Court Opinion

ID: 9929656
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-02 23:16:39.368151+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:41:13.781608
License: Public Domain

2024 WI 8

                  SUPREME COURT OF WISCONSIN
CASE NO.:              2024AP138-OA

COMPLETE TITLE:        Dean Phillips,
                                 Petitioner,
                            v.
                       Wisconsin Elections Commission and Wisconsin
                       Presidential
                       Preference Selection Committee,
                                 Respondents.

                                 PETITION FOR ORIGINAL ACTION

OPINION FILED:         February 2, 2024
SUBMITTED ON BRIEFS:
ORAL ARGUMENT:

SOURCE OF APPEAL:
   COURT:
   COUNTY:
   JUDGE:

JUSTICES:
Per curiam.

ATTORNEYS:
                                                                        2024 WI 8
                                                               NOTICE
                                               This opinion is subject to further
                                               editing and modification.   The final
                                               version will appear in the bound
                                               volume of the official reports.
No.   2024AP138-OA

STATE OF WISCONSIN                         :             IN SUPREME COURT

Dean Phillips,

           Petitioner,                                            FILED
      v.
                                                               FEB 2, 2024
Wisconsin Elections Commission and Wisconsin
Presidential Preference Selection Committee,                 Samuel A. Christensen
                                                             Clerk of Supreme Court

           Respondents.

      ORIGINAL ACTION.     Rights declared; mandamus relief granted.

      ¶1   PER   CURIAM.   This   court   is    asked     to     exercise      its

original jurisdiction to review the decision of the Wisconsin

Presidential     Preference   Selection    Committee         (the       Selection

Committee) and issue a writ of mandamus directing the Wisconsin

Elections Commission (the Commission) to place the name of Dean

Phillips on the 2024 Democratic presidential preference primary

ballot.1   As in McCarthy v. Elections Board, 166 Wis. 2d 481, 480

N.W.2d 241 (1992), and Labor & Farm Party v. Elections Board, 117

      1When the Selection Committee and the Commission are
referenced collectively in this opinion, we will refer to them as
"the respondents."
                                                        No.   2024AP138-OA

Wis. 2d 351, 344 N.W.2d 177 (1984), we conclude that this matter

is publici juris, and we exercise our original jurisdiction.           We

further conclude that the 2024 Selection Committee failed to

demonstrate   that   it   exercised   discretion   in     applying    the

standard in Wis. Stat. § 8.12(1)(b)(2021-22)2 to Dean Phillips,

and we direct that the name of Dean Phillips be placed on the

    2  All subsequent references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to
the 2021-22 version unless otherwise indicated.           Section
8.12(1)(b), Stats., provides:

          On the first Tuesday in January of each year, or
          the next day if Tuesday is a holiday, in which
          electors for president and vice president are to be
          elected, there shall be convened in the capitol a
          committee consisting of, for each party filing a
          certification under this subsection, the state
          chairperson of that state party organization or the
          chairperson's designee, one national committeeman
          and one national committeewoman designated by the
          state chairperson; the speaker and the minority
          leader of the assembly or their designees, and the
          president and the minority leader of the senate or
          their designees. All designations shall be made in
          writing to the commission.    This committee shall
          organize by selecting an additional member who
          shall be the chairperson and shall determine, and
          certify to the commission, no later than on the
          Friday following the date on which the committee
          convenes under this paragraph, the names of all
          candidates of the political parties represented on
          the committee for the office of president of the
          United States. The committee shall place the names
          of all candidates whose candidacy is generally
          advocated or recognized in the national news media
          throughout the United States on the ballot, and
          may, in addition, place the names of other
          candidates on the ballot. The committee shall have
          sole discretion to determine that a candidacy is
          generally advocated or recognized in the national
          news media throughout the United States.

                                  2
                                                                            No.    2024AP138-OA

Democratic presidential preference ballot as a candidate for the

office of President of the United States.

       ¶2      Section 8.12(1)(b), Stats., prescribes the members of

the Selection Committee.             Those members include the chairs of the

political parties (or their designees), a number of legislative

leaders       (or    their     designees),       a    number         of   political        party

representatives, and an additional member chosen by other members

to serve as the chair of the Selection Committee.                                 The statute

assigns one task to the Selection Committee —— to determine which

candidates         have    candidacies   that        are       "generally     advocated       or

recognized in the national news media throughout the United States"

(the       media    advocacy    or   recognition           standard).             Wis.     Stat.

§ 8.12(1)(b).3            The Selection Committee is granted discretion in

determining whether a particular candidacy meets that standard,

but it is statutorily mandated to perform that analysis.                                  If the

Selection          Committee    concludes        that      a     candidacy        meets     that

standard, the statute says that it "shall place" that candidate's

name on the presidential preference primary ballot.                               Id.
       ¶3      The relevant facts underlying the present action are

undisputed.           Dean Phillips is a United States representative

serving the 3rd District of Minnesota.                     He is a declared candidate

for the Democratic Party's nomination for the 2024 presidential

election.           Phillips    recently     appeared           on    the    New    Hampshire

       According to the statute, the Selection Committee may place
       3

other names on the presidential preference primary ballot in
addition to the names of those candidates who meet the media
advocacy or recognition standard.

