Freepik assets
Toy tanks driving down the isthmus on a map of Madison.
“Be prepared.”
Dane County residents would be wise to embrace the Scouts’ motto. Previously unthinkable police-state actions have unfolded in L.A. and are underway in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump has also threatened to deploy troops to Chicago, Baltimore and New York City. And on Aug. 25, he signed an executive order permitting deployment of military “response forces” to U.S. cities to quell “civil unrest.” Are Madison and Dane County’s municipal and county leaders prepared should similar actions be aimed at us? Are we, the people, clear about what we can do now and throughout 2026 to thwart anti-democratic forces?
It’s not like we haven’t seen foreshadowing of these scenarios in Wisconsin. When Republicans lost the governor’s race in 2018, their legislative majority undermined the will of the voters by stripping incoming Gov. Tony Evers of significant gubernatorial powers. In the last several elections, the current legislative majority has put misleading amendments to Wisconsin’s Constitution on the ballot to make it harder to vote, even though there is no evidence of voter fraud anywhere in Wisconsin. Not a single GOP Wisconsin legislator, federal or state, has spoken out against Trump’s unprecedented use of the U.S. military to police our civilian population.
The 2026 Wisconsin elections may be our last best chance to prevent authoritarianism here. In 2026, we must elect pro-democracy, pro-rule-of-law candidates for governor and state Supreme Court justice. The most important criteria for choosing a candidate for governor should be simple: Has this person spoken out in opposition to the use of military forces to intimidate and control cities? Will this person fight to protect municipal home rule, as guaranteed by the Wisconsin state Constitution? (Municipal home rule grants municipalities, not the governor, the constitutional right to govern local municipal affairs and functions, including oversight and management of police departments and policing.)
Will this person use the governor’s office to promote democracy, or to trammel the right of municipal residents to manage their cities? Similarly, when voting for the Supreme Court justice next April, consider what the candidates say about the state Constitution’s guarantee of municipal home rule.
In 2026, we must elect pro-democracy candidates up and down the ballot. We need only look at what is happening now in states led by anti-democratic MAGA governors to get a preview of what likely would happen in Wisconsin should voters choose a MAGA governor: DOGE-like meat cleaver cuts to state government, firing of state employees, imposition of ideological purity tests on state universities and public schools, more obstacles to voting, disregard of the home rule authority of municipalities, and support for the use of U.S. military to police urban civilian populations. Florida’s governor recently ordered municipalities to remove rainbow crosswalks, replaced all of the trustees of one of Florida’s public universities with ideologues, and completely changed that university’s mission. Six MAGA governors have ordered their National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to participate in Trump’s anti-home-rule takeover of that city.
Wisconsin elections are won or lost here in Dane County. It’s also true that “civil unrest” in the form of non-violent protest is in our DNA. It’s not hard to imagine military “response forces” being deployed here in response to the protests that would surely follow efforts by any Wisconsin governor’s attempts to follow the MAGA playbook.
We, the people, have the power to keep this from happening if we take action now to be prepared. Here’s what we can and must do:
Make sure all eligible Dane County residents are registered to vote. Invite your city or town clerk or the League of Women Voters to come to your club meeting, neighborhood association, farmers’ market, PTA meeting, church or temple — wherever people are gathered. Talk to friends, neighbors and acquaintances about their voter registration status and offer to help any who are unregistered.
Demand that our elected officials speak out and do something — ANYTHING — to object to the anti-democratic and authoritarian actions being taken by Trump and his administration. Make frequent phone calls to each of your elected officials, from U.S. senator to county board and city council representative, and everyone in between.
As candidates for governor enter the race, learn which candidates would oppose deployment of federal troops to Dane County in response to non-violent protests. Ask them. Learn what the candidates say about Trump’s anti-democratic actions.
Ask your Dane County and municipal officials about their plans to defend home rule and our voting rights in the face of authoritarianism.
Talk with your friends and neighbors about the real threats to democracy that have been unleashed at the federal level, and how we must now prepare to defend democracy here in Wisconsin. We may not get another chance.
Be prepared.
Eileen Harrington, a Madison native and lawyer, spent nearly 30 years working in Washington, D.C., as a high-ranking federal career civil servant. Since returning to Madison in 2013, she has chaired the city of Madison's Task Force on Government Structure and taught public policy at the UW-Madison and Edgewood University.
