New districts in Wisconsin threaten the GOP hold on the Legislature

Green Bay: Where new districts threaten the GOP hold on the Legislature – a Washington, Wisconsin, voter’s opinion mirrors the old map

Vos referred to two states where Democrats control the Legislature and the governor’s office as examples of where they could make a decision. [if] we want to stay in the direction that we’re heading in Wisconsin, where we have the ability to have a lower tax burden, a lower regulatory touch, and still a historically good economy for Wisconsin. I think I’m optimistic.

Not everyone has that luxury in Green Bay, where for the first time in years, Lambeau Field and the surrounding community are part of a fierce campaign that could decide control of the Wisconsin Legislature. The Democrats are hoping to get some political power back when the state redrew its political map, which made the once safe GOP district competitive.

Legislators wouldn’t even try to use the maps because they weren’t fair. They wouldn’t do doors. They wouldn’t even come talk to people who might be of a different opinion because they didn’t have to. “Now they have to.”

At the tailgate event, the voter admitted that Democrats may not win all of it this year, but she said they’ll still be able to force Republicans to have a conversation. That was never possible, she said, under the state’s old maps.

Source: In swing-state Wisconsin, new districts threaten the GOP hold on the Legislature

Bud Hearley’s Three Questions about the State Legislature: Implications for a New District, a Voting Legislator, and for the Future

Hearly doesn’t fit into one box when it comes to issues. He favors the legalization of marijuana and thinks women should have the right to abortion, with some limits. He’s also a strong supporter of capitalism who is leery of government overreach. He likes to vote for Republicans.

Bud Hearley was sitting in a garage watching the game with his family and friends from the comfort of a bar. Hearley, who lives in the same district as him, said he would like to see more compromise in politics.

In an unexpected twist, the Republican-controlled Legislature chose maps that were drawn by Evers, making the political calculation that it was their least-worst option. In a brief speech before their vote, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said the new maps would be “very competitive,” and the Legislature would be “up for grabs.”

“Economy, economy, economy,” Buckley said. “A lot of people are hurting out there, and we gotta figure out what we can do as government to give them some sort of relief.”

Buckley said the new map created an opening for him because this new district had no incumbent. But he insists he hasn’t really thought about how his race could tip the balance in the Legislature. When asked about the top three things he talks about with voters, Buckley has a clear answer.

“We get a lot of stuff done at the county,” Buckley said. “I’d like to take what I’ve learned there at the county to the state level. Because I think we need that there.”

Patrick Buckley is Spaude’s Republican opponent. He’s a small business owner and former police officer who currently chairs the board of Brown County, home to Green Bay.

Source: In swing-state Wisconsin, new districts threaten the GOP hold on the Legislature

The Wisconsin Legislature is Divided by New Districts: John Johnson’s Expert Report on Wisconsin’s Special Sensitive House of Representatives and Ryan Spaude

“There would be a couple competitive seats in the state Assembly every year, but the outcome of them was not very significant,” said John Johnson, an expert at the University Law School. The majority of the chamber’s control wouldn’t change.

The GOP’s majority moved Wisconsin’s politics to the right. Scott Walker was in the governor’s office when they passed laws to weaken unions in a state that has a lot of organized labor.

There are ninety percent of the seats in the state Assembly. There are about a dozen that could either be mine or another’s. The seats that matter will determine who gets the majority.

Spaude knows that his district is divided. President Joe Biden would have won this district in 2020—former President Donald Trump would have carried it in 2016. He jokes that this district is as purple as some of the Minnesota Vikings jerseys in the crowd that day.

Ryan Spaude is a candidate for the state Capitol in Madison, and he likes talking about politics. He is a local prosecutor. “I enjoy having a respectful dialogue with other folks about politics. I also think we can do better than some of the yahoos that are down there in Madison right now.”

Kozlovski said the Packers unify people in Wisconsin — he calls it a “good place in your heart.” He said that there are some things you don’t discuss, like politics, in an atmosphere like that.

Source: In swing-state Wisconsin, new districts threaten the GOP hold on the Legislature

The band’s tailgate experience in Green Bay, Wisconsin: Tim Kozlovski tells us about what he does and where he gets his money

Tim Kozlovski, the band’s sousaphone player, said that it’s probably like the best job he has. It’s just partying with people and making them feel like they’re part of the game.

The tailgate band went through the crowded lot with lawn chairs and tables full of food. A drum set mounted to a stroller kept the time while brass and woodwind instruments carried the tune. When the band played “Roll Out The Barrel,” a Wisconsin polka staple, people got up from their seats and danced.

People were gathered to watch the Green Bay Packers take on the rival Minnesota Vikings, but in a state and city where football is a staple of the culture, they were also there for the pregame tailgate and the experience of one of Wisconsin’s premier gathering places.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Smoke from portable grills filled the air with the smell of bratwurst on a recent Sunday in the parking lots that surround Lambeau Field.

The amount of money for improvements at the school is not there and so the resources for teachers are not available to them. She claims that teachers and parents are forced to pay out of pocket for basic necessities.

PHOENIX -– In Arizona, the party that wins the Legislature could determine where tens of thousands of children go to school or how well their schools are funded. The state has a sweeping vouchers program that gives families tax dollars to use in private schools or for other purposes.

