“If you go too far into the MAGA space, you could open the door for a competent Democrat to once again really challenge in that district,” Ribble said. “I do not think Roger should get out of the race. I don’t think Andre should get out of the race. It’s far too soon, and they should go ahead and make their case.”

Casey replaces Peter Barca, who left the post last week as he considers a run for the 1st CD. Casey served as deputy secretary from 2019-22 and now works as the principal industry expert in tax compliance and fraud for SAS Institute in Cary, N.C.

The recommendation comes on the heels of the state Supreme Court declining to say which maps should be applied to the recall effort — the ones used in the 2022 election that the liberal majority found to be unconstitutional or the lines approved by Gov. Tony Evers in February. The bill Evers signed included a provision saying the new maps don’t take effect until this fall.

It is the second time Evers, who has repeatedly vowed to veto the PFAS bill, has called a special meeting of the budget committee. GOP members ignored the call in December 2019 and refused to attend as he pushed them to address homelessness. JFC Co-Chairs Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, called the guv’s latest move “phony.”

Evers has vowed to veto SB 312 over provisions limiting DNR authority to regulate the forever chemicals, which he has argued would benefit polluters. The Dem guv has instead called for the GOP-run Joint Finance Committee to release the $125 million set aside in the state budget and use it to fund an alternate proposal that eliminates those provisions. 

It includes $6 million for tribal nations in Wisconsin; $5 million for community, education and after-school prevention; $5 million for family support and resource centers; another $5 million for peer support in opioid treatment programs; $3.5 million for overdose reversal drug naloxone; $1 million for fentanyl test strips, and more. 

Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley says he’s “100% unsure” why many in the business community oppose the district’s proposed $252 million referendum on Tuesday’s ballot.

Under the new maps, both lawmakers were drawn into the 30th SD that Wimberger first won in 2020, and Cowles announced earlier this year he planned to move into the 2nd.

The Equal Protection Project, an anti-affirmative action group, filed a complaint in January targeting UW-Madison’s Creando Comunidad: Community-Engaged BIPOC Fellows program, arguing it is discriminatory against white students. The program requires that recipients be members of a historically underrepresented racial or ethnic group or community.