Wisconsin Readers: Vote TODAY, April 1

On April 1st 41 Progressive Majority recruited, trained and endorsed candidates will have their general election for local office in Wisconsin! Progressive Majority is one of America's most successful progressive grassroots organizations.

To all our Wisconsin readers: please get out tomorrow, April 1, 2008, and vote for any of these great people running in your area.

Lena Taylor
Candidate for Milwaukee County Executive (Challenger)

State Senator Lena Taylor is a Milwaukee native who was first elected to the State Legislature as an Assemblywoman in 2003, and quickly ascended to the State Senate after winning a special election in 2004. Lena has championed progressive values for her entire political career, and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Lena earned a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1990, and a law degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1993; she is a member of the Milwaukee Boy Scouts advisory board, the Girl Scouts of Milwaukee Area, the NAACP, and Urban League of Milwaukee. Her opponent, conservative incumbent Scott Walker, is rumored to run for Governor in 2010. If Lena wins, we can stop him now.

Click here to support and learn more about Lena. (I have donated to her campaign)

Daniel Cody
Candidate for Milwaukee County Board - District 15 (Challenger)

Dan Cody is an information technology administrator at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Dan is challenging current County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin, because of her alignment with conservative County Executive Scott Walker, who has continued to slash county services including cuts to transportation and closing all but two of the public pools. DeBruin is out of touch with the progressive area she represents, including parts of Milwaukee, where Dan resides. Dan is a member of American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Wisconsin, is active in his neighborhood association, and is also a well-regarded blogger commenting on national and local political issues.

Click here to support and learn more about Daniel.

Jan Balestreri
Candidate for Milwaukee County Board - District 9 (Challenger)

Jan is running for the Milwaukee County Board against ultra-conservative Paul Cesarz in the 9th district. Jan was recruited by AFSCME, and is an AFSCME member working in the County Transportation Department, where she drives snow plows. Jan ran for this seat unsuccefully four years ago. In her second attempt to win the seat, Jan started early - she'll work hard as a candidate, and Progressive Majority is right behind her.

Chris Kuester
Candidate for Milwaukee Common Council - District 13 (Challenger)

Chris Kuester is a resident of the South Side of Milwaukee who is challenging Terry Witkowski for his seat on the Milwaukee Common Council. Chris is the founding member of his neighborhood association and is running on a platform of responsive representation. The incumbent, Witkowski, voted against requiring prevailing wage on a key redevelopment project. Chris supports prevailing wage and, as a union plumber, he will be a strong voice for labor.

Janis Ringhand
Candidate for Rock County Board - District 1 (Open Seat)

Janis has been a member of our farm team since 2005 and, in 2006, she was a Progressive Majority candidate for the State House in the 80th Assembly District. Despite hard work and a valiant effort on her part, she came up short by less than 200 votes. Now, Janis is running for an open seat on the Rock County Board. Janis is a former mayor of Evansville and, if elected, she will hold a progressive seat in one of the more conservative parts of the county.

Jessica King
Candidate for Wisconsin State Senate - District 18 (Challenger)
Oshkosh, East Winnebago County

Progressive Majority in Wisconsin helped Jessica win election to the Oshkosh City Council in 2007, where she ran an aggressive race that unseated an incumbent. During that race she impressed us with her work ethic; she raised over $12,000 for her race and knocked thousands of doors. Jessica is now looking to move up and challenge Carol Roessler, a conservative member of the State Senate. This seat is one of our top targets for 2008 because an additional victory will bolster the one-seat majority in the State Senate. Jessica has attended Wellstone training and is a recent graduate of Emerge - an intense, eight month leadership development program for Democratic women. Jessica is a practicing attorney and is active on numerous community boards including the Boys and Girls Club and United Way.

Click here to support and learn more about Jessica.

Sandy Pasch
Candidate for Wisconsin State House - District 22 (Open Seat)
Fox Point, River Hills, Glendale, Whitefish Bay, Shorewood

Sandy Pasch is running in an open seat vacated by Democrat Sheldon Wasserman, who is running for the State Senate to challenge conservative Alberta Darling. The 22nd is a seat that Democrats must protect. Sandy Pasch entered the race early and has been campaigning aggressively. Sandy has attended Camp Wellstone and secured the endorsement of the Inspector of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Department, the Milwaukee District Attorney, and many prominent progressive activists. Sandy is a registered nurse and 21-year resident of the 22nd district. She is married and has rasied three grown children. As a second job, Sandy teaches ethics, mental health, and community nursing at Columbia School of Nursing. She also serves on numerous community boards and works with the Milwaukee Police Department conducting training on how to effectively deal with people living with mental illness.

Click here to support and learn more about Sandy.

Paul Tubbs
Candidate for Wisconsin State House - District 34 (Challenger)
Oneida and Vilas Counties

Paul Tubbs is running for State Assembly in Wisconsin's 34th District. This will be Paul's second run for the 34th Assembly District. As latecomer to the 2006 election, despite having a small budget, he out-performed all other Democratic challengers who had run for this seat since 2000. This cycle we recruited Paul to run again. Paul is currently a member of the Rhinelander School Board, has worked as a school counselor for 34 years, is a member of Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), and is a 30-year resident of his district. Paul owns a small business that has sold recreational equipment since 1988. His wife Cheryl is a teacher and they have three children.

Kristen Dexter
Candidate for Wisconsin State House - District 68 (Challenger)
Altoona, Eau Claire, Fall Creek

Kristen is running for the State Assembly in the 68th District, a top target for us in 2008. Kristen has lived in this district for 14 years and was elected to the Altoona School Board in 2002. She serves on the Regional Steering Committee for Health Literacy Wisconsin. She owned a small business working as a metalsmith for several years. She has been married for 15 years to David Dexter, a neurologist at Luther Midelfort/Mayo, and she is a mother of 3 children. Kristen was a star campaign volunteer for Pat Krietlow, a Progressive Majority candidate elected to the State Senate in 2006.