Enrollment in the program leaped from 12,000 students to 78,000 students and growing. Students made a median of $7,409 per year. The budget added up to a total of $718 million, which was $94 million more than the state had projected.

State Legislature Supermajority Kansas As Arizona Minnesota Elections: Abortion, Schools And Taxes Are At stake

Republicans control the Legislature with just a two-seat advantage in both the House and Senate. The narrow margin was in the national spotlight this year as lawmakers just barely repealed an 1864 law that banned abortion.

Democrats who win control will pledge to scale back the voucher program, and they’ll be able to count on Gov. KATIE HOBES to back them up. “The previous Legislature passed a massive expansion of school vouchers that lacks accountability and will likely bankrupt this state,” she said after taking office last year.

Critics point to stories about voucher money going for private lessons in luxury cars and ski resort passes, supposedly part of a child’s education. They say a lot of the money goes to families that could only afford private schools on their own with kids already out of public schools.

“I don’t expect that they could mount a full-fledged repeal,” Bentz says. “I think that would be challenging for some of the swing areas for Democrats. But I certainly think at a minimum, there would be regulation on it, and probably some definite changes to the program.”

There were larger class sizes and more budget cuts when they were a public school. “We had no STEM teacher, we had no music teacher, we had no art teacher.”

Source: Three states show how abortion, schools and taxes are at stake in legislature races

The Challenge of Bringing It All Together: Kathleen Fowke, a Minnesotan House Candidate, and the Foundations of a Democratic State Senate

Fowke and Johnson Stewart say they want to keep the conversations focused on what is happening in their district. They understand that is a big challenge in a presidential election year.

“I think politics in Minnesota specifically may have been more distinctive a generation ago than they are today,” he says. “State and local politicians are increasingly being asked to comment on issues that we might think of as national.”

Candidates face an uphill battle in trying to get voters to pay attention to state issues according to a professor at the University of Minnesota.

The sun is shining as Kathleen Fowke, a Republican state Senate candidate walks door-to-door just west of Minneapolis. When she knocks on the door she gets reminded that this is an area where there are many competing interests.

“They trust the Democrats are going to do more for their economic well being, whereas what they hear from Republicans is, ‘Oh, we have to give more tax cuts to corporations,’” says Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman. The national Democratic Party is helping fund the state party’s effort.

The Democrats say they are able to address peoples cost of living by requiring companies to offer paid leave for illness, as well as provide more money for free school lunches.

“It’s basically affordability, and they can’t afford, you know, just to go to the grocery store anymore,” Fowke says. “Taxes are high. Inflation is high. They have to find a way to lower their costs.

The GOP wants to slow state spending and focus on the economy overall. Fowke, a real estate agent, says that, while voters don’t always know about the work the Legislature does, what she does hear about from them is money.

Now Republicans see a chance to curb the progressive trend. They are a few seats away from the state House. The Senate is tied 33-33 and this vacant seat by the lake could be the tiebreaker that ends the Democrats’ so-called “trifecta” of House, Senate and governorship.

For two years, Democrats have controlled the Legislature and the governor’s office under Gov. Tim Walz — now the Democratic nominee for vice president. They have passed more spending for affordable housing, guaranteeing protections for patients who seek abortions, and guaranteeing public school teachers their jobs.

They have been passing a lot. More than 20 states have imposed new limits on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal right to abortion in 2022. In education, state lawmakers create voucher programs and determine public school funding. Gun laws, taxes, criminal sentences, access to Medicaid and food stamps are just a few other issues decided by state legislatures.

While the U.S. Congress is often locked in stalemate, Miller says state legislatures that are dominated by one party are able to step into the vacuum to pass laws shaping day-to-day life.

National Democratic party organizations say that goal is within reach. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is helping the campaign in Kansas.

With the governor having the ability to veto and sustain those vetoes, it puts us more at the table for compromise, according to the Senate minority leader.

Democrats say they can break the supermajority in this year’s elections — they’d only need to flip two or three seats in either chamber. It would give Kelly more power in the last two years of her term to block the majority’s agenda.

They’ve overridden Kelly’s vetoes 15 times in the last two years. They used the override to pass a bill requiring doctors to question patients seeking abortions about their reasons. They were able to restrict access to food stamp by vetoing laws that limited transexual athletes to sports.

The Legislature in Kansas is sometimes more conservative than the state’s voters. While it votes Republican for president, it has elected a Democrat for governor twice in a row and voted with 59% to protect abortion rights.

This year, several legislatures could see power shift if just a few seats flip in the election — maybe just a matter of hundreds of votes in some districts. Kansas, Minnesota and Arizona show the stakes around the country.

While the majority seems like it’s large, what it really does is give us a seat at the table.

Source: Three states show how abortion, schools and taxes are at stake in legislature races

How Republicans, Democrats and the American Household Veto-Proof Majority Have Solved: A Photon for a Photon in the Dark

“You can’t get everything you want in this business. This business has a little bit of give and take and that’s the beauty of the process,” Croft says. “It’s also the frustrating part.”

Supermajorities, like the one held by Kansas Republicans, have become common. Across the country as of their recent legislative sessions, one party or another held a veto-proof majority in 29 states. Republicans had 20 of those, Democrats nine.

Patrick Miller is a political scientist at Kent State University.