On Friday, Rock County’s current sheriff, Troy Knudson, announced he will not seek reelection, according to multiple reports. Knudson has been with the department for 33 years and has served as sheriff since 2019.
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Former President Donald Trump released a blistering attack Friday afternoon on former Vice President Mike Pence’s claims earlier in the day about the January 6, 2021 Joint Session of Congress over which Pence presided at which Electoral College votes submitted by the states were counted.
In a speech before the Florida Chapter of the Federalist Society in Orlando on Friday, Pence asserted, “There are those in our party who believe that as the presiding officer over the joint session of Congress, I possessed unilateral authority to reject Electoral College votes. And I heard this week that President Trump said I had the right to ‘overturn the election.’ President Trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election.” (emphasis added)
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Union membership in Wisconsin is about half of what it was a little over a decade ago.
The latest numbers from the Department of Labor show a steep drop in union membership in Wisconsin since 2009.
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With Wisconsinites increasingly worried about inflation and rising energy costs, you’d think state officials would be acting to alleviate the situation, not make it worse. But if legislation recently filed in Wisconsin goes into effect, residents may be in for another shock when they get their electric bills. The legislation would change the way electric transmission lines are built and operated in the state, eliminating competition and driving up costs for consumers to benefit a few established monopolies.
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The latest pitch for legalized marijuana in Wisconsin is getting a sour reception from marijuana supporters at the State Capitol.
Republican Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, and Rep. Patrick Snyder, R- Schofield, on Wednesday introduced legislation that would create a new medical marijuana program.
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Democrats four years ago rode a blue wave to governors’ mansions across the country, flipping Republican-held seats in the Midwest, Northeast and West alike.
Now, however, many of those governors face Republican challengers amid a political environment that looks potentially promising for the GOP, meaning that contentious races may lie ahead in some of the nation’s most pivotal battleground states. Republicans have already had two strong showings in states that lean Democratic, flipping the governor’s seat in Virginia and coming surprisingly close in New Jersey, a state that voted for President Joe Biden by 16 points in 2020.
Governors in less competitive states are also facing primary challengers from the left and right, making for multiple bitter, closely-followed primaries between candidates from different wings of the same party.
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Then-President Donald Trump’s team assembled a 10-day pressure campaign in December 2020 hoping to shame governors and state legislators into officially investigating allegations of Election 2020 irregularities, according to memos newly turned over to Congress by former New York Police Commissioner and Trump confidant Bernard Kerik.
The strategy called for “protests” at governors’ mansions and the homes of politicians ranging from secretaries of states to “weak” congressional members in key battleground states, the memos show.
The documents, turned over Friday night under subpoena to the House’s Jan. 6 commission, are remarkable in part because they show the primary focus of the Trump team leading up to the Jan. 6 certification of the 2020 vote – an event that turned violent when pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol – was to get “support for hearings” to probe allegations of voting irregularities Trump’s team had received but not vetted.
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A Wisconsin school district walked back its original claim, admitting that one student did access “inappropriate content,” according to a statement from the district provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Following a report in November of a misconfiguration of Securly on our KG-1st grade iPads when used at home, the District has concluded its investigation that revealed only one device out of 1,200 iPads accessed inappropriate content,” according to an email from Elmbrook Public Relations that was sent to families and staff Wednesday. “We appreciate the parent who brought this to our attention and our technology team’s fast response to resolve the problem before it became a bigger concern.”
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Officials in two Tennessee counties, Shelby and Hamilton, use a bail calculation tool for criminal defendants that is also used in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Waukesha is where suspect Darrell Brooks Jr. faces homicide charges for using his car to kill six people at a recent holiday gathering. Prosecutors handling a previous case of physical abuse and vehicular assault involving Brooks asked a court to set bail bond for the defendant at a mere $1,000. Court officials agreed.
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On his radio program Tuesday morning, Brian Wilson, the host of 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News, discussed a recent letter distributed by the Metro Health Department addressing the ‘BIPOC’ community encouraging those that have been affected by the Kyle Rittenhouse ruling to seek remedy due to the injustice suffered by the jury and court ruling of the case.
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It is now less than a year to the 2022 elections, with this, more stories about the midterms are developing. Below are the latest updates.
State
In California, Progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin will face a recall. Conservatives have tapped into anger over his decisions not to prosecute certain cases. Meanwhile, CA Governor Gavin Newsom is facing controversy over his lack of public appearances.
