Is Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers pressuring Amy Bogost to flip her vote?
Amy Blumenfeld Bogost is the member of the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents who is expected to flip her vote, giving the Regents the majority to freeze DEI positions on campuses throughout the state. Who is she? She has deep family ties to Gov. Tony Evers.
Bogost’s sister-in-law Kathy Blumenfeld is Secretary-designee of Evers’ powerful Department of Administration, a position Evers appointed her to in January 2022. Prior to that, Bogost’s sister-in-law was Evers’ Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions.
Amy Bogost is a criminal defense and civil rights attorney and Democratic donor. She focuses on federal Title IX cases and positions her law firm as focusing on “Madison area victim representation.”
Gov. Tony Evers appointed Amy Blumenfeld Bogost to serve a term on the Board of Regents ending May 1, 2027.
Did Evers pressure Bogost to flip her vote, if that ends up happening? He released a statement slamming political pressure on the Regents, but it’s unclear how Bogost’s close ties to the governor will sit with Democrats, who have slammed the compromise plan as “racist,” even though it would provide pay raises for 5,200 state workers of color, among others.
The Board of Regents should be able to make decisions about what’s best for our students, faculty, staff, and, ultimately, what’s best for the University of Wisconsin System without fear of threats and political pressure or retribution.
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/oj6uTX0KDQ
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) December 13, 2023
Amy Bogost was among the 9-8 majority that killed the compromise plan Saturday. It would also shift 43 of the 130 DEI positions to general student success and stop a faculty diversity hiring program. She voted down a plan that would provide pay raises to 34,000 working and middle-class state workers in the UW, and that would give the UW $800 million, including $32 million for workforce development and a new engineering building. The plan would also urge admissions guarantees for top-performing Wisconsin high school students and fund Minnesota-Wisconsin reciprocity.
Why do people expect that Bogost is going to flip her vote? Because Bogost and two other regents filed a motion to reconsider the Saturday vote and to approve the compromise plan instead, Regents’ meeting materials say. As she is the only one of the three who originally voted against the plan, it’s expected she’s flipped her vote, which would pass the plan 9-8. The meeting will take place at 5 p.m. December 13. Of course, something could change by the time of the actual vote.
In 2018, Bogost wrote on her Instagram page, “So proud of my sister-in-law!! Secretary of Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions!!! @Director KathyBlumenfeld!!”
Bogost represented the women who accused former UW-Madison Badgers football player Quintez Cephus of sexual assault. She criticized the UW for reinstating him even after he was acquitted by a jury.
She teaches at the National trial Tribal College, is a board member for “Imagine a Child’s Capacity,” and sits on the Milwaukee-based HIR Wellness Center Board, a nonprofit organization that believes in a multi-systemic and integrated approach to providing high-quality mental health and wellness care, according to her Regents’ bio.
According to campaign finance donations, she is a Democratic donor to liberal Justice Rebecca Dallet, Mary Burke, Mahlon Mitchell, Tom Barrett, and Jim Doyle.
It’s not clear how, but Bogost’s aunt appears to be close to actress Jamie Lee Curtis. Her cousin was a writer on the TV show “Scandal,” Bogost indicated on Instagram.
In a statement, Evers initially wrote Saturday that he believed the Regents voted “their values, and I understand and support their decision and vote.”
