuesday more than doubled the 20,682 votes President Joe Biden won the state by in 2020, sending a warning sign for his reelection chances in the battleground state." But the same Journal Sentinel article failed to notice that Biden won 506,969 votes, while Orange Julius garnered 472,227 votes, a difference of 79,742. That nearly 80,000 vote margin almost quadrupled Biden's 2020 winning margin. I say, it's better to be on our side in Wisconsin than on theirs. Today's Hopium Chronicles offers a bit more wind in my sails. 14 Polls Now With Biden Leads, Trump Is The Ugliest Thing Any Of Us Has Ever Seen.

For a reasonable look at what the new Assembly maps may mean, WisPolitics presents color-coded maps and an early peek at who is running for each seat. Grassroots North Shore is mostly focused on Assembly Districts 10, 22, 23, and 24. The posting is as of March 11, 2024, so things are likely to change as candidates begin collecting nomination signatures on April 15.</p

The WisPolitics maps for the state senate districts are also available. The maps and the discussion of each district are dated March 5, so again we will know more when candidates start collecting signatures. Right now, SD 8 has one declared candidate, incumbent Senator Duey Stroebel and the WisPolitics assessment of the district's partisan performance is that it leans Republican at 53%. On the Democratic side, Jodi Habush Sinykin, who Dan Knodl beat (under the old maps) in the spring 2023 special election, has been weighing a bid.

More complicated and confusing is the situation in Senate District 4, which includes Assembly District 10 representing Glendale, Shorewood and part of north Milwaukee. Here's how WisPolitics explains the dynamic in this district: "Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, resigned from the seat earlier this year to accept an appointment to the Milwaukee County Circuit Court. The guv hasn’t yet called a special election, though both Drake and Myers have indicated they would run in one." We still do not have a date for the special election or the primary that would precede it if both Dora Drake and LaKeisha Myers declare their candidacy. Both currently sit in the Assembly but they would have to resign their seats to run in the special election. And that would mean two vacant seats, which also means that GOP Assembly Representatives could then override any Governor Evers's veto. A special election for SD 4 would also trigger elections to fill Drake's and Myers's seats! Any way you slice it, Grassroots North Shore supporters in Assembly District 10 will have two additional elections in 2024.

While having more elections to worry about may not be the most welcome news, on the fundraising front Wisconsin Democrats seem to be doing just fine. Again, as WisPolitics reported on March 29, "The state Dem Party has outraised its GOP counterpart 15-to-1 over the first three months of 2024 — a huge resource advantage ahead of what’s expected to be a fierce battle for legislative seats this fall. It also shows the fundraising disparity between the two parties hasn’t improved since Republicans brought on Brian Schimming as a full-time, paid chair in late 2022. Last year, with both parties heavily involved in a state Supreme Court race that flipped control to liberals for the first time in 15 years, the fundraising disparity was more than 4-to-1 in Dems’ favor."

It's very early days for the US Senate race in Wisconsin but Urban Milwaukee has already published an analysis of Tammy Baldwin and Eric Hovde's campaigns. Using Drastically Different Strategies To Win Votes. The piece looks at the candidates' strategies and also outlines their positions on key issues.

And now for some quick hits on stories that made the news. The woman who requested absentee ballots in the names of Wisconsin service people and had them sent to Representative Janel Brandtjen has been found guilty of election fraud. Urban Milwaukee explains that the "case comes as scrutiny around election integrity is on the forefront of many voters’ minds going into the 2024 elections, as the presidential race is shaping up to be a rematch of the 2020 election." And Jared Kushner sees valuable waterfront property when he eyeballs the Gaza strip and dreams of a "solution" to the war. Just move the Palestinians into the Negev desert, clean up Gaza, and build condos or something with lovely views of the Mediterranean!

But I'll leave you to consider the Milwaukee area's future as you scan the Events Listings. America’s Climate Boomtowns Are Waiting. "In a world running short on fresh water in its lakes and rivers, more than 20 percent of that water was right here [in the upper midwest]. From a climate standpoint, there couldn’t be a safer place in the country—no hurricanes, no sea-level rise, not much risk of wildfires. That explains why models suggest many more people will soon arrive here." So let's look on the bright side of life!

EVENTS

Friday, April 5

Saturday, April 6

Saturday, April 13

Sunday, April 14

Monday, April 15

Tuesday, April 16

Wednesday, April 17

SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, April 20

Sunday, April 21

Monday, April 22

Saturday & Sunday, June 8-9

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