Please Vote on April 4

This Election Will Determine the Future of Wisconsin

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Spring elections are local elections for city, village, town or county offices along with judicial elections, school board elections and any special elections to fill vacancies. These are non-partisan elections meaning that candidates run as individuals and not on a party ticket. 

The April 4 election is very important for the future of Wisconsin. The State Supreme Court election will determine the direction of Wisconsin for the next 10 years, including whether women will have full access to reproductive choices including abortions. After the retirement of one of the far-right justices this year, the court will have three conservative and three progressive justices. 

With a new progressive justice, the court will also be able to decide whether Wisconsin will continue to have honest and fair legislative districts not the unconstitutionally gerrymandered legislative districts as they were declared by a conservative three-judge federal judicial panel.

Our unconstitutionally extreme gerrymandered districts enable one party to win the vast majority of the legislative races even when they received less than half of the total statewide votes for legislators. This is why Wisconsin, which had a national reputation for being a smart, forward-looking state, has fallen toward the bottom of the lists along with Alabama and Mississippi in such areas as education, fair taxation, equal opportunity to vote and protecting our children and senior citizens. These extreme gerrymandered districts enable the legislators to ignore the wishes of their constituents since it is virtually impossible for them to lose in their gerrymandered districts. 

Judge Janet Protasiewicz for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice

The Editorial Committee of the Shepherd Express is unanimous in its endorsement of Judge Janet Protasiewicz for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice on the April 4 2023 election. Her values are strong support for women’s reproductive rights and fair legislative districts, boldly stating that the current gerrymandered Wisconsin legislative districts are rigged. Spring elections are lower turnout elections, so it is important to vote. Supreme court elections are non-partisan, but the two sides certainly have their candidates.

Right now, the seven-person court is divided 4-3 with the rightwing in charge. This conservative majority has, for example, condoned our extreme gerrymandered legislative districts, supported, at every opportunity, all the anti-choice abortion legislation, and supported the voter suppression laws pushed by Republicans denying our citizens an equal opportunity to vote.

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Voters Can Change this on April 4

Wisconsin has a chance to change the direction of our extreme rightwing Supreme Court this Spring. One of the conservative four is retiring so the direction of the court is in the balance. This upcoming election is without question the most important election for Wisconsin to begin to return our state to the honest, decent, progressive state we grew up in.

Wisconsin was always viewed as a forward-looking state with a great education system from kindergarten through post graduate work. Wisconsin was a state that protected our natural environment, helped foster the creation of well-paying, safe, and decent jobs, and cost-effective laws that protected our most vulnerable.

So What Happened to Wisconsin?

That all changed over the past 15 years. The extreme rightwing Bradley Foundation along with an assortment of rightwing billionaires like the Koch Brothers decided to use Wisconsin as an experiment to turn our state into an ignorant, low wage, backward-looking state putting Wisconsin shoulder to shoulder with Alabama, Mississippi and West Virginia.

One of the key parts to their strategy was to pump millions of dollars of dark money funneled through shell companies with very high-sounding patriotic names into the Wisconsin Supreme Court races. Unfortunately, it worked. Through false and negative ads and in the Gableman race, overtly racist ads, they were able to elect a majority of extreme justices who put their rightwing politics above the Wisconsin constitution.

Restoring Wisconsin’s Values                                 

That could change this spring with the election of a smart, hardworking, honest judge to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Judge Janet Protasiewicz is Wisconsin. She worked her way through UWM and Marquette Law School.  She chose public service over much higher paying private law firm positions. Judge Protasiewicz  served as an assistant district attorney for 26 years and then eight years as a Milwaukee County Circuit Judge. She taught at the Marquette Law School as an adjunct law professor. We have watched her career for the past 34 years. We know her values and her respect for an honest interpretation of the state constitution, and we are totally confident that she would be a great Wisconsin Supreme Court justice.

Please vote for Janice Protasiewicz on Tuesday April 4

Jodi Habush Sinykin for State Senate

The Shepherd Express enthusiastically endorses Jodi Habush Sinykin for State Senate to represent the Northshore and surrounding communities. This district has been represented by Alberta Darling for the past 30 years until she retired in December 2022. Darling was first elected to the State Senate in the Fall of 1992 running as a very moderate Republican who proudly listed her membership in Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin in her resume. It was very sad and disappointing to watch her slowly move to the extreme right of her party including voting anti-choice in order to please her party leadership and to hold on to her committee chairmanships.

Jodi Habush Sinykin would be a fresh start for the residents of this state senate district. She is strongly pro-choice on women’s reproductive issues which is in sync with both her district and the majority of people in Wisconsin. Habush Sinykin was born and raised in the district. Left for college and then Harvard Law School. She declined the highly paid opportunities to join the Wall Street and other East Coast law firms to instead return to Wisconsin to focus primarily on public interest legal work.

