Project 72

During the campaign, Project 72 WI spent over $1 million on campus-focused activities, ³ grew to more than 100 paid organizers with a “passion for progressive politics” on college campuses, ⁴ and knocked on more than 42,000 doors on 15 different college campuses in Wisconsin. ^{5 6}

Former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair and Wisconsin campus organizer for former Vice President Al Gore (D) Mike Tate initially led the organization. ^{7 8}

History and Leadership

Project 72 Wisconsin (Project 72 WI) was founded in January 2023 in an effort to support Democratic Party-backed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz over Republican-backed Dan Kelly in the April 4, 2023, election. ^{1 2}

Former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair and Wisconsin campus organizer for former Vice President Al Gore (D) Mike Tate initially led the organization. ^{7 8}

As of June 2023, Teddy Landis is the co-director of Project 72 WI. ⁵  In December 2022, he was invited to the White House as a part of a Biden administration initiative targeting young Americans. ⁹ Prior to joining Project 72 WI, Landis worked for left-of-center groups including America Votes, BallotReady, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Fair Elections Center project Campus Vote Project, the unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), social media company Snap, Civic Nation, and the Harvard University Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government. ¹⁰

Activities and Funding

Project 72 Wisconsin is a left-of-center nonprofit ¹¹ election advocacy organization that sought to provide information to college students on up to 15 college campuses around the state of Wisconsin in support of Democratic Party-based candidate Janet Protasiewicz over Republican-backed Dan Kelly regarding the April 4, 2023, State Supreme Court election. ¹² Protasiewicz ultimately defeated Kelly in the race. ¹

During an interview with the Cap Times, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Ben Winkler revealed a memo shared by Project 72 detailing the group’s efforts to inform and encourage college students to vote in the April 4 state supreme court election. Project 72 claims that it knocked on over 40,000 doors of university students. ¹

In fact, Project 72 WI knocked on 42,000 doors across 15 college campuses in Wisconsin prior to the April election as a part of its efforts to organize college voters and drive turnout in favor of Democrats. ^{5 6} According to the memo, Democratic-backed candidate Janet Protasiewicz received at least 75 percent of the vote in every student ward within the state and even claimed that the student turnout within a ward at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was at 97 percent of the student turnout from that same ward in November 2022 midterm elections. ¹

During the course of the campaign, Project 72 WI grew in size to more than 100 people with organizers on college campuses around the state that had a “passion for progressive politics.” ¹³ Its members included the former youth organizing director of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and the 2020 campus program director of the Democratic Party of Arizona. ¹⁴

The group spent close to $1 million on campus-focused activities during the election cycle. These activities included canvassing tables and campus activities, knocking on 42,000 doors, distribution of over 500 yard signs on one college campus, ⁷ social media engagement on TikTok, ³ promotion of events including drag nights and college bar trivia, and sponsorship of a paid get-out-the-vote fellowship for organizers prior to the election. ¹⁵ Project 72 WI also hired get-out-the-vote fellows to build a movement on campus to support the liberal candidate in April’s supreme court race. ¹⁶

In late March alone, Project 72 WI’s political action committee (PAC) spent $103,000 on canvassing, outdoor advertising, and stickers to support the campaign of Democrat-backed Janet Protasiewicz. The group spent an additional $19,600 in the four days leading up to the election. ¹⁷

During the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election cycle, Project 72 WI worked with various left-of-center groups including Rise Inc., Working Families Party, Planned Parenthood, Empower, NextGen America, Leaders Igniting Transformation, VoteRiders, For Our Future, Climate Emergency Advocates, Un-PAC, Wisconsin Conservation Voters, MoveOn, America Votes, ReOrganized, For Wisconsin, A Better Wisconsin Together, Path to Progress, Voters of Tomorrow, and Gen Z for Change. ¹⁴

Funding

Project 72 Wisconsin receives funding from donations made through the Democratic-affiliated fundraising platform ActBlue Civics. ¹⁸