Other Group

Project 72

Website:

www.project72wi.org/

Location:

Shorewood, WI

Type:

Election Advocacy Organization

Formation:

2023

Co-Director:

Terry Landis

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Project 72 Wisconsin (Project 72 WI) is a left-of-center election advocacy organization that sought to provide election-related information to students on 15 different college campuses in Wisconsin. The group provided information in support of Democratic Party-backed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz over Republican-backed Dan Kelly in the April 4, 2023, Wisconsin Supreme Court election. 1 2

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. 9 10

Former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair and Wisconsin campus organizer for former Vice President Al Gore (D) Mike Tate initially led the organization. 11 12

As of June 2023, Teddy Landis is the co-director of Project 72 WI. 13  In December 2022, he was invited to the White House as a part of a Biden administration initiative targeting young Americans. 14 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. 15

Activities and Funding

Project 72 Wisconsin is a left-of-center nonprofit 16 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. 17 Protasiewicz ultimately defeated Kelly in the race. 18

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. 19

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. 20 21 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. 22

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.” 23 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. 24

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, 25 social media engagement on TikTok, 26 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. 27 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. 28

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. 29

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. 30

Funding

Project 72 Wisconsin receives funding from donations made through the Democratic-affiliated fundraising platform ActBlue Civics. 31

