For the second consecutive time, Democrat Rebecca Cooke has outraised Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden in western Wisconsin's highly contested 3rd Congressional District race.
The post Rebecca Cooke again outraises US Rep. Derrick Van Orden in pivotal Wisconsin House race appeared first on WPR.
During a forum framed as vetting Wisconsin's next governor who will "blunt the authoritarian thrust of the Trump regime," the seven Democrats vying for their party's nomination called for more state regulations on AI data centers and a pivot to 100 percent renewable energy.
The post Democrats vying for Wisconsin governor sound off on data centers, climate accountability during forum appeared first on WPR.
In another setback for Wisconsin Republicans hoping to hold their slim state Senate majority, Sen. Jesse James of Thorp announced Tuesday he's dropping his campaign against Democratic Sen. Jeff Smith of Brunswick.
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Staggered by a 20-point loss in the April Supreme Court election, Wisconsin conservatives are arguing about who's to blame, and behind the scenes, members of the state Republican Party are split on whether Chair Brian Schimming should be fired.
The post After 20-point Supreme Court loss, Wisconsin Republicans look for who’s to blame appeared first on WPR.
A bipartisan group of prosecutors say they couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that either mayor broke any laws.
The post Criminal charges won’t be filed against Green Bay, Wausau mayors appeared first on WPR.
The tally of early votes in this year's Supreme Court race is less than half what it was at the same point in last year's record-breaking contest.
The post Early vote down by more than half compared to 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race appeared first on WPR.
In the waning days of a relatively understated race for a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, candidates Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor vowed to be independent justices, even as they made their pitches from local political party headquarters.
The post Chris Taylor and Maria Lazar make closing arguments in Wisconsin Supreme Court race appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor staked their claims to independence and accused one another of being too extreme for a 10-year term on the state's highest bench during their first, and only debate of the campaign.
The post Chris Taylor, Maria Lazar face off in only Wisconsin Supreme Court debate appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers says President Donald Trump's order to restrict absentee ballots from going to people not vetted by his administration is "bulls---," and he looks forward to seeing the president in court.
The post Evers calls Trump’s order restricting mail-in voting ‘bulls–––’ appeared first on WPR.
A three-judge panel in Wisconsin dismissed a lawsuit aimed at redrawing Wisconsin's congressional districts before the November election, saying they don't have authority to strike down the current map that was enacted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
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One week ahead of Wisconsin's Supreme Court election, liberal Judge Chris Taylor is continuing her fundraising dominance over conservative Judge Maria Lazar.
The post Chris Taylor again outraises Maria Lazar in Wisconsin Supreme Court race appeared first on WPR.
In another sign this year's Supreme Court race is flying under the radar for many Wisconsinites, the number of absentee ballots cast so far is around 112,000 behind the pace set in 2025.
The post Early voting in Wisconsin Supreme Court race way behind 2025 pace appeared first on WPR.
Is it illegal to wager on a Wisconsin election you also vote in? The chair of the state's elections commission says you bet it is.
The post ‘You cannot bet on an election in Wisconsin!’ warns WEC chair appeared first on WPR.
Why voters should follow Wisconsin’s 2026 Supreme Court race The 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court race has a lower profile than previous contests.
The post Why voters should follow Wisconsin’s 2026 Supreme Court race appeared first on WPR.
Liberals currently hold a 4-3 majority on the court. If Lazar wins, that margin will remain the same. If Taylor wins, it will grow to 5-2.
The post Poll: Chris Taylor leads Maria Lazar in Wisconsin Supreme Court race appeared first on WPR.
New federal fundraising data shows Wisconsin's Democratic party brought in nine times as much as the state's Republican party last month.
The post State Democratic Party trounces GOP counterpart in February fundraising appeared first on WPR.
Conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Maria Lazar has described herself as an underdog in an era that's seen liberals run the tables in elections for the state's highest court, but says she's beaten the odds before. Supreme Court races have become highly partisan, but she says what people really need is someone "geeky and law nerdy enough" like her to "live and breathe the law" during their 10 year term on the state's highest bench.
The post Maria Lazar leaning on judicial experience in run for Wisconsin Supreme Court appeared first on WPR.
Anticipated spikes in demand for energy to supply Wisconsin’s data center building boom come on the heels of decades of declining power and water use, according to a new report.
A Wisconsin Policy Forum analysis shows there are more than 40 data centers operating in Wisconsin with another four planned. The sprawling facilities host computer servers, which store data and support a global surge in the use of artificial intelligence.
The data center building boom has been met by local opposition groups concerned about the facilities’ resource needs. But the Policy Forum report shows it’s all happening after years of declines in demand for electricity and water.
Using projections submitted to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission by utility companies, the Policy Forum estimates the state’s peak electrical demand is expected to increase to around 17 gigawatts by 2030, driven largely by data centers. In 2024, Wisconsin’s peak demand was rated at 14.6 gigawatts. Over the past 20 years, total electricity sales have fallen by 9% over the past 20 years.
