Ohio. Michigan. Wisconsin.
The heart of the midwest. Three proud states, but states that are experiencing dramatically different directions when it comes to democracy itself, and what happens when democratic accountability and the rule of law disappear.
Ohio, painfully, is seeing a downward spiral. Intense and illegal gerrymandering, such that few members of the state legislature majority will face a real election their entire careers. Lawlessness and corruption. Attacks on voters and rigging of election rules to impact outcomes. Extreme laws passing endlessly that don’t reflect the mainstream views of the people of Ohio. Public outcomes declining rapidly in most ways they can be measured: schools, population, health, wages, etc.
It took a number of years and decisive events to get to this point. And Ohioans who value democracy have fought hard against the trend, coming close to turning things around. Close. But three key moments of late locked in the trajectory: the open willingness of GOP leaders in 2021 to violate the Ohio Constitution and court orders multiple times to double down on gerrymandering; the fact that they faced no accountability for doing so; and last November’s election of three GOP justices who’d made it clear that they will not stand up to those newly gerrymandered maps. Those GOP wins (which were aided by the legislature changing the rules of how Ohio justices and judges are elected) eliminated an independent, 4-3 court that could’ve served as a check on Ohio’s out-of-control legislature going forward.
Locked into place, the Ohio meltdown is now accelerating. It will take years of struggle to climb out of this undemocratic mess. And perhaps even longer to undo the damage.
Now let’s take a look up north.
Michigan is seeing the opposite direction—a resurgence of democracy. Unlike Ohio, they managed to rid themselves of gerrymandering. Fair districts led to a new legislature in 2022. And now, for months, we have seen a legislature and Governor enacting law after law that: 1) reflects the views of the people of Michigan and 2) lifts the people of Michigan. It’s the type of public service you expect to see in a healthy democracy where there’s accountability back to the people.
And then we have the third state—Wisconsin.
Wisconsin has been saddled with the most gerrymandered map of any state in the nation over the last decade. For example, in 2018, by 9 points, Wisconsin voters voted for a Democrat to be their state legislator. But rigged districts meant those minority Wisconsin Republicans still gained (even if they didn’t earn) a supermajority(!) in the legislature that year. A true warping of democracy, with all the outcomes you’d expect from such an anti-democratic system. So in many ways, Wisconsin has lived the Ohio nightmare for a decade.
But fortunately for Wisconsin, they face a moment in the next week where they can forever alter that direction. As Ohio did in 2022, they have a state Supreme Court election that will decide the majority of that court. With a coming vacancy, it’s 3-3. So the result of next week’s election will likely determine if Wisconsin remains gerrymandered, if Wisconsin women have the right to choose, and if much of the voter suppression waged by that gerrymandered legislature remains. And so much more.
In other words, the special election for a single court seat in Wisconsin is an election over democracy itself in that state. And they face a simple choice: they can choose the direction Ohio finds itself in, or that which Michigan finds itself in.
Needless to say, the national implications of Wisconsin’s decision are enormous.
But take it from this Buckeye, the most important beneficiaries of the right outcome in Wisconsin would be the people of Wisconsin themselves.
Please help if you can by giving to Judge Janet Protasiewicz here, and/or the Wisconsin Democratic Party here.
