Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District Tuesday, riding a massive monetary advantage and support from the national Democratic party to set up a rematch after her narrow 2024 loss to Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden.

Western Wisconsin’s purple 3rd District is one of the Democratic Party’s main targets in the country in their effort to flip majority control of the House of Representatives.

Cooke’s name recognition, advantages in fundraising and institutional support helped her win 57.1% of the vote to 47.9% for Emily Berge, the former president of the Eau Claire City Council — who had attempted to leverage an old-school ground campaign and her popularity in the district’s largest city to achieve the upset. 

AP called the race at 9:21 p.m. with 64% of the vote counted.

“I also want to thank my opponent Emily Berge and her team, who worked to build deep relationships across this district and bring people together around a common goal, a common goal that we all share to restore pragmatic leadership to Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional district and to defeat Derrick Van Orden,” Cooke said in her victory speech at Mogie’s Pub in Eau Claire. “This moment is truly for the people. The coalition of small business owners, healthcare workers, educators, farmers across this district, with whom I built trust over time. We need more working-class people to represent us in D.C. who aren’t so far left or so far right, but want to work across the aisle to actually get things done.” 

The race was far closer than initial expectations. This spring, the Cooke campaign touted internal polling that showed her more than 40 points ahead of Berge — who when she entered the race, against the wishes of members of the national party, had little name recognition outside Eau Claire.

Cooke, a former fundraiser for Democratic party campaigns and organizations, a former small business owner and a part-time waitress, jumped into the race almost immediately after the 2024 election — earning endorsements from U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Bernie Sanders, as well as support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Cooke also ran for the seat in 2022, losing the Democratic primary to state Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska). 

In nearly two years of campaigning, Cooke has raised massive amounts of money — $8.6 million since the beginning of 2025. That total far surpasses Berge, who raised $728,000, and squeaks past Van Orden, who has raised $7.5 million. 

But the closer than expected primary challenge pushed Cooke to spend a significant chunk of that cash advantage. Cooke has $1.8 million in cash on hand while Van Orden has $4.6 million, according to the most recent campaign finance reports, filed in late July. 

Democrats in the district are now turning their focus to the divisive Van Orden, who has been a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump. 

“I think that people will come together in support of Rebecca Cooke, really aiming to defeat Van Orden and the policies that he represents, and you know the lack of involvement with his overall constituents, trying to come in on the coattails of other national Republican leaders, and I think he’s forgotten about who he really represents, and it’s us,” Elvira resident Mike Sobolewski told the Wisconsin Examiner outside the Cooke victory party.

But at the Berge watch party across Eau Claire at The Plus bar, the crowd of dozens of supporters were less enthused.

In her concession speech, in which she did not mention Cooke by name, Berge said “it’s disappointing. I feel sad, of course, and angry. I feel angry,” about losing after being outspent in the primary 30-1. After speaking to the crowd, Berge, a mental health counselor, passed the microphone to a number of supporters for what she called a “group session.”

“This is a race that DCCC thought was going to get called in five minutes,” Berge’s campaign manager, Nick Padeski, said from the stage. “Like that is the reality of what we were up against, and everything that was achieved tonight is truly a success and an achievement and a wake-up call to a lot of people that we deserve better than what has been going on.”

Since the 2024 race, Van Orden and the Republican party have been relentlessly attacking Cooke, frequently calling her a “commie.” As national attention focuses on the district while Republicans fight to hold onto their thin majority, Van Orden spent Tuesday evening posting AI videos of Democratic Party Chair Devin Remiker yelling at a CNN anchor.

“Congressman Derrick Van Orden served our nation with honor as a Navy SEAL, and in Congress, he stands up for Wisconsin, fighting for commonsense wins. Radical Rebecca Cooke is a paid political operative for the far-left who pushes a radical agenda that is completely out of touch with Western Wisconsin,” National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Richard Hudson said in a statement Tuesday night. “Commie Cooke will be rejected for the third time this fall, and Wisconsinites will send Congressman Van Orden back to Congress.”

Wisconsin’s August primary election takes place Tuesday, with voters across the state heading to the polls to choose their preferred candidate for dozens of races on the ballot in November’s midterm elections. 

Polls open Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. If there is a line at a polling place at 8 p.m., voters should remain in line because they’ll still be allowed to vote. Election officials said Monday that because primary elections typically have lower turnout than general elections, long lines aren’t expected. 

In 2018, the last time Democrats had an open primary for governor, primary turnout was 23% of eligible voters. That year’s general election saw 59.7% turnout. In 2022, when Republicans had an open primary for governor and there was a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, primary turnout was 26.3% and the general election turnout was 57.2%. 

“For voters that are interested in voting tomorrow during the election in person at the polling place … it seems like [polls are busiest] earlier in the morning when the polls open, and then after work, you know once people are kind of headed home and in the evening hours, and so voters may want to consider times that are off some of those peak times,” Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said at a Monday news conference. “But again, I really don’t expect that tomorrow will be outside of the norm …  it’s typically 22 to 25 percent, which is a much much smaller turnout than you’d see in a general election. And so we typically don’t see waits and things like that in a partisan primary.”

With the lower turnout in a primary election, the counting of votes is usually faster than in a higher turnout general election. But, Wolfe said, results can still take time to be determined and she urged patience while election officials work to count ballots. 

“Election officials will always prioritize accuracy over speed,” she said.

As voters have increasingly turned to absentee voting since 2020, hundreds of thousands of people have already cast their votes in the election. WEC data from Monday morning shows that 368,000 people have requested absentee ballots and 268,000 have been returned. 

There were about 27,000 more absentee ballots returned ahead of the 2022 primary. 

It is too late  to put absentee ballots in the mail. But voters who requested absentee ballots and have not returned them yet can bring them to their  polling place, their local municipal clerk’s office or, in communities that use them, to an absentee ballot drop box. 

In Wisconsin, voters don’t need to register as a member of a party to vote in that party’s primary election. But, each voter must choose which primary they’re voting in at the polls and can only choose one. 

“If a voter does choose to not follow the directions and vote in more than one party’s primary, then their votes would not be counted for those contests,” Wolfe said.

Eligible voters who are not registered to vote can register at the polls on Election Day. To register, voters need to provide their name and place of residence to the poll worker. A valid Wisconsin ID can be used if it shows a voter’s current address but voters can also use a property tax bill, lease document, utility bill, a college identification card or bank statement. 

What’s on the ballot

State and national attention is focused  on the Democratic primary for governor in which four candidates are vying to be the party’s nominee — former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) and state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison). 

While those four are the candidates still actively running, the names of three Democrats who have dropped out of the race will also appear on the ballot: former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former WEDC CEO Missy Hughes and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. 

“All of the candidates that filed their paperwork and were granted ballot access appear on the ballot,” Wolfe said. “Every single voter in Wisconsin, whether you voted right when absentee ballots went out in June or you’re voting at the polls on Election Day, will see the same ballot. And so, when a candidate chooses to drop out of a race, that actually has no impact on the official ballot, and any votes for that candidate would still be counted.” 

Further down the ballot, voters will decide the nominees in statewide races for lieutenant governor, state treasurer and secretary of state. All but one of Wisconsin’s eight congressional seats have contested primaries. There are also legislative races in every corner of the state and primaries for local partisan offices such as county sheriff.

While Madison attempts to respond to the police killing of Corey Ruiz on July 22, a dispute has emerged within city government over the authority of the city’s independent police monitor to subpoena materials related to the incident from the police department and the Wisconsin Department of Justice. 

In the weeks since Ruiz was killed, the city has seen the occupation of a major intersection, standoffs with police as the city moved to reclaim the occupied area, a marathon common council meeting and continued tensions between elected officials and the people they’ve empowered to oversee the city’s cops. 

Aeiramique Glass, the city’s independent police monitor, has drawn criticism for getting into an altercation with police officers while they worked to clear the intersection of Williamson and South Baldwin Streets early Tuesday morning and later saying in a now-deleted video posted to social media that she would “burn this city down.” 

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said “it’s disturbing anytime a city employee is calling for violence,” while reiterating the independence of Glass’ office. William Sulton, a Milwaukee-based civil rights attorney hired by Glass to represent the office, said she was making a “figurative, idiomatic expression.”

Glass’ position was established by the common council in 2020 as part of the city’s response to the widespread police reform protests that summer. The Office of the Independent Monitor and the Police Civilian Oversight Board were established and given independence from the mayor’s office and council. 

Madison is the only city in the state with such a civilian oversight system, and this is the first time the system has had to respond to a police killing, meaning that as the board and office work to investigate Ruiz’s death, they’re testing the limits of the ordinance granting them those powers for the first time. 

Within the ordinance establishing the OIM, the city gave the office complete access to MPD documents and the authority to issue subpoenas — so long as those provisions don’t conflict with other laws. 

“The OIM shall, to the extent permitted by law, have unfettered access to all MPD records, policies, Standard Operating Procedures, data, computer databases, and other information necessary to fulfill the duties of the OIM,” the ordinance states. “The Monitor may, to the extent permitted by law, issue subpoenas for the purpose of compelling testimony or receiving documents necessary to fulfill the duties of the OIM.”

Soon after Ruiz was killed, Glass opened her own investigation and issued a subpoena to the police department demanding all records related to the shooting be handed over to her office by July 31. 

However, under state law, when a police officer kills someone, the investigation must be conducted by an outside agency. In this case, the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is handling the review. DCI’s investigative report will be turned over to Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, who will determine if the officer who killed Ruiz should be charged with a crime. 

Glass, members of the oversight board and activists in the community have argued that the ordinance establishing OIM granting “unfettered access” to police department materials and subpoena authority means that the department should hand over its materials related to the shooting — including dash cam videos, 911 call recordings, a list of officers on duty and communications with the chief of police. 

“We have a mandate and an ordinance that says we are to have unfettered access to all of MPD’s records, databases, video footage, everything,” Glass told the Examiner. “There’s no limit to what we are able to and should have access to.”

But the city attorney’s office, MPD and city officials say that limits on the office’s subpoena authority are set under state law. Once the independent investigation started, all of those materials, initially under the purview of the department, are now controlled by DOJ and state law prevents the release of evidence and materials pertaining to an open criminal investigation. 

Because DOJ is investigating a government employee, state law also prevents the release of “information relating to the current investigation of a possible criminal offense or possible misconduct connected with employment by an employee prior to disposition of the investigation.”

“I think the case is clearly made [that] we can’t interfere with a criminal investigation,” Madison Alder Tag Evers told the Examiner. “The concern is the release of that information could compromise the ongoing investigation and if it’s determined prosecution is warranted, complicate or interfere with the prosecution of a crime.”

DOJ’s work in these cases can often be slow and clash with the public’s demands for answers. The Examiner has previously reported on the flaws of the independent investigation system. 

 A spokesperson for DOJ did not respond to a request for comment.

The argument over the limits of the Madison independent monitor’s subpoena power have resulted in dueling FAQ pages on the city’s website in which the mayor’s office says it is limited in what can be released and Glass accuses the city attorney and mayor of helping the police department obstruct her investigation. 

This dispute was explicitly predicted when the common council drafted the ordinance in 2020. In a pair of memos to the council, City Attorney Michael Haas wrote that giving the independent monitor  subpoena power without explicitly outlining its limits could lead to legal challenges.

“It is the opinion of our Office that the Council may enact an ordinance providing subpoena authority to the Independent Monitor,” the memo states. “Where there is no contrary statutory provision or contractual right, we would expect such subpoenas to be enforceable.  It is less clear that a subpoena issued in the course of an investigation, or in a case which could lead to a disciplinary decision by the Police Chief or PFC, would be held to be enforceable if challenged.” 

Haas’ memo also directly addresses the question of officer-involved shooting investigations. 

“It may also be useful to note that, under [the statute], all officer-involved shooting deaths are investigated in the first instance by an outside law enforcement agency rather than by MPD, and that the Monitor would not be entitled to participate in such investigations,” the memo states. 

At a meeting of the Police Civilian Oversight Board Executive Subcommittee on Wednesday, Haas and board members continued to debate the issue.

“People cannot deny that the words ‘to the extent permitted by law,’ are in the ordinances, and I think that has been consistently overlooked when people simply talk about unfettered access and subpoena authority,” said Haas, whose office is working to release an official opinion on the issue. “Those words were intentionally put in the ordinances, and that means we have to look to existing Wisconsin law.”

But members of the board and independent monitor staff suggested that Haas’ office should seek outside legal opinions on the matter and charged that the city attorney’s office has a conflict of interest in the matter. Glass has asserted several times that the ordinance’s grant of independence to her office means that the city attorney doesn’t represent the office — a claim that city officials also dispute. 

“There’s an inherent structural conflict of interest between city attorney offices and police oversight agencies,” the independent monitor’s data analyst Greg Gelembiuk said at the Wednesday meeting. “You can see this play out again and again and again across cities in the U.S. City attorney’s offices are very enmeshed with police departments, and of course, the mayor’s office. They have a primary role of risk management. Police oversight agencies have a primary role of investigating police, exposing the truth. Those roles are in conflict, and because of that, you have a universal pattern where you cannot rely on the opinions of the city attorney’s office to be accurate and valid.” 

Glass has hired an outside attorney, Milwaukee-based William Sulton, to represent the office, telling the Examiner that she has “the ability to take full legal action that is available to us.” Sulton did not respond to a request for comment. 

Glass has previously threatened to sue the city over the limits of her authority, a legal action that itself is in dispute because even though the ordinance grants the office independence, it is still a city department and a city can’t sue itself. 

“The basic law in Wisconsin is that one city agency cannot sue another city agency. City agencies are all part of the same organization and one arm cannot sue another arm,” Haas told the Madison alternative newspaper Isthmus during the previous episode. “City agencies have the authority delegated to them in the ordinances and cannot file lawsuits independent of the city.”

A Dane County judge found that Wisconsin’s absentee voting system discriminates against voters with print disabilities by forcing them to have someone else assist them with filling out their ballots — undermining the secrecy of their vote. 

In a ruling issued Tuesday, Judge Everett Mitchell sided with Disability Rights Wisconsin and the League of Women Voters who had brought the lawsuit against the state Elections Commission to ensure that voters who have trouble seeing, reading or filling out their ballot can request, receive, vote and return an absentee ballot on their own. 

The groups, and four voters with disabilities, brought the lawsuit in April 2024 and were represented by the voting rights focused firm Law Forward, arguing that the state’s existing system violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. 

In his decision, Mitchell wrote that WEC must follow the ADA’s requirement to accommodate voters with disabilities and that the current system allowing people with print disabilities to have someone else fill out their ballots denies the voters “the equal opportunity to vote absentee privately and independently.” 

While he agreed that the current system is discriminatory, Mitchell did not grant the request that disabled voters be allowed to cast their absentee ballots electronically, writing that “there remains a genuine dispute of material fact with respect to whether their proposed accommodation is reasonable.” 

Further hearings will be held in the case to determine the best solution.

Madison city workers, police and state patrol officers cleared protesters from the intersection of Williamson and South Baldwin Streets early Tuesday morning, putting an end to the encampment that had blocked off the major east side intersection since a Madison police officer shot and killed Corey Ruiz there July 22. 

Starting around 5 a.m., officials announced through loudspeakers that the barricades blocking the streets would be removed and the gathering dispersed. Videos posted to social media show a chaotic scene at which police grappled with protesters and deployed pepper spray. City officials also towed away the replica George Floyd fist statue that was brought to the intersection last week. 

Dylan Brogan, a spokesperson for the city, said the city planned to let non-police city staff lead the effort. 

“The plan was for this to be led by non-law enforcement city agencies,” he said, adding that the unhoused people staying at the site would be given the opportunity to stay in a hotel and that people’s belongings would be available for pickup at Demetral Field, located about 2 miles northeast of the protest encampment site. “The message was delivered loudly that people had to get their things together.” 

The city announced that the intersection was open to traffic at 9 a.m.

In a statement released Monday evening, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway warned that the encampment would be shut down on Tuesday — stating that Ruiz was “no longer at the center of the current crisis our city faces.”

“For almost two weeks now, City of Madison staff and elected leaders have been on the ground and communicating to and through community leaders to peacefully resolve extremely complex, emotionally fraught circumstances that started with the police taking the life of Corey Ruiz,” Rhodes-Conway stated. “Countless efforts have been made to convince people that the occupation of Williamson Street and Baldwin Street is counterproductive. A huge amount of patience has been given because the last thing Madison needs is a large-scale police operation. That’s why those occupying the area need to leave immediately.” 

She added that the protesters at the site were making demands that city officials have no authority to meet, only extending the closure of the intersection which had begun to take a toll on the businesses in the culturally important Willy Street corridor. 

