David Crowley in first public appearance after 2026 election. Photo taken Nov. 4, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene.

Governor-elect David Crowley says lowering costs for Wisconsin families will be his top priority when he takes office in January, but his immediate focus is assembling a transition team and preparing to govern.

In his first public appearance since winning Tuesday’s election, Crowley repeatedly returned to the affordability challenges facing Wisconsin residents, pledging to lower costs for housing, utilities, health care and child care.

“Working families and their quality of life will be at the center of every decision that we make over the next four years,” Crowley said Wednesday morning at ThriveOn King, 2153 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr.

Crowley, who defeated Republican Tom Tiffany Tuesday, appeared alongside Lieutenant Governor-elect Sarah Godlewski, who opened the event by discussing the financial challenges she heard about from voters during the campaign.

Crowley promised to deliver meaningful property tax relief without shifting costs onto local governments, expand access to affordable health care, strengthen public schools and create more pathways to good-paying jobs.

He also pledged to support small businesses, expand apprenticeship opportunities and continue investments in infrastructure.

“We’re going to measure our success by whether life gets better for all families in this great state,” Crowley said.

But when reporters repeatedly pressed him for specific legislation he would pursue, Crowley declined to identify particular bills.

“We’re less than 24 hours of knowing that we’ve won this race,” he said, noting that discussions with legislative leaders were only beginning. “Right now we’re all basking in the fact that we won a Democratic trifecta, but we know the hard work is going to begin today.”

Crowley said his immediate priority is building a transition team and cabinet that reflect the entire state, rather than simply bringing Milwaukee-area officials to Madison.

He said he wants people with subject-matter expertise who also understand Wisconsin communities and can develop relationships with local governments.

Crowley also stressed that Gov. Tony Evers remains in charge through Jan. 3, 2027, and promised to work closely with the outgoing administration on a smooth transition.

“There is only one governor at a time in Wisconsin,” he said.

The election also delivered Democratic victories in the Legislature, giving Crowley an opportunity to pursue his agenda with Democratic majorities. But he repeatedly expressed a willingness to work across party lines.

“Good ideas are not Republican good ideas or Democrat good ideas,” Crowley said. “I am willing to work with anyone who’s ready to move the state of Wisconsin forward.”

Crowley was more pointed when asked about Republicans’ argument that Tuesday’s election was a rejection of President Donald Trump rather than an endorsement of a Democratic agenda.

“The Republican Party is Trump’s party,” he said, criticizing Republican leaders for supporting the president’s policies.

But Crowley said the election victory also brings new responsibilities for Democrats.

“It’s not just about winning, it’s about governing,” he said. “Now the hard work begins.”

Crowley also confirmed that he intends to resign as Milwaukee County Executive before the end of the year, allowing his successor to be chosen in a special election coinciding with the spring election and avoiding the expense of a separate election.

His resignation would need to occur by late December to allow time for an election to be called and nomination papers to be circulated.

For now, he said, the focus remains on getting ready to govern.

“The campaign is over,” Crowley said. “So now today, it’s time for us all to get to work.”

Sarah Godlewski and David Crowley in first public appearance after election. Photo taken Nov. 4, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore and U.S. Rep Mark Pocan.

Wisconsin’s incumbent Democratic U.S. Reps Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) and Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth) cruised to early reelection victories Tuesday evening as Democrats across the nation gained momentum in more competitive races, setting up a likely Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives.

AP called the race in Wisconsin’s 4th Congressional District for Moore at 8:49 p.m. on Tuesday. With 70% of the vote tallied, Moore led with 78.5% of the vote to Republican Tim Rogers’ 18.8% and Independent Arthur Burks’ 2.7%

Moore, who will serve her 12th term in Congress, is the longest tenured member of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation. She has represented her Milwaukee-area district since 2005. Before being elected to Congress she served in the state Assembly and Senate. Moore serves on the tax subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee and is a member of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, Congressional Progressive Caucus, LGBT Equality Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, the Great Lakes Caucus, and the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

In the 2nd Congressional District, Pocan ran unopposed for the seat he has held since 2013. Before running for Congress, he served for 14 years in the state Assembly. A small business owner, union member, and advocate for progressive causes, he serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee and is co-chair of the Equality Caucus, co-chair of the Labor Caucus, and chair emeritus of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Democratic US Reps Gwen Moore, Mark Pocan cruise to early victories was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

U.S. Rep. Tony Wied (R-De Pere) represents the 8th District covering Northeast Wisconsin. (Official U.S. House photo)

Republican U.S. Rep. Tony Wied defeated his Democratic challenger, former Green Bay school board member and U.S. Army veteran Rick Crosson in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District. AP called the race at 10:01 p.m. with 72% of the vote counted. Wied won by a margin of 55.3% to 44.7%

The Green Bay area district has been under Republican control since 2011, and this year it received less attention and investment from the national parties than Wisconsin’s more competitive 1st and 3rd CDs.

Two years ago, the seat was open after U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher left Congress. Democrats put significant resources into the campaign of Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN and an outspoken proponent of abortion rights. Lyerly lost to Wied by 15 points.

Wied, the former owner of gas stations in the Green Bay area, presented himself during his reelection campaign as a good-tempered representative who has worked to improve the lives of people in northeast Wisconsin through his constituent services. He has also been a reliable supporter of  President Donald Trump’s agenda in the House of Representatives.

Wied acknowledged in an Oct. 22 debate that gas and diesel prices have risen because of the war Trump started in Iran, but said that “decisive action” in Iran was needed. He also defended his vote in favor of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut billions in federal healthcare spending. He argued that the Affordable Care Act is responsible for pushing up medical costs and that he and other Republicans fought to bring federal money to rural hospitals. (The money sent to fund Wisconsin’s rural hospitals, but it’s far less than the shortfall they will face because of  the broader cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.)

As a member of the House Agriculture committee, Wied pointed to his work to get schools serving whole milk again and the passage of a 2026 farm bill by the House of Representatives as actions that he’s taken to help area farmers.

Crosson accused Wied during the debate of avoiding his constituents by not holding any in-person town halls since he was elected. Wied responded that holding telephone town halls has helped him reach more constituents. He also said that holding town halls in person brings out a “left-wing mob.”

Tony Wied wins reelection in 8th Congressional District was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District, currently repesented by Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (inset) is located north of Milwaukee and south of Green Bay. It extends west from Lake Michigan to Columbia, Marquette and Waushara counties. (Wisconsin Examiner photo illustration/map, state of Wisconsin; Grothman official U.S. House photo)

Republican U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman prevailed over four challengers — one Democrat, one Green Party member, and two independent candidates — to win another term in Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District Tuesday.

The AP called the race at 9:35 p.m. for Grothman. With 81% of ballots counted, Grothman led with just almost 55% of the vote. Democrat Brad Smith, a management consultant, had just under 42% of the vote.

The 6th District covers Columbia, Marquette, Green Lake, Waushara, Fond du Lac, Manitowoc, Sheboygan and Ozaukee counties along with most of Winnebago County, the northern third of Dodge County and the southern sliver of Calumet County.

Two independent candidates and a Green Party candidate each finished with less than 2%.

In 6th CD, Grothman wins reelection in 5-way contest was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

Fire captain Joe Flick and Glorioso’s co-owner Carmine Presta. Photo courtesy Milwaukee Fire Department.

What happens when a local business and public safety professionals team up?

Glorioso’s Italian Market and the Milwaukee Fire Department (MFD) just proved that such a partnership can benefit all parties involved and then some.

On Tuesday, Glorioso’s donated $2,000 to Ignite the Spirit-Milwaukee, a local nonprofit that provides emotional and financial support to Milwaukee firefighters and their families. The donation is the result of an Oct. 21-27 fundraiser hosted by Glorioso’s and the MFD, during which the market pledged to donate 100% of the proceeds from a limited-edition meal to the nonprofit.

The meal, chicken tortellini, was created by Glorioso’s Chef Tony and MFD’s Joe Schauer. Customers purchased it 170 times, generating $1,700. Glorioso’s donated an additional $300 to bump the donation up to $2,000.

“Because the fire department and this community mean absolutely everything to us, we didn’t want to just donate a percentage,” Carmine Presta, co-owner of Glorioso’s, said in an October media release. “We decided to give 100% of the proceeds from this dish straight to the Ignite the Spirit Fund Milwaukee to say thank you.”

Presta and members of Glorioso’s team visited Milwaukee Fire Station 28, where Schauer is the lead cook, on Tuesday to formally present the donation to Joe Flick, MFD fire captain and president of Ignite the Spirit-Milwaukee.

This is the second year Glorioso’s and the MFD have collaborated.

“The MFD is grateful to Glorioso’s Italian Market for its continued partnership, generosity, and commitment,” a media release from the City of Milwaukee reads.

Learn more about Ignite the Spirit-Milwaukee on its website.

Heirloom MKE, 2378 S. Howell Ave. Photo taken Aug. 14, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.

Who decided humble ingredients don’t belong in fine dining? What happens when you elevate unpretentious foods toward unexpected elegance?

These are questions that inspired EBT & Fine China, a one-night-only, five-course dinner hosted by Heirloom MKE, a Milwaukee restaurant that champions locally sourced, scratch-made dishes, and Chef Q. Ibraheem, a nationally recognized fine-dining chef, artist and educator.

The dinner will take place at Heirloom MKE, 2378 S. Howell Ave., on Nov. 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. Its upscale dishes will be made with ingredients that are typically associated with necessity, rather than opulence.

“It’s about how you can turn the foods that are available to you, foods that you have access to, into beautiful and amazing dishes found in fine dining,” Heirloom MKE co-owner Jess Ignatiev said in an interview with Urban Milwaukee. “It’s about getting the conversation going about the basis of fine dining, the biases behind it, and getting people interested in taking action on food insecurity.”

The dinner’s name, EBT & Fine China, is an ode to that mission. Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is the system that allows Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to pay for essential food using SNAP benefits. Ignatiev said foods that people purchase at local pantries and corner stores using EBT will be prepared and displayed in a way that shows fine dining doesn’t need to rely on expensive, hard-to-access ingredients. One of the dishes she is planning to serve is based on canned corn.

Tickets are on sale for $140 per person. Signature cocktails and wine pairings will also be available. Five dollars from every ticket sold will benefit Resources & Beyond, a Milwaukee-area nonprofit that supports underserved families facing food insecurity.

“We’re going to have hard conversations, but in a fun atmosphere where we can be together as a community,” Ignatiev said.

Heirloom MKE opened in Bay View in 2023 and is owned by Ignatiev and her husband, Pete. The couple has known Chef Q. Ibraheem since 2020. EBT & Fine China is the long-awaited realization of their shared values and desire to address food inequities.

Learn more about Chef Q. Ibraheem on her website.

Read past Heirloom MKE coverage on Urban Milwaukee.

Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.

A Milwaukee Common Council meeting took an unusual turn Wednesday when council members rejected a federal homeland security grant, reconsidered their decision, cleared the council chambers for a closed session and emerged to approve the funding.

The extraordinary sequence was driven by concerns about conditions imposed on federal grants by the administration of President Donald Trump, including requirements that grant recipients cooperate with federal immigration enforcement officers and change election procedures.

The controversy extended beyond the initial grant, with council members ultimately approving three federal public safety grants totaling nearly $2.1 million, despite objections about the legal obligations the city could assume by accepting the money.

The council initially voted 10-4-1 to reject an $812,034 BioWatch grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, following a motion by Ald. DiAndre Jackson.

But Ald. Scott Spiker immediately moved to reconsider the decision.

“Whatever my own views are, I’m not sure we have had a full discussion of what we are doing here,” said Spiker.

He noted that a closed-session discussion had been added to the council’s agenda earlier in the week and suggested that the discussion could change the outcome of the BioWatch resolution and another federal grant approved earlier in the meeting.

That second grant, for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, had been approved on an 11-3-1 vote, with council members Jackson, Mark Chambers, Jr. and José G. Pérez voting against it and Spiker abstaining.

The council then took the highly unusual step of holding a closed-session discussion in the Common Council chambers. The full council had not gone into closed session since September 2019.

Members of the public and other city officials were required to leave. City Attorney Evan Goyke, Assistant City Attorney Andrea Fowler and Fire Chief Aaron Lipski were the only individuals not affiliated with the legislative branch permitted to remain.

After about 35 minutes behind closed doors, the council reconvened and reversed its earlier decision.

The BioWatch grant was approved on a 9-3-3 vote, with Chambers, Pérez and Ald. Robert Bauman against it. Alds. Andrea Pratt, Lamont Westmoreland and Milele A. Coggs abstained.

Neither grant was the subject of substantial public discussion during the meeting, leaving observers to piece together the source of the controversy from the resolutions themselves and interviews with council members.

Goyke declined to comment on the matter.

Chambers, who opposed all three grants, said he was not comfortable with the legal protections included in the agreements.

“It’s time-sensitive for us to accept it, but it’s not time-sensitive for us to be held liable for some type of litigation in the future,” he said.

Chambers said he was concerned that the Trump administration could use the agreements against the city in the future.

Pérez, who also opposed all three grants, said he was uncomfortable with how quickly council members were being asked to make a decision.

“I just felt rushed in the decision-making,” he said.

His biggest concern was the requirement to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and what agreeing to that condition could mean for Milwaukee.

Pérez said the agreements could allow the Trump administration broad overreach into city operations.

Federal Grants Come With New Conditions

The legal dispute centers on the Trump administration’s efforts to attach immigration enforcement and election administration requirements to federal grants intended to support emergency preparedness and public safety.

In a lawsuit filed in May 2025, Wisconsin and other states challenged Department of Homeland Security requirements that would withhold federal funding from jurisdictions that refused to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

The conditions included requirements to honor federal immigration detainers, provide immigration officers access to detainees in correctional facilities, participate in joint enforcement operations and share information with federal immigration authorities.

A federal judge ruled against the administration in September 2025, finding the conditions violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

But the administration imposed additional conditions on 2026 grants, prompting another lawsuit in July.

Those requirements include using federal databases to verify the citizenship of registered voters and election workers, implementing paper-ballot voting systems and conducting post-election audits. The administration also sought to impose immigration enforcement requirements and give federal officials broader authority to terminate grants they determined no longer served the national interest.

Wisconsin is among the states challenging the conditions, arguing that the federal government cannot use funding Congress designated for emergency preparedness and counterterrorism to force states to adopt unrelated policies.

The requirements have left local governments in the position of determining whether accepting federal funding could expose them to future legal or financial consequences.

Three Grants, Different Protections

The BioWatch resolution explicitly references the two federal lawsuits.

The resolution authorizes the Milwaukee Fire Department to accept the $812,034 grant only if the challenged conditions are declared unlawful by a federal court.

Under the resolution, the Milwaukee Fire Department could accept the grant without returning to the Common Council if the conditions are struck down, provided the grant’s other terms do not change.

The BioWatch program funds an air-monitoring network designed to detect biological attacks. Strategically placed air collectors continuously monitor for specific airborne biological threats.

The proposed grant would cover operations from Aug. 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027. The funding would also support a BioWatch field manager position within MFD.

The HIDTA grant, meanwhile, would provide $320,959 for the Milwaukee Police Department‘s continued participation in the North Central High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program. The federal government would contribute $262,715, or 82% of the cost, while Milwaukee would provide $58,244.

The funding comes from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and supports efforts to dismantle drug trafficking organizations operating in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.

It would fund operating expenses, a portion of the salary and benefits for a police services specialist investigator, and overtime for seven police officers assigned to regional drug enforcement task forces.

The HIDTA grant was approved with an amendment introduced by Ald. Peter Burgelis that conditions its acceptance on the federal government agreeing to “reservation-of-rights language approved by the city attorney.”

Unlike the BioWatch resolution, which ties acceptance of the funding to the outcome of pending litigation, the HIDTA resolution would allow the city to accept the grant if the federal government agrees to language preserving Milwaukee’s legal rights.

A third grant, the $946,496 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), was approved on a 13-2 vote, with Chambers and Pérez voting against it.

The grant, issued by the U.S. Department of Justice, provides federal criminal justice funding to local governments. Milwaukee would receive the award and distribute portions of it to Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee Bar Association for the Milwaukee Community Justice Council.

The grant requires no city matching funds and covers activities through September 2028.

The council had previously authorized acceptance of the funding in May, but the Department of Justice issued the award on July 31 with terms and conditions that differed from those in effect when the council initially approved it.

The changed conditions necessitated another council approval.

Unlike the BioWatch and HIDTA resolutions, the JAG resolution authorizes the police department to accept the grant under the terms and conditions of the July 31 award without an explicit reservation-of-rights amendment or requirement that disputed conditions first be struck down. However, the U.S. Department of Justice previously issued a notice that a court order restricted it from enforcing restrictive terms on the grant.

The city had previously accepted grants related to all three programs.

