Wisconsin Business Leaders Ensure Fair Elections
A bipartisan group of Wisconsin business leaders formed the Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy to counter misinformation and protect the integrity of elections following attacks on the 2020 results. Through civic engagement efforts like voter education toolkits, paid time off for voting, and letters of support for election officials, the group worked to redeem public trust in election workers and reframe partisan narratives that undermined democracy.
Their support for Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe, and over 1,800 clerks across the state, directly countered disinformation campaigns by elevating facts and nonpartisan credibility.
The coalition further redirected public attention by refusing to remain neutral when candidates declined to commit to basic democratic principles. When GOP candidates failed to respond to pledges or democracy questionnaires, the business leaders issued public statements, ran ads, and submitted legal briefs to reveal those refusals. By making candidates’ silence visible and politically costly, they exposed anti-democratic behavior while showing that business leaders can and should resist political violence and authoritarian tactics by upholding democratic norms.
Photo credit: Election Day 2020. Phil Roeder from Des Moines, IA, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons