DPW Chair Martha Laning gives an update on new staff, Wisconsin's Presidential Recount, Jennifer Shilling's Victory, a court ruling on Redistricting, Emerge Wisconsin Applications, and a new Young Democrats chapter in the Badger State.

MADISON - As the election year comes to a close, our sights are focused on the year ahead. Whether you win or lose there are always lessons to be learned from a hard-fought campaign. That's why I have been holding listening sessions all over the state to get feedback from party leaders, volunteers, activists, and other stakeholders. 

We’ve already received great feedback about the changes we need to make in the future.  In the coming weeks we’ll be compiling all this information and beginning our strategic planning process for 2017 and beyond.  

Announcing New Executive Director Jason Sidener

As many of you know, DPW Executive Director Kory Kozloski has decided to pursue new opportunities. While we are saddened to see Kory leave the DPW team, we are excited for his future ventures and are looking toward the future of DPW.

With Kory's departure, it was a priority of mine to ensure that the transition between Executive Directors is a smooth one. In order to implement a strong strategic plan right away in 2017, that meant having an new Executive Director who could hit the ground running on January 1st and allow some overlap time with Kory before he leaves.

Today, our Party's administrative committee voted to approve Jason Sidener as our next Executive Director. Jason Sidener is an incredible addition to our team. He brings nearly two decades of political organizing, grassroots engagement, and progressive movement leadership to our organization.

Read our official announcement here.

Wisconsin's Presidential Recount

Last week, Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein moved forward with her request for a statewide recount of the Presidential election results in Wisconsin. Hillary Clinton's campaign has announced that they will participate in the Wisconsin recount in order to "ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides." 

Under federal law, any disputes over the 2.98 million votes cast in the presidential election must be resolved within 35 days of election day to ensure electoral votes are counted - that is December 13th this year.

The remaining timeline for the recount is as follows: 

Thursday, December 1st: Recount began in every Wisconsin county.
Monday, December 12th: All county canvass boards must be completed by 8 p.m.
Tuesday, December 13th: Elections Commission staff will prepare the official recount canvass certification by 3 p.m.

If you are interested in being a recount observer, sign up at: http://bit.ly/2gPOB6A

For more information on the recount, you can visit http://elections.wi.gov

Recount Confirms Senate Leader Jennifer Shilling's Victory

In addition to the presidential recount, the recount in the 32nd District Senate race between Leader Jennifer Shilling and her challenger Dan Kapanke took place this week as well.

As of today, all of the ballots in the 32nd Senate District have been recounted and confirm Sen. Shilling's victory.

Click here to read Sen. Shilling's press release on the recount results.

Judges Find Wisconsin Redistricting Unfairly Favored Republicans

Last week, a panel of three judges found the State Assembly districts drawn up by the Republican-controlled legislature in 2011 were an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. This is incredible news for Wisconsin voters who deserve to be heard and equally represented in Madison. 

Read more about the ruling here.
Read my official statement on the decision here.

Surge in Emerge Wisconsin Applications

Our friends at Emerge Wisconsin are seeing a flood of applications from women who want to join their training program and run for office. This just goes to show that when the going gets tough, progressives get to work. I'm incredibly inspired and motivated by the fortitude of Wisconsin women who aspire to be leaders in the progressive movement. 

Let's help Emerge keep the momentum going. Share this link with your networks and encourage more women to join the fight: http://www.emergewi.org/apply

Young Democrats of Wisconsin
In order to ensure a lasting and vibrant Democratic Party of Wisconsin, we need to engage young people at all levels. To that end, over the last year-and-a-half, a group of committed young professionals from across Wisconsin have been working to establish a Young Democrats chapter in the Badger State. Young Dems are the next generation of leaders, committed to recruiting and electing young people to lead on issues and represent at every level of government.

On Sunday, August 14 the Young Democrats of America - the largest youth-led political organization in the country - unanimously voted to grant a charter to the Wisconsin chapter. Since then, the group has been incredibly active!

They've launched their own podcast on iTunes, held a statewide conference call with the Russ Feingold campaign and presented at over a dozen county party meetings.

On Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25, the Young Dems will be holding a "Weekend of Action" where members will be volunteering for Assembly candidates in each region of the state.

Additionally, on Tuesday, September 27 they'll be holding a political trivia social gathering in Madison.

Membership in the Young Democrats of Wisconsin is free and open to anyone between 18-40 who's current on their dues with DPW. For anyone attending college or otherwise affiliated with an institution of higher learning, the College Democrats remain the primary affiliation the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Anyone interested in joining can do so by clicking here: www.youngdemswi.org/join. You can follow their activity at Facebook at www.facebook.com/youngdemswi and on Twitter: @youngdemswi.

Jason is currently the Director of Political Action and Member Mobilization for AFSCME, and has served as President of the Board for Wisconsin Progress, Board Member for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, and Chair of the Labor Division for the United Way of Dane County.

MADISON - The Democratic Party of Wisconsin's administrative committee voted on Friday to approve Jason Sidener as the Party's next Executive Director to start on January 1, 2017.

“Jason Sidener is an incredible addition to our team. He brings nearly two decades of political organizing, grassroots engagement, and progressive movement leadership to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning said on Friday. “As we prepare for a Trump Administration and gear up for the 2018 gubernatorial and US Senate elections, our party needs strong leaders like Jason today more than ever. Jason is dedicated to electing progressive candidates at all levels of government and shares my belief that we need a strong DPW that works closely with local leaders and activists to return to Wisconsin’s proud progressive traditions."

Throughout his political career, spanning back to grassroots organizing with the Public Interest Research Group in the late 1990’s, and including field organizing for multiple congressional candidates around the country, including for then-Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in 2002, Sidener has developed deep roots in progressive politics. For the past 13 years, Sidener has worked for AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, in multiple capacities. He is currently the Director of Political Action and Member Mobilization for AFSCME Council 32.

In addition to his professional political activism, Jason has served in many volunteer leadership positions for different organizations including the President of the Board for Wisconsin Progress and the Electoral Committee Chair and Board Member for Citizen Action of Wisconsin. Jason is also the long-time Chair of the Labor Division for the United Way of Dane County's annual fundraising campaign.