UPDATE: The section on the JAG grant has been expanded to clarify why it has no explicit restrictions.

Blue wave. Photo is in the Public Domain.

The election wave was so huge it needed a new name to describe it, and someone in the national media came up with it: “bluenami.”

Yes, it was a blue tsunami, a red beatdown, a national and statewide shellacking for Republicans, as Wisconsin got its first Black governor and flipped both houses of the state Legislature. It was a momentous election with many other winners and losers who were not on the ballot. They include:

Winner: Tony Evers. Evers rescued Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley after he dropped out of the election, and his backing helped Crowley win the Democratic primary and sweep to victory yesterday. Evers is the most popular politician in the state, so popular that some Republican legislators in this election used photos showing them shaking hands with the Democratic governor.

Loser: Donald Trump. He backed Tom Tiffany over his Republican opponent, and the president and members of his administration did all they could to reelect Wisconsin U.S. Reps. Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil. His support helped defeat all three Wisconsin Republicans and helped Democrats flip the Legislature. Trump was the biggest loser last night.

Loser: Wisconsin Billionaires. Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, whose money comes from Wisconsin company Uline (and who own a summer home in northern Wisconsin), gave the Republican Party $22 million while Diane Hendricks of Beloit, who owns ABC Supply Co. Inc., chipped in another $5.6 million. All money down the drain.

Loser: Elon Musk. The richest man on the planet spent $474 million to support Republicans across the country, including $646,000 to elect Van Orden, after spending some $22 million on the losing candidate in the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Democrats will be hoping he interferes in Wisconsin’s next election.

Loser: Brian Schimming. The state Republican chairman has overseen GOP defeats for the state Supreme Court, governor and both houses of the state Legislature, while Schimming embraced Trump and Trumpism. He will be an easy scapegoat for party members to blame.

Winner: Devin Remiker. The Democratic state party chairman is still overshadowed by his predecessor Ben Wikler and benefited from an astonishing political wave, but Remiker rode it well to victory.

Winner: Sean Duffy. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation and former Wisconsin congressman has created a Northwoods political dynasty, successfully backing his son-in-law Michael Alfonso for Duffy’s old seat, Wisconsin’s 7th District. Democrats should watch out: Duffy has a large family.

Loser: Scott Walker. Alas, the Walker family hasn’t done as well. Walker’s sons helped manage Tiffany’s campaign and Walker himself campaigned for Tiffany. None of this will help Walker’s flagging effort, now going on eight years, for political redemption.

Winner: Pollsters and Poll Aggregators. They accurately predicted a big Democratic margin and got one even bigger than expected. Marquette Law School pollster Charles Franklin, whose poll for the Democratic primary was way off, had the general election almost exactly, showing Crowley with a 7 point margin. He won by 8 points.

Loser: Fake Pollsters. Two shadowy polls with Republican ties tried to change the election narrative nationally and in Wisconsin with fake polling and failed. Will that stop future attempts? Probably not.

Winner: Milwaukee. The city, county and school district finally have a governor not just from Milwaukee but from its poorest ZIP code, 53206, who understands the state’s biggest urban area and its unique needs. This could mean fairer levels of state shared revenue and an end to interference with local governments.

Losers: Republican WOW counties. The three counties surrounding Milwaukee – Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington – need to go at least 60% Republican in their vote for the GOP to win statewide, but there wasn’t much WOW last night, as only Washington County did. This is becoming a problem for the state Republican Party and may change the shape of state politics.

Winner: Tammy Baldwin. She backed Yee Leng Xiong in the Democratic primary for state treasurer, which he won, and he went on to victory in the general election. Another Democrat, Ben Brist, who defeated state Rep. Bob Donovan, got his start as an intern working for Baldwin.

Winner: Hmong Americans: Xiong is the first Hmong American elected to statewide office in the country.

Winner: The Hop. With Democrats running Congress there will be more money for mass transit and that could help expand the Milwaukee streetcar.

Winners: Black Candidates For State Office. The constant refrain from many Democrats that a Black candidate can’t win state office because of outstate prejudice – despite the two victories by Barack Obama – can now be put to rest. Too much was made of one defeat by Mandela Barnes in 2022, in a race he might well have won with more campaign money. Yes, Crowley was running at a good time, but he also was a good candidate (with a great smile), and this became a campaign where the candidates’ race didn’t seem to matter.

Losers: Negative Ads. Republicans had far more money in this election, and they poured on the negative ads, pounding Crowley and making Milwaukee look like a hellhole. It didn’t work. “We’re tired of hate,” said Democrat James Talarico, the winning candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, after weathering massive spending and attack ads.

Winner: Wisconsin Department of Justice. Attorney General Josh Kaul has quietly gone about his business, winning a third term (something few AGs in state history accomplished) after having little success with a Republican Legislature in his request for more funding for DNA investigators. That should change.

Loser: MAGA Republicans. This was a historic repudiation of Trump and the MAGA agenda, both nationally and in Wisconsin. They need to rebuild, and that clearly means moving beyond Trump.

Winner: New Emerging Democratic Majority. Polling data trends compiled by Franklin, released just before the election, gave a forecast of this. He compared the state’s parties in 2026 with 2018, when Evers defeated Walker. Since then the Democratic edge over Republicans with urban voters grew from 21 points to 37 points, among the youngest voters (ages 18-29) the Democratic edge grew from 24 points to 37 points, among white college grads it grew from 5 points in 2018 to 16 points in 2026 and among nonwhite voters, the Democratic edge more than doubled, from 20 points to 43 points.

Yes, the Republican edge with rural voters, elderly (over 60) voters and whites without a college degree grew during this period, but not by as much. Meanwhile, the party has lost its lead in the suburbs. The MAGA revolution may have narrowed the path to victory for Republicans, and last night’s election was a wake-up call that may help those lonely, anti-Trumper Republicans make their case for party reform.

Photo taken Oct. 2, 2023 by Jeramey Jannene. All Rights Reserved.

Wisconsin voters know David Crowley as the Milwaukee County executive who is headed to the governor’s office. But his route to Madison includes a failed campaign for alderman, a college graduation while running county government, and a football career cut short by a lack of health insurance.

Here are nine things you might not know about the governor-elect.

1. His first campaign ended in defeat

Crowley’s first run for elected office was for Milwaukee’s Common Council. He announced in May 2015 that he would seek the 7th District seat in the following spring’s election. In the February 2016 primary, he finished third with 962 votes, behind Khalif Rainey and Michael Bonds, and failed to advance.

But he didn’t have to wait long for another opening. When Rep. LaTonya Johnson ran for the state Senate, Crowley entered the race for her 17th Assembly District seat. He won the Democratic primary and was unopposed in November. The year that began with voters rejecting his bid for City Hall ended with a ticket to Madison.

2. Then-County Board Chair Lee Holloway fired him for supposedly showing disrespect

One early burst of media attention came in April 2012, when County Board Chairman Lee Holloway fired the 25-year-old Crowley from his job as Supervisor Nikiya Dodd’s legislative aide. Dodd later told Dan Bice that she received no advance warning and that Holloway offered no examples of the supposed disrespect. Courthouse insiders suggested Crowley had failed to address Holloway as “chairman” when they encountered one another at the YMCA. Holloway later called that explanation “poppycock” and declined to explain the firing, citing it as a personnel matter.

The dispute even drew in County Executive Chris Abele, who posted a sympathetic message on Crowley’s Facebook page and received a letter from Holloway warning him against meddling in board affairs. Because legislative aides technically reported to the chairman, Holloway could dismiss another supervisor’s staffer. But his authority was about to expire: He was leaving the board and Dodd rehired Crowley after his departure.

3. His front lawn became an inauguration venue

Crowley’s home in the Nash Park neighborhood became the setting for a historic transfer of power on May 4, 2020. With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting public gatherings, he took his first oath as Milwaukee County executive outside his house. Court of Appeals Judge Joe Donald administered the oath.

The outdoor ceremony allowed for social distancing as Crowley became the first Black person elected to the office. Four years later, his second inauguration offered a markedly different scene: a crowded gathering at 3rd Street Market Hall.

4. He and Milwaukee’s mayor went to the same high school

Crowley graduated from Bay View High School in 2004, one year before Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. The two future leaders attended the southside Milwaukee Public Schools institution despite growing up on the city’s north side.

Their careers would intersect again in 2016, when Crowley won his Assembly seat and Johnson won a seat on the Common Council. Years before they were working together on Milwaukee’s financial problems, they were students at the same school.

5. He was both a graduating student and the commencement speaker

Crowley received his bachelor’s degree in community engagement and education from UW-Milwaukee on Dec. 15, 2024, nearly two decades after first leaving college. He also delivered the commencement address at the ceremony at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.

Finishing meant fitting classes and homework around county business and raising three daughters. He told Wisconsin Public Radio that he sometimes did homework alongside his children and that not all his professors initially knew he was county executive. The first person in his family to graduate from college, Crowley said he wanted to show his daughters — and other adults considering a return to school — that it was possible.

6. A future alderwoman helped set him on his path

Long before Sharlen P. Moore was elected to the Common Council, she helped mentor a teenage Crowley. He joined Urban Underground, the youth leadership organization she co-founded with her husband Reggie Moore, while attending Bay View High School.

Crowley later returned as an employee, mentoring younger participants. His early community work also included a Public Allies placement at Project RETURN, where, at just 18, he helped people leaving prison find housing and employment. Long before he became county executive, he was helping residents navigate some of the same problems the county works to solve.

7. He pushed for red-light cameras in the Legislature

Before becoming county executive, Crowley championed legislation to let Milwaukee use automated cameras to ticket drivers who ran red lights or drove at excessive speeds. He introduced traffic-camera legislation twice during his Assembly tenure. In 2019, he and Sen. LaTonya Johnson backed a proposal that city officials hoped would lead to a five-year pilot at about 50 intersections.

The argument was that cameras could strengthen traffic enforcement while freeing police officers to focus on violent crime. Crowley continued advocating for the technology after leaving the Legislature, joining Mayor Cavalier Johnson at a February 2024 press conference urging the state to authorize its use. It was a Milwaukee traffic-safety cause he carried from Madison to the county courthouse.

8. He played semi-pro football — but skipped it in high school

Crowley told the Milwaukee Uncut podcast in August that he spent three years playing semipro football, lining up at running back, wide receiver and, most often, cornerback. He hadn’t played high school football because he didn’t want to give up the summer lawn-maintenance job that paid for his clothes and shoes.

He quit football for practical reasons: He lacked health insurance. After discussing knee pain with a teammate, then seeing friends suffer serious knee injuries, he decided to stop playing.

9. His family called him “Governor Crowley” when he was a child

The title predates his political career by decades. Crowley said his mother and aunt began calling him “Governor Crowley” when he was about six.

It wasn’t a prediction about an election. He said the nickname reflected his habit of serving relatives at family gatherings: preparing plates, taking out garbage and helping with dishes. What began as a family nickname became a prediction of sorts that came true in yesterday’s election.

Seventh district congressional candidate Michael Alfonso answers questions from reporters Saturday, May 16, 2026, during the Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention at Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Baraboo, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Michael Alfonso, a political newcomer and son-in-law of a Trump Administration secretary, has won Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District seat. He will be the youngest member of Congress in the nation.

Alfonso, a 26-year-old Wisconsin native, campaigned on America First policies and as a strong advocate of President Donald Trump and his administration.

The Associated Press called the race for Alfonso at 10:02 p.m. Tuesday. Unofficial vote totals showed that with 79 percent of the vote in, he had received 56.1 percent of the vote while Democrat Fred Clark had 43.9 percent.

Wisconsin’s 7th District is mostly rural, and heavily favors Republican candidates. It covers an immense area, roughly 18,000 square miles across 26 counties — much of northern Wisconsin.

While some had questioned his age and experience, Alfonso told WPR his age was unimportant to voters because they cared about his values — “faith, family and freedom.”

In his campaign, Alfonso was supportive of dismantling the Department of Education; taking action on gender-specific restrooms in schools; concerned about communism; and getting kids out of college and into trades.

Allegations of nepotism, donor questions and lack of experience

Both during a bruising Republican primary and in the general election, Alfonso faced allegations of nepotism, inexperience and potential corruption around his involvement with a reality-style show Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy produced with the help of large donations from companies he regulates.

“It’s never easy to run for office,” Alfonso said during the primaries. “This is my first time, and believe me, the arrows are flying all the time.”

Alfonso was endorsed by President Donald Trump, who called him a “MAGA Warrior,” and the candidate leaned heavily on his ties to Trump throughout his campaign in the heavily Republican district.

Duffy previously held the 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 until he resigned in mid-2020. Before that, the district had been held by Democrat Dave Obey for more than four decades.

When Duffy resigned from his post in 2020, the seat was filled by Republican Tom Tiffany, who declined to seek reelection as he ran for Wisconsin governor.

Alfonso’s family connections to Duffy sparked allegations of nepotism in the primary race by other Republicans. In the end he won the GOP nomination by a wide margin.

Closer to election day, Alfonso faced criticism for his comments at a rally over a possible Medicare program he supports, which he described as a “Medicare voucher” program similar to Wisconsin’s private school vouchers.

Alfonso described the current healthcare system as a nightmare and said the program would provide people flexibility in their healthcare choices. The audio recording of the conversation was released, and received pushback because voucher healthcare programs have been criticized by experts for potentially limiting Medicare coverage or increasing costs.

But, those criticisms did not matter to the majority of voters in Wisconsin’s largest congressional district.

‘Independent’ Fred Clark unable to return district to Democrats

A veteran state legislator, Clark promoted himself during the campaign as an “independent Democrat” who could work across the aisle and break with the national party.

He focused on standing up to Trump administration policies, economics in the Northwoods and handling the war in Iran.

Clark told WPR in September he thought those stances would reach voters across party lines, as people in the Northwoods were frustrated and financially hurt by Trump policies.

“This has been a Republican-leaning district, no question about it,” he told WPR. “But a lot of people are re-evaluating their politics.”

But, not enough voters to get him into Congress.

Editor’s note: This story will be updated.

Republican Michael Alfonso wins northern Wisconsin district, will be youngest House rep was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Governor-elect David Crowley and Lt. Gov.-elect Sarah Godlewski. Photo taken Nov. 3, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

Democrats celebrated a historic victory Tuesday.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley became governor-elect Crowley, winning over Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany to become the first Black governor in the state’s history. Democrats won pivotal legislative races across the state and flipped both houses of the state Legislature, securing the vaunted trifecta they had worked these many months to achieve.

Wisconsin politics being what they are, in a state that has swung back and forth in recent elections and with late-night counts of absentee ballots in cities like Milwaukee often shaping their outcome, Democrats were expecting a late night.

But not long after polls closed, early numbers showed Crowley poised to win the election, and shortly after 9 p.m. word began going out that he would soon take the stage and declare victory. Tiffany publicly conceded the race not long after. Democrats up and down the ballot and across the nation were winning, and by substantial margins.

At the Crowley election night party at Landmark Credit Union Live, Democrats were ebullient. The room was filled with supporters and Wisconsin Democratic politicians, and county department heads and officials from the Crowley administration. DJ Shawna was spinning records and the crowd danced and mingled waiting for Crowley to appear and declare victory. When he did, he delivered a heartfelt speech, thanking his wife and family first and his campaign staff and the city of Milwaukee. He promised to govern as a leader for all of Wisconsin, even the voters who marked their ballots for Tiffany, and to usher in an era of change in state government focused on delivering results for working families. Supporters in the crowd pressing toward the stage shouted in celebration, “My governor is Black.”

“I think it changes things entirely for us to have somebody who understands the challenges in the largest city in the state, where roughly one in 10 Wisconsinites live,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson told Urban Milwaukee. “It puts us in a position where you’ve got a governor that understands the challenges that Milwaukee Public Schools have faced over the last number of years. A governor that understands the challenges of shared revenue… that understands the challenges of gun violence.”

With Crowley and the Democratic trifecta, new political possibilities may be opening up for Milwaukee, Johnson said, in the form of increased state shared revenue, additional mass transit aid and investments in public infrastructure. “I want to fix the roads more than anybody else. I’ve got $800 million of deferred maintenance on our streets,” the mayor said.

Not since Martin Schreiber in the late 1970s had a Milwaukee Democrat been governor. But Schreiber was not elected; rather as lieutenant governor he succeeded Gov. Patrick Lucey in 1977.

Former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett ran twice for governor. He was enjoying the Democratic reverie taking over the music venue when he told Urban Milwaukee, “I assume that people five years ago would have said the chances of a Democrat from Milwaukee winning the governor’s race are about as great as the Brewers winning the World Series, and they both happened in the same week. So it tells you things change, and David’s going to be a great governor.”

When Crowley is sworn in on January 4, Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell will become interim county executive for up to 30 days, at which time she will appoint a county executive. She told Urban Milwaukee she will run for the office in a special election that will likely be held in April during the spring election cycle, that the election revealed an electorate hungry for leaders to make their lives better and she is “excited to get to work.”