Wisconsin Policy Forum Senior Research Associate Tyler Byrnes told WPR a big part of the decline since 2005 is due to fewer commercial customers paired with more energy efficiency measures. He said during that span, utilities have pulled aging, coal-fired power plants offline and shifted toward more renewable energy.
“Into that landscape, now we’re seeing these really big data centers come online,” said Byrnes.
Some utilities in Wisconsin are expected to seek state permission to build new power plants or expand existing ones to meet the data center demand. Byrnes said that will bring a need for more transmission lines, though local impacts will vary depending on where the data centers are located.
The Policy Forum’s analysis shows most existing facilities are in south central and southeastern Wisconsin. With other large-scale data centers planned for more rural areas like Beaver Dam and DeForest, he said utility companies may need to build out more infrastructure.
Another major concern raised during the data center debate is the facilities’ hefty water demands.
Opponents have complained that developers haven’t been transparent about how much water they’ll need to cool computer servers. In September, environmental advocates sued the city of Racine to force the release of projected water needs of a $3.3 billion data center campus located at the former Foxconn site in Mount Pleasant. The city released figures showing the project will need more than 8 million gallons of water per year.
To put that into context, the Policy Forum looked at historical water sales reported by the Racine Water Works, which will supply the Mount Pleasant data center project. Between 1997 and 2022, the utility saw water sales decline by 2.1 billion gallons annually. Byrnes said that taken as a whole, the demand for water from data centers is “a drop in the bucket” in a lot of cases.
As with electrical demand, Byrnes said water demand has decreased due to fewer industrial customers and increased efficiency efforts. Because cities like Racine still need to maintain the same level of infrastructure, which is more expensive due to inflation, the revenue from each gallon of water sold has to be spread further. That means potential rate increases.
Byrnes said data centers have been turning to closed-loop cooling systems, which use less water, but cities like Racine would still be selling more water, which would help cover fixed infrastructure costs.
“Potentially, it could maybe blunt some of the (water rate) increases,” Byrnes said.
With the rise in data center developments in Wisconsin, local governments and state lawmakers are working to figure out how to regulate them.
The DeForest Village Board recently took no action on a citizen petition calling for referendum votes before any data center project could be approved.
In Menomonie, the city council voted to restrict where and how data centers can be built months after the mayor halted a $1.6 billion proposal. A similar zoning ordinance is being considered in the city of Jefferson.
At the same time, Republican and Democratic state lawmakers have proposed different ways to regulate data centers. One GOP bill is aimed at ensuring data centers and not other customers would pay for any required improvements to the state’s power grid. The Democratic bill is aimed at requiring data centers to get the bulk of their power from renewable sources.
This story was originally published by WPR.
Data center boom follows decades of declining electricity and water use in Wisconsin is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Joel Brennan, former top Cabinet official for Gov. Tony Evers, has joined the Democratic primary for governor, vowing to “stand up to Trump’s dysfunction” and be “laser-focused” on improving people’s lives if elected.
In a campaign launch video released Thursday, Brennan discussed growing up with 10 siblings in Wisconsin in a family that was “long on potential, although sometimes a little short on resources.” Brennan talks about working a variety of jobs to get through college and boasts that his first car didn’t even have working taillights.
Brennan described getting a call from Evers in 2018, asking him to lead the Department of Administration “as his top Cabinet official.” Brennan served in that role from 2019 through 2021. During that time, he said the administration put the state on firmer financial footing and generated a state budget surplus of nearly $4 billion. He also said the administration “stood up to the extremists” and offered assistance to thousands of small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But today, thanks to Donald Trump’s chaos and incompetence, the numbers just aren’t adding up for Wisconsin families,” Brennan says in the video. “Costs, like everything else, are out of control. And coming from a family that had to make every dollar count, I know what that feels like.”
Brennan’s video ends with a nod to the race for the Legislature, where Democrats are hoping to flip Republican majorities for the first time in more than a decade. He said with “fair maps” and a Democratic governor, “we can stay true to our values and deliver change.”
Brennan is currently the president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. Prior to joining Evers’ administration, he was CEO of the Discovery World museum for 11 years. He also worked previously for the Redevelopment Authority of Milwaukee and the Greater Milwaukee Convention and Visitors Bureau. He was a legislative assistant to Democrat Tom Barrett when Barrett served in Congress.
Brennan joins an already crowded field of Democrats vying for the party’s nomination. Other candidates to announce include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.
Only two Republicans — U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann — are running for the GOP nomination at this point. It’s been reported that former Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, who lost to Evers in 2022, and former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, who lost to Tammy Baldwin in 2024, are also considering entering the 2026 race for governor.
This story was originally published by WPR.
Joel Brennan, former top Tony Evers aide, enters race for Wisconsin governor is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
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