Dear Lucas,
We should never forget what happened in Wisconsin this past winter.
Do you remember? We were glued to the nightly news as tens of thousands of protesters marched in the bitter cold, demanding that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and his Republican allies in the state legislature give up their attacks on the right of workers to band together and negotiate for a fair wage.
Their policies were a direct attack on Wisconsin women and their families. Nationwide, elementary school teachers are 90 percent women. Nurses: 95 percent women. State employees: 52 percent women. Like the men and women who are firefighters and police, all who serve the public interest should keep their bargaining rights.
Walker didn't count on the firestorm he would create, the throngs of protesters who marched to the Capitol building in Madison day after day to make their voices heard. And our champions like Congresswomen Gwen Moore and Tammy Baldwin and State Senator Julie Lassa were right there with them. But the campaign didn't stop there, next going house-to-house gathering petitions, demanding the recall of eight overreaching Republican Senators who backed Scott Walker's radical plan to take away state workers' rights. Now Wisconsin voters will head to the polls in a special election this summer to decide if they want to keep six of those Senators in office, or if they want new leadership.
In FIVE of those six races, pro-choice Democratic women are running against Walker's Republican allies. We are committed to helping them win, putting in place an aggressive plan for victory. We're going online, on the air, and in the streets with a goal of switching the Wisconsin Senate from GOP to Democratic control and stopping the War on Women in Wisconsin for good.
Think this is just a state issue? Think this is just about Wisconsin? Think again. The Republican War on Women in Congress is being fought just as hard in state houses. All over the country, Republican governors and state legislators are looking to Wisconsin to see what kind of anti-worker, anti-women policies they can get away with. It's up to us, right now, to prove that there are consequences for their actions.
Five Democratic women are taking a stand against Scott Walker. EMILY's List is supporting their efforts to switch the state Senate to Democratic control and to send a powerful message to Republicans across the country: Don't mess with women workers and their families.
Together, we can make a big difference. Thank you for all your help.
Take care,
Stephanie Schriock
President