Emily Tseffos for Wisconsin

01/06/2025

4 years.

On January 6, 2021, we witnessed an unprecedented attack on our Capitol—a stark reminder of how fragile democracy can be.

It’s not guaranteed; it’s earned and protected by the people who believe in it. Today, we reflect on the bravery of those who stood against the chaos and recommit to safeguarding our democratic values.

Every action we take—voting, speaking out, organizing—matters in preserving our republic.

Democracy’s future depends on us.
Let’s rise to the challenge.

01/06/2025

Legislature is in session, folks!

2025’s theme is ✨ ACCOUNTABILITY ✨

Here’s how to track subjects, bills, committees, and authors. Let me know if you have questions! 👀

01/01/2025

01/01/2025

That was a wild one, the past 365.

Looking back on a year that pushed me physically, intellectually, socially, spiritually, and emotionally I’m ready to look ahead.

Ready. But also fearful.

Of what’s to come. Of where we’re headed. Of the challenging moments we’ll be forced to face, together or apart depending on the path we choose.

Are you feeling it too?

So as we close the calendar year and enter the next, the word I’ll build my days around is “intention.” An aim or a plan. The healing process of a wound.

For myself. For my family. For our community. For this country we love that has so much potential, if only we’d embrace it.

With some physical healing on the horizon for me, I’ll be protecting the time and energy I have to give. And when I’m able?

I’ll do it with intention.
Work toward the goal.
Work toward the healing.

Stay tuned for trainings and storytelling and opportunities for you to step into your own power within your own community to move us all forward, together.

2025 is here.

Breathe.

None of us have to do this alone.

12/30/2024

So many stories from the country roads and long gravel drives I traversed during my campaign. I treasure each and every one.

12/30/2024

Truly hopeful for some bipartisan prioritization when it comes to relief for your average working families and professionals and for our public schools this year! 🤞

Most people, no matter how much they disagree, would find a way to divide a $4 billion pot in ways to make everyone happy. Political gamesmanship has prevented bipartisan progress in the Assembly and Senate.

12/25/2024

❄️🌲 Happiest of holidays from our family to you and yours! 🌲❄️

May this year be filled with true compassion for our neighbors, patience and understanding for those who live, work, or worship in a different way, and the courage to all of us to do what is right and required in order to protect the dignity of every human being. ♥️

12/24/2024

“If we can’t get our soybeans into China, which is our largest buyer of soybeans—if China gets into a trade war with the US and China decides they want to buy soybeans from Brazil and not buy ours, it really hurts—it hurts on-the-farm prices,” Danielson said.

When farmers have to pay more for supplies that come into the country while taking a loss on the goods they produce, everyday Americans will see those costs show up at the grocery store.

I’ve been talking with farmers in the area, who are anticipating real hardships if these tariffs are implemented. If you’re a Wisconsinite who is going to be affected, let’s talk.

Les Danielson and his brothers' family farms, including the 140-year-old original homestead, all weathered the first Trump administration. But under the plans Trump has for his next term in office, Danielson said Wisconsin consumers are going to pay more at the checkout counter. Here’s why:

The incoming Trump administration has pledged tariffs on US imports to an extent not seen since the Great Depression.

The president-elect has said he’lll use emergency executive authority on his first day in office to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the US’ closest trading partners, and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods.

When Trump last levied tariffs, the European Union, Canada, China, and other trading partners imposed their own tariffs in retaliation. As a result, Us exports suffered.

“If we can’t get our soybeans into China, which is our largest buyer of soybeans—if China gets into a trade war with the US and China decides they want to buy soybeans from Brazil and not buy ours, it really hurts—it hurts on-the-farm prices,” Danielson said.

When farmers have to pay more for supplies that come into the country while taking a loss on the goods they produce, everyday Americans will see those costs show up at the grocery store.

In fact, recent reports have found that Trump’s proposed tariffs will cost families about $3,900 a year—nearly $16,000 over four years.

https://upnorthnewswi.com/2024/12/23/why-this-wisconsin-farmer-says-tariffs-will-impact-consumers/

✏️: Salina Heller

12/20/2024

I asked my daughter what she knew about lockdowns this week after Monday’s shooting. To see where she’s at, find out more about what she understood about why we’d need to practice locking doors, hiding away from windows, covering the glass into the hallway, identifying a meeting place a couple of blocks away in case they’d need to evacuate.

