Welcome to our weekly DC Wrap, where we write about Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. Sign up here to receive the newsletter directly.
Quotes of the week
The president has final say in regards to this, but I just believe that we should be exiting Iran. It’s time to move on. We’ve degraded their nuclear facilities. We degraded their military. Most of their ships are on the bottom of the ocean. Time to come home, take care of business here in America.
– Gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, on Tuesday
That’s rich coming from the guy who voted to continue the war 5 times. @TomTiffanyWI: You had 5 chances to do something about gas prices and you sold out WI to Donald Trump.
–Dem gubernatorial candidate David Crowley on X.
This week’s news
— Panelists at a WisPolitics-State Affairs D.C. luncheon considered how far a national “Democratic wave” could carry the party’s candidates in Wisconsin.
Robert Gebelhoff, a Washington Post editorial writer and opinion contributor, yesterday predicted Dem wins “across the board,” while former U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican, acknowledged that midterms are always “tough” for the party in the White House.
Former Dem U.S. Rep. and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett recalled his unsuccessful run for Wisconsin governor in 2010, amid the Tea Party movement and the Affordable Care Act rollout, when voters handed Republicans the U.S. House and in Wisconsin gave the party a GOP trifecta.
Barrett said while campaigning he reflected that he’d “picked the worst year to run for governor.”
“I’m well aware of the wave effect of politics, and I think that there is a potential, a strong potential, that this could be a wave year,” said Barrett, most recently Joe Biden’s ambassador to Luxembourg. “The big caveat is I have never seen the amount of money in Wisconsin that’s pouring in from the outside. Yeah, it’s unbelievable.”
Barrett referenced a $13 million spend from First Amendment LLC that included $9.3 million knocking Dem gubernatorial candidate David Crowley.
Gebelhoff did anticipate a “couple of headwinds” for Crowley, who faces U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, in a November matchup.
“One thing, he’s following two terms of a Democratic governor. I think that’s a big ask for voters to stay with a party for so long,” Gebelhoff said.
He added that the “messy primary,” which saw Crowley get back in the race with an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers, after first dropping out, may turn some off who supported democratic socialist Francesca Hong.
Barrett and Gebelhoff agreed that the race for western Wisconsin’s 3rd CD could come down to how much the “Democratic wave” impacts the race.
“I think it is just going to depend on the national trends. So, if the Democrats pull it off, I do think they’ll probably win that seat. Unfortunately, local politics has really become like a small portion of what people care about. It’s a really bad thing, but I think that’s true,” Gebelhoff said.
The future of data centers in Wisconsin has emerged as a big issue in the governor’s race and the hotly contested 3rd CD, where Dem operative and waitress Rebecca Cooke is again challenging U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien.
Gardner, on the board of advisers for Michael Best Strategies, said because data centers have not become a distinctly partisan issue, it’s “appealing” to candidates trying to distinguish themselves.
He also said global adversaries like China are using debates over data centers to “drive conflict” during an election year.
“Does this last beyond the election in November? Maybe it does. Do they continue to drive that? Maybe it does,” Gardner said, adding there were “clearly efforts” to use the data center debate as a wedge issue and to disrupt campaigns.
Gardner also emphasized the need to win the AI race with China but also that policymakers and data center developers should have an answer on how these developments will impact the public.
Listen to the full panel discussion here.
–U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin has introduced a bill to prohibit using federal funds to send National Guard, Border Patrol and ICE agents to polling locations.
The Safe Access to the Polls Act would limit the distance federal officers could be to a polling location, agents’ ability to set up a checkpoint along a route to a polling location and anything else determined to be voter interference.
“There is no reason for masked, armed agents to be at polling places like churches, schools, and libraries other than to intimidate eligible voters from making their voices heard,” Baldwin said in a statement. “My bill will stop the President from sending armed troops to our local polling places and make sure you can access the ballot box and have your voice heard.”
The bill’s introduction follows a roundtable discussion Baldwin held with Dane County-area election clerks earlier this week where the Madison Democrat criticized the president for “sowing conspiracy theories” about mail-in voting to deflect from national concerns about affordability.
“The president has a history of election denialism, and so instead of focusing on lowering costs, he’s focusing on undercutting the midterm elections,” Baldwin said at the roundtable.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this month blocked a new U.S. Postal Service rule that would have allowed the agency to withhold mail-in ballots from some voters.
President Trump in March issued an executive order to create a federal list of eligible voters and have the Postal Service deliver ballots only to those people.
“The idea that he would instruct the U.S. Postal Service not to deliver certain mail because he wants to first screen the recipient and their background is outrageous,” Baldwin said.
— Since U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, and Dem challenger Rebecca Cooke faced off in 2024, at least two different billion-dollar data center proposals have emerged in western Wisconsin’s 3rd CD.
In this year’s rematch the two are looking to respond to new concerns from voters about data centers. Cooke has called for a federal moratorium on data center development, while Van Orden has emphasized protecting farmland and placing data centers on military bases.
Read more in last week’s Friday Report
Posts of the week
ICYMI
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 3 billionaires put Tom Tiffany in a big cash lead over David Crowley
Wisconsin Examiner: Data center debate hits 3rd Congressional District race
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tammy Baldwin bill bans ICE agents, National Guard from polling places
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin 6th Congressional District candidates share priorities
WPR: Baldwin calls for investigation into Tomah VA after hospice nurse faces patient abuse charges
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin DC lawmakers call for putting the brakes on BECI power line
Spectrum News: Tom Tiffany’s wish to delist the gray wolves may come true
Wausau Pilot and Review: Tom Tiffany says federal authorities will be in Wisconsin for election
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin’s US lawmakers cast votes on hot-button issues
WIZM: Van Orden, Johnson take different paths in opposition to SW Wisconsin power lines
