Wisconsin Volunteers Knock on 100,000+ Doors as Election Day Nears

CWA Activists Help Get Out the Vote for July 12, July 19 Primaries

CWA Local 4630's Lindy McGraw and Mark Frey work a phone bank in advance of July's recall elections, part of the fight to restore collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin public workers.

With just days to go until Wisconsin's first round of recall elections, CWA members and thousands of other volunteers are using every available moment to make phone calls and knock on doors.

The broad-based We Are Wisconsin coalition celebrated a milestone over the holiday weekend, surpassing its goal of visiting 100,000 voters' homes before the July 12 primaries. Volunteers also have made about 150,000 phone calls.

"Our CWA Legislative-Political Action Team members have been working non-stop to make sure as many people as possible understand what is at stake in these recall elections," CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen said. "Working class Wisconsin will send a strong message this summer."

The coalition, whose volunteers include not only union activists but fed-up Republicans and nonpartisans never before involved in politics, is fighting to unseat six Republican state senators who voted to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers. They are also fighting to save the jobs of three Democratic senators, up for recall July 19, who left the state in February to prevent a quorum and a speedy vote on the union-busting bill.

The Republican recalls were expected to be over and done with on July 12, until a widely publicized dirty-tricks campaign turned them into primaries. Rather than one Republican incumbent and one Democratic challenger on the ballot, the Wisconsin GOP entered party members as fake Democrats in the races. The top two vote-getters in each race will compete in a general election Aug. 16.

The same thing will happen with two of the Democrats' races on July 19. One race, however, is not a primary. Democratic incumbent Dave Hansen has only one opponent, Republican David Vanderleest, and whoever wins will get the Senate seat.

Check the We are Wisconsin website for updates on the elections and get-out-the-vote efforts.