Business Leaders Support Elections Commission, a Frequent Target of GOP Conspiracies

Republicans have targeted the Elections Commission as they seek to undermine elections.

A group of business leaders has sent words of support and encouragement to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) members and staff for keeping elections safe and secure in the face of a pandemic and a rash of threats and conspiracies from people influenced by former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.

“Since the creation of the WEC in 2016, each of you has upheld our state’s tradition of nonpartisan, expert election administration,” said the letter from the group Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy. “In 2020, you enabled over 3.2 million voices from Wisconsin to be heard in the midst of a global health crisis. You also supported and trained over 1,800 local election officials across the state.”

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The group, formed last year, includes the president of the Milwaukee Bucks, the former presidents of Harley-Davidson and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the CEO of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry, and the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“The WEC and election administrators statewide have faced relentless threats over the past year just for doing their jobs. We hope this letter serves to remind them of how crucial their work is, and lets them know that the Wisconsin business community is behind them,” said David Lubar, CEO of the investment firm Lubar & Co.
This letter, addressed to commission members and WEC administrator Meagan Wolfe, noted the nationwide threats and intimidation campaigns against election officials as well as a Republican proposal in the Legislature to scrap the WEC and make it easier for politicians to overrule election results they don’t like.