“There are too many residents and local businesses suffering because of the occupation, and it’s become increasingly clear that unsheltered people are being used as leverage for demands that, frankly, the City of Madison cannot deliver because we do not have the power to deliver them,” Rhodes-Conway said. “As we and others have repeatedly explained, the City cannot make an arrest or bring criminal charges — that authority rests with the Dane County District Attorney following an independent investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The City does not control this timeline.”

“I’m increasingly alarmed that those supporting the occupation at the intersection of Williamson Street and Baldwin Street are either purposefully ignoring the harm being done, or deliberately hoping that the situation spirals further out of control,” she continued. 

After the raid at the encampment, protesters marched outside Rhodes-Conway’s home, video posted to Facebook by local activist organization Freedom Inc. shows.

“If we don’t get no sleep, you don’t get no sleep,” the organization said in its post. “How dare Mayor Satya send her goons to raid the Corey Ruiz Memorial Encampment full of women, children and pregnant people.”

A Dane County judge on Wednesday rejected a request from Democratic voters to allow people to “spoil” and re-cast their absentee ballots for any reason. 

Under state law, voters can spoil ballots that are damaged or if they believe they made a mistake in filling out the ballot. Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 4-2 to publish guidance stating that the process wasn’t available to people who simply wished to change their vote. 

The Democratic voters argued the guidance should be thrown out to accommodate people who may have already cast a vote in this year’s August primaries before their preferred candidate dropped out. The ballot for the Democratic primary for governor includes two candidates, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes, whose names appear even though both have suspended their campaigns. 

In a ruling Thursday, Judge David Conway rejected the injunction request from the voters, finding that “the unambiguous language of the statute does not allow a voter to spoil an absentee ballot after it is returned.”

In a 2-1 decision, Wisconsin’s 2nd District Court of Appeals overturned a previous Dane County Circuit Court ruling that found Act 10, the controversial 2011 law that severely restricted the collective bargaining rights of most public employees, unconstitutional. 

In late 2024, Dane County Judge Jacob Frost ruled that the law violates the state constitution’s equal protections clause because it made some public safety workers exempt from the law’s limits on unions while excluding other workers with similar jobs from those protections.

In their majority decision, conservative Judges Mark Gundrum and Shelley Grogan said that it’s not up to the courts to weigh in on the merits of the Legislature’s reasoning for making the distinction, only to determine “any reasonably conceivable state of facts that could provide a rational basis for the classification.”

The decision argues that the Legislature excluded enough public safety employees to be able to maintain public safety and emergency services if in the wake of Act 10’s passage, every public employee union in the state, including the excluded groups, went on an illegal strike.

“Under these standards, we can easily locate a reason for the choices the Legislature made,” the majority decision, written by Gundrum, states. “We can conceive of facts for the public safety distinctions, and we can hypothesize a sound reason for why some public safety employees were not included in Act 10’s public safety group.  Namely, the groups included in the public safety group were the minimum number of groups the Legislature deemed essential to perform public safety-related services, and it selected employees it determined were necessary to maintain public safety in the event of labor unrest.”

In a dissent, Judge Lisa Neubauer noted that the unions allowed to maintain their bargaining rights had all supported the campaign of former Gov. Scott Walker just months before he was elected and signed Act 10 into law. 

She argued that the interpretation of the state’s equal protections clause requires that the Legislature’s reasoning be “rational” and that financial savings aren’t enough, writing that the Legislature’s reasoning doesn’t make sense because of the similarities among public safety employees across both groups. 

“The inclusion of some employees engaged in public safety in the protected category, and exclusion of others, is not based on any identified ‘substantial distinction’ that makes the first group really different from the other,” Neubauer writes. “The lack of a substantial distinction is obvious, and it is alone fatal to the Legislature’s position. It is an analysis that the majority fails to address altogether. To pass constitutional muster, there must be something inherently different between the two groups whose members are all engaged in public safety — active law enforcement, fire suppression and prevention, and emergency services — dangerous jobs that require a high degree of conditioning.  Employees who perform the same types of services and are putting themselves in harm’s way are being treated dramatically differently under the law.”

She adds that the “pinch-hit hypothesis” put forth by the Legislature in the appeal that it excluded enough employees to maintain public safety in the event of a mass strike that didn’t happen “is preposterous.”

That is particularly true, she wrote, because the state Capitol Police were excluded. 

“Aside from the failure of the Legislature’s attempts to distinguish these occupations, the inclusion of state motor vehicle inspectors and exclusion of Capitol police is clearly not germane to the purpose of ensuring public safety during a mass illegal labor strike — the Capitol police are the law enforcement officers statutorily responsible for ensuring the continuity of government and protecting legislative and executive officials, justices and judges, and state employees,” she wrote. “Moreover, any mass labor unrest would undoubtedly take place in Madison, and yet the Capitol and university police are excluded, while state motor vehicle inspectors are included. If public safety is the stated purpose, it would be irrational to exclude the very law enforcement officials we would need to protect our elected officials in the event of mass labor unrest.”

Candidates for governor react

The Court’s decision Wednesday rippled through the state’s gubernatorial race as the Democrats running in the crowded primary, who have all promised to repeal Act 10 if elected, weighed in. 

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said the ruling was a reminder that “Wisconsin’s workers live in a broken system.” 

“Wisconsin workers are being failed by the status quo. Our fight continues until every worker in every community across Wisconsin has the rights they deserve,” he wrote on social media. 

Former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan said the ruling was a “setback” but that the “fight isn’t over.” 

“Scott Walker spent years tearing down workers’ rights in this state, and Wisconsin families have been paying for it ever since,” Brennan said. “I know how to clean up Scott Walker’s messes because I’ve done it. When Gov. [Tony] Evers asked me to help fix the damage that Walker left behind, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work — and we created the largest budget surplus in state history. I’ll do it again as governor. I will repeal Act 10, restore collective bargaining rights for Wisconsin’s workers, and make sure the people who show up every day to teach our kids and serve our communities finally have a voice again.”

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said the decision “was not unexpected” but a reminder of the long wait since working families in the state had their rights “ripped away” by Act 10. 

“Wisconsin teachers, nurses, sanitation workers, and public servants deserve the right to collectively bargain for fair pay, safe workplaces, and a voice on the job,” he said. “We must continue fighting to restore collective bargaining rights for every public employee in every corner of our state.

State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), the frontrunner in the Democratic primary, said Wednesday’s ruling was a “painful reminder of what this disastrous law” has done to Wisconsin workers. 

“The court itself describes a rationale of putting as many public employees as possible into the category stripped of meaningful collective bargaining rights in order to achieve budget savings,” she said. “For 15 years, Wisconsin’s teachers, nurses, correctional officers and other hardworking public servants have lived with the consequences of Scott Walker’s attack on organized labor. Workers are the backbone of this state, and they deserve better than being treated like a line item.”

State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) said the state is “better off when workers have a say in their workplaces.” 

“Act 10 was an assault on all of our rights and our economy, engineered by Scott Walker with the help of Tom Tiffany, to disempower working people and weaken public schools,” Roys said. “The courts should restore every workers’ right to organize and collectively bargain, and the legislature should act to protect those rights in perpetuity. As Governor, I will continue to champion people over the powerful and will work with the legislature to rebuild the infrastructure for public sector bargaining.

Wisconsin Supreme Court up next 

The Wisconsin Education Association Council, which is part of the group of unions who brought the initial lawsuit, said after the ruling Wednesday morning that the group remains “confident in the merits of our case” and that they’re “considering all options available.” 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is weeks away from the investiture of Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor as its newest member. Taylor joining the Court gives liberals a 5-2 majority on the panel. However, Justice Brian Hagedorn has already recused himself from previous procedural decisions involving this case because he served as Walker’s legal counsel and played a major role in writing Act 10. 

If the Supreme Court were to take up the case, it’s likely a final decision wouldn’t be reached until after November’s elections and the inauguration of a new governor and start of a new legislative session in January. With Democrats hopeful they’ll be able to win trifecta control of state government, the actions of the other two branches of government could render the lawsuit moot. 

In a concurrence to the majority decision, Grogan argued the courts should be careful about weighing in on political issues such as Act 10. 

“A law’s constitutionality does not ebb and flow with a court’s composition, and the judicial branch must not be used to advance political agendas on either side of the political spectrum,” she wrote. “However, in seeking to unwind legislation that both the federal court and the Wisconsin Supreme Court have upheld as constitutional for over a decade, this lawsuit seeks to do exactly that.  At this juncture, if the People want to overturn these decisions, they must do so through the legislative branch, which, unlike the judicial branch, is necessarily political.”