With their new trifecta, state Rep. Kalan Haywood II, assistant minority leader in the Assembly, said the first challenge the state Legislature needs to take on is affordability. Across the political spectrum, this is the issue voters care about the most right now, he said. “What they talk about is affordability, housing, health care, gas prices.”

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer took the stage shortly before 11 p.m. to declare Democratic victory in both chambers of the state Legislature. Both are expected to be elevated to majority leaders.

“We will hold Big Tech accountable, protect our rights and freedoms, and make Wisconsin a state where everyone can thrive,” Neubauer said. “We will show that government can be a force for good in people’s lives, and that things will be different when Democrats are in charge.”

In races across Wisconsin and across the country, Democrats saw a repudiation of President Donald Trump, who implored Americans to vote like his name was on the ballot.

Ben Wikler, former chair of the Wisconsin Democrats, said the results were “an affirmation that Wisconsin and the United States of America can do better than the MAGA nightmare, that we can actually choose to be a democracy that works for everyone.”

Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who will return to Washington, D.C., with a new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, said Democrats have an opportunity to take immediate action and show voters they hear their concerns about the influence of money in politics. A congressional stock trading ban without loopholes is one place to start, he said.

“I think people are tired of the corruption in Washington,” Pocan said. “Now we have to show that we’re serious about reforming how we operate.”

Scott Fitzgerald. (Public Domain).

Voters returned U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald in the 5th District to his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday.

With 77% of the ballots counted, the AP called the 5th District race for Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) at 9:14 p.m. Fitzgerald defeated Democrat Andy Beck of West Bend, winning a fourth term in office.

The 5th District covers all of Jefferson and Washington counties, most of Waukesha County and a portion of Dodge County.

Beck, who has worked in healthcare sales, marketing and customer service for a variety of firms, ran a grass-roots campaign. He raised a little less than $15,000 as of June 30, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Fitzgerald, a former state senator who was first elected to Congress in 2020, raised more than 10 times that amount, $1.7 million in the 2025-26 cycle, spending more than $1.3 million in the same period, Open Secrets reports.

Central Wisconsin Voters return Fitzgerald to Congress was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

Democrat Trevor Jung, left, and Republican Jim Croft, right. Both are vying for a seat in the 21st Senate District. Source: Jung and Croft campaigns

Democrat Trevor Jung has defeated Republican Jim Croft in one of Wisconsin’s most closely watched legislative races, flipping a key state Senate seat long held by Republicans.

Jung’s victory in the 21st Senate District is a major pickup for Democrats as they attempt to wrest control of the Wisconsin Senate from Republicans.

The Democrat earned 58% of the vote with 88% of precincts reporting.

The district, which includes northern Racine County and the southwestern corner of Milwaukee County, has become increasingly competitive following the adoption of new legislative maps in 2024.

Jung, the City of Racine‘s transit and mobility director and a former Racine alderman, launched his campaign before longtime Republican Sen. Van Wanggaard announced in March that he would not seek reelection.

Wanggaard’s retirement eliminated the advantage of incumbency and created one of the Democrats’ best opportunities to flip a Republican-held seat.

An analysis by John D. Johnson, a researcher at Marquette University Law School, determined that the redrawn district favored Democrats by 1.2 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election and 2.2 points in the U.S. Senate election. Liberal Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford carried it by an even wider margin in April 2025.

Wanggaard first won election in 2010, was ousted in a 2012 recall election during the political battles over Act 10 and reclaimed his seat in 2014. A former police officer, he became a prominent Republican voice on public safety and criminal justice issues, chairing the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

He cited his age and family health challenges in announcing his retirement.

Croft, a political newcomer, sought to keep the seat in Republican hands. Both campaigns made affordability a central issue, and the contest attracted millions of dollars in campaign spending.

Democrat Mitchell Berman, left, addresses supporters after defeating Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil in the 1st Congressional District on Nov. 3, 2026. Evan Casey/WPR

Democrat Mitchell Berman has defeated incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil to win Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District.

Berman, an emergency room nurse who lives in Racine County, will be the first Democrat to represent the seat in more than 30 years. Steil conceded at around 11:30 p.m. The Associated Press called the race at 11:48 p.m.

All results are unofficial until they’re certified in coming weeks.

Dozens of Berman supporters at Uncle Hunk’s Junk building in Elkhorn gathered to cheer on their candidate at Tuesday’s watch party. They got louder and louder as the election results displayed on a TV showed Berman leading as the night went on.

During a short victory speech at around 11:10 p.m., Berman thanked the voters of the district.

“If you had told me even just a few years ago that I’d be your next congressman, I would have never believed you,” Berman said. “Trust me, this wasn’t on my bingo card. But tonight proves that when working people come together, we can make a real difference.”

He also thanked Steil “for his years of service to this district.”

“And though we may disagree on policies, I just want to say that I am happy to be where I am today,” Berman said.

Berman said he would work to “fix” the healthcare system, lower costs and “fight the corruption in Washington (D.C.).”

“I am going to represent everyone in this district,” Berman told reporters after his speech. “We travel to every corner of the district talking to folks, and even those who didn’t vote for me, I want them to know that my door is going to be open, and I’m excited to listen from them.”

Steil, to his supporters gathered at his election night event in Sturtevant, said it was a “difficult night.”

“We gave it our all, but we came up short,” Steil said.

“For the last eight years, it’s been my absolute honor to be your voice in Congress,” Steil said. “I’m proud of what we accomplished during those eight years. I think we made a lot of progress for this state and for this country.”

Steil had held the seat since getting elected in 2018, easily winning recent elections to represent the district. But some political analysts said this year’s race would be closer than in years past.

In the last round of redistricting, the district added some new Democratic areas around Beloit and Janesville, while losing a portion of Waukesha County, which typically votes Republican. That provided an opening for Democrats, and the circumstances of the 2026 election helped them take advantage of it.

Like other races around the country, Steil’s seat got caught up in a blue wave, fueled by voter dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump and the high cost of living. Donations flowed to Berman’s campaign, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee selected the district as part of its “Red to Blue” program in an effort to boost Berman’s chances.

Berman will now hold a district that was held for 20 years by former Republican U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan. It stretches along the southeastern corner of the state, and includes Kenosha and Racine counties, the majority of Walworth County and parts of Rock and Milwaukee counties.

Republican Bryan Steil concedes to Democrat Mitchell Berman in the race to represent Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District on Nov. 3, 2026. His wife stands next to him during the speech. Elissa Eaton/WPR

In a prior interview with WPR, Berman had said key issues for him were the cost of living, ensuring people have access to affordable healthcare and addressing “corruption” in Washington D.C. If elected, he said he would work to reverse Trump administration policies.

Steil, 45, is an attorney who spent around a decade working in the manufacturing industry before he ran for office. The Janesville native and former Ryan staffer said he worked for Regal Rexnord Corporation, formerly Regal Beloit Corporation.

During the only debate for the seat, both Berman and Steil agreed that the cost of living was a top issue. But they differed on how they would address it. Berman said he’d work to repeal Trump administration tariffs, while Steil said he’d work to deliver tax relief for residents.

Democrat Mitchell Berman defeats US Rep. Bryan Steil to flip Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Rebecca Cooke. Photo from Rebecca Cooke for Congress.

Eau Claire Democrat Rebecca Cooke defeated Republican incumbent Derrick Van Orden in one of the nation’s most closely watched congressional races.

Cooke said around 10:30 p.m. that Van Orden had called to concede the race. The Associated Press had not yet called the race.

During her victory speech, Cooke said she is “on a mission” to deliver on her promises to address affordability, support farmers and “bring down the goddamn price of gas.”

“This is a victory for all of us, for anyone who is struggling to pay your rent or your mortgage, drowning in medical debt, worrying if you’ll have to sell the farm,” Cooke told supporters at her watch party in Eau Claire. “Help is coming.”

Before calling to concede the race, Van Orden urged his supporters to accept Cooke’s win.

“It’s incumbent upon you to make sure that you understand that and that you support her,” Van Orden told his supporters. “That’s who we are as Americans. That’s who we are as Republicans, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Van Orden said he wished Cooke “the absolute very best” in Congress.

Eau Claire Democrat Rebecca Cooke gives her victory speech after being elected as state representative for Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District on Nov. 3, 2026. Hope Kirwan/WPR

Cooke, a former small business owner who has worked as a Democratic fundraising consultant, spoke frequently about her work as a server in restaurants and her connection to the district’s agricultural and working-class roots. She received endorsements from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party as well as moderate Democrats.

Like other Democrats, she also made affordability a centerpiece of her campaign, blasting the war in Iran for causing hikes in gas and diesel prices and President Donald Trump’s tariffs for harming the businesses of the district’s many farmers.

Wisconsin’s 3rd District was one of a small number of seats considered up for grabs in the U.S. House this fall, and both parties poured money into the race. GOP megadonor Elon Musk spent about $4.6 million to help Van Orden, according to October campaign finance reports. And a succession of Trump cabinet officials and party leaders made appearances with Van Orden in the district.

But in the last weeks running up to the election, there were signs momentum was building behind Cooke’s challenge. Her campaign outraised and outspent Van Orden in the latest campaign finance report. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report also moved their rating for the race from “Toss Up” to “Lean Democrat.”

Van Orden himself seemed to acknowledge the tough challenge heading into Tuesday’s election. During a debate in late October, Van Orden said the war in Iran was making the 2026 elections “exponentially harder” for Republicans in Congress.

Before Van Orden won the seat in 2022, the largely rural district covering southwestern and part of central Wisconsin was held for more than 20 years by moderate Democrat Ron Kind.

Democrat Rebecca Cooke defeats GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden in key congressional race was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Yee Leng Xiong.

Incumbent John Leiber, a Republican, was defeated by challenger Yee Leng Xiong, a Democrat, in the race for state treasurer.

Xiong is the first Hmong American in the nation to be elected to a statewide office.

Leiber, who was elected to the office in 2022, said his goal was to keep the office small and noted that it was the smallest state treasurer’s office in the country. “I’m not attempting to take on new duties or responsibilities,” Leiber said.

Xiong argued the treasurer should have a bigger role, acting as an “independent fiscal watchdog,” ensuring there is no “waste and fraud” in state spending, and helping citizens understand how their taxes are being spent.

Over the years, the Wisconsin Legislature, under both Republican and Democratic governors, has removed most of the job duties of state treasurer. In a 2018 referendum, voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the position.

One duty that remains: the treasurer is one of three Wisconsin elected officials who manage the state’s Common School Fund and other trust funds for education. The Common School Fund supports libraries in public K-12 schools and distributed $73.5 million last year. Xiong said he would like to see the treasurer’s office explore ways to generate new revenue for the schools.

Leiber argued instead for consistency, noting that the office has been marked by turnover for two decades, with voters electing a new state treasurer every four years since 2006. He said the office would benefit from continuity.

“It’s hard to build connections with legislators and other officials when they think you’re not going to be there that long,” Leiber said.

The son of Hmong refugees, Xiong led the Hmong American Center in Wausau for eight years and currently serves on the Marathon County Board and the D.C. Everest Area School Board. In the August primary for state treasurer, he easily defeated A.J. Helmenstine, getting nearly 58% of the vote.

Before taking office in 2023, Leiber worked as a tax adviser for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and a private attorney in real estate and wills. In 2018, he ran for state Assembly in District 62, but lost the Republican primary.

Ben Brist. Photo courtesy of Brist’s campaign.

The long run of Milwaukee-area politician Bob Donovan came to an end Tuesday night as Democrats swept elections in Wisconsin and across the country.

A Republican and former alderman on the south side of the City of Milwaukee, Donovan finally met his match in Democrat Ben Brist, a young Army veteran running a well-financed campaign. With all in-person votes counted Tuesday night, Brist won with 55% of the vote.

Brist served seven years on active duty as an officer in the paratroopers and recently earned a master’s degree from Harvard Kennedy School. During his time in graduate school, Brist interned for U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. He went into the election Tuesday with support from a long list of unions and traditional Democratic allies such as Planned Parenthood.

Brist’s victory provided an important pickup in the Democrats’ bid to take control of the state Assembly for the first time since 2010. Democrats spent heavily to defeat Donovan. The state party and legislative campaign committees donated a combined total of more than $1.6 million to the Brist campaign.

A former long-serving member of the Milwaukee Common Council, Donovan had a knack for political survival, overcoming the effect of scandals that have dogged him for years related to his residency and a 1992 disorderly conduct ticket for peeping through a hole in the partition between restroom stalls in a men’s room at UW-Milwaukee.

Having spent most of his political career surrounded by Democrats, Donovan did manage to work across the aisle with Milwaukee Democrats both in City Hall and as a legislator in Madison.

His defeat Tuesday helped Democrats flip the state Legislature and secure a trifecta in state government, following the election of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

Robyn Vining. Photo courtesy of the Office of Representative Robyn Vining.

State Rep. Robyn Vining defeated Republican Mike Roberts Tuesday in an important state Senate race for control of the Legislature.

Vining’s victory Tuesday marks the second time she has flipped a Republican district for Democrats. She was first elected to the state Assembly in 2018, defeating Republican Matt Adamczyk in a race for the seat left empty by former Republican state Sen. Dale Kooyenga.

State Senate District 5 has been held by Sen. Rob Hutton since 2022. Following the adoption of new legislative maps in 2023, state Senate District 5 was redrawn to exclude the village of New Berlin, the city of Pewaukee and central Waukesha County. The district also includes parts of Wauwatosa, West Allis and Brookfield.

Vining’s victory helped secure a Democratic trifecta in state government for the first time in decades after Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley‘s election as governor and Democratic successes in state Assembly races.

Vining, a small-business owner and Wauwatosa resident, was supported in her bid for the state Senate by an array of traditional Democratic Party boosters, including labor and public sector unions like the Wisconsin Education Association Council. She ran on a traditional Democratic platform focused on expanding health care access, increasing state support for small businesses, ending gun violence and increasing funding for public education.

Roberts is a physical therapist and founder of Wisconsin Orthopedic Physical Therapy in Wauwatosa. He is a first-time political candidate who ran on a moderate Republican platform that called for addressing voters’ affordability concerns by reducing government regulation and increasing law enforcement staffing, but also expressed support for expanding preventive care and the use of mental health and crisis response teams in law enforcement.

Democratic campaign committees outspent Republicans in the district. The state party and campaign committees controlled by minority leaders in the Assembly and the Senate spent a combined total of more than $918,000 to elect Vining. The Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, controlled by Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, and the state party spent just over $200,000.

JoCasta Zamarripa. Photo courtesy of Zamarripa’s campaign.

Milwaukee Alderperson JoCasta Zamarripa is headed back to the State Capitol.

The Democrat won Wisconsin’s race for secretary of state Tuesday, defeating Republican Jay Schroeder and Green Party candidate Pete Karas.

Her victory makes Zamarripa the first Latina elected to statewide office in Wisconsin. It also sets up a special election for her seat on the Milwaukee Common Council.

Because of Karas’ presence, Zamarripa underperformed the top-of-the-ticket Democratic candidate David Crowley by about 3 percentage points, though Schroeder also marginally underperformed Tom Tiffany, the Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Zamarripa, who represents the city’s south side 8th District, will be able to remain on the council until January 2027, when she takes office as secretary of state. Her departure will create a vacancy in a term that otherwise runs until April 2028.

A special election will be needed to fill the remainder of her council term. The timing of that election has not yet been announced.

It will be the second time Zamarripa has moved between the State Capitol and Milwaukee City Hall.

She was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2010, becoming the first Latina elected to the Wisconsin Legislature. She served five terms before winning an open Common Council seat in 2020. She was reelected to the council in 2024.

When Zamarripa first won her council seat, she continued serving in the Assembly until her legislative term expired in January 2021. She is now positioned to make a similar transition in the opposite direction.

Her statewide victory also represents a historic milestone for Wisconsin.

The first woman and first Black person elected to statewide office in Wisconsin was another Milwaukee alderwoman, Vel Phillips, who won the secretary of state race in 1978.

Zamarripa will now follow Phillips from the Common Council to the same statewide office.

A Different Vision for Secretary of State

Zamarripa’s victory keeps the office in Democratic hands and defeats a Republican candidate who campaigned on fundamentally changing its responsibilities.

Schroeder, who previously ran unsuccessfully for secretary of state in 2018, made restoring election administration powers to the office the centerpiece of his campaign.

Wisconsin removed election administration from the secretary of state’s office in 1974. Today, elections are overseen by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission, with local clerks responsible for administering voting.

Schroeder wanted to eliminate the commission and transfer its authority to the secretary of state.

Zamarripa instead campaigned on making greater use of the powers the office already holds.

In announcing her campaign in September 2025, Zamarripa acknowledged that the secretary of state has limited formal authority, but argued that the position could still be used to advocate for policies affecting Wisconsin residents.

