KENOSHA, Wis. — Critics say the Kenosha County Democratic Party has moved well beyond traditional Democratic politics and increasingly expects local candidates to embrace a long list of progressive activist positions in order to receive support, endorsements, volunteers, and access to party resources.
For local offices such as county board supervisor, school board, village trustee, city council, or town board, voters might reasonably expect Democratic Party questionnaires to ask about road funding, taxes, economic development, labor unions, public schools, zoning, public safety, and local government spending. Instead, critics say the questionnaires given to candidates during the 2024 cycle and again heading into 2026 asked about issues that local officials will never have the authority to decide.
Rather than focusing on roads, budgets, parks, school performance, infrastructure, and economic growth, the questionnaires reportedly asked candidates whether they support abolishing ICE, legalizing prostitution, reparations, ending cash bail, reducing prison populations, eliminating or reducing mandatory minimum sentences, safe injection sites, physician-assisted suicide, taxpayer-funded gender-transition procedures, expanded transgender protections, decriminalizing addiction, and whether systemic racism exists throughout healthcare, policing, education, and housing.
Candidates were also reportedly asked whether they support treating climate change as an emergency, “reimagining” policing, directing more public money toward historically marginalized communities, expanding DEI programs, supporting LGBTQ curriculum policies, increasing gun restrictions, expanding abortion access, giving undocumented immigrants more public benefits, and reducing incarceration rates.
Critics say many of those questions have little or nothing to do with the responsibilities of county board supervisors, school board members, city council members, village trustees, or other local offices.
A county board candidate does not decide whether prostitution should be legal. A school board member does not control immigration policy. A village trustee does not determine whether ICE should exist. A county supervisor cannot legalize physician-assisted suicide or decide whether Wisconsin has mandatory minimum sentences. Yet critics say local candidates are being asked to pledge support for those kinds of policies before receiving access to endorsements, volunteers, party events, and other political support.
Critics also argue the questionnaires expose the myth that many local races are truly nonpartisan. School board candidates and county board supervisors often publicly avoid the “D” next to their names and insist they are running for nonpartisan positions. But critics say if those same candidates are privately filling out ideological questionnaires about ICE, prostitution, reparations, abortion, incarceration, and gender ideology in order to receive Democratic Party support, then those races are clearly partisan behind the scenes.
That is especially significant because Democrats are poised to maintain control of the Kenosha County Board leadership structure. Supervisor Monica Yuhas currently serves as chairwoman of the board, while Supervisor Daniel Gaschke serves as vice chairman. John Franco remains one of the more liberal voices on the board and holds influential committee leadership positions. Danie Gaschke is poised to be elected as the Chair, and Franco, the Vice-Chair respectively. These are perhaps the two most extreme liberals on the board. Mark Nordigan, who claims to be a republican has been lobbying for the chairman spot with little hope.
Some longtime Democrats privately acknowledge that the questionnaires appear less focused on learning about candidates and more focused on determining whether candidates are sufficiently aligned with the party’s activist wing.
Critics say the forms amount to ideological loyalty tests. Rather than simply asking candidates where they stand, the questionnaires reportedly push them to affirm that systemic racism exists across major institutions, support equity-based policymaking, embrace progressive gender ideology, oppose tougher criminal penalties, support reducing incarceration, and prioritize certain groups in government decision-making.
Many moderate Democrats, older Democrats, suburban Democrats, union households, and working-class voters may support the party on traditional issues like healthcare, labor, public education, and abortion rights while stopping well short of endorsing abolishing ICE, legalizing prostitution, or reducing prison populations.
The current board of the Kenosha County Democratic Party is led by Chair Max Winkels, followed by Vice Chair Mary Sue Lux, Secretary Lynn Dahl, Treasurer Karen Ritchie, and Sergeant at Arms Andres Gama. The board also includes At-Large Members Robin Cullen, Jennifer Franco, Joe Mariani, and Jennifer Weinstein. Past party president Lori Hawkins is no longer on the board but is said to have played a major role in helping draft the more radical 2024 questionnaire.
