Grassroots politics is taking place in Ashlie Benson’s apartment over homemade dip and beers. Some 20 of Benson’s friends have packed in to her living room, munching corn chips and watching YouTube introductions to the candidates in the upcoming Democratic primary for November’s gubernatorial election. Guests skim the informational cheat sheets that Benson put together, which summarize and differentiate the candidates’ stances on key issues.
After the introductory videos, the party breaks up into small groups to discuss the candidates, piecing together which would-be governor best aligns with their progressive ideals. The group reconvenes some 30 minutes later for a concluding discussion — the mild glow of smartphone screens spreads through the room as guests pull up wichoose.org, casting an electronic vote for their preferred candidates.
Beyond this house party on the east side of Milwaukee, dozens of backyard barbecues, kitchen table discussions and similar living room socials are taking place across the state of Wisconsin to focus attention on the crowded Democratic field in the upcoming election. These meetings are the project of Wisconsin’s Choice, a grassroots political movement seeking to expand conversations about Wisconsin politics beyond traditional boundaries and ultimately select a “People’s Champion” — the Democratic candidate deemed best-aligned with progressive community values — to face off against incumbent Scott Walker in the November election.
Leading up to the August 14 primary vote is an unusually crowded field of Democratic candidates, symptomatic of a nationwide surge in liberal political activity in response to a Republican-dominated government. Barry Burden, professor of political science and director of the Elections Research Center at UW-Madison, says that this large pool of candidates could prove a challenge for Democrats.
“Ten candidates made the ballot, and that’s twice as many as we have seen in any primary in the past half century,” Burden says. “I think the large pool of contenders reflects the fact that Democrats are somewhat dissatisfied with how they’ve chosen nominees in other recent elections. They’ve now failed to defeat Scott Walker in three consecutive elections — in 2010, the 2012 recall, and in 2014.”
The winner of the upcoming primary may only receive 20 percent of the vote, which could make it difficult for Democrats to organize fractured voters under this single candidate. With just three months between the primary and general election, unifying Democratic support and attracting political donors could prove to be a challenge. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has not issued an endorsement of any candidate in the crowded pool, creating an opportunity for Wisconsin’s Choice to have a stronger voice in selecting a Democrat to oppose Walker.
Wisconsin’s Choice is the joint project of Our Wisconsin Revolution and the Wisconsin Working Families Party, both independent political organizations centered around the Sanders strain of progressive politics, according to the groups’ leaders.
Powered by donations as well as the funding and staff hours of both organizations, Wisconsin’s Choice has been working for six months in anticipation of the November election. Using online straw polling, community bingo nights and politics-laced barbecues, Wisconsin’s Choice aims to draw a range of diverse voices from across Wisconsin to select and promote a candidate best representative of progressive values.
“We don’t want to just be a sideline observer — to say, ‘We’ll just let the primary election go, and whoever wins wins, and we’ll just roll with it.’ Quite frankly, in the past this hasn’t worked well for Democrats,” says Marina Dimitrijevic, executive director of the Wisconsin Working Families Party.
The central project of Wisconsin’s Choice is an online straw poll intended to pare down the pool of Democratic gubernatorial candidates and foster support for one finalist. To get to know the candidates, Wisconsin’s Choice has organized virtual introductions, created an online forum where candidates answer user-submitted questions, and hosted an array of live events in addition to house parties giving Wisconsin voters the chance to meet, converse and question the candidates.
In keeping with the organization’s core progressive values, Wisconsin’s Choice aims to extend this political conversation to those historically excluded from such dialogues. Casual, informative events like bingo nights and house parties have drawn in a broader network of voters and volunteers without a history of political involvement.
“I’m not a political organizer in any way, but this house party is the first time that I’ve taken the initiative to get all of my friends together and make a commitment to be involved,” Benson says. “I work in communities in Milwaukee that are sometimes underrepresented in the political atmosphere, and I wanted to see how I could get different groups of people involved.”
The Wisconsin’s Choice straw poll is taking place in three phases. In order to vote, participants are asked to commit to political volunteering on behalf of either Wisconsin’s Choice or one of the candidates — a form of mobilizing volunteer efforts that Burden believes to be unique even beyond Wisconsin.
The second round of voting culled Madison Mayor Paul Soglin and four others from the first-round cut, identifying four finalists for the ultimate title of People’s Champion: Mike McCabe, Mahlon Mitchell, Kelda Roys, and Kathleen Vinehout. According to Wisconsin’s Choice, their call for activist commitment resulted in more than 7,500 pledged hours of volunteer work, to be performed between now and the final round of voting, which will take place July 16-19.
The impact of this campaign, which has so far amassed the input of thousands of voters from across the state, will unfold over the coming months.
“Wisconsin’s Choice got four to five thousand people to participate in the first round, so there’s definitely interest,” Burden said. “Whether they can keep it up as the participants are now required to commit to real time in politics, and how they can enforce that, I think will be the next challenge.”