Consensus and Coalition Builder

Habush Sinykin is a consensus and coalition builder, which is what we desperately need in Wisconsin and the nation. Her legal positions often had her at the Capitol working both sides of the aisle. She worked on numerous issues but was most recognized for her work on environmental issues and humane animal treatment. Habush Sinykin was absolutely instrumental in securing Wisconsin’s support for the Great Lakes Compact, which was an international agreement with the U.S. Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces. This was once in a generation legislation that will protect our freshwater for generations to come.

Perhaps her greatest victory in the struggle for Humane Animal Treatment was helping to pass the Puppy Mill Law. This legislation ended the inhumane treatment by the greedy owners of the then unregulated breeding operations in Wisconsin.

If elected, beside fighting for women’s reproductive choice, environmental protections and humane animal treatment, Habush Sinykin would also focus on safe communities by fighting for more state shared revenues to adequately fund our local law enforcement, which would lessen that burden on the property tax. She will also focus on the state’s economy. She has been a business owner and understands what small businesses need to flourish. Jodi would work across the aisle to develop legislation that would be bipartisan so it can pass both chambers of the legislation and also be signed into law by the governor. She is definitely not interested in posturing, instead she wants to see results that improve the lives of Wisconsinites.

Please Vote for Jodi Habush Sinykin for State Senate.

Molly Gena for Municipal Judge

The Shepherd Express enthusiastically endorses Molly Gena for City of Milwaukee Municipal Judge. Gena is very well qualified for the position having spent more than 15 years as a legal aid attorney serving over 1,700 clients in 45 different municipal courts and 23 circuit courts around Wisconsin representing clients who could not afford an attorney. Most of her work was in Milwaukee Municipal Court.

If elected, Gena will fight to take reckless and dangerous drivers off the streets and hold them accountable for the threat they pose to our community. She will also hold abusive and predatory landlords accountable for their actions that often puts tenant’s health and safety at risk. This is just partial list of the issues she would work on. Municipal courts deal with everyday problems that have effect on many of our lives.  Her patience and temperament and her history of treating everyone with fairness, respect, and dignity makes her very well suited for the job of Municipal Court judge.

Please Vote for Molly Gena for Municipal Judge

Vote Yes on Repealing the Anti-Choice Legislation

On the April ballot in Milwaukee County is a referendum on repealing the 1849 legislation that bans all abortions with the only exception, saving the life of the mother, which requires at least two doctors to attest to the fact that the mother’s life is at risk. Obviously, this is pre-Civil War legislation when voting in Wisconsin was limited to only white males.

This is an advisory referendum because Wisconsin does not have a binding referendum provision. Just because this is advisory, please do not think this is not important. The anti-choice people will be coming out to vote since they are hyping this up on their networks. They definitely want to win this vote and argue that Wisconsin does not support choice. It is important that the people who believe in a woman’s right to choose vote on April 4 and continue to show that the people of Wisconsin do trust women to make their personal choices.

The ballot referendum reads as follows:

“Should Wisconsin Statute 940.04, which bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy without exception for rape, incest, or health of the patient, be repealed to allow legal access to abortion care?”

Please Vote Yes and Support a Woman’s Right to Choose

Work Requirement Advisory Referendum

Republicans in the Legislature put this advisory referendum on the ballot for April. The referendum reads: “Shall able-bodied childless adults be required to look for work in order to receive tax-payer funded welfare benefits.” While this referendum is designed to seem like common sense to most voters, which it is; so why the need for it on the ballot? It’s actually a political ploy which tries to reinforce the conservative big lie that all of the people who are poor are poor because they are personally irresponsible. Studies show that these “irresponsible people” are a very small fraction of the poor. Instead, the studies clearly show that it is our collective failure to provide lower skilled individuals with decent training and employment opportunities at a decent wage. It also functions as a dog whistle racist appeal which capitalizes on prejudice in color-blind language.

Three decades of research since work requirements came into vogue in the 1990s demonstrates that these work requirements do not increase employment long-term or reduce poverty. The one thing they do well is create barriers that forces many in need of food security, health care, and other necessities to go without. Most people do not realize that the vast majority of people on public assistance already do work. However, they simply cannot obtain a job which raises them out of poverty and enables them to fed their families. The minimal wage in Wisconsin is still at $7.25 per hour set decades ago. I think that says it all.

With the way this referendum is written, we suggest that you simply ignore it.