“This office may not come with sweeping powers, but it comes with a platform—and I’ll use it to fight for affordable child care, safe and stable housing, and better funding for our public schools,” she said.

The secretary of state serves as the chief clerk of state government, maintaining official records and authenticating documents. The position also includes a seat on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which oversees trust funds that support public school libraries and provides loans for local government projects.

In an October interview with Erik Gunn, Zamarripa pushed back against the suggestion that the office is merely ceremonial.

“Our schools depend on that funding,” she said of the public lands board’s support for school libraries.

She also argued that her experience helping constituents navigate government services as an alderwoman would translate well to the secretary of state’s office.

Zamarripa succeeds Sarah Godlewski, who was appointed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2023 after longtime Secretary of State Doug La Follette resigned.

Godlewski did not seek election to a full term, instead running for lieutenant governor.

A Vacancy on Milwaukee’s South Side

Zamarripa’s departure will create an opening on the 15-member Common Council and trigger a new campaign to represent the city’s 8th District.

During her nearly seven years on the council, Zamarripa has been an advocate for her south side district and several citywide policy initiatives.

She briefly chaired the council’s Public Safety and Health Committee, helped overhaul Milwaukee’s food truck regulations and was a leading supporter of Growing MKE, the city’s housing policy overhaul later renamed the Housing Element plan. Most recently, she has chaired the Licenses Committee.

The district includes a substantial portion of Milwaukee’s south side, an area Zamarripa has represented in elected office since her first Assembly victory in 2010. The oddly shaped council district is generally bordered by the Menomonee Valley, W. Oklahoma Avenue, S. 20th Street and S. 45th Street.

The next alderperson will serve only the remainder of Zamarripa’s term, through April 2028, rather than a new four-year term.

The vacancy will also mean a temporary reduction in the council’s membership until a replacement is elected.

For Zamarripa, the move represents both a promotion in political stature and a pay cut. The secretary of state’s annual salary is $78,583, compared to $84,205 for Milwaukee Common Council members.

But it gives her something she has not previously held: a statewide constituency.

“I’m running for Secretary of State to be a strong voice for all Wisconsinites—from small towns to big cities, from our farmworkers to our frontline workers,” Zamarripa said when launching her campaign.

Dan Bukiewicz. Photo courtesy of Bukiewicz’s campaign.

Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz defeated Republican Dylan Pfaffenbach in Assembly District 21 on Tuesday, picking up a seat for Democrats that had been held by Republicans since 2013.

The purple district includes portions of the southern end of the city of Milwaukee surrounding Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport and the city of Oak Creek.

With all in-person votes counted, Bukiewicz won the seat with 59% of the vote. The seat had been held by Republican Jessie Rodriguez since 2013, following a partisan gerrymander in 2011 that entrenched Republican control of the state Legislature. But redistricting recently made the seat highly competitive.

Bukiewicz entered the race for state office with an existing political base, having served as mayor of Oak Creek since 2017. As president of the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council, Bukiewicz also has deep ties to organized labor. The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 420 and the Plumbers Union Local 75 were among the top contributors to his campaign.

But they did not come close to the money spent by the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee (ADCC), controlled by Minority Leader Greta Neubauer. The ADCC spent $1.2 million in its bid to pick up the critical seat. The Republican Assembly Campaign Committee — among the beneficiaries of enormous political spending by conservative billionaires Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein and Diane Hendricks — provided Pfaffenbach’s campaign with more than $314,000.

Pfaffenbach, 21, went into the general election with endorsements from outgoing Rodriguez and local elected Republican officials, including state Rep. Bob Donovan, state Sen. Julian Bradley and conservative Milwaukee County Supervisor Patti Logsdon, as well as endorsements from the Milwaukee Police Association and the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriffs’ Association.

Pfaffenbach’s campaign pitched him as a moderate in an era of extreme partisanship. Democrats attempted to tag him as an extreme right-wing candidate, pointing to tweets Pfaffenbach erased that attacked abortion rights supporters and referred to a congressional inquiry into the Jan. 6 insurrection as a “criminal board.”

Attorney General Josh Kaul speaks to reporters during a campaign event Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, in Middleton, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Democrat Josh Kaul has defeated Republican Eric Toney to win a third term as Wisconsin attorney general.

Toney conceded the race at around 9:45 p.m. The Associated Press had not yet called the race.

All results will be unofficial until they’re certified by state canvassers in coming weeks.

Kaul, 45, has been leading Wisconsin’s Department of Justice since 2019, after he defeated Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel in the 2018 election. In 2022, Toney challenged Kaul for the first time, and lost by a margin of just over one percentage point.

Toney, 42, has spent the last 13 years serving as Fond du Lac County’s elected district attorney.

During their campaign, Toney criticized Kaul over delays at the state’s forensic labs, which are run by the Wisconsin DOJ. Toney also leaned into the “top cop” label often given to the attorney general, and he trumpeted his endorsements from law enforcement unions including the Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police.

Republican attorney general candidate Eric Toney speaks during the 1st District GOP Fall Fest on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, at the Racine County Fairgrounds in Union Grove, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Kaul’s victory comes during an upswing for many Democrats. Republican President Donald Trump has hit record low approval ratings, and that’s been affecting GOP candidates across the country.

Since Trump began his second term, Kaul’s Department of Justice has filed or joined or more than 70 multi-state lawsuits against the Trump administration. That’s included suing to uphold birthright citizenship, protect mail-in voting and restrict federal access to sensitive voter data. Other suits have sought to undo federal cuts or to block tariffs.

During a debate last month, Kaul said his DOJ has been fighting to defend the U.S. Constitution, and he accused Toney of being a “yes man” for Trump.

Kaul has also touted settlements from multi-state lawsuits against corporations. That includes one reached with the social media giant Meta, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars secured from agreements with opioid manufacturers and distributors.

One of Kaul’s greatest political victories came in 2025, when Wisconsin’s Supreme Court overturned a near-total ban on abortion.

That’s after Kaul sued in 2022 to block enforcement of a 19th century law, which prohibited abortion at any stage of pregnancy, unless a pregnant woman’s life is in danger.

As a result of that lawsuit, elective abortions are now legal in Wisconsin until 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Attorney General Josh Kaul, left, greets lieutenant governor candidate Sara Rodriguez, right, during a campaign event Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, in Middleton, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

In October, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin sued to try and undo other abortion restrictions that remain in place in this state — namely, a 24-hour waiting period and a requirement that a physician perform the procedure.

Kaul has spoken critically about those restrictions in the past, although he has declined to get into specifics about the pending lawsuit. Kaul has said that Wisconsin’s DOJ will be weighing in on the Planned Parenthood lawsuit in court.

For Kaul, being attorney general runs in the family. His mother, the late Peg Lautenschlager, served one term as attorney general from 2003 to 2007.

Prior to Lautenschlager, Democrat Jim Doyle served three terms as attorney general. After his latest victory, Kaul will be starting his own third term in January.

Editor’s note: This story will be updated.

Josh Kaul wins third term as Wisconsin attorney general was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. Photo taken Oct. 6, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has won Wisconsin’s race for governor, defeating Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany and completing one of the most unusual political comebacks in recent state history.

Crowley, 40, will become Wisconsin’s first Black governor, succeeding fellow Democrat Tony Evers, who opted against seeking a third term. His victory gives Democrats a third consecutive term in the governor’s office, something the party has never accomplished in Wisconsin.

Democrats, based on unofficial results, also appear very likely to take control of both arms of the Legislature for the first time since 2010.

A senior official with the Crowley campaign declared victory at 9:30 p.m., following an earlier Decision Desk call. Crowley was outperforming Tiffany compared to past top-of-the-ticket races in key battleground communities, including Waukesha County. Tiffany conceded before 9:45 p.m.

“Tonight, Wisconsin made history. Being your next governor is humbling in its own right. I ran to be the governor for all of us. And tonight, that includes everyone who didn’t vote for me. I’ll listen to you. I’ll work for you. And I hope to earn your trust the only way I know how: by showing up and getting results,” said Crowley in a speech after this article was first published. “Growing up, there were nights I didn’t know if there’d be dinner on the table, days where I didn’t know how I was getting to school. I grew up in one of those families, not knowing if we’d have a roof over our head or if the next doctor’s bill would wipe us out, hoping somebody in charge would give families like ours a fighting chance. So to all those families watching tonight, I see you. I hear you. I was you.”

Crowley’s path to the governor’s mansion was anything but straightforward.

He dropped out of the race in July, endorsed another candidate, returned just 10 days later and narrowly won a Democratic primary that appeared to be slipping away from the party’s establishment.

Now, less than four months after abandoning his gubernatorial ambitions, Crowley is governor-elect.

“This win also belongs to Milwaukee, the city that raised me,” said Crowley.

His victory also represents a defeat for President Donald Trump, who endorsed Tiffany but never came to Wisconsin during the final months of the campaign, despite traveling extensively to other states.

According to the White House, Trump made 30 appearances in 20 states between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, including visits to battleground states Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina. He also made multiple trips to states he comfortably won in 2024, including Texas, Kansas and Ohio.

Wisconsin, where Trump won by less than one percentage point in 2024, was conspicuously absent from the itinerary.

The absence came as Tiffany, one of Trump’s most loyal allies in Congress, attempted to distance himself from some of the president’s less popular policies while relying on significant financial support from three billionaire donors.

Crowley and his allies repeatedly sought to connect Tiffany to Trump, including the congressman’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The connection was potentially damaging. The final Marquette University Law School poll before the election found Trump’s approval rating in Wisconsin at just 38%.

Tiffany offered a brief concession speech at a campaign event in Wausau.

“Folks we live in a great country, the United States of America. It will always be worth working for, fighting for and I can tell you that I will continue to and I hope you will too,” said Tiffany.

A Campaign That Nearly Ended

Crowley’s victory would have seemed improbable in early July.

The Milwaukee County executive entered a crowded Democratic primary that included Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Rep. Francesca Hong, Sen. Kelda Roys and former Evers administration official Joel Brennan.

As Hong, a Democratic Socialist from Madison, gained momentum, Crowley struggled to break through.

On July 8, Crowley suspended his campaign and endorsed Rodriguez, apparently ending his bid for statewide office.

But Rodriguez’s campaign soon collapsed amid revelations of serious inaccuracies in its campaign finance reports. She withdrew on July 17, reopening the contest.

The following day, Crowley announced he was back in the race, this time with the endorsement of Evers.

The governor’s support proved consequential. Crowley attracted a surge of financial backing and support from establishment Democrats concerned about Hong winning the nomination.

On Aug. 11, Crowley narrowly defeated Hong, winning by less than half a percentage point. Barnes had also withdrawn before the primary, adding another twist to the chaotic contest.

The primary victory set up a general election between two candidates with sharply different political backgrounds.

Crowley, a Milwaukee native, was first elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 2016 and became Milwaukee County executive in 2020. He was the first Black person and youngest candidate elected to the position.

Tiffany, 68, represented a sprawling northern Wisconsin congressional district after previously serving in the Legislature. He was elected to Congress in a 2020 special election and became a reliable supporter of Trump.

Trump Looms Over Race, But Stays Away

The president’s role became one of the defining elements of the general election, even as he stayed out of Wisconsin.

Tiffany sought to make the race a referendum on state taxes, crime and economic development, promising to return Wisconsin’s approximately $3 billion surplus to taxpayers and freeze property taxes.

He attacked Crowley’s record running Milwaukee County and portrayed him as a supporter of controversial data center developments.

Crowley emphasized affordability, public education, health care and child care. He also made Tiffany’s relationship with Trump a central issue, criticizing the Republican’s support for the president’s economic agenda and the war in Iran.

The Democrat repeatedly contrasted his campaign’s grassroots support with Tiffany’s extensive financial backing. Tiffany raised more than $26 million between July 1 and Sept. 23, with most of that funding coming from billionaires Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein and Diane Hendricks.

Crowley countered with appearances by prominent Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Trump, meanwhile, maintained an aggressive national campaign schedule, but bypassed Wisconsin even as Republicans battled to win the governorship and preserve their legislative majorities.

The president’s absence was particularly notable given Wisconsin’s recent electoral history. Trump carried the state in 2016, lost it in 2020 and reclaimed it in 2024, with each contest decided by less than one percentage point.

From Milwaukee to Madison

Crowley’s election creates another major political transition in Milwaukee.

The county executive must relinquish the position he has held since 2020 to become governor. His departure will create an opening atop Milwaukee County government, where he has spent much of his tenure managing longstanding fiscal challenges, public transportation issues and efforts to overhaul county services.

Board Chair Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell will become county executive or can appoint someone to the position before a special election is called.

Crowley will inherit a state government that has spent much of the past eight years divided between Evers and Republican legislative leaders. But with Democratic control of the Legislature and Governor’s Office, change is certain to come.

Milwaukee Public Schools Administration Building. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee Public Schools was the victim of a financial fraud scheme that resulted in the loss of about $450,000, and the district has installed a new acting chief financial officer as an investigation gets underway.

The district announced Tuesday that it had discovered the fraud Monday and had recovered $255,000 of the missing money. It is working to recover the remaining $195,000.

The announcement also revealed that Deputy Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Buros would serve as acting CFO, apparently replacing Aycha Sawa, the former City of Milwaukee comptroller who was hired in September 2024 to help stabilize the financially troubled school district.

MPS declined comment on any personnel matters, but confirmed Sawa is currently employed by the district.

“Yesterday, we became aware that the district was the victim of bank impersonation fraud perpetrated by an outside party,” the district said in a message to staff and families.

The district said it notified the FBI, Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center and Milwaukee Police Department. U.S. Bank, the district’s banking partner, has already recovered more than half of the missing funds.

MPS did not disclose how the fraud was perpetrated, when the money was transferred or how the scheme was discovered.

“This is a sobering reminder of the sophisticated financial scams that occur every day across the country. We are taking swift and immediate action to strengthen our internal procedures to prevent this from happening. We also are working with our partners at U.S. Bank to recover the remainder of the funds. We are grateful to our partners in federal, state, and local law enforcement for their work to investigate this matter and to hold those responsible accountable,” said Superintendent Brenda Cassellius in a statement.

The district said it is conducting its own internal investigation and implementing short- and long-term financial controls in partnership with its Office of Accountability and Efficiency.

“We will remain vigilant and work to collect every dollar of the funds,” the message said.

Buros joined MPS over the summer as deputy CFO. She previously worked for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, joining the state agency in 2023 after more than 24 years as a school district business manager.

The incident comes as MPS continues to recover from a series of financial management problems that led to a leadership shakeup in 2024.

Former Superintendent Keith P. Posley resigned in June 2024 after the state threatened to withhold funding because the district was months behind on required financial reporting. The federal government also withheld funding over violations involving the district’s Head Start program.

Sawa was hired that September as part of a new financial leadership team. She previously served as Milwaukee’s independently elected comptroller, a position she left in April 2024.

In an interview with Urban Milwaukee shortly after her hiring, Sawa emphasized her role as a financial watchdog.

“My role in the city was as the independent watchdog; to look out for the finances of the city. I was accountable to the taxpayers,” she said. “I see myself in the same role.”

The district subsequently hired Cassellius as superintendent in early 2025.

The fraud also bears similarities to a scheme that targeted the City of Milwaukee in 2025.

In that incident, scammers impersonated a city contractor, Scherrer Construction, and convinced city officials to redirect a $460,866 payment intended for a Milwaukee Public Library project to a fraudulent bank account.

The scammers used an email address that resembled the contractor’s legitimate address, substituting a “.us” domain for “.com.”

The fraud went undetected until the contractor reported that it had not received payment. City Comptroller Bill Christianson subsequently contacted law enforcement, and investigators were able to freeze the money and recover most or all of the funds.

The city subsequently implemented additional safeguards for changes to vendor banking information and launched an internal review.

It remains unclear whether the MPS fraud involved a similar attempt to redirect a legitimate payment or a different form of bank impersonation.

Mobile phone. (CC0).

The messaging app Signal is popular for one reason: it’s good at keeping secrets.

The nonprofit that developed the app does not store messages or user data on a central server. Once messages are deleted, they’re gone forever, and authorities can’t inspect messages that no longer exist. The app also has an optional “disappearing messages”  function, which does the labor of permanently deleting those messages.

This makes Signal an ideal app for coordinating crimes, of course, but it does have more benign uses. Journalists use it to communicate with whistleblowers who don’t want their employers or others to know they’re talking to the media. Organizers use it to coordinate protests and similar collective actions. And, increasingly, people use it as a more secure and private means of simply communicating with friends.

But questions have arisen over revelations that members of Madison Common Council were using Signal to communicate with each other over the last several years.

The Madison Common Council, like governing bodies in almost every Wisconsin city, village and town, is made up of civically minded, well-intentioned people who are not and don’t aspire to become professional politicians. Many of them travel in overlapping social circles, and are friendly with each other before they take office. They serve on the same neighborhood association and nonprofit boards. They show up at the same events. They view their election to public office as simply another way to serve their community together.