                                             3
                                                                 No.    2024AP138-OA

Democratic presidential primary ballot and wishes to appear on

Wisconsin's presidential preference primary ballot.                      In early

December 2023, Phillips' campaign advised the Democratic Party of

Wisconsin of his desire to appear on the presidential preference

primary ballot.    As noted above, the chair of that party served as

a member of the 2024 Selection Committee.

     ¶4     On   January   2,   2024,       at   10:00   a.m.,    the    Selection

Committee convened the presidential candidate selection meeting as

required by Wis. Stat. § 8.12(1)(b).             The two party chairs listed

the names of the candidates that their respective parties sought

to have listed on the presidential preference ballot.                    The chair

of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin listed only the name of Joseph

Biden to be placed on the Democratic presidential preference

primary ballot.     Without any discussion, the Selection Committee

unanimously adopted a motion to place the names submitted by the

party chairs on the ballot.        After adopting a procedural motion

regarding the minutes of the meeting, the Selection Committee

adjourned.        The Selection Committee held no discussion about
Phillips or any other Democratic presidential primary candidate.

The entire meeting lasted just over five minutes.

     ¶5     On January 26, 2024, Phillips filed a petition for leave

to commence an original action under Wis. Stat. § (Rule) 809.70

and for a writ of mandamus asking this court to declare that the

Selection    Committee     erroneously       exercised    its     discretion     by

failing to consider whether Phillips should be placed on the ballot

for Wisconsin's 2024 Democratic presidential preference primary on
the ground that Phillips' "candidacy is generally advocated or
                                        4
                                                                     No.   2024AP138-OA

recognized    in   the    national         news   media    throughout      the    United

States."     Wis. Stat. § 8.12(1)(b).

     ¶6    On January 31, 2024, the respondents filed a response to

the original action petition arguing that this court should decline

to   exercise      its        original       jurisdiction      because        Phillips

unreasonably delayed in seeking relief from the actions taken by

the Selection Committee on January 2, 2024.                          The respondents

further argue that in the event this court were to exercise its

original jurisdiction, it should deny Phillips the relief he seeks.

The respondents assert that Phillips could have, but chose not to,

gather at least 8,000 signatures (1,000 from each Congressional

district) and submit a petition to the Commission to appear on the

ballot, see Wis. Stat. § 8.12(1)(c), and he also did not promptly

seek judicial relief.           The respondents also argue that Phillips

lacks standing to bring his claim because § 8.12(1)(b) gives

Phillips no protected interest in having the Selection Committee

discuss    whether       he    was    a     nationally      recognized      candidate

throughout the United States.               The respondents assert:

     To the contrary, the statute says nothing about how the
     Committee decides whether an individual has that status,
     and its decision on that question is left to its "sole
     discretion." The statutes provide different recourse:
     an individual who wishes to appear in the presidential
     preference primary can simply gather 8,000 signatures
     from Wisconsinites around the State and file a petition
     with the Commission.
     ¶7    The respondents further assert that mandamus is not an

appropriate     vehicle       for    the    remedies      Phillips    seeks      because
mandamus does not allow courts to step in to perform discretionary

                                             5
                                                          No.    2024AP138-OA

tasks the Legislature has assigned to others.             The respondents

argue that Phillips is asking this court to act as the Selection

Committee    and   determine   that   he   is   a   nationally   recognized

candidate, but the statutes assign this task to the Selection

Committee in its sole discretion——not to the judiciary.                  The

respondents acknowledge that this court did utilize a mandamus

remedy in McCarthy, but they assert that case was wrongly decided

and ask the court to revisit it.

     ¶8     On February 1, 2024, we issued an order directing the

Commission not to transmit the certified list of presidential

preference primary candidates to county clerks until further order

of this court so that we could have time to consider the merits of

this matter and issue our written decision.4 That same day we

granted Phillips' motion to file a reply brief in support of his

petition. The reply states that if Phillips had obtained 8,000

signatures and had filed a petition with the Commission by the

statutorily imposed January 30, 2024 deadline,5 as the respondents

argue he should have done, that course of action would have delayed

     4 Section 7.08(2)(d), Stats., requires the Commission to
transmit a certified list of candidates for president to be placed
on the presidential preference primary ballot "[a]s soon as
possible after the last Tuesday in January." After we had issued
our order, counsel for the Commission advised us that the
Commission had already transmitted a partial certified list
containing the names of the candidates for the Republican
presidential preference primary. The Commission, however, has not
transmitted the portion of the certified list containing the names
of the candidates for the Democratic presidential preference
primary, presumably recognizing that it should not do so while
this matter was pending before us.
     5   See Wis. Stat. § 8.12(1)(c).
                                      6
                                                                  No.    2024AP138-OA

the Commission's preparation and transmittal of a certified list

of   candidates     by   several    days,     as    Wisconsin's    ballot    access

regulations allow time for the Commission to review petitions; for

parties     to   challenge     petitions;          for   candidates     to   oppose

challenges; and for the Commission to resolve challenges.

