
Submit columns for consideration to wisopinion@wispolitics.com

Laura Dresser: Jobs, data and democracy
The July jobs report released last Friday wasn’t pretty. It showed weaker than anticipated U.S. job growth in July, and there were substantial downward revisions of jobs numbers for May and June as well.

LuAnn Bird: 35 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act, Trump must not take us back
Thirty-five years ago, on July 26, 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law — a watershed moment for civil rights in this country. For millions, it marked the beginning of a new era: one that promised dignity, access, and equal opportunity.

David Blaska: Skedaddling to Illinois!
Someone tell those Texas Democrats fleeing a vote on redistricting that the Clocktower Inn in Rockford has been demolished. Not long after Mark Miller and his gang of 14 sought refuge there from voting on Scott Walker’s Act 10.

David H. Petering: Wisconsin leaders oblivious to issues driving AI, energy and climate change
The state legislature and executive branch seem oblivious to the outsized impacts that huge data centers will have on state-wide energy demand, availability, and cost

Dave Zweifel: There, there, little bitch, just let Trump call the shots
Jim Cullen, an Iowa newspaper editor whose family publishes one of that state’s few periodicals that don’t bow to the MAGA cult, had a little fun the other day with none other than Wisconsin’s 3rd District Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

Bruce Murphy: Why WI Republicans Attacked Canada
Grothman admitted he knew little about the issue and simply relied on Tiffany, “who’s spent his life Up North”— in deciding to sign on to a recent letterEditSign written to the Canadian Ambassador by Tiffany and also signed by four other Republican members of Congress from other states.

Maya Livni, Carlene Kranjac, Lauren Krist, Salma Sheriff: Canadian wildfire smoke is more than a health hazard. It’s a call to action
Today, we are seeing the devastating effects of prolonged wildfires in California. While the smoke from the Los Angeles fires may never reach us here in Wisconsin, climate change more than doubles the chances of hot, dry weather, fueling fire seasons into months-long catastrophes.

Debby Jackson: Waterloo and Their Crossroads: A Community Confronts Its Aging Highways
Her words captured Waterloo’s challenge: hope for scheduled highway upgrades tempered by the reality of local budget constraints that delay other essential road projects.

John Imes: Start Local, Think Big – Leadership Lessons from Alaska’s Wild Frontiers
What do humpback whales, salmon runs, and clean energy projects have in common? They all thrive through balance, collaboration, and resilience—principles that guide both nature and effective leadership. My recent journey through Alaska revealed insights that drive WEI’s mission and my work as an elected official.

Bruce Murphy: Bob Donovan In Trouble Again
A month after his reelection last November, Donovan began paying himself $850 a month from his campaign account for “staff lodging” at his old house. “In all, he paid himself $5,950 in the seven months after the election,” the story reported.

LaKeshia Myers: August Is Black Business Month: An Economic Imperative


Christa Westerberg: Ann Walsh Bradley a champion for openness in government

John Nichols: Baldwin, Sanders vote to block arms for Israel’s Gaza horror
In the summer of 2024, Democratic Party leaders refused to let even a single Palestinian American speaker address their presidential convention about Israel’s horrific assault on Gaza.

Bill Kaplan: Senator Baldwin condemns starvation in Gaza
The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. In October 2023 I unequivocally denounced the Hamas slaughter of about 1,200 Israelis as a war crime. Moreover, it was reprehensible

David Blaska: Listening session protests well organized
It’s catnip for MSNBC and its ilk— the urban myth that The People are rising up spontaneously, like mushrooms after a heavy rain, to protest at back-home listening sessions the threat to democracy represented by elected Republican congressmen. The peanut gallery at Blaska Policy Werkes is not that gullible.

Jenna Jacobson: Marklein’s budget starves his district’s schools
We have seen the impacts of Marklein’s callous and ineffective leadership across the 17th Senate District. It is clear when elementary schools are forced to close their doors and has only become more obvious with his most recent devastating cuts to public education.

John Nichols: Primaries are good for Dems
The fact that there will be a number of Democratic primary candidates — including, perhaps, several statewide officials, the chief executive of the state’s largest county and able young legislators — is not a problem. It’s a measure of the party’s renewal in recent years. And its strength going into the 2026 race.

Dave Cieslewicz: In Evers’ image
A moderate gubernatorial candidate is the Dems’ best chance for 2026

Will Flanders and Cory Brewer: Little known part of ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ supports students and empowers parents
Unless the governor acts, Wisconsin families across all sectors — including public schools — will be left behind families in other states.

WisOpinion: ‘The Insiders’ consider potential ’26 GOP candidates for Wisconsin governor
The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, look at potential GOP gubernatorial candidates to run in 2026 as Gov. Tony Evers considers whether to seek a third term. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Rewind: Your Week in Review for July 18
On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” WisPolitics.com’s JR Ross and Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Reporter Anya van Wagtendonk discuss the latest campaign finance reports, record spending in the spring Supreme Court election, a new challenge to congressional district lines, the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s report on the former Madison clerk’s handling of uncounted absentee ballots and more.