Chester Todd for Congress WI-01

Candidate for First District Congress in Wisconsin. Green Party! Visit #VoteChester - Content by Chester and staff

[Chester Todd for Congress WI-01 @ChesterToddWI]

Chester says #FreePalestine

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

RELEASE: We responded to the Democrats' challenge and their pettifoggery.

MUSKEGO, WI — Pete Karas, the Green Party candidate for Wisconsin Secretary of State, filed a response with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) over the weekend asking it to throw out a challenge that would invalidate thousands of signatures and keep his name off the ballot. The Commission will take up the challenge at a hearing Tuesday, June 9, at 10 a.m., and is expected to rule then.

The challenge was brought by Gregory Walz-Chojnacki, who is affiliated with the Democratic Party. Karas collected 2,937 signatures, well past the 2,000 the law requires. Walz-Chojnacki wants every last one thrown out, though he does not allege that a single signature is fraudulent.

Karas's response, prepared by Madison attorney Skylar Croy of Hurley Burish, S.C., likens the challenge to Donald Trump's failed effort to overturn Wisconsin's 2020 election results: a complaint that cannot name one fraudulent signature yet asks the state to erase thousands.

"Same playbook Trump tried in 2020, and it failed then too," Karas said. "The Commission has better things to do than deal with pettifoggery. This challenge fools no one. It's an attempt to uphold the two-party system by disenfranchising the thousands of Green Party voters, independents, and fed-up Wisconsin residents who signed these papers because they're done with the same tired, corporate choices."

The challenge rests on two claims, and the response takes both apart. First, it suggests the people who gathered signatures might have lived out of state. Every circulator certified under penalty of law that they live in Wisconsin and wrote a Wisconsin address on the paper. Karas collected hundreds of the signatures himself. He grew up in Racine and lives in Muskego.

Second, it calls dozens of the papers too blurry to read. Wisconsin law does not require flawless paperwork, only substantial compliance, a standard the state Court of Appeals upheld in Hess v. WEC for papers with words that were blurry, obscured, or missing. The challenger never explains what, exactly, he cannot read.

There is also the matter of the rules themselves. The residency law the challenge leans on, 2025 Wisconsin Act 126, took effect only weeks before this signature cycle. Counties across the state, including Milwaukee and Lincoln, were still posting the old nomination forms on their own websites. Karas pulled one of those official forms from a government site and used it. Now he is being told that following the state's own instructions disqualifies him. The law is already being fought in federal court as unconstitutional.

There is also the matter of the challenger's own paperwork. His complaint had to be sworn before a notary. It carries no stamp.

"He's combing my papers for a blurry letter, and his own complaint isn't even notarized," Karas said. "No stamp on it. If you want to talk technicalities, start with your own."

"Wisconsin law calls for substantial compliance, not perfection," Croy said. "The challenger is demanding a level of precision the law has never required, and he didn't meet his own burden getting there."

Out of caution, Karas filed sworn statements from more than a dozen circulators who collected the signatures, including himself. Each swears the circulator is a Wisconsin resident, is not a felon, watched every voter sign, and stands behind the papers.

Karas, a small business owner and former Racine City Council member, has never voted for a Democrat or a Republican for president. He argues the Secretary of State office is administrative, not partisan, and that a third-party candidate can win it without spoiling the race for anyone.

"There's a long history of knocking Green candidates off the ballot in this state," Karas said. "It usually works because nobody's paying attention. We're paying attention."

The challenge arrived over the weekend with WEC's offices closed, leaving Karas roughly 72 hours to find a lawyer and respond. The full response and all of the affidavits are available to reporters, and Karas and Croy are available for interviews.

About Pete Karas
Pete Karas is the Green Party candidate for Wisconsin Secretary of State. He is a small business owner, a former member of the Racine City Council, a UW-La Crosse graduate, and a lifelong Wisconsinite. His campaign takes no corporate PAC money. Learn more at https://t.co/RBFVw2BzK5

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

How dare they run this ad against my campaign for Wisconsin Secretary of State?

https://t.co/9nr8AeZB3r

#AttackAd #GreenParty #PeteForSoS #Wisconsin #WisconsinPolitics #ThirdParty #Endthetwopartysystem

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

Press release sent today: We're fighting this challenge, even if it goes to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Democrats Try to Kick Green Party Candidate Off the Ballot. He's Not Having It.

MUSKEGO, WI — Pete Karas filed his nomination papers to run for Wisconsin Secretary of State as a Green Party candidate. Today, someone hired a law firm to make sure you never get to vote for him.

A verified challenge was filed this morning with the Wisconsin Elections Commission targeting Karas's nomination papers. The legal work was done by Halling & Cayo, S.C., a Milwaukee firm. The grounds? A technicality — circulator certification language tied to 2025 Wisconsin Act 126, a law that has already been challenged in federal court as unconstitutional.

Karas isn't surprised.

"This is the playbook," he said. "When the two-party system can't beat you on the issues, they try to make sure you're never on the ballot in the first place. Democrats talk about protecting democracy. What they mean is protecting their own power."

The challenge will be heard by the Wisconsin Elections Commission on June 9, 2026. Karas plans to file a full verified response and show up to defend his candidacy in person.

"I collected those signatures. Real people signed those papers because they want a choice that isn't a Democrat or a Republican. I'm going to fight for every one of those signatures — and I'm going to be on that ballot in November."

