June 16, 2025
Dear Friends of United Wisconsin,
NOTE FROM THE CO-CHAIRS
Dale Schultz and Dave Mahoney here. First and foremost, thank you for signing up for updates from United Wisconsin. We hope this will be the first of many. But, we’ll only write to you once a month!
We’ve been busy getting the word out about the founding of United Wisconsin and our lawsuit seeking to re-legalize fusion voting in the state. And we gotta tell you, the response we’re getting is really positive. A lot of people in Wisconsin are exhausted by how divisive politics has become. They are hungry for a change that can get us back to real problem-solving – and for a way to have more choices to express our voting preferences at the ballot box. Check out our “Latest in Wisconsin” section below.
We are pleased to be addressing the prestigious Rotary Club of Milwaukee on June 17 (tomorrow!). It will be an opportunity to engage Milwaukee’s large, active and respected organization made up of business and professional leaders dedicated to service and community. If you know of a group in your area that has an interest in learning more about United Wisconsin and fusion voting, we’d love to hear from you.
Help us expand our reach and our goal of transcending the politics of division. Please share our website with your friends and neighbors (www.unitedwisconsin.org) and ask them to sign up! Please spend some time on the website yourself, to learn about our platform, as well as about fusion voting and its history in Wisconsin. We also welcome any donations to support the cause (but it’s certainly not required to be a part of it).
If you have any questions, comments, or reactions, send an email to Kris Andrews, United Wisconsin’s Executive Director, at kristinedandrews@yahoo.com.
Let’s get to work,
Dale Schultz and Dave Mahoney
Co-Chairs, United Wisconsin
THE LATEST IN WISCONSIN
Read our joint oped in the Wisconsin State Journal on why bringing back fusion voting would be good for our state.
Listen to Dale and Dave’s interview with Wisconsin Civic Media’s Todd Allbaugh.
Read the AP’s story on our lawsuit: “Same candidate, two parties: A Wisconsin lawsuit aims to bring back fusion voting,” April 29, 2025
Dave Cieslewicz, the former mayor of Madison from 2003-2011, writes that United Wisconsin is a “good idea.”
Lee Rasch, the executive director of LeaderEthics, a nonpartisan group promoting ethical leadership among elected officials, agrees!
Still confused about fusion voting? Here’s a shareable fact sheet.
UPDATES FROM ELSEWHERE
We’re not alone! There are other state-based moderate and center parties forming and looking to assert their right to use fusion voting.
The New Jersey Moderate Party is currently working to get the NJ Supreme Court to hear their lawsuit to overturn New Jersey’s ban on fusion voting. The court will decide on whether to hear the case sometime this summer. And in Kansas, the United Kansas Party is before that state’s appellate court, working their way to the Kansas Supreme Court.
We’ll try to keep you updated on some of these efforts here. We’re not an official political party yet, but if we win the right to use fusion voting, we’ll seek official status. Our case was filed in a state trial court in April, and the state has just answered last week. And so begins the legal journey.
IN CLOSING
From the Boston Globe, about our two-party system: “It’s not working, according to a new poll from The Economist/YouGov. The poll, conducted in late May, shows the GOP with a net favorability rating of negative 11%, while Democrats follow 10 percentage points behind, with a net favorability rating of negative 21%. Both parties are in the basement popularity wise, but Republicans are at least sitting on the cellar stairs.”
It’s like both parties are stuck in the cellar – it’s dark, it’s damp, and no one’s willing to find the light switch. It’s time we all stop sitting in the dark and start looking for solutions!