I wasn’t there to put any ideas in her head, or to be fully honest with her about the fear and anger in my head and heart when I remember that *it doesn’t have to be this way* when it comes to the endemic gun violence that plagues our country and kills our children.

So I asked and listened. I let her lead. It was sobering and sad. But when I asked her who she’d be hiding from if they went into a lockdown, she replied, “somebody near the school doing something bad.” And I felt both a sense of relief and dread.

She doesn’t understand yet that kids like her and her classmates are often the hunted. That the threat could be someone she knows, a schoolmate or peer. How do you lock down a school when they are already inside with easy access to a weapon designed to kill?

She doesn’t understand it yet and I count that as a win. We made it through one more school shooting where my daughter doesn’t realize it could happen anywhere. One more drill where she still believes our schools are sanctuaries for our kids. That she’ll be safe because she’s there. One more news cycle of children running to their parents, calling 911 (a second grader made that call in Madison), and families frantically searching for their little ones at hospitals and reunification centers without thinking that could one day be her friends, her teachers, HER on that television screen as the nation collectively gasps and hugs their own family more tightly that evening but still can’t manage to do anything to prevent it from happening again.

But, because we live in America, we know that this shooting won’t be the last. And there will come a day - a moment - where that sense of safety will crumble. It will fall away. She’ll watch kids like her going through the unimaginable and understand that because we are unwilling to compromise on gun reforms in order to keep our kids safe, she’s in danger.

And she’ll never be the same.

12/11/2024

I wrote a column as a guest over at “The Recombobulation Area” on what I hope to see in the coming months (and years) concerning support and prioritization from the larger dem party as an organization.

It’s electoral work AND deep organizing. It’s turning out reliable Dems AND seeing the value in connecting with folks who are historically more Republican. It’s utilizing the infrastructure the party has across the state and developing it to be more authentic and effective in doing the right thing, responding to crises, and connecting all of that to policy.

✨Our power is our people ✨- and if nothing else, we’re going to do our best here in Outagamie County to help our group step into it.

www.OutagamieDems.org

12/11/2024

A recent report from the Badger Institute warned a trade war triggered by tariffs could harm Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector.

12/10/2024

I wrote a guest column over on Substack with Dan Shafer’s “The Recombobulation Area” focused on the power we already possess and how to harness and expand on it during the months and years ahead.

We’re gonna keep building locally.
Let me know if you want in.

Take a look: https://www.therecombobulationarea.news/p/how-democrats-can-tap-into-people?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

12/07/2024

12/05/2024

Let’s talk tariffs 💰 (& how they aren’t going save us money during the holiday season… or any other time)

12/04/2024

I think one of the hardest parts of ending this campaign is the responsibility I feel to each of you who shared a few moments of your time and a part of your story with me. What do we do now with the heartache, the stress, the worry?

I aimed to humanize myself at each door, being a bit more vulnerable than your average candidate probably is. I like to think it gave some of you permission to do the same.

We talked miscarriages and mortgages. Applying for Medicare and stagnant wages. Crushing medical debt and special education for your kids. Worn out clutches you were trying to fix yourselves because you couldn’t afford the repair at a shop. Farms you were looking to sell because you’re tired of struggling from season to season.

We didn’t win this time, but the work continues. When terrible policies come down, we’re going to show up for the communities that need us. When there are crises, we’ll provide the help we can. When our lawmakers pass legislation that does harm to our neighbors, we hold them to account. When rumors spread, we’ll fight it with fact. We keep going.

We keep going because you all deserve it. I’ll never stop showing up for you in all the ways I can. 🇺🇸

12/01/2024

Guys guys guysssssss…

Watch us bring about genuine, sustained change here in Northeastern Wisconsin. Trainings and outlets coming to you real soon because although curling up in the fetal position sounds enticing, it won’t do anything to create the kind of country and society our neighbors, family, and friends deserve.



And if you’re tired of watching the world burn and ready to take action, sign up at www.EmilyTseffos.com