Dale Klemme
Candidate for Wisconsin State House - District 96 (Challenger)
Prairie du Chien, Gays Mills, Viroqua, Hillsboro

Dale Klemme is running for the 96th Assembly District seat - a top target for us in 2008. We identified and recruited Dale to run in the Spring of 2007. Dale is working to unseat Lee Nerison, a conservative Assembly member who has consistently voted along party lines. Dale is a community development planner who has lived in the district for 30 years, and his wife is the Mayor of Prarie du Chien. He is an active member of the Praire du Chien community, participating in the Praire du Chien Chamber and School Board. He is also a Vietnam veteran.

Click here to support and learn more about Dale.

Adam Warpinksi
Candidate for Brown County Board - District 1 (Incumbent)

Adam has been a member of our farm team since late 2005, and was successfully fielded by Progressive Majority to the Brown County Board in 2006. At 25 years old, Adam is currently the youngest member of the board. He is an organizer for the League of Conservation Voters, a partner organization and member of our Advisory Council. Adam has drawn two opponents for his strong progressive views. Adam is a great champion for progressive values, and Progressive Majority will stand with him against conservative attackers.

Dan Bertrand
Candidate for Brown County Board - District 13 (Challenger)

Dan Bertrand was recruited to run for the Brown County Board this fall by our recruitment task force. Dan is a retired warden and currently serves on multiple community boards. Dan doorbells daily and has a very aggressive field strategy to build a true grassroots campaign. Currently there are six progressives out of 19 seats on the board and Dan's election would bring us one step closer to a progressive majority.

Rob Zerban
Candidate for Kenosha County Board - District 5 (Challenger)

Rob Zerban is running for Kenosha County Supervisor as part of our strategy to put progressives on the Kenosha City Council, County Board and School Board in 2008. Rob is an enterpreneur who has started several tech companies in Illionis and Wisconsin. Rob was recruited by our Kenosha County Task Force in July 2007 to take on the conservatve incumbent who has an anti-labor and anti-environmental record. Rob has an aggressive campaign strategy and is going to run a great campaign.

Jennifer Jackson
Candidate for Kenosha County Board - District 20 (Incumbent)

Jennifer Jackson is the most outspoken progressive on the Kenosha County Board, and the lone progressive woman. She is leading our recruitment task force, and this year she has worked with us to recruit eight new candidates to Kenosha local elected positions. Jenn is a stay-at-home mom and a leader in the environmental community. She is currently serving in her third two-year term. Progressive Majority assisted Jenn in getting a conservative opponent removed from the ballot this cycle due to forged signatures and multiple other problems with his nomination papers; he is currently being investigate by the DA's office.

Tara Johnson
Candidate for La Crosse County Board - District 18 (Incumbent)

Tara Johnson was recruited to the Progressive Majority Farm Team in the fall of 2007 as a potential candidate for the State Senate in 2008 - however, she must win this race first. Tara is currently serving her second term on the La Crosse County Board and will face a challenger this spring. The Center for Responsible Government (GRC), a conservative anti-government organization, has been recruiting local candidates and its chairperson is running against Tara. Tara is the former executive director of United Way and currently a stay-at-home mom. On the La Crosse County Board, she is the chair of Health and Human Services Committee and Second Vice-Chair of the board. Tara is well respected and admired for her ability to fight for progressive values while building consensus among her peers.

Katie Kusnasik
Candidate for Rock County Board - District 29 (Challenger)

Katie Kusnasik is challenging a conservative member of the Rock County Board as part of a strategy to create a progressive majority in the next two election cycles. She is currently a legislative assistant to progressive Assembly Representative Michael Sheridan and specializes in constituent relationships. Katie is supported by United Auto Workers and the local Labor Council. Katie has attended training by Progressive Majority and this is her first run for public office.

Celestine Jeffreys
Candidate for Green Bay City Council - District 7 (Incumbent)

Celestine is currently one of Wisconsin's rising political stars and, because of her courageous progressive politics, she has drawn two challengers in this election. Celestine was elected to the Green Bay City Council and is currently the only woman and only person of color on the council. Progressive Majority recruited her in 2006, when she successfully won her first election. In her first term as Councilwoman, Celestine stood for the separation of church and state against a controversial ordinance that allowed a nativity scene to be placed a top City Hall. We need more progressive champions like Celestine, and her victory this spring is critically important for Wisconsin progressives.

Michael Orth
Candidate for Kenosha Common Council - District 5 (Challenger)

Michael is a lifelong Kenosha resident who is running his first campaign for elected office. Michael and his wife have two small children and are active members of the community. Both he and his wife are teachers in the Kenosha public schools - Michael teaches history and is very active in the local teachers union, as well as Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), the Wisconsin chapter of the NEA. The current alderman is a conservative who voted to advance the building of a Super Wal-Mart, which drew much outrage within the community. Michael is a great candidate and we see him as a rising star in the progressive movement.

Click here to support and learn more about Michael.

Carl Bryan
Candidate for Kenosha Unified School Board - At Large (Challenger)

Carl is an eighteen year-old running for an At-Large seat on the Kenosha Unified School Board. He is currently working with our Farm Team member Rebecca Stevens, who is an elected School Board member. He is running a coordinated campaign with Michael Orth, who is also his high school history teacher. Carl attended Camp Wellstone in October 2007 with several of his campaign volunteers and is running a serious race despite his young age. Carl's ability to engage young voters in this race is very exciting.

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