Capitol Notes

In this week’s Capitol Notes, JR Ross of wispolitics.com tells Marti Mikkelson that it’s important for the president and vice president to keep the state on their radar.

Marti Mikkelson and JR Ross of wispolitics.com discuss the possible impact of Go. Tony Evers' new tax incentive deal reached with Foxconn Technology Group.

State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu told wispolitics.com that for the most part, his caucus doesn’t support legalizing marijuana for either medical or recreational purposes.

While Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson continues to say he is taking his time to decide whether or not to run for a third term in 2022, on Thursday he received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, if he decides to enter the race.

The stakes are high in the race for Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate seat next year, as Republican incumbent Ron Johnson decides whether to bid for a third term. Milwaukee Bucks Executive Alex Lasry, who is running as a Democrat, says his campaign has raised $1 million since he got into the race in mid-February.

In this week's Capitol Notes conversation, WUWM's Marti Mikkelson speaks with wispolitics.com editor JR Ross about Gov. Tony Evers' approval of a large casino and entertainment complex in Beloit.

As the race for Wisconsin state superintendent heats up, WUWM’s Marti Mikkelson talks with JR Ross of wispolitics.com about what he expects to see moving forward in the race.

Critics again called on him to resign, as they did a few weeks ago when Johnson said the riot at the Capitol “didn’t seem like an armed insurrection” to him. There have been repeated calls for a while for Johnson to step down.

Another hot button issue came up last week before the Wisconsin Legislature.

A big name came up last week as a possible candidate for Republican U.S Sen. Ron Johnson’s seat next year.

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has been making national headlines. Last week, Wisconsin’s senior senator told a Milwaukee radio host that the deadly riot that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 “didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me.” He said he’d like to find out whether any firearms were confiscated and how many shots were fired.

On Tuesday night, Joe Biden will make one of his first official trips as president, coming to Milwaukee for a CNN town hall at the Pabst Theater. The focus is expected to be on the coronavirus pandemic and jump-starting the economy.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is set to unveil his biennial budget proposal next week. We’re starting to get a clearer picture of what will be included, and some big, bold items are emerging.

Last week saw a lot of activity in the Republican-controlled state Legislature. In a surprising turn of events, lawmakers did not repeal Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask mandate. The Senate supported a resolution earlier in the week to eliminate the mask order, but then it ran into roadblocks in the Assembly. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau issued a memo, reminding lawmakers that Wisconsin...

Republicans in the state Legislature have introduced a resolution to nullify Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ declaration last week of a public health emergency.

Wisconsin’s Congress members broke along party lines last week when the House voted to impeach President Donad Trump for his role in inciting a riot at the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead. It’s now up to the U.S. Senate to decide whether to hold a trial that could lead to a conviction, even after Trump’s term expires this week and President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in.

In this week’s Capitol Notes conversation, we look ahead to the political stories that will likely top the headlines in 2021.

In this week’s Capitol Notes conversation, we’re going to look back at the top political stories of 2020. One of the biggest stories was the impact of the coronavirus, and how elected officials responded.

Newly elected Republican state Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu says he wants to pass a bill early next year that would allow clerks to begin counting absentee ballots before Election Day.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision Monday on whether the Nov. 3 election was conducted illegally in Milwaukee and Dane counties, as President Donald Trump has claimed.

It’s shaping up to be another busy week for the Wisconsin courts. The state Supreme Court rejected a couple of lawsuits last week related to President Donald Trump’s claims that the election was conducted illegally in the state.

Milwaukee and Dane counties have finished their presidential recounts. It turns out President-elect Joe Biden netted 87 additional votes between the two counties. Unofficial results show Biden maintains a roughly 20,000 vote lead in Wisconsin.

The presidential recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties is entering its fourth day. Unofficial results from Nov. 3 show President-elect Joe Biden ahead of President Donald Trump in Wisconsin by about 20,000 votes.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers says he’ll introduce a coronavirus relief package for Wisconsin this week, amid soaring numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.  He announced his intention after he delivered a statewide address, urging Wisconsinites to voluntarily shelter-in-place but stopped short of issuing another emergency stay-at-home order. 

With Democrat Joe Biden the president-elect, President Donald Trump is still vowing to ask for a recount in Wisconsin. His legal team is looking into whether voter fraud occurred in other states.  Meanwhile, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has called on an Assembly committee to investigate whether there was voter fraud here — unofficial results show that Biden won Wisconsin by about 20,000 vo...