Parts of the city of Menasha and the nearby village of Fox Crossing remained inaccessible Tuesday after an EF3 tornado — the third highest classification meaning a “severe” tornado with wind speeds between 136-165 miles per hour — struck the Fox Valley Monday afternoon. 

Downed powerlines and blocked streets have shut down access to the communities while emergency response crews continue to assess the damage and restore power and water. Officials say they’ve had zero fatalities and no serious injuries reported. 

“Just looking at the twisted metal and rooftops of some of the industrial buildings along the highway, it’s hard to describe the level of damage,” Winnebago County Executive Gordon Hintz told the Wisconsin Examiner. “We’ve had tornadoes in Wisconsin before, but in an urbanized area, the level of destruction is just incredible and we’re going to need time and patience and hopefully with everybody’s support we can get people back on their feet.”

Wanda Tracy, a spokesperson for Winnebago County, said Tuesday afternoon that responders were still in “discovery mode” to assess the damage of the storm. 

At a Tuesday evening media briefing, Menasha Police Department spokesperson Matthew Roe said that 68 people were transported to area hospitals Monday with tornado-related injuries, referring to them as  “walking wounded.” He added that crews have conducted two searches of the area to try to find people who might be trapped in their homes and assess the damage to roads and powerlines. 

A curfew is in place in Menasha from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and parts of both Menasha and Fox Crossing remain under boil-water orders and thousands of people still don’t have power. 

Hintz said that although much of the area was devastated, the timing of the storm was “lucky” because most people aren’t home at midday on a Monday. 

“We have considerable challenges however,” he said. “Roadways are blocked with debris, there are downed power lines presenting both a danger and risk. Some people can’t access their  property, and if they can there’s no power and it may be several days until power is restored.” 

“It’s a mess and we’re going to need some patience,” he added. 

Community response

Residents and businesses across the Fox Valley quickly jumped into action following the storm, with community organizations working to distribute bottled water and assistance to families. 

“It’s amazing to see people come to support, even those affected,” Rebecca Rockhill, executive director of the northeast Wisconsin Red Cross, told the Examiner. 

Rockhill was managing a shelter established at Christ the Rock Community Church in Menasha where 38 people spent the night Monday following the storm. She said that more than 60 people had arrived at the site Tuesday to get meals, resources and charge their phones. 

Hotels throughout the region were fully booked Tuesday.

Rockhill said that the best way to support the Red Cross recovery efforts is through financial donations to help purchase equipment such as tarps, rakes and garbage bags to help with cleanup. 

Down the street at the former UW-Oshkosh Fox Cities campus, Carolyn Desrosiers, CEO of Volunteer Fox Cities, was leading the effort to coordinate the more than 1,000 volunteers who came to help. Pallets of bottled water sat outside the campus planetarium building. She said that the first donation of the day came from an 11-year-old boy who came to give his allowance.

“We’re focused on helping organize the helpers,” she said. “It’s awful to wait but help is on the way.” 

Desrosiers added that people who want to help should go sign up at the coordination center to register and get a safety briefing so they learn what is needed, how to stay out of the way of work crews and stay safe around the downed powerlines. 

Roe said at the Tuesday evening briefing that the most needed donations were Lysol wipes, diapers, cleaning supplies, hearing and eye protection.

Disaster relief

Gov. Tony Evers announced a state of emergency for the region on Tuesday. 

“We are continuing to assess the devastation and destruction Wisconsin is seeing, especially in the Fox Cities, and we are committed to doing everything we can to help every family, business, and community affected recover,” Evers said in a statement. “This emergency declaration will ensure every available resource is deployed so we can respond quickly to the needs on the ground, and I want to thank the neighbors, emergency and first responders, local partners, and volunteers who are already working to help to restore essential services, clean up neighborhoods, and assess the damages. Together, we will recover and recover stronger, and I ask everyone to keep the families and communities affected in your thoughts over the coming days and weeks as they rebuild.” 

Hintz told the Examiner the emergency declaration will help move resources and that he’s making a request for National Guard troops to come bolster the “capacity to clean up.” 

“We need more manpower and equipment to clear some roadways to get the utility and power back on for people that have a home to return to,” he said. 

On Tuesday, the Winnebago County website displayed banners directing people to the tornado response and to federal disaster relief for the major flooding that hit the region in April. 

In recent months, the federal disaster relief system has been under a microscope due to President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to provide funds to areas represented by Democrats.

Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton) told the Examiner that there’s an effort among legislators of both parties to “nudge that along at a federal level.” 

“When a disaster strikes a community, partisan politics are put aside locally and we try to come together as a group and help our neighbors,” she said. 

Climate Change 

The tornado hit the state just weeks after wildfires in Canada and northern Minnesota blanketed Wisconsin with smoke while record-breaking heat domes pushed temperatures dangerously high. 

Wisconsin has also seen an above average number of tornadoes and severe storms this summer as climate change shifts the country’s weather patterns. 

Snodgrass said that on Tuesday, one of her staff members was at the National Conference of State Legislatures summit in Chicago where he attended a panel on disaster management and mitigation. 

“This is part of the reason why Democrats so desperately want a trifecta,” she said, referring to hopes that the party can win both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office this year. “The time to do something about this was 20 years ago. To stave back the occurrence of these natural disasters we’re going to have to make some pretty impactful legislation move forward.”

A tornado hit parts of Appleton and Menasha Monday afternoon, damaging homes and leaving thousands without power. 

The National Weather Service described the storm as “extremely dangerous” and issued a particularly dangerous situation tornado warning — the second-highest level warning — shortly after noon. The agency said that a cluster of thunderstorms moved southeast across the state and that preliminary surveys are being conducted in the Appleton area to assess the damage and strength of the tornado. 

The NWS also said that two-inch hail was reported across the area. 

More than 110,000 homes across the state were still without power as of 5:15 p.m., according to We Energies. 

“We are aware of severe damage in broad areas. We are asking the public to stay indoors, watch out for downed power lines, do not drive around road closures, and do not drive around the area unless absolutely necessary,” the Menasha Police Department posted on Facebook. 

Wisconsin has seen a higher than average number of tornadoes this year as shifting weather patterns caused by climate change push the country’s traditional “tornado alley” eastward. The state climatology office said that June 2026 was the state’s most active June for storms since at least 2008.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit Thursday against Wisconsin Elections Commission guidance that bars people who request an absentee ballot from casting an in-person ballot if the mail ballot will not arrive by the time polls close on Election Day. 

The lawsuit was filed as officials in Wisconsin, and the commission itself, have warned voters about potential delays in the mail system ahead of this year’s August and November elections. 

But commission guidance states that once voters mail their absentee ballots back to the clerk, they cannot be issued new ballots at the polls on Election Day. This means that if voters realize their ballots will not arrive in time after early in-person voting closes the Sunday before an election, they will not be able to vote. 

“Once a voter has placed their ballot in the mail, it is considered mailed,” the WEC guidance states. “They cannot be issued a new ballot at the polling place on Election Day, even if their absentee ballot will not be returned to the clerk’s office in time to be counted.”

The lawsuit seeks to allow voters who believe their ballots will not arrive to the clerk in time to go in person to cast a provisional ballot that would be set aside and only be counted if the initial ballot does not arrive by the deadline. 

Hundreds of voters did not have their votes counted during the state’s April elections because their ballots did not arrive in time. A WEC survey of clerks following the April election reported that hundreds of the state’s election officials believed delays in the mail had caused problems in the spring election. 

“Every voter in Wisconsin that puts an accurately requested absentee ballot in the mail on time expects their vote will be counted. Delays in mail delivery prevent that. It is time to have a remedy for these eligible voters,” Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, said. 

The League is represented in the lawsuit by Law Forward and the Fair Elections Center. The lawsuit argues that the commission understands the problem but is not taking advantage of an obvious solution to the potential mail delays. 

“The right to vote protects Wisconsinites from baseless disenfranchisement on Election Day. But WEC wants to turn these voters away. That’s just wrong,” Law Forward attorney Scott Thompson said. “We shouldn’t punish Wisconsin voters just because the mail is late. They must have the opportunity to vote on Election Day.”

Family members  of Corey Ruiz, who was shot and killed by a Madison police officer on the city’s east side Wednesday, said at an emotional press conference Friday afternoon they want charges filed against the officer who fired the shots and for Madison cops to be equipped with body cameras. 

Speaking from the Assembly parlor in the state Capitol building, Ruiz’s mother, two sisters, brother, daughter and daughter’s mother spoke of a man who loved to crack jokes, make music and work in construction. 