In Wisconsin, Republicans are continuing their 2020 election audit, even amidst criticism that the audit is too partisan and unruly. Republican Senator Ron Johnson is set to decide in the next few weeks over whether he will seek re-election
In New Jersey, Powerful Democratic State Senate President Stephen Sweeney has conceded in his race for re-election. Sweeney’s race caused national headlines because it was so shocking.
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South Carolina Democratic Rep. James Clyburn has reportedly given his all-important endorsement to a party candidate running for the seat of Wisconsin GOP Sen. Ron Johnson.
Clyburn will endorse Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Gendorse Mandela Barnes, according to the Daily Beast.
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The latest Marquette Law School Poll says both Gov. Tony Evers and Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson would lose their elections if voters went to the polls today.
The poll released Wednesday shows Johnson, who has had low approval ratings for years, remains in the polling doldrums.
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The University of Wisconsin System doesn’t want to lose its federal grant money, so everyone who works there is going to have to get vaccinated.
UW President Tommy Thompson on Wednesday said the school will comply with President Biden’s mandate that all federal contractors require their employees to be vaccinated.
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Wisconsin’s new political map doesn’t look much different from the current map.
Republicans released their iteration of the Wisconsin districting map Wednesday. The new map maintains Republican majorities in both the State Assembly and the State Senate. It would also give Republicans an advantage in most of the state’s congressional districts.
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In the past year, Congress has rushed more than $204 billion in federal emergency funds to states to support K-12 schools.
But 23 states had fewer incoming students this fall. This declining enrollment is likely in part due to pandemic-related trends but is also a symptom of changing birth rates and families geographically relocating.
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Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson unveiled new legislation Wednesday that would block federal vaccine mandates by utilizing the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Johnson was joined by some of his colleagues from the House and Senate who wish to co-sponsor the bill.
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There could be two different court-drawn political maps in Wisconsin. The state’s Supreme Court late Wednesday agreed to take up a redistricting case that could result in the court drawing the state’s new boundaries for Congress and the state legislature.
The decision comes just one day after a federal court in Madison essentially said it would draw the new political map if lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers can’t agree.
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The latest lawsuit over Wisconsin’s wolf hunt is coming from the state’s Native American tribes.
Six communities in the Ojibwe tribe filed a lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday to try and stop the hunt, which is scheduled for November.
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Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) and a Representative from Wisconsin, Gwen Moore (D-WI-04) are calling for an investigation into the Fort McCoy refugee conditions. In a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, they asked for an investigation into “possible mistreatment and/or neglect.” In a tweet, Rep. Omar said, “There are concerning reports of mistreatment faced by Afghan refugees at Fort McCoy. These families fled their homes and left everything behind. They should be treated with compassion and dignity.”
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Milwaukee County officials are “ready to fight” possible subpoenas for their election machines for an election audit. The 2020 election review in Wisconsin is being led by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman.
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Wisconsin lawmakers are wrestling with the question of who should talk to their kids about sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Assembly Committee on Education on Thursday held a marathon hearing on a plan that would allow parents to opt their kids out of classes on both.
“This is merely just a way to give parents a choice,” Rep Bob Whitke, R-Racine, said. “Because there are a lot of concepts now that are coming out in school … it’s being done in a way that parents don’t understand, and parents aren’t notified.
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Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) introduced a bill that would limit gain-of-function research for five years by pausing taxpayer funding. Rep. Mike Gallagher, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) introduced bipartisan legislation that would “put a five-year freeze on taxpayer funding for gain-of-function research.”
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According to an internal email, the Hudson school district is incentivizing teachers to get vaccinated. The email, shared by local medical freedom activist Jessica Klatt, outlines how those who get vaccinated will automatically receive five sick days to use if they contract a breakthrough infection or need to quarantine.
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Wisconsin Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-05-WI) signed a letter opposing suggested Internal Revenue Service (IRS) oversight of withdrawals and deposits of over $600. The letter was written by Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer (R-06-MN).
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Six Afghan refugees in Virginia and Wisconsin have tested positive for the measles, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
The cases were reported among Afghan refugees who were evacuated to the U.S. after the Taliban took over Kabul, according to the AP. The cases were reported four days after flights bringing Afghans to the U.S. were suspended because some of the refugees had measles, the AP reported.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy explained the significance of the recent lawsuit Texas filed against the states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
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