References

  1. Fanlund, Paul. “Opinion | Ben Wikler and the ‘industrial strength’ campaign that won.” The Cap Times, April 7, 2023. https://captimes.com/opinion/paul-fanlund/opinion-ben-wikler-and-the-industrial-strength-campaign-that-won/article_634b1a4c-feee-54fa-918a-1b7c15648b56.html
  2. “Project 72, WI, Inc.” Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.wdfi.org/apps/CorpSearch/Details.aspx?entityID=P087069&hash=1040869596&searchFunctionID=50f65844-c73f-4c0f-92bc-9b1f43006674&type=Simple&q=project+72.
  3. “WI Project 72.” TikTok Profile. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.tiktok.com/@wiproject72.
  4. “Now Hiring Campus Organizers.” Project 72 WI. Accessed via Web Archive April 7, 2023. June 25, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230407115708/https://www.project72wi.org/campus-organizer.
  5. Ava Menkes and Anna Kleiber. “Campus organizers, student turnout fueled Protasiewicz’s Wisconsin Supreme Court victory.” The Daily Cardinal. April 13, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://issuu.com/the_daily_cardinal/docs/041323/s/22507372.
  6. Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan. “Dems make major inroads in the youth vote. And it’s not just college kids.” Politico. April 10, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2023/04/10/young-scrappy-and-helping-biden-00091268.
  7. Dan Balz and Dylan Wells. “How Wisconsin liberals set record campus turnout in court election.” Washington Post. April 11, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/11/wisconsin-liberal-youth-vote/.
  8. Glauber, Bill. “Bradley Foundation board member Cleta Mitchell bemoans college voting in private meeting with top GOP donors.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. April 20, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/20/bradley-foundation-board-member-cleta-mitchell-bemoans-college-voting/70135568007/.
  9. Fanlund, Paul. “Opinion | Ben Wikler and the ‘industrial strength’ campaign that won.” The Cap Times, April 7, 2023. https://captimes.com/opinion/paul-fanlund/opinion-ben-wikler-and-the-industrial-strength-campaign-that-won/article_634b1a4c-feee-54fa-918a-1b7c15648b56.html
  10. “Project 72, WI, Inc.” Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.wdfi.org/apps/CorpSearch/Details.aspx?entityID=P087069&hash=1040869596&searchFunctionID=50f65844-c73f-4c0f-92bc-9b1f43006674&type=Simple&q=project+72
  11. Dan Balz and Dylan Wells. “How Wisconsin liberals set record campus turnout in court election.” Washington Post. April 11, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/11/wisconsin-liberal-youth-vote/.
  12. Glauber, Bill. “Bradley Foundation board member Cleta Mitchell bemoans college voting in private meeting with top GOP donors.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. April 20, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/20/bradley-foundation-board-member-cleta-mitchell-bemoans-college-voting/70135568007/.
  13. Ava Menkes and Anna Kleiber. “Campus organizers, student turnout fueled Protasiewicz’s Wisconsin Supreme Court victory.” The Daily Cardinal. April 13, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://issuu.com/the_daily_cardinal/docs/041323/s/22507372.
  14. “Tweet.” Teddy Landis Twitter. Posted December 15, 2022. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://twitter.com/TeddyLandis1/status/1603523844832100353?cxt=HHwWgoCwgZ2c7sAsAAAA.
  15. “Experience.” Terry Landis LinkedIn Profile. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/teddy-landis123/details/experience/.
  16. “Home.” Project 72 Wisconsin. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.project72wi.org/.
  17. Project 72 Wisconsin, Accessed April 11, 2023. https://www.project72wi.org/
  18. Fanlund, Paul. “Opinion | Ben Wikler and the ‘industrial strength’ campaign that won.” The Cap Times, April 7, 2023. https://captimes.com/opinion/paul-fanlund/opinion-ben-wikler-and-the-industrial-strength-campaign-that-won/article_634b1a4c-feee-54fa-918a-1b7c15648b56.html
  19. Fanlund, Paul. “Opinion | Ben Wikler and the ‘industrial strength’ campaign that won.” The Cap Times, April 7, 2023. https://captimes.com/opinion/paul-fanlund/opinion-ben-wikler-and-the-industrial-strength-campaign-that-won/article_634b1a4c-feee-54fa-918a-1b7c15648b56.html
  20. Ava Menkes and Anna Kleiber. “Campus organizers, student turnout fueled Protasiewicz’s Wisconsin Supreme Court victory.” The Daily Cardinal. April 13, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://issuu.com/the_daily_cardinal/docs/041323/s/22507372.
  21. Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan. “Dems make major inroads in the youth vote. And it’s not just college kids.” Politico. April 10, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2023/04/10/young-scrappy-and-helping-biden-00091268.
  22. Fanlund, Paul. “Opinion | Ben Wikler and the ‘industrial strength’ campaign that won.” The Cap Times, April 7, 2023. https://captimes.com/opinion/paul-fanlund/opinion-ben-wikler-and-the-industrial-strength-campaign-that-won/article_634b1a4c-feee-54fa-918a-1b7c15648b56.html
  23.   “Now Hiring Campus Organizers.” Project 72 WI. Accessed via Web Archive April 7, 2023. June 25, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230407115708/https://www.project72wi.org/campus-organizer.
  24. “’When you invest in young voters, you get more votes’.” The Up and Up. April 5, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.theupandup.us/p/when-you-invest-in-young-voters-you.
  25. Dan Balz and Dylan Wells. “How Wisconsin liberals set record campus turnout in court election.” Washington Post. April 11, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/11/wisconsin-liberal-youth-vote/.
  26. “WI Project 72.” TikTok Profile. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.tiktok.com/@wiproject72.
  27. DiBenedetto, Chase. “Record-breaking Wisconsin Supreme Court flip sparks reflection on youth voter mobilization.” Mashable. April 5, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://mashable.com/article/wisconsin-supreme-court-youth-voter-turnout.
  28. “Now Hiring GOTV Organizing Fellows.” Project 72 WI. Accessed via Web Archive April 13, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230413024501/https://www.project72wi.org/gotvfellow.
  29.  “Hijacking Campaign 2023 – Information on Project 72 WI PAC.” Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Posted March 23, 2023. Updated April 4, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.wisdc.org/interest-group-spending/140-hijacking-campaign-2023/7335-hijacking-campaign-2023-information-on-project-72-wi-pac.
  30. “’When you invest in young voters, you get more votes’.” The Up and Up. April 5, 2023. Accessed June 25, 2023. https://www.theupandup.us/p/when-you-invest-in-young-voters-you.
  31. “Donate to Project 72 WI.” ActBlue. Accessed June 21, 2023. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/project72wiweb
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Project 72

4230 Oakland Avenue
Shorewood, WI