So, naturally, some groups of these legislators use technology to connect, to communicate casually, to coordinate social plans.

The problem is that public elected office isn’t the same as a board or social club. And using apps like Signal may not be appropriate for those who hold public office.

A few months ago, in my role as a Madison journalist, I became aware of a Signal group chat populated by eight of the Common Council’s 20 current members. Screen shots provided to me made it clear there were once as many as 12 council members taking part in these chats.

The alder who started the group clearly stated that the disappearing messages setting should be turned off, and warned that no city business could be discussed in the group. And all the members who responded to my inquiries said no city business was discussed in the group.

Unfortunately, neither I nor any other member of the press and public have a way to verify whether someone on this chat did, in fact, enable the disappearing messages function. And over a period of 18 months, several alders altered the timer on the disappearing messages — sometimes they’d delete after a day, other times a week — which demonstrates the alders knew about, and knew how to use, the disappearing messages function.

The members said they only used the group chat for social planning and sharing news articles, vacation photos and recipes. I have no reason not to believe them — but also no way to confirm what they are saying.

Generally speaking, strictly personal email and text communications can be withheld from open records disclosure. But those records still exist, even if a records custodian says I’m not entitled to them. If I disagree, I can go to court, and a court could look at what messages are on the app and, if appropriate, compel their release. With Signal, though, I have no way to know whether city business was discussed beyond “trust me.”

And trust is the real issue here. Trust in institutions generally is at an all-time low, and trust in government is shaky at best. I believe local elected officials should not simply comply with the letter of the law, but take the extra caution to avoid even the appearance of secrecy.

Make your social plans and share your recipes via text like the rest of us, and leave Signal for the people with secrets to keep.

Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dedicated to open government. Robert Chappell is executive editor of Madison365 and Blueprint365.

Voters stand in line Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, outside the Gates of Heaven Synagogue in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday it would be monitoring elections in all 50 states, including Wisconsin, with federal election monitors deployed in Milwaukee and Madison.

That’s nothing out of the ordinary, according to Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe.

“In Wisconsin we’ve always had federal observers from U.S. DOJ,” Wolfe said.

She said federal authorities contact municipalities to say they will be sending observers to their community, although they do not specify the polling place. She said it is not unusual for Madison and Milwaukee, the state’s largest cities, to be the focus.

“It does not sound like anything unusual in terms of how that will be administered,” Wolfe said.

She said municipalities are also told the number of observers who will be sent to the community. Wolfe said this year she believes that fewer than 10 DOJ observers have been assigned to the state, which she said tracks with past practice.

 Paulina Gutiérrez, Milwaukee Elections Commission executive director, said DOJ and Congressional observers are at Milwaukee polls today and there have been no reported problems.

“We met with them early in the week last week and they agreed to follow Wisconsin observer rules,” Gutiérrez said. We asked if we could meet with them afterwards, and they accepted that.”

Gutiérrez said Congressional observers have more access than state observers, and staff is trained on how to handle those situations.

“Every election we engage with our observers and our chiefs, and … 99.9 percent of the time we de-escalate and the voting is not interfered with,” she said.

Federal DOJ is sending election observers to Wisconsin. State election officials say that’s nothing unusual. was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Future three-story lobby at Robert D. Kern Engineering Innovation Center. Photo taken Nov. 2, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene.

The walls are going up. The barriers are coming down.

The Milwaukee School of Engineering is betting that its new $76.5 million Robert D. Kern Engineering Innovation Center will foster better collaboration across all its engineering programs.

In addition to a mix of modern classrooms and labs, the 97,000-square-foot building will house the university’s Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence Education.

The center is designed to promote collaboration and best practices in integrating artificial intelligence education and training into the university’s degree programs.

“We’re removing barriers,” said DeAnne Leitzke, chair of the Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management Department, during a tour Monday afternoon.

The engineering departments previously worked together, but on an ad hoc basis and often from separate physical spaces. The center will provide dedicated faculty members and space to help facilitate collaboration across departments.

The new four-story building will also become a living laboratory for students, with building systems exposed in key places and a rooftop, indoor-outdoor renewable energy lab to demonstrate how solar and wind power systems work.

“Every piece of the design took into account how we will make the building a learning lab for students,” said Leitzke.

The building will include many of the amenities common to new university buildings, including an array of digital features. It will also expose a number of otherwise hidden systems, such as plumbing and electrical, so students can see real-world examples of how things work.

“Learning on display” is present wherever possible, said Mike Bauer, project manager with development general contractor VJS Construction Services.

Leitzke said it is the component of the project she is most excited about.

Hands-on learning has also been available for a number of MSOE students who have held internships with VJS and other project contractors.

Although the building is entirely new and replaces a surface parking lot, it must also connect at several points to the Fred Loock Engineering Center, built in the 1960s at 432 E. Kilbourn Ave. The existing engineering center, located immediately south of the new structure, was constructed in a similar way to the new addition. It was created by merging three existing buildings on the east with a new structure on the west.

Leitzke said the university is still reviewing what it will do with space freed up by relocating faculty and staff offices to the new building, but it will continue to use the existing complex for labs and classroom space.

Bauer said about 10,000 square feet of the existing complex is being immediately renovated to facilitate the connections to the new building.

The new building includes a three-story lobby and a large video board, both of which are scaled-up versions of what exists nearby in Diercks Hall and are intended to facilitate large gatherings. The fourth floor includes a senior workshop space for architectural and civil engineering students, moving them out of the basement of the university’s campus center at 1025 N. Broadway. The fourth-floor workshop space is also designed to double as showcase space to house gatherings and features views of much of the campus.

The project is on track to be completed next summer, with VJS scheduled to turn the building over to MSOE at the end of June.

Ramlow/Stein Architecture + Interiors is leading the project design.

The university reports raising $109 million toward the $125 million Next Bold Step capital campaign, of which the new engineering building is the central component. Also included in the campaign are the establishment of an $18 million scholarship endowment, a $14 million faculty support fund and a $2 million student support fund.

A $20 million gift from the Kern Family Foundation is a key piece of the campaign. Robert Kern, the late founder of Generac Power Systems, previously funded the Kern Center, the university’s health-and-wellness facility. It opened in 2004. The university’s music conservatory opened in 2023 and is named for his late wife, Patricia Kern. The couple were also the lead funders of Viets Field, which opened in 2013. Robert Kern passed away in 2022 at the age of 96.

The university’s core AI development training will take place in the newly established Dwight and Dian Diercks School of Advancing Computing, located within the couple’s eponymous Diercks Hall. That building, a precursor to the new engineering center, opened in 2019 and houses the university’s computer science program. Dwight Diercks, a 1990 graduate and university regent, is the senior vice president of software engineering at Nvidia. The company, which makes chips and software used by AI providers, is now the world’s largest, with a market value of $5 trillion. Diercks is also a large donor to the latest capital campaign.

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Building Exterior

June Photos

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Renderings

Pre-Construction Photos

Fly-Through Video

Absentee ballot processing at Milwaukee’s “central count” facility in the 2026 partisan election. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee’s absentee ballots could appear to decide Wisconsin’s gubernatorial election Tuesday night. That’s because the votes won’t be reported until well after the polls close.

The city has nearly 60,000 absentee ballots to process, and they will be reported together in a large batch, potentially swinging the statewide results to make Democratic candidate David Crowley the winner.

It’s a predictable process, one that has repeatedly been seized upon by election conspiracy theorists as evidence of something nefarious.

But the process is public, the number of outstanding ballots is known and even the partisan breakdown can be reasonably predicted.

This year, the Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) has a new location for the massive undertaking.

For the first time, Milwaukee’s central count operation is being held at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St.

The city is one of 42 Wisconsin municipalities that use a central count facility to process absentee ballots rather than counting them at individual polling places. The approach makes it easier to manage the ballots and allows election observers to monitor the entire operation in one location.

It also means that Milwaukee’s absentee results are reported separately from votes cast in person on Election Day.

MEC typically rents a larger facility for major elections instead of using its warehouse at 1901 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. The additional space accommodates the larger number of election workers and observers.

In recent years, the city has used the Baird Center, most recently in 2024. But the massive convention center proved to be too large, requiring excessive walking as workers moved between different parts of the operation.

The Italian Community Center offers a more compact layout.

Approximately 130 election workers are assigned to the operation. Many were already processing ballots shortly after polls opened at 7 a.m.

How The Count Works

The city issued 64,852 absentee ballots for Tuesday’s election. As of 11:20 a.m., 58,993 had been returned, most through the city’s in-person early voting program.

That number will continue to grow as additional ballots arrive in the mail, ballots are collected from drop boxes and voters deliver their completed ballots directly to the central count facility.

All absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. Tuesday, when the polls close. The final number of ballots to be processed will therefore be known shortly after that deadline.

Ballots are reviewed to verify their eligibility, opened, assigned voter numbers and prepared for processing through high-speed tabulators. Wisconsin law prohibits election officials from beginning the counting process before election day.

Once all the ballots have been processed and the polls have closed, the results are downloaded from the tabulators onto secure USB drives.

The drives are transported by election officials under police escort to the Milwaukee County Election Commission at the courthouse, where the results are uploaded to the county’s election reporting website.

Unlike results from individual polling places, which are reported throughout the evening, Milwaukee’s central count results are reported together.

The entire process is open to public observation.

Among those spotted at the Italian Community Center Tuesday were Wisconsin Elections Commission member Ann Jacobs, a Democrat; Milwaukee County Republican Party Chairman Hilario Deleon; and conservative election skeptic Jefferson Davis, who previously led the Ad-Hoc Consortium For Wisconsin’s Full Forensic Physical Cyber Audit.

“I know it’s going to be a super late night. I hope before 1 a.m.,” said MEC Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez during a walkthrough of the facility Monday evening.

The Expected Late-Night Swing

The late reporting of Milwaukee’s absentee ballots has become a recurring target of election conspiracy theories, particularly when a Republican candidate’s statewide lead suddenly disappears.

The change is sometimes characterized as a mysterious late-night “vote dump.”

But there is little mystery about what will happen.

Milwaukee’s absentee ballots have consistently favored Democrats by substantial margins in recent elections. A reasonable estimate for Tuesday’s election is an 80% Democratic to 20% Republican split.

If the city reports 59,000 absentee votes divided along those lines, the impact on the governor’s race would be substantial.

Crowley would receive approximately 47,200 votes to Republican Tom Tiffany‘s 11,800, a net gain of 35,400 votes for the Democrat.

That means Tiffany could appear to be leading statewide by 30,000 votes late Tuesday night, only to see Crowley move ahead once Milwaukee’s absentee results are added.

The shift would not be evidence of anything improper. It would simply reflect the predictable partisan preferences of voters who chose to cast absentee ballots.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized absentee voting despite voting absentee himself, a stance that has helped politicize a longstanding voting method.

Another source of confusion is how election results are reported.

Election websites can show 99% or even 100% of wards reporting while substantial numbers of absentee votes remain outstanding. That’s because the percentage can reflect the number of polling places that have reported their in-person votes, even though centrally counted absentee ballots have not yet been added.

Milwaukee County’s election reporting website explicitly warns that 100% of reporting units does not necessarily mean all ballots have been counted. A separate section keeps track of central count ballots.

Milwaukee isn’t alone in reporting absentee ballots separately. Green Bay, through Brown County, also reports a large batch of absentee votes, often late in the evening. The city has received at least 9,500 absentee ballots for Tuesday’s election.

The delayed reporting could have significant consequences in a close statewide race.

A similar situation unfolded in 2020 and again in 2022, when Milwaukee processed approximately 60,000 absentee ballots in the U.S. Senate election between Republican incumbent Ron Johnson and Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes.

Those results were reported late at night, but Johnson’s statewide lead was large enough to withstand the expected Democratic advantage from Milwaukee.

A History of Delays

Although Milwaukee’s central count operation has experienced several high-profile problems in recent elections, those errors have not compromised the integrity of the election results.

In November 2024, workers had to restart ballot processing after observers discovered that USB ports on the high-speed tabulators had not been properly sealed before counting began.

The mistake resulted in a substantial delay but did not affect the votes themselves.

More recently, during the August 2026 partisan primary, a senior election employee mistakenly downloaded audit logs from several tabulators rather than the actual election results.

Officials didn’t discover the error until they tried to upload the files at the county courthouse, forcing election workers to return to the central count facility and download the correct data.

MEC has since implemented additional procedures, including visual instructions and a process in which workers verbally confirm each step of the download and reporting process.

Tuesday’s operation has already experienced a smaller hiccup.

A team of two election workers failed to assign voter numbers to approximately 240 absentee ballots from Ward 216 on the city’s South Side. The ward runs from W. Greenfield Avenue south to W. Grant Street between S. Layton Boulevard and S. 31st Street. In the fall 2024 election, Democrats won the ward by an average of almost 50 points.

The ballots and their corresponding envelopes are supposed to be numbered as part of the central count process.

“Like any election, multiple people are monitoring and watching, and our tabulators actually found the issue where one of our table workers mistakenly didn’t put the voter number on the ballots,” said Gutierrez at a Tuesday morning press conference. “We reviewed that. We asked our pod captain to do an audit, and we processed those ballots.”

Gutierrez said the absentee board of canvassers, on which she serves, reviewed the situation and determined the votes should be counted.

“They are legitimate ballots. Those are eligible voters. It was a clerical error,” she said.

The two election workers who made the error were coached and remained on the job.

“Every election we have something that happens,” said Gutierrez, emphasizing the importance of identifying and correcting issues as they arise, whether at central count or at neighborhood polling places. The commission also had to troubleshoot mechanical issues with tabulators at polling places, she said, but was able to resolve the issues by restarting the equipment. The paper ballots provide a backstop should an issue recur.

And regardless of when the final numbers arrive Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, the size and likely partisan impact of Milwaukee’s absentee vote should come as no surprise.

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Sherman Perk, 4924 W. Roosevelt Dr. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Nov. 3, 2026.

In 2001, Bob and Pat Olin saved Copeland Service Station, a historic, tax-delinquent, repossessed gas station at 4924 W. Roosevelt Dr., from being razed by the City of Milwaukee. Working with the Sherman Park Historic Preservation Council, the Olins purchased the station, which was constructed in 1939, and converted it into a neighborhood coffee shop. To ensure its place on the city of Milwaukee’s designated list of historic properties, the Olins avoided making major alterations to the building’s exterior, which is a rare example of the Streamline Moderne architectural style that was popular in the 1930s and ’40s.

Over time, the coffee shop Sherman Perk grew to be a neighborhood mainstay, celebrated for its welcoming atmosphere, interesting history and “honest cups of coffee.”

On Oct. 23, the Olins announced they had sold Sherman Perk, writing, “Thank you to the many fine folks who supported us and the wonderful employees who provided excellent service.” The announcement has gained more than 1,000 likes and 100 comments expressing well wishes and support on Facebook.

In a conversation with Urban Milwaukee, Bob Olin said, “We enjoyed 25 wonderful years there. My wife was already retired, so we felt it was time to let someone else take the shop forward.”

“People have started dating because they met there. One couple got married after meeting at the shop. People have sold homes to one another, bought cars from one another, gone into business together,” Olin said when asked what he enjoyed most about owning the cafe. “It’s just remarkable to have seen that on a daily basis with so many fine, marvelous people.”

Tamico Clemons and her husband, Anthony Clemons, who moved to Milwaukee from Madison in January and have a background in real estate, saw the cafe for sale “and jumped on it,” Tamico told Urban Milwaukee.

“I want to keep it for everyone,” Tamico said. “I’m not going to discriminate [against] anyone that walks through that door. I’m going to give love to everybody.”

Sherman Perk will be closed from Nov. 5 to Nov. 11 for renovations.

“We’re getting new flooring, lights, furniture, and redoing the bathrooms. We’re also going to take all the counter space out and put in an L-shaped counter,” Tamico said.

Plans to repaint the interior a “greenish color” are expected to brighten the space, said Tamico. The exterior will be repainted to match in the spring. Installing a new digital menu board and updating equipment are also planned.

Olin said Tamico “bought it under the condition that she kept it as a coffee shop open to the community, which she wholeheartedly embraced.” Sherman Perk’s two employees have stayed to work for the new owner.

Sherman Perk is open 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Read previous coverage of Sherman Perk on Urban Milwaukee.

Shermen Perk ordering counter before planned renovations. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Nov. 3, 2026.

Mandela Barnes. (Public Domain).

Back on July 30, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did an extraordinary story entitled “Sources detail concerns about Mandela Barnes‘ behavior toward women.”