Karas is running on a platform of government transparency, expanded public records access, ranked-choice voting, and breaking down the barriers that keep independent and third-party candidates off the ballot. He notes the particular absurdity of the moment: a candidate being sued off the ballot for advocating better ballot access.

"They just made my point for me," he said.

Pete Karas is the Wisconsin Green Party candidate for Secretary of State. Learn more at https://t.co/WKnX3B1Nsy.

Paid for by Pete for Wisconsin.

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

As expected, some Democratic Party lackey filed a challenge to our nomination papers. After meeting with our campaign’s attorney, we’re confident that this is a frivolous challenge, although the Wisconsin Elections Commission is known to do the wrong thing. This may end up before the Wisconsin Supreme Court next week.

Our legal bills will run into the thousands and maybe tens of thousands of dollars. If you can help, that would be amazing. Any amount helps!

Winning this gets us ballot status for the 2028 presidential election.

We will be issuing statements, press releases, and a big surprise for Wisconsin unDemocratic Party Friday. Stay tuned!

https://t.co/aaHEJ6W1Jo

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

We just delivered about a thousand more signatures. Along with the 2044 that were already validated we have submitted over 3000 signatures, a thousand more than required!

We find out Thursday if it is official.

Thanks to our amazing team for getting this done.

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

“The Karas Files”

#Endthetwopartysystem #GreenParty #WisconsinPolitics #PeteForSoS

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

We're both excited and honored to have received the endorsement of the @USPirates! If you're not familiar with them, check them out.

We're on the @WIGreens ballot line, but our campaign is all about breaking down the barriers for third-party candidates and building a unity campaign to fight the corrupt two-party system.

Together, as the Pirates say, "Victory is Arrs."

Visit us at https://t.co/CQ9QaedIwG

@EttpsOfficial #thirdparty #greens #pirates #endtheduopoly #VotePete #PeteforSOS @ivn

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

Here is a clip from International News Network of me talking about the tactics the Dems used try to get @DrJillStein off the ballot in 2024.

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

Breaking the 2-party system takes lots of money. We're ready to start producing our streaming TV commercials. You'll love them. We use a tad of humor.

Anything you can do to help is appreciated. https://t.co/T4ZqPk4LlL

[Brett Chapman @brettachapman]

The first 124 years (1776-1900) of the US were almost spent entirely at war with Native Americans. Look at this list I found in an old encyclopedia. The highlighted ones are the few they teach in schools. All the wars against Native Americans to steal land are whitewashed out.

[Dr. Butch Ware @ButchWare]

It’s driving me crazy that no one is mentioning that Brian McGinnis- who had his arm snapped for saying ‘no war for Isra*l is a Green candidate for senate.

There is one viable opposition party in the US- and it ain’t the Dems.

https://t.co/m2uzpoIOjM

[Andy Ellis for Governor @gogreen2026]

Excuse me, are you suggesting that America wasn’t built on different rules depending on who you are.

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

Most elected Republicans and Democrats are:

#EndTheTwoPartyStstem #VoteThirdParty
(Please share)

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

This is funny.

The Democrats' response will be just as funny.

With these Bozos, we're screwed.

[Chester Todd for Congress WI-01 @ChesterToddWI]

Our Brother?

[Antonio Moore @tonetalks]

This chart shows both how @BarackObama destroyed discussions of reparations through his denial of its necessity and how #ados caused an explosion of support.

[Dr. Jill Stein🌻 @DrJillStein]

"the political pushback has already begun—and not just against Trump, but against the standard-issue, corporate-friendly Democrats who enable him"

[Chester Todd for Congress WI-01 @ChesterToddWI]

AOC, like: virtually every Democrat or Republican who gets elected on their individual beliefs, show up in DC (or Madison) and leadership pull them aside and says,

"You've had your fun. You're part of our team now. We will be telling you what to do and say."

[Zeynab Day @ZeynabDay]

Well, with AOC it WAS literally personal betrayal for me. But that's not what upset me the most. It's that after I wrote her speeches and gave her the messaging to run on, and so many of us worked to get her elected in 2018, she abandoned our movement, our candidates, and our collective push.

The push Brand New Congress was making could have literally changed the face of politics. We helped make Medicare for All a household name. We wrote the platform for Abolish ICE in 2017 and our Federal Congressional candidates ran on it. ALL of our candidates refused AIPAC money in 2018 and 2020, and called out AIPAC for what it was and supported BDS.

AOC not only abandoned her voters, but she also abandoned an entire movement.

Sure, the weight shouldn't be on one person's shoulders. I agree with that. We didn't anticipate Alex's fame. Regardless, her actions of personal advancement and capitulation to the Democratic Party did the opposite of what our movement aimed to do. She won off of our work, desperation, organizing, and messaging. All the other BNC candidates on our slate backed her up. Then, it was like, "forget the ruckess." She backed corporate candidates. She ironically criticized leftist challengers in favor of her incumbent buddies. She gave thousands to corporate incumbents, even Tom Suozzi (Crowley's bestie), when we had candidates running against them.

So, criticism of her isn't just on "a few issues" of difference." It's much deeper than that. She contributed to choking out a national movement that could have actually changed things. And that's not okay.

[Prof Zenkus @anthonyzenkus]

The Left will NOT vote for a Democrat in 2028 that takes money from AIPAC or the Israel lobby.

So Democrats, if you run a Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Josh Shapiro or JB Pritzker - you will lose.

You have 2 years. Figure it out.

[Pete Karas @petekaras]

I'm running for Secretary of State to break the failed two-party system.