Ben Manski to contest Wisconsin's 77th Assembly District

West side native and nationally known progressive leader vows to keep Assembly seat green.

MADISON - Tomorrow morning at 10am, at the Government Accountability Board in downtown Madison, Ben Manski will submit nearly 400 signatures placing his name in nomination to represent the 77th District of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Manski will be available for interviews immediately following.

“I have known Spencer Black for most of my life, he was my representative when I was growing up -- when I was at Randall Elementary, Van Hise Middle, Madison West High, and UW-Madison -- and throughout those years, even the early ones, I have always been an advocate for ecology and democracy,” said Manski.

“My loyalties are with political reform, and with reformers, regardless of political party,” Manski said, adding that, “Spencer has been a progressive pillar of the Wisconsin Assembly, and I couldn’t watch his seat go to a go-along-to-get-along politician. When I was an organizer with Clean Wisconsin against the Exxon Mine, I worked with Spence to achieve his Mining Moratorium Bill. This past year, he was the lead sponsor of the Safeguard the Guard Act, a bill I helped to draft. I regret his retirement.”

Manski says he’s, “in it to win it.” In its first four days, the campaign developed a website, recruited and deployed a dozen volunteers, and assembled a campaign team, including campaign manager, communications director, treasurer, photographer, and web developer. Already, donations to the campaign are streaming in.

“We’ll be out in force every day from this point on. Ben knows every aspect of campaigning and has been involved in scores of political campaigns, not to mention all the social justice organizing he’s been a leader in,” said Steve Burns, Manski’s campaign manager. Burns was the statewide coordinator of the successful “Bring the Troops Home!” ballot initiative campaign of 2006, and has been an organizer with the American Federation of Teachers and the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice.

Manski has been receiving a lot of attention. In its first two days, the Manski for Assembly Facebook group secured over 200 members, and is growing at a fast clip. In yesterday’s Wisconsin State Journal, the Capital Times' John Nichols wrote, “Simply by running, Manski is ... adding a new dimension to what is already one of the most interesting and important election campaigns of 2010.”

Says local Green Party chair Larry Dooley, "Ben is running in a district where Greens have won a significant votes in recent partisan races. With his deep roots in the district, he is the ideal progressive candidate to represent it with the kind of passion that Spencer Black did."

Ben Manski is a public interest attorney and pro-democracy advocate. He is a frequent guest on WPR’s “Week In Review.” He is the executive director of the Liberty Tree Foundation, as well as principal attorney at Manski Law, LLC, co-owner of the green business network PosiPair.com, a member of the Sociology faculty at MATC and of AFT 6100, and an associate fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C..

For more information, visit the website in development at http://VoteManski.com/

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