GOP U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil says he’ll continue holding in-person town halls despite the recent raucous meeting he hosted in Elkhorn.
“Yeah, I think being in-person and dialoguing is actually a really important part of the job,” Steil told “UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics. “It was disappointing that a small group of people wanted to protest in a manner to prevent a productive conversation from occurring for the vast majority of people that actually wanted to hear answers on a whole host of topics, and so I made a commitment to be open and accessible and available, and I’m going to continue to be that. I won’t be deterred by a small number of activists protesting.”
Steil, who is one of 35 Republicans specifically targeted by Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterms, is one of just a handful of Republican lawmakers who have held town halls during the August recess.
“That town hall wasn’t terribly productive,” Steil said when asked why other lawmakers aren’t doing the same. “I’ve held dozens of town halls and just really haven’t seen that level of volume previously. We’ve had protesters that have popped in on occasion. We’ve had supporters that clap loudly as well, and so I’ll let every member make their decision as to the best way to interact with their constituents. For me, I think it’s important to be there in person and answer people’s questions.”
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Steil dismissed the notion that the rowdy town halls signal what may be ahead during next year’s elections.
“I don’t think that the minority of protesters is representative of people in the state of Wisconsin,” he said. “One, I think broadly, people in our state behave admirably in social situations. But two, what I really think it shows is there’s a lot of energy on both sides of the aisle right now because people are frustrated in many ways with where our country’s at. I share that frustration. Things are still far too expensive for families to afford the things that they need.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore dismissed Republican claims that left-wing activists are hijacking Republican town halls, like Steil’s.
“Don’t they wish that were the case,” Moore told “UpFront.” “I’ve gone into their districts. I haven’t brought a single person with me, except my driver, and I’m not responsible for who comes. The people there are outraged. Those people there are educating themselves.”
Moore says she’s talked to some of the Texas Democrats who have fled the state over the redistricting standoff.
“I actually have had an opportunity to talk to some of the Texas lawmakers in Texas, and they’ve made it very, very clear that they are, that they deserve profiles in courage, that they have left the state because there are racist maps,” Moore said. “I don’t drop the ‘R’ word often, but these maps are designed to pit Black lawmakers against other Black lawmakers in order to create five new GOP seats in Texas.”
Groups backed by Democrats in Wisconsin attempted to redraw Wisconsin’s congressional maps ahead of the midterms, a move that so far has been rejected by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Republicans have a 6-2 advantage in the Wisconsin House delegation.
“I respect our Supreme Court, and they wanted it done decently and in order,” Moore said. “I don’t think that the Supreme Court agrees that we have the fairest maps on the congressional level. We don’t. But they wanted, I believe, and I haven’t talked to them, but I believe they wanted that matter taken to the right court.”
Moore rejected any comparison by Wisconsin Democrats to the Texas redistricting fight.
“It is not the same,” she said. “We do not want to draw a racist map, disenfranchising people of color from their representation. No, we want a more fair map. We have a gerrymandered map now. We have eight congressional seats. Democrats, based on our population, based on our voting patterns, we ought to have four of the eight seats, and instead it’s just Mark Pocan and I. It’s about fairness and people being represented.”
Dr. Jonathan Temte, the former chairman of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and a University of Wisconsin professor, says he anticipates more measles cases in Wisconsin.
“If I was going to make a bet, I would say that there’s a good likelihood because there’s such a large amount of cases across the United States,” Temte told “UpFront.” “I think any time we have cases be identified in communities with low vaccinations, then you really have to turn on the public health system.”
Temte was part of the group that declared measles eliminated in the United States in 2000.
“We recertified this back in 2012,” Temte said. “But in 2012, we made the point that one of the biggest threats was the declining use of vaccines. And I’m afraid that this year we may very well lose that elimination status, meaning that we now have measles circulating throughout our population.”
Wisconsin has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, about 86% statewide, according to the state health department. State data shows just 56% of kindergarten students in Milwaukee Public Schools had the required vaccines last school year.
“I don’t blame people for loss of faith, but there is a lot of misinformation, and it’s incredibly difficult for anyone to have up-to-date, credible information,” Temte said. “That’s why I always tell people to have conversations with your health care provider or your doctor or nurse practitioner or your physician assistant, somebody you trust who is up-to-date with that information.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany says he recently talked with President Donald Trump about his potential GOP bid for governor.
“His biggest concern is that he wants to make sure that we hold Congress,” Tiffany told “UpFront.” “And so it’s not an easy decision having a congressional seat and, perhaps, giving that up. It’s a big decision.”
Tiffany said he didn’t ask Trump for his endorsement if he would run, but added, “I’ll be talking to him further and would like to have his support. But he expressed the importance of keeping the House.”
Tiffany also downplayed the notion that the GOP candidate for governor would need Trump’s endorsement to win.
“I don’t know if they have to have the Trump endorsement, but the Trump endorsement is really valuable,” Tiffany said. “We saw it in the last governor’s race in 2022. We saw it in the congressional race up in the Green Bay area a year ago. So the president’s agenda carries great weight.”
Tiffany says his decision on whether to run for governor will now likely come in September.
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