Milwaukee mayor’s support for vote campaign draws backlash

By HARM VENHUIZEN
Associated Press/Report for America

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A new privately funded get-out-the-vote initiative in Wisconsin’s largest and most Democratic city has the support of Milwaukee’s mayor, but Republicans say it’s an attempt by Democrats to improperly bolster turnout in the narrowly divided battleground state. The controversy over the Milwaukee Votes 2022 initiative echoes concerns raised by Republicans in 2020 when a group funded by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg distributed millions of dollars in grants to support local elections offices in Wisconsin and throughout the country as COVID-19 complicated the presidential election. Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s office has clarified that the initiative is nonpartisan, and that it’s being funded and carried out without government assistance.