Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Mayor Tom Barrett today vowed to take Milwaukee values such as hard work, honesty and caring for others to the job as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg if confirmed. The White House today announced its intentions to nominate Barrett, 67, to the position.

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — A key Republican lawmaker today said he would seek permission to sue the UW System after President Tommy Thompson vowed to reject a JCRAR request to submit COVID-19 policies as rules by Sept. 2. The committee’s Co-chair Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Competing redistricting suits were filed today as the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty asked the state Supreme Court to step in and several nonpartisan groups went to federal court. The actions follow a suit from a half-dozen Dem voters asking

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — The state Department of Justice announced today no new criminal charges will be filed after an agency review of more than 30 sexual assault cases that had previously been investigated by the Wisconsin National Guard between 2009-2019. Still, the agency recommended several

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — GOP lawmakers want a federal court to dismiss a “wildly premature” lawsuit filed by a half-dozen Dem voters asking a three-judge panel to set a deadline for the state to draw new political lines. That suit also asks the federal court to

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Dem U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski and her husband have assets worth between $24.7 million and $60.6 million, according to her financial disclosure statement. Her filing also includes four investments that are described as worth more than $1 million and held independently

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Dem U.S. Senate candidate Alex Lasry is personally worth between at least $61.4 million and more than $80 million, according to a WisPolitics.com review of his financial disclosure statement. More than $50 million of that is Lasry’s ownership stake in the Milwaukee

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Michael Gableman, who is leading an investigation into the 2020 election at the behest of Speaker Robin Vos, said he traveled to Arizona to review the probe there. Gableman also said he attended a symposium led by Mike Lindell in South Dakota

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Wisconsin voters have net-positive views of the way President Biden and Gov. Tony Evers are doing their jobs even as they lack confidence in how government is working, a new Marquette University Law School poll finds. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson’s favorable

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Dem U.S. Rep. Ron Kind announced today he won’t seek reelection in 2022, telling a La Crosse news conference, “The truth is, I’ve run out of gas.” Kind has represented the western Wisconsin seat for more than 24 years and was already

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is strongly recommending school districts use newly updated COVID-19 recommendations for the 2021-22 school year. Still, when asked why the DPI stopped short of trying to mandate masks in schools, state Superintendent Jill Underly said she

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — The seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases in the state continues its steep climb, rising to 1,000 cases per day. That’s the first time the average has been that high since early February. The seven-day average for new cases had dipped below

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Groups spent $18 million to lobby the Capitol during the first six months of the year, a slight uptick from the last time a budget was before lawmakers, according to a WisPolitics.com check of lobbying reports. Though interest groups spent $132,651 more

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — The UW System said a move to give lawmakers oversight of the university’s COVID-19 policies “feels like a political statement.” Still, a spokesman didn’t indicate how the system will approach a 30-day deadline it now faces to submit the policies to the

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Mayor Tom Barrett says Milwaukee “remains interested in being a national political convention site.” But he added the process of bidding to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention would require buy-in from a number of parties. The national party has sent letters

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — The state Dem Party had a nearly 6-to-1 advantage for cash on hand over the Republican Party of Wisconsin at the end of June, according to a WisPolitics.com review of state and federal campaign finance reports. Of the nearly $6.8 million the

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Senate GOP leaders have taken the unusual step of referring to its organization committee two of Gov. Tony Evers’ appointments to the Natural Resources Board, raising the prospect they could be bottled up indefinitely. Evers made the appointments to the board in

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes tells WisPolitics.com he stands out from his seven fellow Dem U.S. Senate candidates because of his experience holding statewide office and his travels to all parts of Wisconsin. Barnes said he’s been to all of the state’s 72

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, paid a $500 penalty for failing to quickly resolve a discrepancy in her state campaign finance report filings, according to a settlement obtained by WisPolitics.com. The settlement, paid March 17 to the

Exclusively for WisPolitics Subscribers From WisPolitics.com … — Four of Dem AG Josh Kaul’s largest donations over the first six months of the year were from unions, a WisPolitics.com review finds. Meanwhile, GOP candidate Ryan Owens pulled some of his biggest donations from the top Republican donors in Wisconsin. Both