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Dave Cieslewicz: How much does it matter?
The odds are pretty good that after all the dust settles in November we’ll have some form of divided government in Wisconsin, just as we do now.

Nathan Kalmoe: Hesselbein has never faced a Democratic rival — until now
Our campaign is powered by regular folks, not the rich.

Bruce Murphy: Don Quixote takes on Derrick Van Orden
James Wigderson is a conservative Republican who doesn’t support Donald Trump. That has turned him into an embattled Don Quixote of the right, tilting at MAGA windmills and defending traditional conservative policies.

Gregory Humphrey: The lesson nation should learn from Charlie Kirk’s death: Frankness in newsrooms about gun violence is needed
News coverage of gun violence should not be stripped of its visceral reality.

Shelita Furlow: My 19-year-old son was killed by stray bullet. This is how he lives on.
My son donated his liver, both kidneys, and his heart. Somewhere out there, people are alive today because of who my son was — because of the kind of young man he chose to be, even at 18 years old.

Kenneth Zagacki and Richard Cherwitz: GOP has lost credibility, but Dems still need a vision
If economic pressures and other realities make it difficult to persuade voters that things are going well, Republicans likely will turn to a different argument: Things may not be perfect, they might say, but Democrats would only make them worse. Republicans in Ohio are already testing versions of that argument in the state’s closely watched Senate race.

Patsy Neal: It’s the Trump family’s golden age, not ours
Most Americans feel the economy has gotten worse, and are finding it harder to balance their budget as they buy groceries and gas and pay for housing, insurance and healthcare.

Tom Loftus: Norway’s Harald V forged strong ties with U.S.
The passing of King Harald V on Aug. 28 was a sad day for Norway. His son now King Haakon VIII will take the throne.

John Torinus: Crowley, Tiffany: How about health care price caps?
Crowley and Tiffany are essentially punting on the biggest affordability issue in the state and nation: Health costs are projected to rise by more than 9.5% in 2027.

Mark Belling: Backlash to data centers hurting GOP, but not in Wisconsin
Crowley’s tech contributions neutralize a Dem talking point.

John Imes: Wisconsin needs rules for the data center boom before customers get the bill
For Wisconsin, the key question is not whether the digital economy should grow. It is who pays for that growth, who benefits and who bears the risk.

Ruth Conniff: Another broke back-to-school season begins with anxiety, hope for change
If you don’t happen to live in one of the 72 Wisconsin school districts that went to referendum last spring, begging local property taxpayers to cover basic costs the state is not meeting, you might get the impression from Evers’ valedictory tour that he is leaving office having solved the urgent problem of chronic underfunding of Wisconsin schools.

Shannon Ross and Rebecca Konkel: Commutations highlight what crime survivors need from a better justice system
Repair alone cannot resolve every harm; punishment alone can never restore what was lost.

Dave Zweifel: War on immigrants cements America’s status as a cruel nation
America, that fabled nation with the shining light on the hill, whose Statue of Liberty welcomed the world’s tired and poor, the huddled masses yearning to be free, has become among the world’s most cruel.

Xavier Yarn: Regional problems require regional solutions
If we want to address transportation, housing affordability, homelessness, and economic opportunity effectively, we must embrace a simple truth: we rise or fall together.

Brian Fraley: One Wisconsin dad’s thoughts on 9/11’s 25th anniversary
Twenty-five years later, our divisions can feel deeper and more personal than they did before. I cannot fix that, but I am not helpless. I can do something smaller, but nevertheless important. I can make sure my daughters know what happened on September 11, 2001.

James E. Causey: If Trump wants Americans to have more babies, lower costs
Milwaukee spent years reducing teen births. America’s falling fertility rate is no reason to reverse that progress.

John Nichols: Honor Gloria Steinem by making the ERA the law of the land
The ERA Coalition marked Steinem’s passing with an announcement: “The most fitting way to honor her is to finish what she started: to see the ERA finally recognized as the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

Steven Walters: Next attorney general will control $219 million legal settlement
Could spending of settlement cash from Meta and Facebook become issue in fall election?

Dave Zweifel: Tiffany as governor would be an ecological disaster
Tom Tiffany’s voting record in the Wisconsin Legislature earned him the nickname “Toxic Tom.”

WisOpinion: ‘The Insiders’ analyze the blue wave that flipped Wisconsin’s Legislature
The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, discuss the political blue wave that swept Wisconsin Democrats into control of the state Legislature. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Rewind: Your Week in Review for Nov. 6
On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” WisPolitics.com’s JR Ross and Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Reporter Anya van Wagtendonk discuss the factors behind the blue wave in Wisconsin as Democrats win a trifecta and flip the 1st and 3rd CDs, the priorities of Gov.-elect David Crowley and the incoming Dem legislative majority, the wrangling for legislative leadership posts and more.