This ominous-sounding headline was slapped on a story that proved almost nothing, as a column I wrote for Urban Milwaukee noted on Aug. 3:

“As the headline suggests, the newspaper had no on-the-record comments to prove anything nefarious was going on. Indeed, it really had only one source to talk about this ‘behavior,’ but she offered no evidence of any abuse or mistreatment, or of favors offered or denied. They had sex after a night of heavy drinking back at the state Democratic convention in 2018, when Barnes was running for lieutenant governor and held no political office. So two consenting adults had sex after drinking at a convention. If that was newsworthy, the paper could be doing thousands of stories a year on this.”

The column went on to note the lack of evidence for any claims made in the JS story, including that there was a supposed investigation of Barnes by the state Democratic Party, that an outside law firm was hired to “review allegations” and that “concerns about Barnes’s relationships reached a fever pitch” in Democratic circles. All asserted with no real proof.

“This is simply not a story and never should have been published,” the column concluded.

Adding insult to injury, the newspaper implied that Barnes dropped out of the Democratic primary because the Journal Sentinel investigation was so damaging. But Barnes never cited this as a reason for his withdrawal, instead conceding he was too far behind in the race.

Last week, an attorney for Barnes, Michael J. Cerjak, sent the Journal Sentinel a “Demand for Correction and Retraction,” as Wisconsin Right Now was the first to report. The 10-page letter goes into great detail describing the dearth of evidence for the story’s claims and ultimately demands a long list of retractions, including the following:

1. Retract the report that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin retained an outside law firm to investigate Mr. Barnes or allegations concerning his conduct.
2. Retract the report that the party launched an outside probe or conducted an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior by Mr. Barnes.
3. Retract the assertion that Mr. Barnes repeatedly took advantage of his political status, office, role, power, or authority to obtain sexual encounters.
4. Correct and retract the characterization of the accusations described in the Articles as “allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct,” and clarify that no source identified in the Articles accused Mr. Barnes of nonconsensual sexual activity, assault, workplace harassment, coercion, abuse, or a sexual quid pro quo.
5. Correct the false implication that multiple women accused Mr. Barnes of predatory, coercive, abusive, or otherwise inappropriate conduct.
6. Correct the false implication that Mr. Barnes’s withdrawal from the gubernatorial race resulted from the Journal Sentinel’s inquiries, allegations of misconduct, or a party investigation.
7. Publish corrected headlines and summaries that do not continue to imply that multiple women described misconduct by Mr. Barnes or that he was the subject of an investigation into sexual misconduct.
8. Remove or correct the inaccurate AI Overviews and any other automated summaries appearing with the Articles.
9. Place the correction and retraction prominently at the top of each affected online article and publish it in a position and manner at least as prominent as the original reporting.
10. Correct any materially identical social-media posts, alerts, summaries, or other publications controlled by the Journal Sentinel or Gannett.
11. Take reasonable steps to notify syndication and republication partners that the challenged reporting has been corrected and retracted.

The letter offers a sample of a proposed correction and retraction the newspaper could run and adds: “Please confirm in writing within seven days after receipt of this notice whether the Journal Sentinel will publish the requested correction and retraction.”

While the letter was emailed to the newspaper on October 28, the legal clock starts ticking on the eighth day after the certified letter to the newspaper was received, which gives the JS until Tuesday, November 10, to run a retraction. The newspaper could, of course, request more time, but a delay in publishing a retraction would not help its cause should it then have to defend itself from a libel suit. And ultimately that’s what this retraction request is meant to do: set the stage for a libel complaint demanding the payment of damages. As the website for Cerjak notes, the attorney “has achieved record-setting results that highlight both his courtroom skill and his dedication to vindicating fundamental rights. He secured a $2.4 million defamation verdict — the largest in Wisconsin history and the largest ever in Taylor County — and a $7 million civil rights judgment stemming from critical lapses in medical care, similarly the largest of its kind.”

In short, you can expect this complaint is now being reviewed by lawyers and executives at Gannett, the company that owns the Journal Sentinel. They can’t be happy about it.

Students walking along Johnson Street on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Bill Martens/WPR

Direct admission and high school dual enrollment programs kept overall enrollment figures from dropping significantly this year across at the state’s four-year public universities, despite a drop in international students.

Overall enrollment totaled 164,579 in fall 2026, according to 10th day enrollment figures, released Friday by the Universities of Wisconsin.

That’s a decrease of 1,233 students, or 0.7 percent from fall 2025.

Much of the overall decline was attributable to international enrollment, which decreased by 1,134 students to 8,889. Mark Pitsch, UW spokesperson, said the universities continue to monitor international enrollment trends and will try to “maximize enrollment opportunities.”

Wisconsin’s flagship university, UW-Madison, had a slight decline in enrollment this year. Six other universities — Eau Claire, La Crosse, Oshkosh, Platteville, River Falls and Stevens Point — also saw declines.

Enrollment increased at six state universities — UW-Green Bay, Milwaukee, Parkside, Stout, Superior and Whitewater.

 Tuition and fees account for about 22 percent of total revenue for university campuses, said Pitsch.

Jeff Selingo, an author who has focused on higher education, said regional public universities across the country will continue to struggle with enrollment because fewer students are graduating from high school and fewer high school graduates are going to college.

Selingo said consolidation and closure of four-year campuses is nearly impossible, so the focus should be on the schools differentiating from each other.

“They can’t offer all of these programs that they’ve always offered at every campus,” Selingo said. Instead, one school could focus on nursing, another engineering, another education, Selingo suggested.

“This way they all don’t look the same to students, which they do right now,” he said.

The Universities of Wisconsin enrolled 28,442 first-year students this fall, just 38 fewer than fall 2025.

Direct Admit Wisconsin continued to expand its reach — the program offers automatic early admission to Wisconsin high school juniors who meet grade point average and course requirements. About 7,200 first-year students enrolled through Direct Admit in fall 2026, up from about 5,200 in fall 2025.

Direct Admit students account for 46 percent of first-year enrollment at participating UW universities.

Ten of the UW system’s 13 campuses are taking part. UW-Madison, UW-Eau Claire and UW-LaCrosse are not participating, but starting next fall, UW-Eau Claire will join the program.

Students are also increasingly getting an early start on their UW education by taking college courses at universities or technical colleges while they are still in high school through dual enrollment classes.

High school special enrollment reached a record 14,579 students, an increase of 857 students, or 6.2 percent, from fall 2025.

Selingo called direct admit programs happening across the country the “latest fad” in college admissions. He says the problem is students who would typically go to college will now be faced with multiple options but still no plans for how to pay for college.

“It’s really no different than those students who would apply to eight, 10, or 12 colleges and wait for an acceptance to one of them,” Selingo said. “Well, now they have acceptances from five or 10 institutions, and they really still don’t know what to do.”

Universities of Wisconsin enrollment decreases slightly this fall was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Rep. David Crowley, then a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, speaks at a press conference in Milwaukee in 2017. (Photo by Edgar Mendez)

Before stepping into the national spotlight as the Democratic nominee in the Wisconsin governor’s race, David Crowley was shaped by Milwaukee.

Crowley was born and raised on Milwaukee’s North Side. His father, an electrician, and mother, who worked in the service industry, both struggled with addiction and mental health challenges. He has previously talked about his family’s experiences with evictions and poverty and how it connects to his past and current work.

He spent time working with local groups and nonprofits like Urban Underground, Public Allies Wisconsin and Project RETURN before working behind the scenes in politics, serving as representative for District 17 in the Wisconsin State Assembly and being elected Milwaukee County executive in 2020.

Some of Crowley’s mentors, former colleagues and friends/mentees are reflecting on his run for governor and what it could mean for Milwaukee.

“Win or lose, he’s still in the fight to make positive change,” said Lavon Phillips, who Crowley mentored when he worked at Urban Underground.

Learning at Urban Underground

Crowley started participating in Urban Underground, an organization founded by Sharlen and Reggie Moore to help youths develop leadership and organizing skills, as a junior at Bay View High School.

Sharlen Moore, who is now the District 10 alderperson and has publicly supported Crowley’s candidacy for governor, said he was inquisitive, outgoing and social as a teen and used the challenges in his life to drive him toward solutions.

“It was sort of twofold, where he learned a massive amount of skillsets of how to connect with people and how to use his voice for change,” Moore said of his time at Urban Underground. “He also knew that he had a family, people that loved and cared for him.”

Glenda Byfield was the only high school freshman when she joined Urban Underground. She said Crowley helped her feel welcome and included.

“He would sit next to me when we’d go on long rides and just talk and make me feel like I had somebody there who actually paid attention and cared,” she said.

Byfield, who now lives in Virginia and works for the federal government, said her personal view of Crowley is that he is a genuinely good human and takes responsibility for his actions.

If he becomes governor, she and Moore said they think Crowley would put people first throughout the state, while not forgetting about Milwaukee.

“I know that historically, the city is underfunded, and the citizens struggle to meet their basic needs,” Byfield said. “And I think with David at the helm, that’ll be eased quite a bit.”

Working with Public Allies and Project RETURN

Crowley is an alumnus of Public Allies, a 10-month apprenticeship program through AmeriCorps. Allies in the program are placed at nonprofit organizations and come back together as a cohort once a week for collaborative training. During his time in the program, he worked at Project RETURN.

Wendel Hruska, executive director of Project RETURN, said Crowley worked as a case manager and helped individuals returning from incarceration with reentry needs like housing and employment.

“Doing it at a very young age, 18 years old, really shows the heart that he has for the community,” Hruska said.

Public Allies was focused on teaching its leaders to be rooted in community assets, to engage diverse people, build trust and collaboration, have integrity and be a continuous learner, according to Paul Schmitz, then the CEO of Public Allies and the founder of Public Allies Wisconsin.

“I’m so proud of David because he manifests and exemplifies those values as well as anybody I’ve seen,” said Schmitz, who is now a nonprofit and leadership consultant and senior adviser at Collective Impact Forum. He said he got to know Crowley better when reaching out to him to participate in alumni initiatives.

He thinks that Crowley winning the race would help Milwaukee.

“Beyond how much I’m inspired by David and believe in David, I think Milwaukee needs friends in Madison who recognize Milwaukee is the engine for the state and want to invest in Milwaukee and not harm Milwaukee,” Schmitz said.

Urban Underground as a mentor

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, left, addresses the moderators during a gubernatorial debate at Marquette University on Oct. 21. Former colleagues of Crowley shared their thoughts about him with NNS. (Andy Manis for Wisconsin Watch)

Crowley eventually worked as a staffer at Urban Underground, according to Moore.

Phillips, who joined Urban Underground as a sophomore in high school, remembers Crowley encouraging the youths to commit to building safe and sustainable communities and telling them that their voices mattered.

“If you did not talk, he would ask you a question,” he said.

The two have stayed in touch as friends over the years.

Phillips lives and works in Atlanta now. He said he thinks Crowley winning the governorship would be amazing for Wisconsin, especially for young Black men and women.

He remembers taking a trip to Atlanta as part of Urban Underground and meeting Black male city leaders and university presidents.

“I feel like that did something for me to be able to see that, because when I was young, I didn’t see a lot of that,” Phillips said.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley at LIUNA Local 113 union hall for final campaign stop before polls open in 2026 midterm election. Photo taken Nov. 2, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

On the eve of the election, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley finished a whistle-stop final day of campaigning for governor where it all began for him: Milwaukee.

With 26 hours until polls close on Election Day, Crowley stopped at the LIUNA Local 113 union hall, 6310 W. Appleton Ave., to give a final stump speech to a room of supporters. LIUNA was an early supporter of Crowley’s campaign and endorsed him ahead of the Democratic primary in August.

If Crowley is correct, the defining issues of the governor’s race will be affordability and the influence of powerful billionaires on American politics.

Crowley and Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, who is running for lieutenant governor, drew connections between the rising cost of living, billionaires, President Donald Trump and Crowley’s opponent, Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, whose campaign has been the beneficiary of massive amounts of spending by a small cadre of conservative billionaires.

“This election boils down to one question: who do you want your governor working for?” Crowley said. “They might have a trillionaire, a few billionaires, but I have all of you.”

In contrast with the picture of billionaires and outsized political influence, Crowley talked about the rising cost of living and his own family’s experience with it. He touched on the rising cost of education and health care, disinvestment in public infrastructure and his commitment to ensuring women have access to abortion. “We’re going to keep politicians like Tom Tiffany out of the doctor’s office,” he said.

Crowley, who was involved in negotiating the public funding deal to keep the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee, mentioned the recent Brewers victory parade in Milwaukee. He also pointed to his experience as county executive negotiating a deal with leaders of the Republican-controlled state Legislature that provided new funding for local governments and public services. “We did it by bringing people together,” he said.

He exhorted his supporters to continue to applying what he called the “Three T’s” on behalf of his campaign and Democrats up and down the ballot on election day: time, talent and, instead of treasure, now that it was election eve, he called for turnout. On the latter, he said, “That’s what we need more than anything.”

Elections in Wisconsin are regularly close, and recent polling by Marquette University Law School showed Crowley leading Tiffany by three percentage points among registered voters and seven points among likely voters. The same poll found voters associating Crowley with taking on health care, data centers and education, and Tiffany with cutting taxes.

One hundred and seventeen days before Crowley’s closing campaign speech at the union hall, he was announcing his withdrawal from the governor’s race, only to be pulled back in days later with an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. He barnstormed the state with the governor and won the nomination, and as he spoke Monday night, it appeared the political winds were at his back.

Republicans — in control of Congress, the White House and the state Legislature — were increasingly on the backfoot with messaging, facing voters’ exhaustion with inflation and rising gas prices and grocery bills, a deeply unpopular war in Iran and Trump, whose approval rating was regularly hitting the lowest points of his presidency.

Voters will decide Tuesday. Polls open at 7 a.m.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley (left) and U.S. Rep Tom Tiffany (right). Angela Major/WPR

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley made their final pitches to voters on why they should be governor during their final day of dueling bus tours ahead of Tuesday’s election.

Both men say they have the people and the energy to win the race if their supporters turn out at the polls.

Tiffany starts final push at western Wisconsin speakeasy

Republicans got an early start at the Bonds Social Club speakeasy just outside Eau Claire Monday morning. When Tiffany walked in, the 50 or so supporters erupted in cheers and chants of “Tom! Tom! Tom!”

Tiffany said it was good to be back in western Wisconsin, where he originally hails from. He said the election is about a “clear choice” for which direction Wisconsin will go over the next four years.

“Are we going to have the American dream here in Wisconsin, or are we going to be one of the states in decline? Are we going to end up like Minnesota or Illinois?” Tiffany asked, before supporters gave a resounding “No!”

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, rallies supporters in Altoona on Nov. 2, 2026, a day before the midterm election. Tiffany said polls show Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley leading the race, but Republicans can defy the odds if they turn out strong on Tuesday. Rich Kremer/WPR

He reiterated well-worn campaign themes like returning Wisconsin’s $3 billion budget surplus to taxpayers, reducing regulations for home building and business expansions, auditing state government and repealing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year veto.

Tiffany also acknowledged last week’s Marquette University Law School poll showing Crowley leading him by 7 percentage points among the most likely voters.

“Don’t let anybody kid you about this race. We are in striking distance,” Tiffany said. “This race is a dead heat. Charles Franklin, the pollster, said it yesterday. He said, if they get their voters out, those people that vote conservative these days, they are going to win this race, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do because we can feel it at the grassroots level.”

Crowley focuses on southeastern Wisconsin during final day of barnstorming tour

A couple hours later, Crowley made campaign stops in Kenosha, Racine and Greendale, with a final event in Milwaukee on Monday night, according to his campaign website.

After a speech to supporters at the Racine County Democratic Party headquarters, Crowley told reporters he’s feeling optimistic ahead of election day.

“I feel good,” Crowley said. “Don’t get me wrong. That doesn’t take away the stress of Election Day being tomorrow. But I feel really good.”

Democrat David Crowley speaks during a campaign event in Racine on Nov. 2, 2026. Evan Casey/WPR

He joked that residents in the region are ready for the swarm of election advertisements on TV to pass, so they can get back to more familiar commercials for local law firms.

Crowley has made a point of highlighting Tiffany’s support of President Donald Trump throughout the campaign, which continued at the Racine event. Crowley said if he’s elected governor, he’ll work to lower costs for things like childcare, fully fund public schools and protect women’s access to reproductive care. He urged his supporters to continue knocking on doors to mobilize Democrats and get them to the polls.

“We have too much at stake to have anybody sitting on the sideline,” Crowley said. “We can’t afford anybody to take their ball and go home. So we need to show up.”

Pete Buttigieg, the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation and potential candidate for president in 2028, also stumped for Crowley in Racine. During a speech that was just over 10 minutes long, he said Crowley’s priorities “are the priorities of the people of Wisconsin.”

“That’s who you need in that seat,” Buttigieg said, as supporters in the packed room clapped.

