Big picture, folks: Support your candidate now, then get behind the nominee on Aug. 11

We are five days out from Wisconsin’s primary, and I am beginning to see both online and in real life that Democrats are eating their own, as Democrats tend to do. I’m going to hold your hand when I tell you this using my very best mom voice: stop it.

I’m public about my politics so naturally in a messy primary people have asked me who I'm going to endorse. The short answer is: nobody. Because I am a county party chair I am not allowed per the Constitution to publicly endorse anyone. 

Also, to be frank, primaries are a healthy thing and we have several right here in Northeast Wisconsin. We have the gubernatorial, the 8th congressional district, and in Assembly District 56, we have two great Democratic candidates. 

Let it play out. I think that it's important for everyone to take a breath. The candidate that garners the most support is the most electable, friends. We move forward with that. 

There is a lot of talk about the “Democratic establishment” that I think deserves some explanation as well to people outside of the machine. There are strategists and pundits who have weighed in here, as they are allowed to do. I get the frustration from voters, certainly. Fight against it by getting out for your preferred candidate. Talk to your neighbors, family and friends. Debate approach, vision, and qualifications with other democrats — with respect. Then we rally together.

I’m a county party chair and I’m unafraid to say this: the two party system sucks. It’s silly to think that tens of millions of Americans would fit neatly into a box on either side. I think that we need to remember that on the left, we are made of a broad coalition. Democratic politics are made up of labor organizations and unions. They are made up of environmental and conservation advocates. They are made up of teachers and healthcare professionals and retirees and parents and people that are dependent on things like Medicare and Medicaid. Donors and elected officials. And it's a messy, messy thing. 

What we are seeing now is candidates from different parts of that spectrum that are hashing out their vision and their ideas of how to get to that final destination. I don't think that we are debating about where we want to move as a state. We're debating about the path that we might take to get there. 

But what I'm seeing instead of people championing their own candidate is a lot of fear. I’ve been on a lot of doors (canvassing), and I'll be on a lot more doors before Nov. 3. Here's what I know: Each electoral cycle the right will create some sort of boogie man that they think is going to get their voters out. It's going to make them mad enough or fearful enough that they're going to make sure they get to the polls. Last time it was targeting the transgender community. 

There are still people for whom that is still their main issue. And why? I'm perplexed because there are salient and urgent issues that people are facing in life, like the cost of gas and groceries, or healthcare, or utilities and data centers. And yet fearmongering and misinformation is what they use to push people to the polls. 

This cycle, you're going to hear socialism and communism, even though those are conflicting ideologies. And no matter who makes it through on the 11th, that's going to be what they’ll be talking about. All this talk about polling and who can win or can’t win, the work remains the same. And that means caring enough about our neighbors and what they're facing that we all get involved no matter who wins. It's on us between now and Nov. 3, so I need you to step into your power a little bit more. I need you to advocate for whoever the hell you want to advocate for between now and Aug. 11. But on Aug. 12, you rally around whoever comes out the other side. You say, hell yeah, let's do it because you have a vision for Wisconsin.

That vision means that families will breathe a little easier. It means that working folks can afford to live. It means that we are respecting the dignity of each and every human being, no matter who they love, how they worship, where they come from, or what they look like. It means that you are for the working class. 

So debate it out, Dems. Let’s do that, but let's stop acting as though the Dem standing next to you, or someone that is independent or progressive is your enemy. That is where I don't want to see us go.

And I also really want to caution those of you who understand what’s at stake, as I do, that you tuning out because you’re mad about which dem endorsed who is just going to result in a Tom Tiffany victory. So just hear me when I say that just like those who decided I can't bring myself to vote for the Democratic candidate in 2024 and who stayed home played a role in where we are, the same thing's going to apply in November. 

It's a hard truth, and if you disagree with me, okay, that's fine. But I've been a county party chair. I've been a paid organizer for Indivisible in 2020, and I'm running my second campaign in a really tough district. And I am telling you that that kind of rhetoric pisses me off more than anything else. 

So we have to keep our eyes on the prize. We cannot afford Tom Tiffany as our governor. So we gotta work like hell. The work continues regardless. Let's have a good primary, and then let's roll up our sleeves together and get this thing done. 

Emily Tseffos in the Chair of the Democratic Party of Outagamie County and a candidate for State Senate