The family was joined by state Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) and Ben Crump, a national civil rights attorney who has frequently represented the families of people of color killed by police. 

Orchestrating the press conference, Crump noted Madison’s policy against high speed chases for property crimes — Ruiz was first chased by police on his bike after officers responded to reports that someone in the area was looking into parked cars. Crump also raised questions about whether  the other officers on the scene believed deadly force was necessary and if Ruiz actually brandished the knife police have said he used against the officer who shot him. 

“We saw an execution, and it shocked our conscience,” Crump said. “People all over Wisconsin were shocked when they saw the execution of Corey Ruiz. People all over America are shocked when they see the execution of Corey Ruiz, because they understand when they see that video that it was so unnecessary to execute him. It was unnecessary, unjustifiable, and unconstitutional how they executed Corey Ruiz.”

Crump also said he wants officials to be transparent about the investigation, which is being conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice under a state law that requires officer-involved shooting investigations to be led by  an outside agency. Crump added that he believes the officer responsible should be charged with a crime. 

Marjorie Ann Aliomar, the mother of Ruiz’s 13-year-old daughter, Kah’liyah, said the tragedy was especially painful because the shooting took place at a busy intersection in their own neighborhood. 

“This place is two blocks up the street from our home, two blocks away from her school,” Aliomar said. “Every day she has to walk to school … she would have to walk past her dad’s memorial, where he was murdered by people we’re supposed to trust and depend on.”

While wiping away tears, Kah’liyah addressed the police. 

“How can I call you knowing you shot my father?” she said. “How are you going to have four policemen on one Black man? On top of that, how are you going to get scared of us if you’re supposed to save us?” 

Several times, Ruiz’s family said they wanted the city to equip Madison cops with body cameras. 

For years, city and police officials have requested body cameras for all Madison police and a body camera pilot program is currently underway on the city’s north side. 

Last fall, the common council voted against allocating money in the budget for a citywide body camera program, instead sending that money to the city’s Office of the Independent Monitor — the civilian oversight body that tracks the police department. 

Ripple effects 

Protests over the killing of Ruiz continue to make waves across the city. 

Two days after the shooting, activists still control the intersection of Baldwin and Williamson Streets where the shooting occurred, with makeshift barricades of garbage bins, mattresses and scrap metal blocking off the streets in every direction. 

Organizers of Atwood Fest, a popular annual street festival that takes place a few blocks east of the shooting’s location, was canceled. 

“Our community and our Marquette neighbors witnessed another horrific officer-involved shooting just blocks from our festival grounds, leaving us in deep pain and justified anger,” organizers wrote on the festival website. “AtwoodFest’s core values have always centered on building community, using each festival’s proceeds to support the groups doing important work right here in our neighborhood. Now it is vital to support our neighbors, particularly those who have borne the brunt of this pain and injustice, by taking time to mourn and reflect on our role in these broken systems, so we can create a community that truly lives up to our values.”

The U.S. government filed a lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee Thursday, arguing the city has no authority to enforce its ordinance preventing law enforcement from wearing masks while interacting with the public. 

The lawsuit, filed against the city as well as its mayor, city attorney and police chief, argues that cities and states are unable to regulate federal government action. 

“For centuries, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that States have no authority whatsoever to regulate the Federal Government,” the lawsuit states. “Despite that well-established principle, Milwaukee recently enacted an ordinance that purports to do exactly what constitutional law says it cannot: regulate how federal law enforcement officers carry out their official duties in that City.”

Initially enacted in April, the Milwaukee ordinance prohibits law enforcement officers performing their duties from covering their faces and requires that their names and the agency they work for be easily identifiable on their uniform. 

“The use of facial coverings and disguises by law enforcement officers significantly affects the public’s perception of law enforcement, officer-community interactions, and accountability,” the ordinance states. “Persons reasonably may experience fear or intimidation when approached by officers whose faces are obscured. Such reactions can heighten defensive behavior and unnecessarily escalate the tension inherent in many interactions between law enforcement officers and members of the public.”

Last week, City Attorney Evan Goyke wrote in a letter to U.S. prosecutors  that federal officers wouldn’t be exempted from the ordinance, prompting the lawsuit. 

“the City and the public have a right to know if masked, armed, and unidentified men seizing people on our streets are who they say they are,” Goyke wrote, objecting to the federal government’s insistence that immigration officers be allowed to conceal their identities “at their discretion.”

“Unfortunately, in the case of federal immigration officers, in particular, that unbounded discretion, coupled with guns and a lack of accountability, has had tragic consequences in cities across the country,” he wrote. Goyke disputed the federal government’s claim that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution makes ordinances such as Milwaukee’s illegal, citing previous and ongoing litigation on the matter.

Federal immigration officers across the country have worn masks while carrying out  President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants. Federal officials have argued the masks prevent officers from being doxxed. 

“State and local leaders cannot tell Federal officers how to do their job,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. said in a news release. “And they certainly cannot prohibit them from ensuring their own safety in safeguarding our communities and enforcing federal law. We will never tolerate the doxxing or harassment of federal officers, or any law like Milwaukee’s that enables violent behavior against law enforcement officers and their families.”

The lawsuit argues that federal officers should be able to make decisions about covering their faces on a case-by-case basis. 

“Denying federal agencies and officers discretion in these areas would chill federal law enforcement, threatening the safety of communities in Milwaukee,” the lawsuit states.

Brad Schimel, the former conservative Supreme Court candidate who is now an assistant U.S. attorney, said that the ordinance pits federal and local cops against each other. 

“Not only is this ordinance an affront to the Constitution, but it jeopardizes the safety of our courageous sworn law enforcement officers,” Schimel said. “Further, it puts local and federal law enforcement officers at odds with each other when they should be working together on the common goals to enforce the rule of law and keep our communities safe.”

Gov. Tony Evers sent a letter Thursday to President Donald Trump and Wisconsin’s congressional delegation urging the White House to resolve delays in the processing of applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. 

The DACA program has existed since the administration of President Barack Obama and allows people who were brought to the country as children without documentation to live and work in the U.S. 

There are 500,000 DACA recipients across the country and more than 5,000 in Wisconsin. The Trump administration has put their renewal applications on “processing holds.” For some of the program’s participants, those holds have now pushed their renewal beyond the deadline, putting their ability to obtain work permits and driver’s licenses at risk. 

Since its inception in 2012, the DACA program has been broadly popular among Democrats and Republicans. Earlier this year, Evers signed into law a bipartisan bill that allows DACA recipients to obtain occupational licenses from the state. 

But Trump attempted to end the program during his first term and amid his administration’s harsh crackdown on immigration, DACA recipients have been detained and deported despite their legal status. The delays in application processing have put even more people in legal limbo. 

“Mr. President, I urge you to end this harmful practice by your administration and resume expeditious processing and renewal of DACA applications,” Evers wrote. “And to Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation, I urge you to stand up for Wisconsin’s Dreamers, who will be or are up for renewals, and join me in demanding that the Trump Administration immediately identify and resolve the source of these unconscionable delays and resume processing and renewal of DACA applications, as Senator Baldwin, Congressman Pocan, and Congresswoman Moore have done. These hardworking members of our community should not endure the consequences of the Trump Administration’s failure to uphold the DACA program to basic standards.”

Madison city officials attempted to hold a press conference Thursday after a police officer shot and killed a man, identified as Corey Ruiz, at a busy intersection on Williamson and Baldwin streets Wednesday. The briefing was derailed by a group of protesters who arrived and took over the podium, sparking a verbal altercation with Madison residents who also wanted to express their discontent and question Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Police Chief John Patterson, and Common Council President Sabrina Madison. 

“My immediate concern, right now, is for the well-being of our community,” Rhodes-Conway said at the beginning of the press conference, speaking to reporters while local residents began taking seats in the small room. “I want to make sure that everyone who needs it has access to resources and mental health support. Those resources exist, and are available if you need them.” 

Rhodes-Conway urged residents to use the 9-8-8 hotline for urgent mental health support, or to text either “home” or “hola” to 741-741 to reach volunteer crisis counselors, or to contact the Dane County crisis hotline at 608-280-2609. 

The shooting triggered  outrage, anger and  grief among residents, especially those who witnessed it directly. 

Video taken by bystanders shows several officers wrestling Ruiz to the ground. While he is on the ground, one of the officers appears to fire several shots into Ruiz’s head at close range. The Madison Police Department does not have a universal body camera program, and Chief Patterson has pushed local elected officials to implement a body camera program in the 2027 budget. During the press conference Thursday, Patterson said a criminal homicide investigation has been opened in the shooting.

