Madison, WI — Former Republican State Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz and former Democratic Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney have announced the formation of United Wisconsin, a new cross-partisan organization committed to preserving and promoting the values that have historically made Wisconsin special.
“Central to United Wisconsin’s mission is our belief that it is past time to transcend the politics of division,” said Schultz, adding, “We want to promote laws and candidates for public office that advance bipartisan cooperation, compromise, problem-solving, and Wisconsin’s tradition of honoring the rule of law and democracy, public education, conservation and small businesses.”
The group released a launch video and website.
“We’re modeling the change we’d like to see, working together across the political spectrum to help turn down the political temperature,” Mahoney said, adding, “Traditional party lines don’t matter to us when candidates for office hold the values our state holds dear.” The group consists of 12 key leaders from across the state and from across the political spectrum.
“United Wisconsin is seeking to become a ‘fusion’ political party that will cross-nominate major party candidates who reflect and uphold our values, rather than a typical third party that supports candidates with little shot of winning and risks helping to elect its least preferred candidate,” said Kris Andrews, the organization’s Executive Director. “We want to give voters in the middle a constructive way to influence the process, so that more politicians listen to them, and ultimately policy will reflect the majority rather than the extremes.”
The group’s website outlines United Wisconsin’s support for fusion voting, which has a long and rich history in Wisconsin. This electoral process allows minor parties to cross-nominate candidates from major parties. Voting for candidates on a fusion party line enables voters to support candidates who have a genuine chance of winning, while also signaling to both major parties the values and priorities represented by their vote.
“A party of the center, ‘fusing’ on candidates from both sides of the aisle, would be a very useful moderating force in Wisconsin politics,” said Schultz, adding, “We have a state constitutional right to associate with any candidate we’d like, even if that candidate is already nominated by a major party. We’ll seek to clarify this right in court, if necessary.”
For more information about United Wisconsin, visit https://unitedwisconsin.org/.