Of the current board members, Gama is perhaps the best known politically. The former county board supervisor previously drew attention for advocating a four-day work week at full pay for county employees. Cullen was recently elected to the Kenosha Unified School Board. Franco is the wife of County Board Supervisor John Franco. Most of the other board members are not widely known in the community.
Sandy Wiedmeyer, chair of the Republican Party of Kenosha County and a candidate for State Senate, said the types of positions reflected in the questionnaires show how dramatically the local Democratic Party has changed.
“In my personal opinion, these radical ideals that have been adopted by the Democrats of today are so extreme, the party is unrecognizable,” Wiedmeyer said. “I’m unsure how they use the survey, however if these are the required ideals for endorsed Democrat candidates, voters should be aware of these radical requirements.”
Wiedmeyer said the questions appear designed to pressure candidates into embracing a far-left worldview before receiving endorsements, volunteers, party meetings, campaign resources, and other support.
Republicans have increasingly seized on the questionnaires as evidence that the local Democratic Party has drifted sharply to the left. They argue that if a candidate cannot receive support from the party without answering questions about prostitution, ICE, gender identity, reparations, prison populations, and other controversial issues, then the party has become disconnected from the priorities of average voters.
Supporters of the party would likely argue the questionnaires are simply intended to determine whether candidates share Democratic values and that candidates are not necessarily required to answer every question a certain way.
Still, critics say the sheer number of controversial questions and the apparent expectation that candidates make ideological pledges have made the Kenosha County Democratic Party appear far more interested in activist politics than in roads, taxes, public safety, economic development, and the everyday concerns of local voters.
27 Responses
I’m sorry but I DO NOT support transgender! Women have XX CHROMOSOMES men have XY..stop trying to force this shit down our throats! I’m all for being who u wanna be and expressing how u feel but this has gone way too far! When my 9 year old daughter has to worry about women with dicks using their locker rooms and bathrooms yea I have a problem with that! I identify as a cat whose house can I move into and scratch up their furniture, get petted all day n eat for free? Get it together Kenosha n grow some balls! Stop trying to appease everyone!
Good luck with that. Most people aren’t smart enough to think for themselves.
The Dem-Lib-Left will continue to gain power because they appeal to and cultivate the younger voters by promising lots of benefits and free stuff. Of course that requires increasing taxes but Dem and Repub leaders are more focused on increasing their own pay and benefits.
Dem and Repub leaders are the same.
You are not exactly right about chromosomal occurrences always being only XX or YY; other combinations also happen and not always physically apparent at birth, although majority of chromosomes do occur XX or YY. However, I do agree with the rest of your statements. I am an ex-GOP because I appreciate freedom of expression and religion, the right to make my own reproduction and medical decisions, democracy without autocracy, and the right of people to respectfully hold and express political and religious beliefs different from mine. Our freedom to disagree is what made the USA greater than any other nation.
When you want to allow creepy men with beards into the same bathroom as my teenage daughter, I don’t want to even hear what you’re positions on crime, taxes, and healthcare are. You’re nuts and are dismissed as such.
Anyone voting for a democrat these days are nuts for doing so. Look what they are pushing! Not for citizens safety, not fixing our terrible roads, pushing this climate hoax, and transitioning innocent child to think they are born the wrong sex! It’s not my parents democrat party anymore. I have never voted democrat and probably never will if they keep pushing this crap on me and my family!
From the story ….
“KENOSHA, Wis. — Critics say the Kenosha County Democratic Party has moved well beyond traditional Democratic politics and increasingly expects local candidates to embrace a long list of progressive activist positions in order to receive support, endorsements, volunteers, and access to party resources.”
… I wonder if the GOP required a list of ideologies on our side to be sworn to before they received endorsement and support if we would have better candidates for office.
The recent Supreme Court results come to mind.
I think the GOP stand on abortion is ridiculous, but their stand on Supreme Court justices was spot on. They expect politicians to make laws and judges to decide whether or not they are constitutional. The activist we just voted to the court should have been running for governor or legislature since she wants to make laws.
People like that do want to make laws but decide they think they shouldn’t have to work at it or come to a consensus with others in the legislature.
So they run to be a judge so they can make (or change) laws at their whim ! They think they are perfect in their own thinking not understanding that it’s not their thinking we’re after but their understanding of the laws already in place.