The shooting is being investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. Patterson said Wednesday that the officer who fired was injured by a fixed-blade knife Ruiz brandished. Patterson also said that officers had confronted Ruiz after responding to a call from someone in the neighborhood who said he was checking cars, but that Ruiz fled before they chased him to  the intersection. 

State law requires that officer-involved shootings be investigated by an outside agency in order to maintain objectivity and public trust. The investigations can take months, after which the case is handed over to a local district attorney who then determines whether an officer will be charged for the shooting. Madison residents, impatient for more information and still angry about the 2015 police shooting of Tony Robinson in the same neighborhood, are demanding a response from city officials.

“This is an incredibly difficult moment for the Madison community,” Rhodes-Conway said. “And I understand the very difficult emotions that people are feeling. I am feeling them too. As a city, as a community, as a society, we have to do better.” She added  that “it does not matter who you are, or what your past is, you should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement. That should not happen.” 

“Like many in our community today, I have a lot of questions and concerns about what happened yesterday,” Rhodes Conway said, “what decisions were made by officers that led to escalation instead of de-escalation; what different choices could have been made to prevent harm; what needs to change — police policy, or training, or anything else — to prevent more deaths.”

Madison, the city council president, said Ruiz could have been any number of people, including people she knows and loves. She added that she has family members who have struggled with mental illness, homelessness, and that Black and brown children are taught by their parents how to interact with police in order to survive the encounter, something Madison said her white friends with children have no need to discuss with their own sons. Madison said that Ruiz “is a person, he’s a human being, he has a family, he has parents who loved him, you know, who brought him home, who cared for him, who poured into him.”

Watching the videos Madison said she could hear the sounds, she could hear officers yelling “taser,” and she can also hear the shots fired. Madison said she asked herself, “When the officer’s walking away, why isn’t he walking away in cuffs?” She said her thoughts are with Ruiz’s family because “his death is final, there is no coming back from death.” 

Madison, the mayor, and the police chief all called for a full, fair and transparent investigation. Madison also said that “we should be pushing and advocating for our district attorney to charge folks” and that people should engage with the district attorney, the Division of Criminal Investigation, the city’s independent police monitor, and the Police and Fire Commission. Madison encouraged residents to file complaints with those organizations, as well as the police department. “I think you should take every route for justice for Corey; I don’t think you should limit yourself.” 

Patterson said that he didn’t want to “rush past” the fact that Ruiz’s family and the community are grieving. He said that the Madison Police Department requested a full, independent criminal investigation. Patterson said that the Division of Criminal Investigation will release the name of the officer on its own timeline, and that the Madison Police Department has limited information about and involvement in the investigation. Recalling the words of retired former Madison Police Chief David Couper, Patterson said that police “cannot do the job unless you have the support of the community.” He added that Couper once wrote that “use of physical force by police is a sacred public trust…The more force a department uses, the less trust and support it has from the people it serves. The more force we use, the less trust we have.”

As Patterson spoke about the need to recognize  the trauma the community has experienced from  past shootings, Carlos LeMar Dixon of Milwaukee entered the room with a small entourage. Dixon yelled, “We can shut this down, you can stop talking!” 

“You’re going to say the same thing you all say every time a Black body gets shot down in this city,” Dixon yelled, adding, “Have no fear, the anti-Zionist is here!” 

Dixon continued yelling over the chief while walking to the podium, about imperialism and Zionism, asserting that he would not allow any public officials to speak or answer questions. Dixon also scolded reporters in the room to hear the briefing from public officials for not asking him questions instead. 

Some of Dixon’s supporters also yelled, helping him drown out the mayor, chief and common council president. Meanwhile some Madison residents in the room argued with Dixon, sparking a tense verbal confrontation as Dixon and members of his group hurled insults and threats at various people. Some of the Madison residents, while critical of the public officials at the briefing, demanded that Dixon either calm down or leave so that relevant questions could be asked. 

At one point after the chaotic exchange, Mayor Rhodes-Conway left and Patterson held the podium to answer questions. 

Patterson answered a question from the Examiner about whether officers are trained under Defense and Arrest Tactics to use the least amount of force necessary to overcome a threat, and whether officers who use deadly force must evaluate whether the threat is still present after each shot is fired. “There is a standard of a threat of great bodily harm or death that must be articulated to one’s self or someone else,” Patterson began. “And so that is a standard that [Division of Criminal Investigation] will be evaluating when they start, that is a standard that we use when we use our use of force review.” 

Under Defense and Arrest Tactics, there are several levels of force available to police officers including their mere presence, which can discourage criminal activity, less lethal force such as  tasers and deadly force. The standard for use of force is evaluated through the perspective of a hypothetical “reasonable officer” faced with the same situation, and questions whether such an officer would have used deadly force. Prior to shooting Ruiz, one of the four officers involved deployed a taser, which Patterson said was ineffective. 

The Examiner asked Patterson how the reasonable officer standard would apply when four officers are involved in a situation and only one officer chooses to use deadly force. Patterson declined to respond to that question citing the ongoing investigation. Patterson also said that the officer who fired was not a supervisor — such as a sergeant or lieutenant — but that he was a veteran officer with 11 years experience. He added that he did not have information about whether the officer who fired had a history of discipline or citizen complaints, but he did say that he’d never been involved in a deadly force incident before. 

Evening vigil 

More than 24 hours after the shooting, protesters still controlled the intersection where Ruiz was killed. Initial barricades of garbage bins and mattresses were reinforced by police blockades and Madison city snow plows.

Activists and community members held a vigil Thursday evening in the intersection with hundreds of people somberly listening as pained members of Madison’s Black community spoke, with chants of Ruiz’s name interspersed like the response in a prayer.

Juliana Bennett, a former Madison alder who is now running in the Democratic primary for the 76th Assembly District — which includes Willy Street — noted in a speech to the crowd that the killing of Ruiz took place six years after the police protests of 2020, which themselves took place six years after Madison police killed Tony Robinson, a few blocks west of the spot where the vigil was held, in 2015.

Bennett said that police killings are policy decisions and noted that in a liberal community such as Madison, police violence and racism are often met with “committee after committee, meeting after meeting,” and implored community members to continue pressing local officials for change. 

The union election of nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison was certified Wednesday after a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board overruled the objections of the hospital’s parent company, SSM Health. 

On June 11, nurses at the hospital voted 89% to form a union. It was the largest representation election in Wisconsin in at least a quarter century. The nursing staff at St. Mary’s previously told the Wisconsin Examiner that they were seeking to form a union over concerns about procedures, staffing and compensation and a lack of responsiveness from hospital management. 

The St. Louis-based SSM Health had objected to the election, arguing that charge nurses at the hospital should not be allowed to vote or join the union because they hold a supervisory role. At the nearby Meriter Hospital in Madison, charge nurses are part of the union. 

The company had filed its objections about the charge nurses prior to the election but the NLRB had decided to delay ruling on the question and the charges nurses were allowed to vote but their ballots were kept separate. 

The hospital system’s objections included claims that the delayed decision affected the election results, that charge nurses engaged in pro-union electioneering, that the union caused disruptions to the hospital’s human resources staff, that a pro-union staffer brought cookies to the voting area and that union supporters tried to enter the voting area. 

Jennifer Hadsall, the director of the NLRB region that includes Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and parts of Iowa, wrote in her ruling that for most of the objections, the system did not include proof of the complaint or that the activity affected the election results. 

“I have concluded, for the reasons set forth in this decision, that the offer of proof produced by the Employer is not sufficient to meet its burden of showing that the proffered evidence would be grounds for setting aside the election if introduced and credited at a hearing,” Hadsall wrote.

While the election was certified, the board has still not ruled on the question of charge nurses joining the union. 

After the ruling, nurses at the hospital celebrated the decision and urged hospital management to stop working to prevent the unionization and instead start bargaining. 

“The Labor Board has spoken, our community has spoken, elected leaders have spoken, St. Mary’s nurses have spoken, and we have resoundingly declared that it’s time for SSM to respect our union vote so we can start working on solutions for our patients,” Zach Zahalka, a nurse in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab, said in a statement. “As nurses, this work is a calling, and our primary role is to be our patients’ advocates. Forming our union is an extension of that patient advocacy, and we urgently have to solve the crisis of understaffing and loss of experienced nurses at St. Mary’s.”

