ICYMI: Dan Kelly, In His Own Words

MADISON, Wis. — A story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today exposes the depths of Dan Kelly’s extremism on issues of the day, thanks to Dan Kelly’s own words. In a series of blog posts, which he unsuccessfully tried to erase from the internet, Kelly opines at length on topics ranging from abortion to Social Security, and repeatedly demonstrates he does not share the values or the views on the issues of the vast majority of Wisconsinites.

“At every turn Dan Kelly shows us, in his own words, he doesn’t share the views on the issues or the values of the vast majority of the people of Wisconsin,” commented A Better Wisconsin Together Communications Manager Lucy Ripp.

She continued, “Most of us believe you should be able to retire after a lifetime of hard work, and enjoy the Social Security benefits you paid for. Dan Kelly, in his writings, says programs like this are ‘stealing.’ Most of us believe people, not politicians, should make the decisions about abortion care. Dan Kelly disagrees and attacks those who want to protect abortion rights.”

Among the voluminous writings of the verbose Kelly, the following are just ten instances of where, in his own words, he reveals his out of touch extremism:

1. Kelly asserted his belief that government assistance programs are “stealing” and insults Social Security recipients for retiring “without sufficient assets.”
2. Kelly criticized organizations that support pregnant peoples’ right to have an abortion, and wrote that those groups ought to be “laughed out of the room” for their position on abortion rights.
3. Kelly stated that marriage equality for same-sex couples is an abuse of power, writing, “The same-sex marriage movement, in truth … is itself an illegitimate exercise of State power.”
4. Kelly wrote of his support for refusing service to members of the LGBTQ+ community. In reference to whether or not a business owner should be able to refuse service to an LGBTQ+ customer, Kelly said, “no one has the right to compel you to serve someone you do not wish to serve.”
5. Kelly was critical of the Affordable Care Act, which helped more than 130 million Americans afford live-saving healthcare.
6. Kelly aligned himself with right-wing partisan politics, dubbing himself a “conservative” multiple times throughout the blog.
7. Kelly wrote that possessing dangerous weapons should be  a “natural law” right.
8. Kelly said, in reference to civilians using and owning military-grade weapons, “so what?”
9. Kelly spoke of his personal philosophy that the government has a “limited” role in protecting our rights as citizens.
10. Kelly wrote that he supports “breaking up the public-school monopoly.”

Ripp concluded, “The danger with Dan Kelly is that the extremism he spews in his blog posts isn’t just talk. He’s shown us throughout his career, including his short time on the court before losing in 2020, that his extremism on these issues informs his actions.”