Latest news with #Wikler
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ben Wikler to leave Wisconsin Democratic Party in June
Ben Wikler, who transformed the Wisconsin Democratic Party into a fundraising juggernaut, is leaving his position in June. The Wisconsin state party chair announced his decision to not run for reelection in a letter on Thursday, calling it 'the right time for me to take a breath' and 'find new ways to advance the fight for a country that works for working people.' In a brief interview with POLITICO, Wikler said he's now considering writing a book. He also didn't close the door on running for political office himself — 'maybe at some point,' he said, adding that 'we have amazing Democrats in office right now.' 'Wisconsin has a pro-democracy Supreme Court through 2028, which means Wisconsin won't be re-gerrymandered, and we have a serious shot at a trifecta in 2026,' Wikler said. 'Our state party is in great shape. The best time to pass the torch is when an organization is on an upswing.' Wikler's announcement comes about a week after he helped engineer Democrats' first major electoral victory in the second Donald Trump administration, when the liberal state Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford won her seat by a 10 percentage point victory. It's also two months after Wikler lost his own bid for Democratic National Committee chair. Wikler, who was first elected in 2019, turned a traditionally low-profile gig into an influential, nationally-recognized perch. He turned a weak state party into a well-funded machine, winning 12 out of the last 15 statewide elections. Even so, Trump won the state in 2024. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will hold chair elections to replace Wikler in mid June.
Politico
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Ben Wikler to leave Wisconsin Democratic Party in June
Ben Wikler, who transformed the Wisconsin Democratic Party into a fundraising juggernaut, is leaving his position in June. The Wisconsin state party chair announced his decision to not run for reelection in a letter on Thursday, calling it 'the right time for me to take a breath' and 'find new ways to advance the fight for a country that works for working people.' In a brief interview with POLITICO, Wikler said he's now considering writing a book. He also didn't close the door on running for political office himself — 'maybe at some point,' he said, adding that 'we have amazing Democrats in office right now.' 'Wisconsin has a pro-democracy Supreme Court through 2028, which means Wisconsin won't be re-gerrymandered, and we have a serious shot at a trifecta in 2026,' Wikler said. 'Our state party is in great shape. The best time to pass the torch is when an organization is on an upswing.' Wikler's announcement comes about a week after he helped engineer Democrats' first major electoral victory in the second Donald Trump administration, when the liberal state Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford won her seat by a 10 percentage point victory. It's also two months after Wikler lost his own bid for Democratic National Committee chair. Wikler, who was first elected in 2019, turned a traditionally low-profile gig into an influential, nationally-recognized perch. He turned a weak state party into a well-funded machine, winning 12 out of the last 15 statewide elections. Even so, Trump won the state in 2024. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will hold chair elections to replace Wikler in mid June.
Associated Press
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Wisconsin Democratic leader who revitalized state party in swing state is leaving
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Democratic leader who revitalized the party in the presidential swing state announced Thursday he will be leaving his position in June after a six-year run that included a string of victories and 'agonizingly close' losses. The move by Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler comes just a week after the Democratic-backed candidate for state Supreme Court defeated a candidate backed by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk in a hotly contested election. It also comes just two months after Wikler lost to Ken Martin in a bid to lead the Democratic National Committee. Wikler has served as state party chair since 2019. Under his leadership, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers won reelection in 2022; Democratic-backed candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court won in 2023 and last week, taking control of the court away from conservatives for the first time in 15 years and securing it until at least 2028; and he delivered the state to former President Joe Biden in 2020 and cut into Republican majorities in the Legislature. But there were also defeats. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson won reelection in 2022 and Trump carried the state in November. Both wins were by less than a percentage point, defeats that Wikler called 'agonizingly close.' Wikler has been widely praised for his ability to raise money for Democratic candidates, and build an infrastructure that worked year-round, helping Democrats to win 12 out of 15 statewide races since taking over as chair. 'Now is the right time for me to take a breath, and to find new ways to advance the fight for a country that works for working people, and one that honors every person's fundamental freedom and dignity,' Wikler said in a statement announcing his decision. His third term as state party chair ends in June. Democrats will choose a new leader at its state party convention. Devin Remiker, a former state party executive director, announced his candidacy to succeed Wikler. Longtime Democratic strategist Joe Zepecki said he was considering a run. Wikler, 43, previously served as a Washington director for a progressive advocacy group and as a campaign director for Avaaz, a group that mobilizes members to take on issues such as poverty, climate change and human rights. Wikler did not announce what his next move would be. His name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for office.