“SSM needs to stop trying to undermine our union,” he added, “and instead focus all their resources on engaging with us productively so that together we can create real solutions for better staffing and retention to provide the best care.”

Lisa Adams, a spokesperson for the hospital, said in a statement that the hospital is reviewing the decision. 

“SSM Health respects the federal labor law process. We have received the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) staff decision and are reviewing it,” she said.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Gov. Tony Evers sent a letter Thursday raising concerns about “severe delays” in the U.S. mail system threatening the delivery of absentee ballots during Wisconsin’s August and November elections. 

The letter to Postmaster General David Steiner and members of the USPS Board of Governors noted that many absentee ballots cast during the state’s April elections arrived to local clerks after Election Day and therefore went uncounted. The letter also pushes the board to reverse course on implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order to create a federal mail-in voting list that includes the personal information of absentee voters. 

Trump and Republicans have become increasingly hostile to mail-in voting in recent years — mostly due to unfounded complaints that they were the source of fraud that swung the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. 

Earlier this month, Evers also joined the governors of Illinois, California, Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington in writing a letter to the USPS leadership to oppose the Trump absentee voting order. 

The pair of Democrats noted that in 2024, 500,000 Wisconsin voters, 15% of all voters in the state, used mail-in ballots. Because Wisconsin is a swing state with especially close elections, they wrote, any delays “could very well tip the scales of the election.” 

“The Postal Service has a critical responsibility to ensure that election mail is handled with the urgency and reliability that voters, election officials, and the public rightly expect,” they wrote. “To meet this responsibility, USPS must address delays we saw in Wisconsin’s Spring Election and not move forward with the rule restricting vote by mail. Ensuring the timely delivery of election mail is essential to protecting every eligible Wisconsinite’s right to vote and maintaining public confidence in our elections. When ballots fail to arrive in time to be counted, voters are denied the opportunity to participate in our democracy through no fault of their own. These failures not only disenfranchise individual voters, but also erode trust in the reliability and fairness of our elections.”

They also noted that delays disproportionately affect rural voters in communities with fewer poll locations and absentee ballot drop boxes. 

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Elections Commission released a list of best practices for absentee voting which included the recommendation that if voters are going to return their ballot by mail, it should be sent at least 10 days before the election. Ballots can also be returned directly to a voter’s municipal clerk’s office, to the voter’s polling place on Election Day or to an absentee ballot dropbox — in communities that use them. 

The Evers, Baldwin letter also notes that WEC sent a similar letter to the Postal Service leadership in May about the mail delays during the spring election. In that letter, the commission relayed the results of a survey of the state’s local election officials, which found that two-thirds of them reported problems with the mail. 

Wisconsin’s early in-person voting process also allows voters to request, fill out and return their ballots all at once at designated locations. For the August primary elections, early in-person voting begins July 28. For the November general election, early voting begins Oct. 30. 

Voters can request  absentee ballots sent to them by mail online at MyVote.WI.gov or by sending a letter or email to their local clerk that includes their full name, voting address, mailing address, the election in which they are voting and a copy of their photo ID.

Wisconsin Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson was named chairman of the Senate budget committee Tuesday, taking up a position left vacant after the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham earlier this month. 

Johnson was the fourth highest ranking Republican on the committee, but received the chairmanship because Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) already chair the Judiciary and Finance committees and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is on his way out of the Senate after losing his May primary.

In a statement, Johnson called Graham an “American patriot” and said he’ll “be sorely missed.” He added that he wants to focus on exposing fraud in government. 

“As chairman for the remainder of the year, I intend to maximize this opportunity to define the fiscal challenge we face, help expose the fraud in government programs, and work with the House, the White House, and my Senate colleagues to enact as much of President Trump’s agenda as possible,” Johnson said. 

Republicans in Congress are currently attempting to pass a third budget reconciliation bill of the term before November’s midterm elections — with a focus on providing the Department of Defense with more funds for the war in Iran, further cutting government benefit programs and passing the SAVE America act to put more restrictions on voting. 

A Johnson spokesperson previously told the Wisconsin Examiner that he would “work diligently” to pass a reconciliation bill. 

Emily Berge, the former president of the Eau Claire city council and a candidate in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, was working the window of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau milkshake stand at the Trempealeau County fair on July 18 when a woman asked her if she knew the Farm Bureau was for Republicans. 

To Berge, who had been at an event with the left-leaning Wisconsin Farmers Union the day before, the critique didn’t make sense. 

She’s running an underdog campaign against Rebecca Cooke — a former political fundraiser, business owner and waitress who nearly won the seat in 2024 and entered the race with massive advantages in fundraising, name recognition and support from high-profile national Democrats. Left, right or center, she is looking to pick up every vote she can get.

Wisconsin’s 3rd CD is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden and leans Republican at its baseline, according to the Cook Political Report. 

Whoever wins the Democratic primary is going to have to pick off some people who have voted for Van Orden, President Donald Trump or both while not losing the support of organic farmers in Viroqua or tattoo artists in La Crosse.

For Berge, that means slinging milkshakes in Galesville, riding the tilt-a-whirl with Democratic state legislators in West Salem, grinding coffee beans with baristas in La Crosse and attending every county fair, dairy breakfast, cranberry festival and parade between Platteville and Eau Claire. 

After announcing her candidacy in April last year over the objections of the national Democratic party, Berge and her husband Mike realized by November that their old Subaru Outback wasn’t up for the rigors of a congressional campaign and bought a used Hyundai. In the subsequent eight months, they’ve driven 18,000 miles criss-crossing the district. 

Cooke, who previously worked for the centrist group Third Way, has burnished her moderate bonafides by forcefully denouncing left-wing policy proposals such as defunding the police and abolishing ICE while touting endorsements from the centrist congressional Blue Dog Caucus, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a member of the fiscally moderate New Democrat Coalition running as a centrist for the U.S. Senate. She’s also been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. 

The National Republican Congressional Committee still calls her “Commie Cooke.” 

At the end of the most recent reporting period, Cooke had raised $8.3 million since the start of 2025 — outraising Van Orden — and still has $2.4 million in cash on hand. Back in 2022, Cooke fought her way to  a surprise second-place finish in the Democratic primary for the seat. The winner of the primary, state Sen. Brad Pfaff, lost to Van Orden by 3.7 points. In 2024, Cooke won the primary and then lost to Van Orden by 2.7 points, although she outperformed Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in the district on the same Democratic ticket. 

This year her name recognition and support from national Democrats, including an early endorsement from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, vaulted her to the front of the 2026 race. 

This spring, her campaign touted internal polling that put her more than 40 points ahead of Berge. 

But with three weeks before the Aug. 11 primary, political observers, voters and the Berge campaign feel like the gap is closing. 

Grassroots candidate vs. ‘the Establishment’

An oversimplification of the race would be to describe it as a contest between Berge the progressive and Cooke the moderate. That characterization is somewhat true: On healthcare for example, Berge supports Medicare for All while Cooke has called for more incremental policy changes. 

One of the biggest spats of the primary campaign has centered around LGBTQ issues, with Cooke repeatedly fumbling and recanting when asked in several forums if she would vote for a federal ban on conversion therapy. 

Cooke’s back and forth drew criticism from Van Orden for “flip-flopping”

During a May forum in La Crosse, Cooke said the question of conversion therapy should be left to local decision makers. At a June forum in Platteville she said she wouldn’t vote for a conversion therapy ban only to release a statement soon after saying she misunderstood the question and she would vote for a ban. At the final forum of the campaign last week in Eau Claire, Cooke said she does “not support conversion therapy whatsoever” but did not say how she’d vote on a ban. 

Berge, a trained mental health counselor, has been unequivocal in her support of a federal ban on conversion therapy at each forum and noted that she led Eau Claire’s efforts to pass a local ban on the practice. 

More than any particular policy difference, in an election cycle in which the brand of the Democratic party establishment has become toxic, the race has become a swing-seat contest between a candidate who appears determined to shake every hand in western and central Wisconsin against a consultant-backed candidate with poll-tested talking points.

Recently filed campaign finance reports show that Cooke’s campaign has spent almost $500,000 on political consultant fees since January of this year. Across her entire campaign, Berge has spent $578,000.

“It’s kind of that classic tension between the national party and local activists,” Anthony Chergosky, a political science professor at UW-La Crosse, said. “I think that we have seen some ideological differences between the two, but also I think maybe like a bit of a broader conversation here about the value of a competitive primary and the extent to which national political figures should be intervening in these nomination contests.”

