Mike McCabe (born May 23, 1960) is a political reform activist in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. He worked for 15 years as executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and founded Blue Jean Nation, a nonpartisan group that describes itself as "commoners working to house the politically homeless and transform parties that are failing America." On September 12, 2017, McCabe announced that he would run as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

in the

2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election The 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018. It occurred concurrently with a Senate election in the state, elections to the state's U.S. House seats, and various other elections. Incumbent Republican governo ...

, stating that it was in response to a letter from 190 Wisconsinites urging him to run. McCabe placed fifth in the primary election.

Early life and career

McCabe was born in

Stoughton, Wisconsin Stoughton ( ) is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. It straddles the Yahara River about southeast of the state capital, Madison, Wisconsin, Madison. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,173. Stoughton is part of the Madison ...

and lived on an 80-acre farm near

Evansville Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...

in the early part of his childhood. He grew up on a 200-acre farm outside of Curtiss for most of his upbringing. McCabe is a 1978 graduate of Owen-Withee High School, which inducted him into its Alumni Hall of Fame in 2014, and a 1982 graduate of the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

School of Journalism, which honored him with its Distinguished Service Award in 2015. Mike worked for six years as communications director and legislative liaison for Madison public schools. He also worked as a newspaper reporter and as a legislative aide for three Republican members of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

. In addition, he served with his wife in the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

in the

West African West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ma ...

country of

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. For 15 years, McCabe was the head of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a group that lobbies for having taxpayers finance political campaigns to reduce the influence of special interests. While claiming to be bipartisan, his organizations were decidedly pro-Democrat and anti-Republican. McCabe's group was influential in banning the legislative caucus staff that performed campaign work on state time. He also helped pass laws that created a public financing system for

state Supreme Court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in ...

races and established the nonpartisan

Government Accountability Board The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) was a regulatory agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin which administered and enforced Wisconsin law pertaining to campaign finance, elections, ethics, and lobbying. The board was composed of ...

to oversee elections and ethics laws — though both those laws were later repealed by Scott Walker. With McCabe as executive director, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign tracked campaign contributions during state elections in pursuit of its mission, which is to "advocate for a real democracy that allows the common good to prevail over narrow interests by reinforcing and protecting the values of honesty, fairness, transparency, accountability, citizen participation, competition, and respect for constitutional rights and the rule of law."

2018 gubernatorial campaign

McCabe announced his political committee "Commoners for Mike McCabe" and gubernatorial run in July 2017. McCabe ran as a Democrat once before, against

Mark Pocan Mark William Pocan ( ; born August 14, 1964) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 2013. The district is based in the state capital, Madison. A member of t ...

for the state Assembly in 1998.

Books

In 2014, McCabe published ''Blue Jeans in High Places'' sharing his view of Wisconsin state politics, which he regards as corrupt and highly influenced by political financiers and lobbyists.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1998)

Wisconsin Governor (2018)

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCabe, Mike Living people 1960 births Wisconsin Democrats People from Stoughton, Wisconsin People from Evansville, Wisconsin People from Clark County, Wisconsin