DNC Chair Frontrunner Ben Wikler Oversaw Wis. Dems as They Downplayed Oct. 7, Labeled Themselves ‘Party of DEI’

Wisconsin Democratic Party chairman Ben Wikler, an emerging favorite to lead the DNC, presided over the state party earlier this year when it voted for a resolution that called for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza—and excluded references to the Hamas attack that sparked the war.

In June, Wikler convened Wisconsin Democrats’ biannual convention, where party members voted 136-91 to adopt a resolution that called for an "immediate, unconditional" ceasefire in Gaza. The members voted to exclude any reference to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 Israelis were murdered and hundreds more taken hostage, as well as statistics about the dramatic spike in anti-Semitic attacks since Oct. 7. The Jewish Federation of Milwaukee said it was "shocked and disappointed that Wisconsin Democrats have refused to acknowledge the actions of Hamas on and since 10/7."

And that’s not the only radical view Wisconsin Democrats have adopted since Wikler took over leading the party in 2019.

In 2021, the party updated its platform to call itself the "party of diversity, equity, and inclusion," and said it welcomes refugees "fleeing the effects of climate change." The platform calls to "reimagine policing and criminal justice," and decriminalize "dangerous drug use" by replacing jail time with rehabilitation services.

Wikler’s stewardship of Wisconsin Democrats could raise questions about his ability to tackle the unpopular elements of the national Democratic Party, which is in disarray after Vice President Kamala Harris's decisive election loss last month. Wikler announced his candidacy for the DNC chair earlier this week, joining a crowded field that includes Minnesota Democratic party leader Ken Martin and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley.

Wikler has already landed endorsements from the left-wing groups the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and MoveOn, where Wikler served as Washington director until 2017. "Ben is widely known as a special, one of kind leader who progressive grassroots organizations love and who former Obama campaign officials love," said PCCC cofounder Adam Green. Jonathan Cowan, the cofounder of the center-left group Third Way, endorsed Wikler as a moderate who has "held true to his mainstream, Midwestern values." But Wikler has embraced many of the controversial racial, cultural, and social views that some Democrats now blame for the poor showing in November.

Wikler has been an emphatic supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement. In August 2020, he called for the "arrest, prosecution and conviction" of the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake during an arrest attempt. Wikler called the shooting a "symptom of the deadly disease of white supremacy and racism," though he acknowledged "we don’t yet know the details of the situation."

A district attorney and the Biden Department of Justice later declined to bring charges against the officer. Blake, who had an arrest warrant for sexual assault, admitted to having a knife when he was shot.

Wikler downplayed the actions of rioters who tore down statues of an abolitionist and a suffragette outside the state capitol in Madison in protest over the police shooting of George Floyd. Wikler said "the actions & anger visible yesterday have a long back story," such as "the impact of centuries of racist policies in [Wisconsin]."

"Let's earn our symbols of justice—and while we’re at it, let’s build statues celebrating Wisconsin's heroes of all races," wrote Wikler, adding: "Let's build a state where #BlackLivesMatter."

The following day, Wikler touted the case of Althea Bernstein, a black college student who claimed she was set on fire by four white men in Madison after they yelled the "N-word" at her. "This racist attack on Tuesday night in Madison is utterly horrifying and unacceptable," Wikler wrote at the time. Investigators later found evidence that Bernstein fabricated the attack.

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