Dems Lose Ploy To Bounce Green Party From Wisconsin Ballot

In a blow to the Democratic Party’s plan to politically whack the competition through cynical lawfare, the Green Party’s presidential ticket will remain on swing state Wisconsin’s general election ballot. 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court, which holds a 4-3 liberal majority, on Monday rejected a Democratic National Committee operative’s petition asking the court to take original jurisdiction in the case. 

‘War on Democracy’

As The Federalist reported late last week, Doug Strange, the DNC’s deputy operations director in Wisconsin, sought a court ruling on his move to drive Jill Stein and her running mate, Butch Ware, off of the Badger State’s November ballot. He claimed that the Green Party’s candidates were disqualified from Wisconsin’s presidential election because there are no Green Party members represented in state offices or in the legislature. So they have no one to nominate presidential electors. 

The Supreme Court denied the petition without comment. 

“We determine that the petitioner is not entitled to the relief he seeks; and, IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all other pending motions are denied as moot,” the unsigned order states. 

The Green Party of Wisconsin on Monday had filed a motion to dismiss. 

Stein was jubilant in victory. 

“Big win against the anti-Democratic Party’s war on democracy and voter choice! Wisconsin voters still have an anti-genocide, pro-worker, climate action choice this year!” the leftist tweeted following the release of the court’s order. 

The Green Party, arguably farther left than the modern-day Marxists leading today’s Democratic Party, stand virtually no chance at winning in Wisconsin, any other battleground states, or the election at large. But the Greens are an irritant to the Democrats in an election year where the two major parties are fighting for every last vote — particularly in a state like Wisconsin, which has been decided by just north of 20,000 votes in the last two presidential elections. 

While the Dems have argued Stein, fellow leftist candidate Cornel West, and — up until last week — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should be denied ballot access on a host of procedural and legal grounds, the party’s strategy to kill competition, no matter how small, is as evident as its claims of being democracy defenders are hypocritical. 

“This is a last-ditch effort by a political party operative to disenfranchise the votes of tens of thousands of Wisconsinites,” Rick Esenberg, president and general counsel for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) said in a statement last week. 

WILL attorneys argued that the DNC petition advanced “a new reading” of Wisconsin statute “that would effectively prevent any small or new party from getting on the presidential ballot.”

“This decision should not be taken lightly, and it is crucial that the court considers the gravity of such a last-minute decision and the potential to sow doubt on the election,” the Milwaukee law firm said in a statement. 

‘Inconvenient Candidates’

The Democrats were successful in booting the Green Party candidates off the Badger State ballot in 2020. They’re trying to block West in Wisconsin, too, a strategy they’re employing against West and Stein in other battleground states. 

West did win a big legal battle in swing state Michigan over the weekend, when a state judge ruled the Michigan Bureau of Elections error in disqualifying the independent candidate from the November ballot. Highly-partisan Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson joined forces with the Democratic Party to push for West’s removal. 

Stein garnered about 31,000 votes in Wisconsin in her 2016 presidential run. That’s why the duplicitous Democrats, who are promoting themselves as the defenders of democracy, have tried to disenfranchise millions in myriad efforts to keep former President Donald Trump off the ballot and millions more by doing the same to fellow leftists. And they’re doing it nationwide. 

DNC official Adrienne Watson told Wisconsin Public Radio that the ruling was “disappointing.”

“The Wisconsin Green Party’s violation of the law is crystal clear,” Watson said in a statement. “WGP did not meet either of Wisconsin’s two simple requirements to nominate candidates, so it should not be on the ballot in November.”

Brian Schimming, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, called the court’s decision a “win for democracy and fair elections.” 

“For years, Democrats have silenced and disenfranchised Wisconsin voters by removing inconvenient candidates from the ballot. This time around, their undemocratic schemes have failed,” Schimming said in a statement. “If Democrats hope to win over voters, they will have to do so through earnest persuasion instead of disqualification.” 

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.