      ¶9    We find this case to be on all fours with McCarthy, and

we grant the relief sought by Phillips.                     As in McCarthy, we

determine    only    whether       the   Selection        Committee     erroneously

exercised its discretion.          We find that here, as was the case in

McCarthy, "there is no evidence" that the Selection Committee's

decision not to certify the subject candidate's name for ballot

placement "was based on the Selection Committee's having properly

applied the statutory standard of media advocacy or recognition"

to the candidate's candidacy.                McCarthy, 166 Wis. 2d at 489.

McCarthy makes clear that the Selection Committee's consideration

of this statutory standard is not to be a pro forma or perfunctory

exercise, but one that involves a consideration and weighing of

the facts at hand as to "all candidates."                That did not occur here.
As in McCarthy, we conclude that the Committee's "failure to

exercise at all the discretion conferred upon it by statute

constitutes an abuse of that discretion."                   Id. at 490.       As we

explained in McCarthy:

           The law governing the selection of names for ballot
      placement in the presidential preference election is
      inclusionary, not exclusionary. While requiring ballot
      placement of the name of each candidate whose candidacy
      the Selection Committee determines meets the news media
      recognition advocacy or recognition test, the statute
      gives the Selection Committee broad discretion to

                                         7
                                                       No.    2024AP138-OA

      certify other candidates for ballot placement.      The
      proper exercise of the Selection Committee's discretion
      does not permit it to ignore the names of persons known
      to have declared their candidacy of the Republican, the
      Democratic or any other party for the office of U.S.
      President or who had expressed to the Selection
      Committee interest in being placed on the preference
      ballot.

Id.
      ¶10   We find unavailing the respondents' laches defense.

Although the Commission indicates that there is a need to complete

the candidate certification process as quickly as possible, there
is no assertion before us that a resolution of this matter by

today's date will prohibit the proper, timely finalization and

distribution of primary ballots.       Laches cannot possibly act as a

bar to the placement of Mr. Phillips' name on the primary ballot

when there is still sufficient time to do so.      See Wisconsin Small

Businesses United, Inc. v. Brennan, 2020 WI 69, ¶12, 393 Wis. 2d

308, 946 N.W.2d 101 (holding that the party asserting laches must

show, among other things, prejudice resulting from the other

party's delay).     While we do not condone Mr. Phillips' delay in

bringing this action, without a showing of prejudice laches cannot
apply.

      ¶11   Nor are we persuaded by respondents' assertions that Mr.

Phillips lacks standing to bring this action, or that the only

relief properly available to him was his statutorily authorized

opportunity to submit to the Commission a petition for ballot

placement with the requisite number of signatures.      See Wis. Stat.

§ 8.12(1)(c).     These assertions are irreconcilable with the result
in    McCarthy,    where   we   directed   an   identically     situated

                                   8
                                                                            No.     2024AP138-OA

petitioner's          name    to   be    placed     on     the    primary      ballot     after

determining that the Presidential Preference Selection Committee

failed to properly exercise the discretion conferred upon it by

Wis. Stat. § 8.12(1)(b).

       ¶12       As    in   McCarthy,     we    conclude         that    the      Presidential

Preference            Selection     Committee            erroneously        exercised        its

discretion under Wis. Stat. § 8.12(1)(b) with respect to Phillips.

We ordinarily would remand the matter back to the Selection

Committee        with       directions    for       it    to     properly      exercise      its

discretion.           The Commission, however, advises us that there is a

need for the certified list of candidates to be transmitted so

that       the   local      election     officials        can    begin    the      process   of

preparing, printing, delivering, and mailing absentee ballots by

the statutorily required deadlines.6                       We therefore conclude that

there is insufficient time to permit remand to the Selection

Committee for the proper exercise of discretion.                               Consequently,

we direct that the name of Dean Phillips be placed on the 2024

Democratic presidential preference primary ballot as a candidate
for the office of president of the United States.                           Our February 1,

2024 order directed to the Wisconsin Elections Commission is hereby

       Pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 7.10(3)(a), each county clerk is
       6

required to deliver presidential preference primary ballots to all
of the municipal clerks in his or her county 48 days before the
presidential preference primary, which in the present instance
would be February 14, 2024. Municipal clerks are then required to
mail presidential preference primary ballots to absentee voters
who have requested them by the 47th day before the preference
primary, which would be February 15, 2024.             Wis. Stat.
§ 7.15(1)(cm).

                                                9
                                                    No.   2024AP138-OA

vacated.   After Phillips' name is added to the certified list of

presidential   preference   primary   candidates,   the    Wisconsin

Elections Commission shall promptly transmit the certified list of

the candidates for the Democratic presidential preference primary

to the county clerks pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 7.08(2)(d).

     By the court.—Rights declared; mandamus relief granted.

                                10
    No.   2024AP138-OA

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