The Hill
10-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Wisconsin Democratic chair announces plans to step down
Ben Wikler, the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, announced on Thursday that he would not be running for another term as state party chair. 'Our state party is now in extraordinarily strong shape, we have secured a pro-democracy Supreme Court majority for at least the next two years, and Democrats are poised to win a trifecta in 2026,' Wikler said in a letter to Democrats in the Badger State. 'Now is the right time for me to take a breath, and to find new ways to advance the fight for a country that works for working people, and one that honors every person's fundamental freedom and dignity,' he continued. 'When my third term as chair ends this June, I will be passing the torch.' Wikler took the helm of the state party in 2019, overseeing several major successes in the state since becoming chair, including former President Biden's win in Wisconsin in 2020; Gov. Tony Evers's (D) reelection in 2022; and winning three key state Supreme Court races in 2020, 2023 and 2025, which he noted in his letter. While President Trump won the state last November, Wisconsin Democrats were able to narrowly reelect Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). The state party's successes in the state Supreme Court have also led to new legislative maps in Wisconsin, and Democrats have since made inroads in the Capitol. Wikler ran for Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair earlier this year against a handful of other candidates, ultimately losing to DNC Chair Ken Martin, who had been the state party chair in Minnesota. Asked in an interview with WISN 12 News aired on Thursday about whether his next steps could be a potential political run, Wikler answered, 'maybe someday,' while noting he wasn't sure what his next steps would look like. Pressed at various points in the interview on whether he would run for governor if Evers didn't run, Wikler tried to dodge some of those questions, saying he wanted to see Evers run again and that the governor had his support.
New York Times
10-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
After Reviving Democrats in a Battleground State, He's Moving On
Ben Wikler, who built the Wisconsin Democratic Party into a fund-raising colossus over his six years as its leader, is leaving his post in June. Mr. Wikler, 44, said in an interview on Wednesday that he was considering running for office but would first spend time taking vacations with his three young children. 'The best time to pass the torch is when an organization's on the upswing,' he said. 'I'm able to step away from the party this June knowing that Democrats are poised to make enormous gains in Wisconsin.' Mr. Wikler's announcement comes a week after he oversaw a decisive victory in a Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Barring an unexpected vacancy, the result cements a liberal majority on the court until at least 2028. He will leave behind a state party with aspirations of winning full control of Wisconsin's government in next year's midterm elections — something that would have been just a dream when he took over in 2019. At that time, Republicans had led both chambers of the State Legislature since 2011, and conservatives had controlled the State Supreme Court since 2008. Now, Mr. Wikler — who wants Democrats to run a 'permanent campaign' that never lets up — forecast a liberal resurgence in opposition to President Trump. He predicted that Democrats would win a governing trifecta in Wisconsin as they sweep elections across the country. The party now controls the governor's office and the state's top court, with Republicans holding on to majorities in the Legislature. 'These next few years will be an opportunity for Democrats to win seats in the U.S. Senate, the House and state legislatures and state offices,' Mr. Wikler said, adding that this would lay the groundwork for 'the next progressive era in this country.' What office Mr. Wikler might run for is unclear. Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin, a Democrat, has not said if he will seek a third term in 2026. Incumbent Democrats who serve as Wisconsin's attorney general, lieutenant governor and secretary of state are likely to seek re-election if Mr. Evers does. If he does not, they could all try to succeed him, which could scramble the political calculations for various Democrats in the state. While Mr. Wikler preached the benefits of his decision to move on, he again declined to discuss whether Democrats would be in a better political position had President Joseph R. Biden Jr. not sought re-election when many in the party felt the octogenarian president was too old to do so. In 2024, Mr. Wikler defended Mr. Biden as the party's best option. Now, he said many things could have been done differently to avoid a second Trump presidency. 'Knowing the end of the story, it's hard to imagine that anyone would follow exactly the same course that we followed through these last several years,' he said. Mr. Wikler has already sought one post of greater prominence: Two months ago, he lost an election to lead the Democratic National Committee. During that brief campaign, he sold himself as an expert fund-raiser and political organizer who would take the fight to Mr. Trump. He fell short to Ken Martin, then the Minnesota Democratic chairman, in part because Mr. Martin had spent years cultivating relationships with party members while Mr. Wikler's outreach to them began mainly after he started running for the office. In hindsight, Mr. Wikler has said his loss was a validation of his political strategy in Wisconsin — being in touch with voters all year long instead of only before an election. 'One lesson from these last years in Wisconsin is that Democrats do better when we run a permanent campaign,' he said. 'I want to figure out how to support the kind of intensive communication that makes clear the impact of this administration's policies on working people across the communities in my state and across the country, and lift up the fight for a country that works for everybody. I'm figuring out exactly what form that'll take, but I'll be posting about it.' Indeed, Mr. Wikler, like many others, has begun writing on a new Substack account.
