Rick Kissell: The Jude Verdict and the Impact on Fall Elections

By Rick Kissell

Has the Greater Milwaukee Green Party given thought to how the issues raised by the Jude verdict can be addressed through the upcoming fall elections?  Remember, the Clerk of Circuit Courts and the District Attorney are always up in the November of even-numbered years.  They're partisan offices and only require a couple of hundred signatures to get on the county-wide ballot.

Here in Milwaukee, the Republicans never run full slates for all those offices (D.A., County Clerk, County Treasurer, Sheriff, Register of Deeds, and Clerk of Circuit Court), and often don't bother to run any candidates at all for those slots.  (The reverse is true in the counties surrounding Milwaukee.)

When I organized "Alternative Slates" of progressive candidates for the Milwaukee County Courthouse offices in the 80s and 90s, they received up to 15% of the county-wide vote. With the right candidates, this could be an opportunity to really illustrate the complicity of local Democratic officeholders in the racism of our criminal justice system.

In any event, having a local countywide slate would help Green candidates running for higher offices.

Nomination papers for these offices begin circulating June 1 and are due in early July, so the time for thinking about this is now.