WisDems’ ‘VEEP’ Reunion Raises Over $725K, Highlights State Legislative Candidates

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and the cast of “Veep” were joined by Stephen Colbert, Larry David, Kevin Smith, Kumail Nanjiani, Jason Alexander and more to raise funds for Wisconsin Democrats.

At the close of the star-studded “Veep” Live Reunion and Table Read, Julia Louis-Dreyfus announced that they had raised more than $725,000 for Wisconsin Democrats with this event. 

The evening broadcast and fundraiser featured a table read of the episode “Crate,” which aired during Season 3 in 2014, and featured the iconic scene where Selina Meyer found out the president would be resigning and that she would become the president of the United States and tells the character Gary Walsh the news in a bathroom, through hysterical laughter (and seeing Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tony Hale pull this off live on a Zoom call was tremendously impressive).

Along with the Veep herself and many of the cast members of the 17-time Emmy Award-winning show, the event also featured Stephen Colbert, as host and narrator, and several other celebrity special guests. Larry David joined to voice the role of Chief of Staff Ben Cafferty, and Kevin Smith, Kumail Nanjiani and Jason Alexander all joined to each play roles from the episode, and Patton Oswalt made a surprise visit during the audience Q&A after the table read.

Cast members from “Veep” to join the show included Tony Hale (Gary Walsh), Anna Chlumsky (Amy Brookheimer), Reid Scott (Dan Egan), Timothy Simons (Jonah Ryan), Matt Walsh (Mike McLintock), Sufe Bradshaw (Sue Wilson), Gary Cole (Kent Davison), Sam Richardson (Richard Splett), Diedrich Bader (Bill Ericsson), Nancy Lenehan (Nancy Ryan), and cast members Clea DuVall (Marjorie Palmiotti) and Sarah Sutherland (Catherine Meyer) also joined to play other roles in the episode. The creator of the show, Armando Iannucci, also joined the event and took questions at the end. Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin also joined the event to voice one of the characters. 

Much of the two-hour event featured the table read of the famous episode, but it also featured a Q&A portion at the end with the audience asking questions of the cast members and guests.

The event also put the spotlight on several key races in the Wisconsin State Legislature. Candidates Sarah Keyeski (Senate District 14), LuAnn Bird (Assembly District 61) and Duane Shukoski (Assembly District 53) were each interviewed by cast members, to talk about their story and their district. 

Each of these candidates are ones that we have identified as being in “toss-up” districts, in our 2024 Wisconsin Legislature Voter Guide. 

Introducing these candidates, Colbert said, “The 2024 election is about more than just the presidential election.” A significant amount of focus throughout the event was on elevating state legislative candidates and promoting these toss-up races.

“We have a chance in the state to flip the State Assembly blue, but we need to win in this district to make it happen,” said Bird during her interview with Chlumsky and Scott. 

The fundraising portion of the event showed on a bar on the right side of the screen climbing higher as the night went on, starting at just under $500,000. As Wikler explained, a group of six donors committed to matching the first $145,000 raised during the event, and as he also noted, the rules for donations to state parties changed under former governor Scott Walker, so individual contributions to WisDems are not capped at any amount. 

Standout moments from the event included cast recounting many of their favorite insults from the show, hearing creator Armando Ianucci and cast members discuss how the absurdity of the show can be at odds with the utter shamelessness of the Trump era, and a delightful exchange between “Seinfeld” alums, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Larry David. There were also several moments throughout the event where cast members did not know if they were muted or not. Stars, they’re just like us!

There is also a giveaway associated with the fundraiser, where donors can enter a win several different items from the show, like signed campaign signs and other props, as well as a Zoom call with Julia Louis-Dreyfus or a signed copy of Stephen Colbert’s bestselling cookbook. Find those here.