Wisconsin Voters Return Bipartisan School Choice Majorities to Madison

The American Federation for Children, the nation’s voice for educational choice touted significant wins tonight in Wisconsin, showing that parents and communities across the state are embracing education reform and are defending parents’ fundamental right to choose the school that is best for their children.
In races that AFC actively participated in with independent expenditures, candidates won all six of six. AFC also supported an additional 35 candidates through direct contributions, where 34 candidates have won, with the last race still too close to call.
The American Federation for Children is proud to defend and expand the ranks of school choice supporters in the Wisconsin Legislature. Legislators will go into the next legislative session with bipartisan majorities in favor of school choice in both houses.
These victories come despite considerable spending by the opposition. The Greater Wisconsin Committee spent over $179,000 running attack ads against Rep. Todd Novak for his support of school choice. Former Representative Mandy Wright, Jack Redmond, Jeff Wright, David Gorski, and Alicia Leinberger made villainizing school choice a central theme of their campaign. The voters in these swing districts rejected this antiquated approach to education and supported candidates who believe every child deserves to attend the school that best meets their needs.
“We know parents want their children to have access to the best education possible,” said Justin Moralez of the American Federation for Children. “Tonight’s election results reflect our state wide polling from earlier this year showing a majority of Wisconsinites support school choice.” A May 2016 poll showed 54% of likely Wisconsin voters support the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program.
Our survey data backed up the conclusion of a recently released internal Democratic memo showing many Democrats support school choice,” remarked Moralez.
Tonight’s election results, and the results of the August primaries, demonstrate that Democrats in competitive races, who opposed school choice, lost big.
“After twenty-six years of choice in Wisconsin, it appears time to finally put the debate to rest. The voters clearly believe school choice is working,” stated Moralez.
Final election results can be found here.
Join AFC at our post election event in Washington, DC, Elections and Education, 2017 & Beyond, on Thursday November, 10th. Click here for event information and to RSVP.