Reelect Cory Mason Racine Mayor

The Shepherd Express strongly supports the reelection of Cory Mason for Racine Mayor. As mayor, Mason has worked tirelessly to reduce violent crime, grow the middle class, improve the health of the community and its residents. This is not just talk; there were real results.

With respect to violent crime, Mason worked with the school district and the county to create a Violent Crime Reduction Initiative. This worked and led to over 500 criminal arrests, but also and most importantly, built the partnerships in the community to help prevent crime before it happens. This includes investing in mental health services, youth programs and other violence reduction initiatives. 

Mayor Mason has also focused on growing a stronger middle class through the GROW Racine Initiative which directly invests in its residents. Growing a stronger middle class by bringing more residents into the middle class requires working on many fronts which is what Racine is doing. Racine now runs the largest adult high school program in the state. They are building a health clinic and also run a summer youth employment program and have helped over 300 residents become homeowners.

Racine definitely needs Mason to continue and grow these efforts.

Please Vote for Mayor Cory Mason for Reelection on April 4.

Milwaukee School Board Elections

There are five Milwaukee school board positions up in the April 4 2023 elections.

Three of the five positions have incumbents running for a second term. All but one of the four positions have contested elections. The two members of the board who are not seeking reelection are Board President Bob Peterson and Board Vice President Sequanna Taylor.

All five of our endorsees are strong supporters of public schools and believe that public education is essential to strengthening our democracy. Yes, our public schools need improvements, but that is difficult to do with years of underfunding by the Republican dominated legislature, and the ongoing vilification of public schools and the teachers who work daily with our Milwaukee’s students.

District 1:  Marva Herndon

The Shepherd Express endorses Marva Herndon for reelection to the Milwaukee School Board. Herndon was first elected in April 2019. She is a graduate of West Division High School (now Milwaukee High School of the Arts). During her four years on the board Herndon has been a strong leader insisting that MPS students have access to full time music teachers, art teachers, physical education teachers and librarians. She has worked closely with teachers and the MPS administration across the district to increase these important components of education for all students. 

Herndon has been a strong promoter of schools encouraging children’s appreciation for the natural world, including the need for students to learn about climate justice, agricultural practices (think Vincent High School, River Trail Elementary) and how they can help build a sustainable world. 

Herndon’s four daughters are MPS graduates and her grand children who live in Milwaukee are MPS graduates or enrolled in MPS. As a 40-year resident of District 1, she is well known as a strong advocate for the community and one who is not afraid to speak up about what needs to be improved.

District 2: Erika Siemsen

The Shepherd Express supports Erika Siemsen for reelection to the Milwaukee School Board.  Erika was an MPS elementary school teacher for more than 30 years and she brings that expertise to the school board. She is well versed in teaching reading, restorative practices, and need for schools to be welcoming places for all students, parents and families. 

Siemsen graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a B.A. in elementary education and later received her Master of Arts degree from Cardinal Stritch University in the area of literacy reform. Siemsen is an expert in early childhood education, which is a key factor in improving students literacy and math skills. She is from a family of three generations of MPS graduates. Her granddaughter currently attends Milwaukee Public Schools.

District 8:  Megan O'Halloran

Megan O'Halloran does not have an opponent in her reelection and that probably says all we need to say; however, if she did have an opponent, the Shepherd would almost definitely be endorsing her. Megan is a strong supporter of public schools and works closely with the schools in her Bayview/Southside district. A few years ago she led a walk to the state legislature in Madison highlighting the need for adequate funding for all public schools. She is a strong advocate of parent involvement in MPS. Her two children attend Cooper Public School.

District 3: Gabi Hart 

The Shepherd Express strongly endorses Gabi Hart for election to the Milwaukee School Board District 3. Hart is a community activist who has focused on youth organizing work. She believes strongly that programs must serve all children. Hart will be a hardworking bridge builder, working collaboratively within the community to get things done for the children of Milwaukee. Among her many accomplishments, she co-led the Program in the Parks in Sherman Park after the conflict there a few years ago.

Citywide District: Missy Zombor

The Shepherd Express enthusiastically endorses Missy Zombor for the Citywide District. Zombor is an education, community and labor activist who is passionately committed to public schools. Her son attends a Milwaukee middle school, and she is marketing director for Rethinking Schools which promotes the importance of public schools and racial and social justice in schools. Zombor has previously worked communications director for the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, the largest educators local in the state of Wisconsin. There she helped fight back a Republican-backed state takeover of Milwaukee Public Schools and supported resolutions for more nutritious food, longer recess, and smaller class sizes for students in early grades.

She is running for the position from which Bob Peterson is stepping down. Peterson has also endorsed her saying, “Missy is a smart hard-working and experience MPS parents and public education champion committed to defending and improving our schools.”