Berge, drawing on her experience serving as the president of the Eau Claire common council, is convinced that voters in this cycle are less focused on the exact policy particulars and more interested in someone who comes across as authentic and promises to act with the best interests of the people at heart. 

“It’s not necessarily what, but it’s how. It’s how you show up,” Berge told the Wisconsin Examiner. “That’s what I learned on council. That’s why I ran for council. You know, it’s how you show up, how you lead. It’s about being a bridge between your constituents, city hall or D.C. I think that’s what people want.” 

Without the cash to pay for its own polling, the Berge campaign is instead looking for other clues that she has the late momentum. On rural roads and residential streets in the district, Berge’s red, white and blue signs far outnumber Cooke’s green ones. The campaign chose to go without an office to save the rent money, but it does have 600 volunteers making calls, writing postcards and helping manage the campaign Reddit account. 

“We just always get different new people joining us,” Berge said. “I mean, I kind of have my core group of volunteers who have been with me since day one, but we’re like a snowball going down the mountain, you know, and we’re just collecting more and more people, and so we can just keep going and growing and growing.” 

The Berge campaign also believes that over multiple campaign cycles, voters’ views on Cooke have solidified — and not necessarily in a positive way. Near constant Republican messaging accusing her of being far left-wing, support from the DCCC in a cycle when voters are incensed with national Democrats, questions swirling around her background of political work — made worse by her recent request to delay the filing of her personal financial disclosures until after the primary — and bad blood from previous campaigns have soured people on Cooke, Berge campaign staff say. 

Additionally, Berge’s supporters say, Cooke’s reputation with the 19 county parties within the district has been harmed by the perception of a coronation by people outside the district and the fact that she hasn’t shown up much. 

“Certainly, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is aware of how unhappy most of the county parties in the third district were with that early DCCC endorsement,” Jill McMullen, chair of the Monroe County party said. 

McMullen added that Berge has been far more visible in her area.

“I certainly think having more time on the ground in the county has made a difference for the Berge campaign in terms of name recognition and seeing her as an individual with a real response and plan for various policies,” she said. “Let’s put it this way: all of the candidates for a 3rd CD race have been invited to attend many events, and Emily has been the most engaged thus far. As far as I’m aware, more people within the party have actually been at events with Emily Berge than with the Cooke events, because there was only one Cooke event since the campaign started last summer.”

The same pattern holds in Portage County, the far eastern wing of the district and the home of former state Rep. Katrina Shankland, whom Cooke beat in the contentious 2024 primary.

Gary Hawley, co-chair of the Portage County party, said hurt feelings about Shankland and the Cooke campaign’s failure to show up until recently have left the county “heavy Berge.” 

Campaign finance reports show that Cooke recently placed a $3 million television ad buy and has spent nearly $500,000 on direct mail to voters. 

In a statement, Cooke touted the support she’s received from local elected officials and unions. 

“Our campaign is meeting with Wisconsinites in every corner of our district and building the coalition to flip this seat,” she said. “I’m proud to have earned support from over 50 local leaders who know I’ll fight for their communities, 15 Wisconsin labor unions because I’ll fight for working people, and trusted leaders like Senators Tammy Baldwin and Bernie Sanders who know I’ll be their ally in taking on the career politicians and elites squeezing the rest of us. I will keep working to earn every single vote to win, because Wisconsin deserves a representative who will take on Trump and fight to lower prices, go after the corruption, and actually put us first.” 

Chergosky said that Cooke’s initial financial advantage and name recognition might be too much for the Berge campaign to overcome — though a close-fought Cooke win could portend something about her support heading into November.

“I do think as we get towards the primary, the candidates will start setting expectations in terms of what would be a good night for them, in terms of what would be a good night, a night that feeds momentum into the general election,” he said. “I think it is widely expected that Cooke will win the primary. So perhaps the more interesting question is the margin of victory …  because that could tell us something about the enthusiasm for her within the Democratic Party base.” 

Still, the Berge campaign sees a path. 

Both candidates are from Eau Claire, but Berge’s recent local government service there could be enough to sway a big win in the district’s second largest county. Shankland won 84% of the vote in Portage County in 2024.

If Berge performs well there while squeaking out a lead in the hub of La Crosse County and chipping away at Cooke’s 2024 margins in the more rural counties, it could be enough to pull off the upset. 

“On our worst night we give her a heart attack,” Nicholas Padesky, Berge’s campaign manager, said of Cooke. 

At each stop Berge made during a packed Saturday of campaigning, Berge’s staff had to drag her away from conversations with voters. She said that she might have disagreements with lots of voters on the issues, but she’ll work to make sure they all know she cares about them. 

“I may not have agreed with Emily on that, but I know she cares deeply about our community,” Berge said, describing voters’ experience with her in local government, which she hopes to translate to her campaign. 

And she believes she can get that message across without selling out the progressive voters and marginalized communities at the core of the Democratic primary electorate — saying she can see opportunities for compromise on lots of issues, including guns, data centers and zoning issues, but not on civil rights. 

“If it’s about civil rights or human rights or constitutional rights, if it’s about humanity, I’m not gonna compromise,” she said.

A federal judge ruled late last week that the Trump administration had acted illegally last summer when it cut millions in federal grant money. 

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in the District of Massachusetts ruled on Friday that the White House’s Office of Management and Budget does not have the authority to revoke grants on a whim. OMB had argued that a line in the federal regulations gave the White House authority to cancel grants to account for shifts in priorities. 

Talwani found that the agency couldn’t cancel grants to achieve priorities that were announced after the grants had been awarded. 

Wisconsin was joined by 22 other states and Washington D.C. in filing a lawsuit against OMB pulling back grant funds. The Wisconsin Department of Justice noted in a press release that the state had lost tens of millions of dollars in federal grant funding meant to help provide Wisconsin-grown food to local food banks, modernize the state’s unemployment system and fund research at UW-Madison. 

“The Trump administration has been recklessly attempting to slash funding that supports important programs,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “This decision shuts down an unlawful avenue that the Trump administration was using to try to impose those cuts.”

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has requested that the Wisconsin Elections Commission retract guidance that bars voters from changing their vote prior to the Aug. 11 primary if their preferred candidate drops out. 

The request comes amid the flurry of dramatic action in the Democratic primary for governor over the past few weeks. Despite Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes suspending their campaigns, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley dropping out and then re-entering the race, more than 80,000 people have already returned their absentee ballots. 

“The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has an interest in ensuring that its voters have a valid voice in the primary elections,” Diane Welsh, the party’s attorney, wrote in a Tuesday letter to WEC Chair Don Millis. “The ability of voters to spoil their ballots after they have been submitted to their clerks will advance this interest. And, the ability to obtain new ballots protects the voters’ right to meaningfully participate in the democratic process.”

The letter states that the new guidance contradicts state law and the commission’s previous statements and rulings about ballot spoiling. It also states that by issuing the guidance so late, the commission was violating U.S. Supreme Court precedent against changing the rules of an election in the middle of an election cycle. 

The elections commission voted 4-2 during its July 9 meeting to issue guidance limiting “ballot spoiling” — the process through which voters are allowed to cancel a submitted ballot and receive a new one. The new guidance, which two Democratic members of the commission voted against, states that a voter’s preferred candidate dropping out isn’t a good enough reason to get a new ballot. 

“If you’re sitting at your kitchen table and you realize that you voted for two candidates in the same election, you can go back and say, I need a different ballot. I made a mistake. Or if your significant other spilled coffee on your ballot, you say, I need another ballot. That’s fine. Once you’ve turned your ballot in, that’s it,” Millis said at the July 9 meeting.

Under previous state law, voters were allowed to spoil their ballot for any reason and receive a new one up to three times. In 2022, former Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel ruled that the practice was illegal. Schimel’s ruling was overturned by a Court of Appeals. 

In a statement, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker said that after consulting with the gubernatorial campaigns, the party would fight to make sure all primary voters get a chance to vote for their preferred candidate. 

“Allowing voters to spoil and recast their ballots was standard practice in Wisconsin prior to attempts by Republicans to file frivolous lawsuits to muddy the waters,” Remiker said. “The Wisconsin Elections Commission recently issued guidance that advises clerks not to allow voters to request a new ballot. We believe that guidance was issued improperly, and after consulting with each of our Democratic candidate campaigns for governor, WisDems will be submitting a letter to formally ask the WEC to retract this guidance. If the WEC does not act immediately and retract this guidance, some voters will not be able to truly participate in our Democratic primary process.”