Big difference !!
Excellent Perspective !!
The GOP stand on abortion is its bane and Chain around its electoral neck that it will never shake off. There are many registered GOP that want it removed along with the vast general population, but as with the Democrat crazy kooks, the GOP has its zealot fool segment that its mainstream segments have to accommodate for their votes but workaround when they govern.
The Wisconsin law allows an abortion until 20 weeks. It is not outlawed. How much longer do you want people to have an abortion?
If true, it’s not only offensive but stupid.
************ Conservatives don’t call the democrat party the “democratic” party **********
I know the mistake is made often, including by our vice president … but … no ……. don’t do that.
where can we find an example of this/these questionnaire(s)? Thanks
Yeah, that. Right now, the story seems to consist of “anonymous critics don’t like what they say the Kenosha Democratic Party does” and that’s rather lacking in substance. If the story wants me to be outraged, I’d like to have something specific and concrete to look at, rather than just allegations by “critics”.
I am a conservative. I typically vote with the Republicans, however I’ve been abstaining from votes more and more frequently, because my beliefs don’t align with either candidate.
I will give this to the Kenosha left: they’re recruiting winnable candidates. That’s more than can be said for RPKC and RPW.
Lots of people feeling very disenfranchised by the candidates that are being put up for election on the right. Anyone who doesn’t fit into their little box gets pushed aside, disregarded, and bashed to the point that they become unviable, even as an independent.
And why Maga Conservatives are waking up to slowly having to accept the fact that the GOP corrupt grifting establishment is an equal threat to the citizen as the Democrat crazies.
When the Democrats put up old fashioned sane straight arrow candidates, they easily win. The very unusual example of John Fetterman in the Senate, despite his unique but effective appearance, is a current example.
Don’t vote for either of these parties. They both are trash. This isn’t your mom or dad’s Democratic or Republican parties.
And what ? Crawl under a rock ?
Stay home from life then.
Shut up. Im not participating in a rigged system either. 2 wings of the same bird.
You are at a picnic. A large family reunion.
A game of tug and war is set up. It’s one uncles side of the family against the other uncles side.
Obviously you know whose side you are supposed to be on.
Do you join in and pull to all your ability ?
Join in but don’t give it your all ?
Or sit it out watching your side lose ?
You can’t change who you are. Which side you are part of. So when a “War” is happening you must give everything to winning that war regardless of if you have gotten along with all these relatives, cousins, aunts and uncles over the years. You must support the side of the family you belong to !
Your political beliefs are for the most part set in stone. Similar to who you are in a family that you were born to, this is not something you can change.
So when it’s time join a side in a war, unless you are the leader, the General leading the charge or pull, you must join the ranks for the betterment of the side you are on.
You probably don’t like everyone in the family. Every political position and idea they expound as a whole but this is the family who through thick and thin, you belong to. By your own admission.
So when our side has a weak leader, either help them win or take over leadership.
But don’t sit on the sidelines watching them lose.
That doesn’t help yourself down the road
Following that same “logic”:
If the two sides of the family behaved the way the two parties do- I would stay as far away from that reunion as I possibly could. I wouldn’t want to be associated with that group.
Then you don’t get to complain.
Be involved or STFU !
People like you are the reason that normal people don’t run— that attitude of “STFU” is exactly the nastiness that pushes people away.
You think you really did something, but all you did was prove my point about why so many people are stepping away from both parties because of the overwhelming assholes.
Bullshit. My votes been stolen for YEARS! Ill bitch about whatever I want.
2 wings of the same bird.
For those of you who are not a fan of the recent GOP and it doesn’t align with your older beliefs, think about what is at stake when you sit out of an election. Dems don’t sit out. You have principles, which is great, but what is at stake is America going down the tubes. Taxes that we can’t afford because the tax money is being given away hand over fist to either fraudulent causes or nonsense causes such as transgender surgery. Ask yourself why are the pushing this? Do you think America can survive if the tax burden becomes too great and causes that are directly opposite of what the country is founded on are pushed to the forefront? It is worth voting for the lesser of two “evils”. One side might not be exactly what you want, but the other side wants to obliterate America.