Buttigieg is the latest prominent Democrat to stump for Crowley in Wisconsin. Former Vice President Kamala Harris was at an event in Milwaukee last week, while Maryland Gov. Wes Moore campaigned for Crowley last month.

Crowley was joined at the Racine event by his running mate Sarah Godlewski and other Democrats running for office, including Attorney General Josh Kaul, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, Trevor Jung and Mitchell Berman, who is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District.

Crowley and Tiffany crisscross state, making final pitches in race for governor was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Voting booth. Photo taken July 28, 2026 by Sophie Bolich.

For all the right Brewers reasons, the year 1982 has been fondly remembered this fall. This year’s Brew Crew avenged the Brewers’ Oct. 20, 1982, loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the seventh game of the World Series, and some members of the old team were on hand for the celebration of the Brewers’ first World Series championship.

Beyond the mania over the Brewers in both 1982 and 2026 are interesting political parallels: elections for a new governor in both years, following the incumbent’s retirement. Voters in both years also elected an attorney general, decided partisan control of the Legislature, and considered multiple amendments to the state Constitution.

One difference in the two election cycles is that there is not a U.S. Senate election this year. In November 1982, Democrat William Proxmire won his fifth and final term in the Senate.

Proxmire defeated a state senator, Republican Scott McCallum, by a margin of 63% to 34%. McCallum later served as lieutenant governor from 1987 until 2001, when he became governor after Republican Tommy Thompson resigned to join the Cabinet of President George H.W. Bush.

This year, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is the Democratic nominee for governor, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has represented northwest Wisconsin in the U.S. House, is the Republican candidate.

In 1982, Democrat Tony Earl, a lawyer, former Assembly leader and respected secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources, was the Democratic nominee for governor.

Earl’s opponent was Terry Kohler, a business executive whose father and grandfather had served as governor. Kohler entered the race “walking in the footsteps of my father and grandfather,” he said, after one-term Republican Gov. Lee S. Dreyfus announced in May — seven months before the election — that he would not run again.

If you’re curious, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers gave members of his party far more warning, announcing his retirement in July 2025 — sixteen months before the election.

Earl and Kohler argued over one issue — jobs — that is being debated again. But this year, state government has a $3 billion budget surplus — unlike 1982, when Earl claimed the state faced a post-recession deficit.

Frank Ryan, a Capitol reporter for United Press International, a news syndicate that shut down in 1999, summarized the 1982 campaign this way: “Accusing Kohler of oversimplifying Wisconsin’s economic difficulties, Earl has claimed Wisconsin is staring at a $1.5 billion deficit … and that an unpopular tax increase probably will be needed.

“Kohler has disputed the deficit figures, and has pledged a no-tax-increase state budget if elected.”

Wisconsin, added Ryan, “a state with a well-balanced mix of agriculture, tourism and industry, rarely has been touched by economic downturns. But that changed in the current recession. Unemployment soared to record post-World War II double-digit highs and Kohler, a wealthy Sheboygan businessman, claimed government spending and its restrictions on business contributed to it.”

“I’m the only one running so far who has ever created a job,” Kohler said.

On May 1, 1982, six months before the election, the state sales tax was raised from 4% to 5% — what it is today, although local governments now levy surtaxes and wheel taxes. The 1982 increase was supposed to be temporary.

On Nov. 2, 1982, Earl beat Kohler by a margin of 56% to 42% — a landslide victory that seems impossible today, since Wisconsin’s statewide elections are now often decided by less than 1% of the vote.

In that election, Democratic Attorney General Bronson La Follette made history by becoming the first statewide candidate to get more than one million votes.

This year, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul is being challenged for a second time by Fond du Lac District Attorney Eric Toney, who narrowly lost to Kaul four years ago.

In 1982, voters also re-elected all nine U.S. House members — five Democrats and four Republicans. Wisconsin lost one of those seats after the 1990 Census. Republicans now hold six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats.

On Nov. 3, Democratic state Senate candidates hope to win two or more seats now held by Republicans, giving them Senate control for the first time since 1990.

In the 1982 elections, Democrats kept their 19-14 margin of Senate control.

This year, Democrats hope to gain enough seats to control the 99-member Assembly after 16 years of being in the minority. In 1982, Democrats kept their 59-40 lock on that house.

One other similarity between this year and 1982 elections is proposed constitutional amendments. Nine were approved by voters 44 years ago; voters will decide three Republican-drafted proposed changes on Nov. 3.

Back in 1982, of course, far less money was spent on elections and the political discourse seemed far less nasty. But most citizens back then, like now, far preferred talking baseball to politics.

Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com.

Pete Karas, left, the Green Party candidate for Wisconsin secretary of state, has filed a complaint charging that Republican candidate Jay Schroeder, right, impersonated him in campaign text messages sent over the weekend. (Campaign photos)

Pete Karas, the Green Party candidate in the race for Wisconsin secretary of state, filed a complaint Monday against Republican candidate Jay Schroeder, charging that Schroeder’s campaign impersonated Karas in text messages sent to voters over the weekend.

The complaint, filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission,  alleges that Schroeder’s campaign violated a Wisconsin law against publishing “a false representation pertaining to a candidate or referendum which is intended or tends to affect voting at an election.”

Karas said the messages appeared to be intended to draw votes from the Democratic candidate in the race, JoCasta Zamarripa.

Schroeder did not respond immediately Monday to phone, email and text messages seeking comment about the allegations and the Wisconsin Elections Commission complaint that Karas filed.

According to the complaint, over the weekend text messages went out to voters with an image of Karas, a headline “Not a duopoly candidate,” and urging people to “Vote Pete Karas for Secretary of State on November 3.”

A screenshot showing that the campaign of Jay Schroeder for secretary of state replied to an opt-out message in response to a text purportedly from the campaign of Pete Karas. (Text message screenshot included in complaint to Wisconsin Elections Commission)

A screenshot shows that when a person replied “Stop” to the message, the reply came back, “Jay for Wisconsin: You are now opted-out and will receive no further messages.”

Schroeder is running on a platform focused almost exclusively on eliminating the elections commission and moving election administration back into the secretary of state’s office. The job of running elections in Wisconsin was moved out of the secretary of state’s office in 1974.

Schroeder has claimed the change would restore “integrity” to the administration of elections. His assertions have largely been rejected by the other candidates, elections commission officials and outside observers.

“What he did was dishonest and lacks integrity, and he’s talking about election integrity,” Karas said in an interview Monday. “I don’t know how we can trust him to run honest elections when he behaves like this in a campaign.”

Karas said his own campaign has not sent any text messages to voters. He said he learned about the messages over the weekend from reporters.

“I was distraught about that, obviously. It’s really low of Jay [Schroeder] to do that,” Karas said. “It looks like what he’s trying to do is take votes from JoCasta [Zamarripa].”

Zamarripa agreed. “I think that this is a futile attempt by my Republican opponent to try to take votes from me,” she told the Wisconsin Examiner on Monday.

She said her campaign was considering whether to take legal action as well.

“This is a serious electioneering violation, and Wisconsin voters deserve to know who’se behind the messages they get on their phone,” Zamarripa said. “This is absolutely deception and has no place in our elections. I believe that my Republican opponent owes voters an explaination as to why he engaged in this underhandedness.”

One of Schroeder’s chief complaints has been the state’s practice of retaining information about voters who are removed from the state’s registration list rather than deleting their records entirely.

Election commission officials have pointed out that the law does not allow records to be deleted, and that a voter whose record is converted to “inactive” is no longer on the lists used to make up poll books of registered voters. Deleting the records would remove a safeguard against voter fraud, according to Don Millis, the Republican chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The presence of three candidates in the general election as well as Schroeder’s focus on rewriting Wisconsin’s election administration law has alarmed Zamarripa and other Democrats, who cite the possibility that Karas’ campaign could divide voters, enabling Schroeder to get elected with less than 50% of the vote.

Karas said the weekend texts don’t lend credence to that concern. “I think this hurts me more than it helps me,” he said.

The message refers to healthcare costs and education costs — issues that Karas said he has not been centering because they have nothing to do with the secretary of state’s race.

“The message that he sent out in my name — ‘The one we’ve been waiting for’ — how presumptuous was that type of statement? If the intent was to take votes away from JoCasta, what he sent out was not a good representation of my cause.”

Green Party secretary of state candidate charges Republican impersonated him in text message was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.

State Rep. Angelina Cruz speaks outside Amazon facility in Kenosha. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

As of this past August, Amazon had reportedly instituted a policy that could make it more difficult for employees to vote and in violation of state law, according to two state representatives.

After hearing a description of Amazon’s policy for employees wishing to take leave from work to vote, Wisconsin state Reps. Angelina Cruz (D-Racine) and Tip McGuire (D-Kenosha) began raising concerns that Amazon was restricting voting access for its workers.

State law says employees are entitled to three hours of leave from work to vote while polls are open, provided they give their employer advance notice. In August, a constituent working for Amazon reached out to Rep. Cruz describing a company policy that would force them to count their personal time off of work toward the three hours leave required by state law.

In the case of Cruz’s constituent, the worker was scheduled to work until 5:30 p.m. the day of the election. With polls closing at 8 p.m., Amazon offered them 30 minutes off of work at the end of the day to meet the three hour requirement. The policy did not take into consideration an employee’s commute or the inability to vote after work, Cruz said in an Aug. 24 letter to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) detailing her constituent’s description of the policy.

The constituent said they were informed on the day of the August partisan primary that the company was “no longer giving us the three hours of excused time on Election Day that the law requires them to give upon request,” according to Cruz’s letter to the WEC.

“When I first heard about it, I didn’t believe that it could possibly be true,” Cruz told Urban Milwaukee Thursday, “This is just another instance of big tech billionaires inserting themselves into our democracy in order to protect their privilege and power…Amazon is stealing your wages, and now they’re trying to steal your votes.”

On Sept. 9, WEC promulgated an advisory opinion finding such a policy in conflict with state law. “Simply ensuring that an employee has three hours between when they get off work and the polls close at 8:00 p.m. to vote is inconsistent with [state law],” according to the WEC advisory opinion.

When Rep. McGuire reached out to Amazon representatives regarding the policy they initially told him they believed Amazon was in compliance with state law, he told Urban Milwaukee.

“But I think that this advisory opinion kind of indicates that they they probably aren’t,” he said. “Somebody in the past wrote that law for a reason, and I am assuming the reason is that we know that working people have challenges in their daily lives, and that we want to make it possible for people to be able to go vote.”

Amazon spokesperson Montana MacLachlan told Urban Milwaukee Thursday, “We encourage all employees who are eligible to vote to do so, and we offer a variety of time off and scheduling options to make it as easy as possible. We comply with all applicable laws in the places where we operate, which is why employees who vote in Wisconsin may take up to three consecutive hours off from work to vote while polls are open on Election Day.”

Democrats, Unions Rally Monday Outside Amazon Facility

With Amazon on its heels and, according to lawmakers, walking back the unlawful voting policy, Cruz, McGuire and union leaders from the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Union (MASH) and Teamsters Local 344 held a news conference outside an Amazon fulfillment facility in McGuire’s district in Kenosha. Joined by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan and congressional candidate Mitchell Berman, the coalition called on Amazon to make sure workers know they can take time off on Tuesday to vote in the midterm election.

“This is a multi-billion-dollar company, a donor to the presidential inauguration and the White House ballroom cutting into the voting time of the workers who fill its warehouses. The powerful get access, and workers get restricted by the clock,” Cruz said. “So we called on Amazon to rescind the policy, and thanks to the courage of that worker, our collective action, and the commission’s clear guidance, Amazon responded. The right to up to three hours off to vote has been restored.”

McGuire used the press conference to encourage voters to support candidates pushing back against the power of big tech and corporations.

“And let’s make no mistake: elections are about power. It’s about who has power, how they use power, and who benefits,” McGuire said. “When Amazon makes it harder for workers to vote, they are exercising the power that they have to prevent working people from having more economic and political power in this country.”

Since learning of the voting policy, Pocan said he has been in conversation with Amazon’s federal lobbyist and local Amazon officials, “to make sure that they have now agreed to send a text message to every single employee in Wisconsin to let them know that they do have the right to have three hours off tomorrow, and to provide additional information within the facilities to get this done.”

Crowley, who has enjoyed union backing since he launched his primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor, called the voting policy “wrong, plain and simple. But now, Amazon needs to inform their workers that they have the ability to go vote during their shifts tomorrow.”

Striking Amazon workers from Chicago, represented by the Teamsters, traveled to the facility Monday morning to show solidarity with the Kenosha workers. Amazon workers in Chicago organized four years ago, and Amazon has still refused to finalize a contract, said Teamsters Local 34 President Kevin Schwerdtfeger.

“The news of Amazon flagrantly ignoring the law is not a shocker for us in the Teamsters,” Schwerdtfeger said.

Had the Amazon employees in Kenosha been organized, they would have had a contract guaranteeing their rights in the workplace, Rickman said.

“Billionaire oligarchs like Jeff Bezos have been trying to rig our democracy so they can keep on rigging a system that exploits and extracts from working people,” said Peter Rickman, president of MASH. “And they’re right to be concerned that we might just elect a government in Madison or in Washington D.C. that’s going to stand up to big tech and concentrated corporate power.”

After publication, Amazon responded, telling Urban Milwaukee, “These claims are inaccurate. The fact is that we comply with the legal requirements for voting time off in the places where we operate. That includes Wisconsin, where employees who submit a Voting Time Off request may take up to 3 consecutive hours of time off from work to vote while polls are open on Election Day.”

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include comment from an Amazon spokesperson and to clarify the description of the voting policy described in the letter to the Wisconsin Election Commission by State Rep. Angelina Cruz.

Tom Tiffany. (Public Domain).

Last week, a bipartisan group of Wisconsin business leaders released a digital ad declaring that Tom Tiffany has disqualified himself for consideration as governor of Wisconsin because he won’t respect the democratic electoral process. The group asked Democratic candidate David Crowley and Republican candidate Tiffany to sign a pledge to respect “basic principles of democracy.”

This included questions such as:

Will you accept the results of this election?

Will you protect our election workers?

Will you accept every eligible voter’s right to cast a ballot?

“David Crowley signed a pledge saying yes to all the questions,” the ad notes. “Tom Tiffany refused to sign.”

In the 2020 election, “recounts, audits and courts all confirmed Wisconsin’s results. Tom Tiffany tried to throw out your results anyway,” the ad charges. “He repeated a lie that sent a mob to our Capitol.”

Indeed, Tiffany was one of the leading election deniers in the nation. He was one of only two Wisconsin members of Congress voting to overturn Biden’s presidential victory in Arizona and Pennsylvania, and the only one from Wisconsin to join 120 Republicans in signing onto a lawsuit supported by President Donald Trump to challenge the election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan. The suit, which made unsupported allegations of fraud and election irregularities, was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tiffany falsely claimed that “unscrupulous” officials in Dane County and Milwaukee County allowed “hundreds of thousands of illegal votes to be cast and counted” and accused the Wisconsin Supreme Court of failing to uphold the law for not overturning the election.

A January 2024 report by the Congressional Integrity Project named Tiffany as one of the key “election deniers and insurrection apologists” in Congress whose claims helped cause the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Yet Tiffany has never disclaimed any of his false accusations about the 2020 election.

Since returning to office, Trump has cast doubt on U.S. elections on 460 days, 70% of the days in his second term, the New York Times has reported. He has repeatedly claimed that the 2020 election was “rigged” and “stolen”; that Democrats tried to steal the 2024 election and failed; and that the 2026 midterm election will be rigged. “Democrats are trying to steal our seats everywhere,” he has charged.

Meanwhile, over a period of nearly six years, Tiffany never retracted his lies about the 2020 election or offered any statement taking issue with Trump’s claims. “He has always been at my side,” Trump declared in his statement endorsing Tiffany’s campaign for governor.

In May 2026, Tiffany supported an FBI investigation of the 2020 election in Wisconsin that the Trump administration wanted, again pushing the false idea that fraud occurred. He also supported the $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund Trump sought to create that could have rewarded the Jan. 6 rioters who tried to overthrow the U.S. government. “I would want to take a look at what was the harm that was done to those victims?” Tiffany said. “If it’s significant enough, perhaps they should receive compensation.”

Only in early October, a month before this election, did Tiffany offer a tepid statement, admitting that “Joe Biden won” the election and promising that as governor he would certify the results of the 2028 presidential election.

But Tiffany offered no apologies for his false claims about the election, and in his debate with Crowley, claimed he objected to the results because of money donated by Mark Zuckerberg to Wisconsin to help local governments administer the election. Yet Tiffany never offered this as a reason for voting against certifying the election back in 2021 and offered no evidence this funding resulted in any voter fraud.

Tiffany has also warned he might try to overturn the bipartisan Wisconsin Election Commission, but has refused to say whom he would trust to administer elections once the commission is gone. And he has never addressed whether he will pardon the Republicans involved in the fake electors scheme to overturn the 2020 election.

Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat who has endorsed Crowley, has questioned whether Tiffany has really changed his views on the 2020 election.

“I don’t believe it,” he has said. Tiffany’s vote to overturn the election result makes him unfit for the office of governor, Evers has charged. “It is out of bounds, period. And he should never be governor of the state of Wisconsin.”

The ad by business leaders cited Tiffany’s unwillingness to apologize for trying to overturn the 2020 election as an indelible stain on his record.

“Today he says he has no regrets,” the ad noted. “That is disqualifying.

“We see no bigger risks to Wisconsin’s economy than having an election denier in the governor’s office.”

Planned site of Cyruss, 704 S. 2nd St. Photo taken June 20, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.

In September, Cute Robot Japanese Kitchen announced its immediate and permanent closure in Walker’s Point, leaving Milwaukee without one of its popular destinations for Japanese comfort food, curries and katsu.

Sometimes, when a restaurant shutters, the space it occupied can sit vacant for quite some time. That doesn’t appear to be the case for Cute Robot’s former home at 704 S. 2nd St. Just over a month after it closed, a new restaurant and bar appears to be taking shape in the space.

A recently filed liquor license application outlines plans for Cyruss to open at the address by February 2027.

The application suggests Cyruss will serve a broad selection of American comfort food. Proposed appetizers include mozzarella sticks, onion rings, nachos, cheese curds and spinach-artichoke dip. Chicken tenders, burgers, wraps and wings round out the main courses, while sides include macaroni & cheese, spaghetti, cornbread and fries.

The menu also reveals that Cyruss plans to serve brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The brunch menu lists specialty mimosas, a croissant breakfast sandwich, chicken & waffles, a chicken Caesar wrap and a breakfast skillet as offerings.

The application describes Cyruss as a restaurant and tavern, though a cocktail menu was not submitted. Floor plans indicate that both the first and second floors will feature bar seating. On the second floor, the bar is listed as 25 feet long, occupying more than half of the room’s 40-foot length.

Proposed hours of operation are Sunday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Thursday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.

The application includes a request for instrumental musicians, bands, hookah service, comedy acts, poetry readings and karaoke to provide entertainment in the space.

Bonnie Bruno is listed as the owner. Bruno did not respond to outreach for comment.

The application is pending before the Milwaukee Common Council.

If approved, Cyruss would join Sabbatic, Pomeroy, Steny’s Tavern & Grill and Walker’s Pint on S. 2nd Street. Other nearby businesses include Walker’s Point Tattoo Co. and Var Gallery.

The Couture and US Bank Center. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

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Hospital waiting area. (Public Domain)

More than 2 million patient visits at Wisconsin hospitals last year involved unpaid care, according to an annual survey of Wisconsin hospitals.

The Wisconsin Hospital Association’s Uncompensated Health Care Report shows hospitals reported providing more than $2 billion in unpaid care in 2025.

It was nearly evenly split between charity care for patients unable to pay and bad debt, which represents bills hospitals have been unable to collect.

Last year’s total was 15 percent higher than in 2024, and represents about 2 percent of total patient charges for the year.

Kyle O’Brien, the association’s president and CEO, pointed out that the majority of the increase came in the form of charity care, which increased by nearly 29 percent from the previous year. The total amount of bad debt only increased by 4 percent from the 2024 level.

“As people have pressures in other parts of their life for expenses, whether it be housing or food or gas or whatever else, it may be more difficult for them to pay for other bills,” he said.

But O’Brien said the increase could also be the result of more coverage denials from private insurance companies, including those providing Medicare Advantage plans. If a provider already performed the surgery or other service and it’s denied by the insurance, it may end up categorized as charity care if the patient qualifies.

This not only affects a hospital’s operating margin, he said, but also its ability to invest in their staff and services.

Higher costs make paying medical bills out-of-reach

On a national level, it’s hard to know who is receiving the care that goes uncompensated. But Benjamin Vatter, assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies healthcare markets, said there are some clues.

“It tends to be younger people, a lot of working-age people,” Vatter said. “In states that did not expand Medicaid, it’s often the people that fall into these gaps that exist between (eligibility for ) Medicaid and the exchange’s subsidies.”

The exchange is the online marketplace established by the landmark 2010 Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, where people can purchase private health insurance, often with federal subsidies.

Vatter said unpaid care can also come from people who are “underinsured,” whose insurance plans still leave them responsible for a large portion of their care.

With recent increases in health insurance premiums, along with most daily expenses, Vatter said it’s unsurprising that the amount of healthcare left unpaid has also gone up.

“If they don’t know or the hospital doesn’t give them the option to negotiate a discount, the only option that is left for them is just not to pay it at all,” he said.

But Vatter said that doesn’t mean that hospitals are bearing the cost of unpaid care alone. He pointed out that federal programs exist to reimburse hospitals for care provided to the uninsured. He said providing charity care is also part of why hospitals receive a sizeable tax exemption created for nonprofits.

Unpaid care expected to grow

Hospital leaders expect to end this year with an even larger amount of unpaid bills. The report shows total projected bad debt for 2026 is 18 percent higher than last year, while charity care is projected to increase 3.5 percent from 2025.

Bobby Peterson, executive director of public interest law firm ABC for Health, said this growing problem is something Wisconsin’s next governor will need to address.

But he said there are opportunities to get more of these bills paid by helping individuals find coverage and other assistance that they’re already eligible for.

“A proactive approach can really take out a lot of this so-called medical debt,” Peterson said. “Because there are payment sources — it’s just you’ve got to time it right. You’ve got to help people through the process. After all, they’re sick, they’re struggling and so they’re going to need help.”

The rise in uncompensated care also comes at the same time signups on the federal Health Insurance Marketplace have seen a slight decline.

A record high number of Wisconsinites signed up to have health insurance for 2025, according to data shared by the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance.

But enrollment was 7 percent lower for 2026, which the OCI press release attributed to “market destabilization driven by federal actions.”

Congress let an increase in premium tax credits from the COVID-19 pandemic expire at the end of 2025, effectively lowering the amount of assistance offered to help people afford the cost of their plan.

Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act also made administrative changes to Medicaid, including a work requirement that goes into effect next year, which state health leaders have said could lead to coverage expiring for tens of thousands of Wisconsinites.

O’Brien said the WHA is concerned about administrative hurdles that can make it harder for eligible people to maintain coverage.

He urged people to reach out to their local hospital for help finding coverage and to pay attention to annual enrollment periods, including the current open enrollment for the Health Insurance Marketplace, which ends Dec. 15.

Report: More care is going unpaid at Wisconsin hospitals was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, left, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, appear at a gubernatorial debate at Marquette University on Oct. 21. (Andy Manis for Wisconsin Watch)

The two candidates for Wisconsin governor have quite different approaches to addressing gun violence.

Democrat David Crowley and Republican Tom Tiffany differ sharply on what they believe are the causes of gun violence and what legislative changes, if any, are needed to address them.

Gun violence affects communities across Wisconsin differently – firearm homicides are disproportionately concentrated in urban areas, including Milwaukee. In 2024, the firearm homicide rate in urban Wisconsin was more than four times the rural rate, according to data analyzed by the Violence Policy Center.

In rural Wisconsin communities, firearm suicide rates are higher than in urban areas. According to the Violence Poverty Center, the rate of suicides in rural areas was 10.3 deaths per 100,000 residents, compared with 7.1 in urban areas in 2023.

NNS posed questions to the Crowley and Tiffany campaigns and looked at past statements about gun violence and public safety.

Here’s what they said.

What causes gun violence?

The two candidates fundamentally disagree on whether guns themselves are problematic.

“America doesn’t have a gun problem. America has a crime problem,” Tiffany said in a June 2022 statement opposing federal legislation that included enhanced background checks for gun buyers under 21 years old and funding for state red flag laws.

Tiffany takes a law-and-order approach to gun violence, emphasizing the prosecution of violent offenders and support for law enforcement.

“My priority will be enforcing existing laws, keeping violent criminals off our streets and ensuring law enforcement has the resources needed to protect our communities,” Tiffany said in an email. “Prosecutors must also do their jobs instead of giving repeat offenders a slap on the wrist, only to see them return to our communities and commit more serious crimes.”

Tiffany said Wisconsin must also “improve access to mental health care and ensure veterans, young people and individuals experiencing mental health crises can get the help they need.”

He said that in the last state budget he helped double state funding for school mental health programs over the two-year period, increasing access to professionals for students who need additional support.

Crowley approaches gun violence as a public health issue.

“Gun violence is a public health crisis that affects too many families, too many neighborhoods, and too many lives,” Crowley said in an email to NNS.

What changes should be made?

Ron Martin’s booth displays a set of rifles at the Badger Military Collectible Show in Waukesha in 2016. As a licensed gun dealer, Martin is required to run a criminal background check on all purchasers. But in Wisconsin, unlicensed dealers and individuals can sell firearms without a background check. (Coburn Dukehart / Wisconsin Watch)

The candidates also had different views on whether reforms are needed to address gun violence.

Crowley said we need more mental health resources, opportunities for young people and community-based violence prevention to address the issue.

He said he would expand community violence prevention programs statewide if elected governor, adding that community organizations, elected officials and law enforcement need to work together to prevent gun violence.

As county executive, Crowley helped launch violence prevention initiatives including Advance Peace, Credible Messenger and Destined for Greater, according to his campaign.

Crowley’s campaign platform calls for universal background checks, safe firearm takeback options and expanded access to free gun locks.

In the past, Tiffany stated that restricting the constitutional rights of “hard-working, law-abiding Americans” would not make communities safer.

Tiffany has voted against federal legislation that would: expand firearm background checks; provide funding for state red flag laws; and ban certain assault-style weapons.

Tiffany also has supported expanded concealed carry rights – he cosponsored the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2025 and the National Constitutional Carry Act.

The general election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 3.

This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Interstate 94 and 27th Street bridge construction in May 2026. Photo by Urban Milwaukee staff.

Every day at The Overhead Wire we sort through over 1,500 news items about cities and share the best ones with our email list. Each week, we take some of the most popular stories and share them with Urban Milwaukee readers. They are national (or international) links, sometimes entertaining and sometimes absurd, but hopefully useful.

The end of more crash deaths is less cars: New research shows that on a per capita basis, more driving means more crashes. But safety discussions from highway departments or the Department of Transportation often leave out this information. The authors also note that officials would rather focus on outlier driving behaviors such as drunk driving than say that more cars and driving as a requirement instead of an option will lead to more collisions and deaths. (Kea Wilson | Streetsblog USA)

Chicago transit’s new found development powers: Illinois’ recent reorganization of Chicago area transit into NITA has created more power to build transit oriented development around its station areas. The agency now has the power to buy land near stations, offer development financing, and issue debt for development if given municipal consent. But the agency likely will start with land agencies already own while staff capacity is built up to achieve the potential of these new powers. (David Struett | Chicago Sun Times)

Destination policy impacts of ride hailing: Using travel survey data from 2008 and 2018, researchers examined household trip distances before and after the introduction of ride hailing in Chicago. What they suggest is that trip distances to certain non-work destinations have fallen by two miles and car ownership has been reduced in the specific cohort they studied. The trip length reduction and changes in destinations for users could have policy implications for land use planning and travel demand studies. (Shubhayan Ukil & Aditi Misra | Case Studies on Transport Policy)

Fixing economic development subsidies fixes everything: Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno has proposed a bill that would tax data centers 100% of the subsidies they receive from state and local tax breaks which would essentially end the practice. Pat Garofalo suggests that this solution would also be useful for all the ridiculous corporate subsidies that cities and states use to attract businesses and sports teams that is shown to only benefit corporations. (Pat Garofalo | Boondoggle)

Bats show up on doppler radar in Texas: After a spring migration from Mexico, Texas’ bat population can swell to 20 million, many of them calling central Texas caves and underpasses home. At dusk, the bats leave their homes in search of food and the movement gets picked up by doppler radar as moving masses that could be mistaken for thunderstorms. The amount of animals reveals huge civilizations and movement corridors that typically go under our “radar”.  (Ryan Huling | Nautilus)

Quote of the Week

If you’re at the same time [offering economic development incentives and] making it impossible to build housing, your policy is somewhat schizophrenic.

–Timothy J. Bartik, a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute, in Governing discussing why economic development incentives for companies don’t work.

This week on the Talking Headways podcast, we’re sharing Part 2 of our discussion with Reece Martin in Toronto at the Mpact Transit + Community Conference. We discuss projects getting picked apart in the media, The gap between talent and passion in transit agencies, high speed rail, and the threat of AVs to bad transit.

Want more links to read? Visit The Overhead Wire and signup.

The Wisconsin State Capitol on Monday, July 14, 2025, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Democratic committees hoping to flip the state Legislature raised more money than their GOP counterparts in the closing weeks of the campaign. But, thanks to major cash cushions, the GOP groups outspent them.

Between July 1 and Oct. 19, the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, or RACC, only raised around $281,000 compared to around $5.1 million raised by the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, or ADCC.

It was the same story on the front line of the battle for the state Senate. The Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, or CERS, raised around $242,000. The State Senate Democratic Committee, or SSDC, raised around $1.4 million.

Despite being seriously outraised, the GOP groups were able to spend more on their candidates, canvassing and campaign advertisements in the closing weeks of the election thanks to major stockpiles of cash. At the start of July, RACC had more than $11 million in the bank after previously reporting $9.5 million in donations from conservative billionaires Diane Hendricks and Liz Uihlein. In the final reporting period the group spent around $7 million.

Democrats’ Assembly committee started July with less than half the money its Republican counterpart had but still kept pace on spending. The group shelled out around $6.3 million, thanks to around $1.6 million in transfers from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, $500,000 from billionaire heiress Gwendolyn Sontheim, $300,000 from philanthropist M. Quinn Delaney and $250,000 from real estate executive Gideon Friedman. The group previously reported a $2.5 million donation from philanthropist Sarah O’Neil and around $3.5 million from relatives of the late vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger.

On the Senate side, the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate spent more than $3.4 million from July 1 to Oct. 19, while Democrats’ Senate committee spent around $1.8 million. That’s despite the Democratic group raising nearly six times as much money during the span.

Once again, it came down to savings and large donations from GOP megadonors. The CERS group came into July with around $5 million in the bank, thanks to a combined $6.75 million in donations from Uihlein and Hendricks outlined in previous fundraising reports.

The State Senate Democratic Committee started July with around $1.4 million and posted recent donations of $300,000 from Delaney, $250,000 from Sontheim and $150,000 from investor Ashish Shaskikant Patel. Prior reports this year show O’Neill gave Democrats’ Senate committee a combined $1 million, Delaney contributed $250,000, philanthropist Lynn Schusterman gave $250,000 and Lynde Uihlein, a cousin of the GOP megadonors, gave a combined $450,000.

Campaign committees spend millions in fight for Wisconsin Legislature was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

1. Master Lock Factory Back Up For Auction, Bidding Starts at $1

First auction deal fell apart, so owner wants no-contingency sale of sprawling industrial campus.

Oct 27th, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

2. As SDC Falters, City of Milwaukee Becomes Latest To Walk Away

City removes its commissioner amid concerns over governance, transparency and leadership gaps.

Oct 29th, 2026 by Meredith Melland

3. Op Ed: What Are the Uihleins Getting for Giving Millions to Tiffany?

A ‘death sentence’ for the Manitowish River gives the Uihleins a private lake.

Oct 25th, 2026 by Ruth Conniff

4. MCTS Running Extra Brewers Parade Buses

MCTS adding extra buses to five routes dropping riders within walking distance of parade route.

Oct 29th, 2026 by Graham Kilmer

5. Republicans Attack Crowley Over Wife’s Nonprofit Work

Tiffany pounces on story by much-criticized publication founded by Tucker Carlson.

Oct 19th, 2026 by Graham Kilmer

6. Back in the News: Republicans Getting Desperate Against David Crowley?

A mailer from Oklahoma and a Lakeland Times story peddle specious claims.

Oct 27th, 2026 by Bruce Murphy

7. 8 Great Things We Saw at The Brewers’ Championship Celebration

From karaoke to a walking trophy.

Oct 30th, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

8. Florida Pays Up on World Series Bet, Sending 20 Pallets of Orange Juice to Milwaukee

Fans can collect on their way to celebration Friday.

Oct 29th, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

9. MKE County: County Seeks Private Business to Run Park Operation

Push for parks revenue from various services involves large park with dormant pavilion.

Oct 28th, 2026 by Graham Kilmer

10. Brewers Watch Party Tickets Sell Out in Minutes, Resale Prices Soar

Fans can now pay nearly $200 for the opportunity to watch a baseball game being played 1,248 miles away.

Oct 22nd, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene

Press Releases

Most popular press releases in the past week.

1. Milwaukee Brewers Parade Details – Won. Our Way

 

Oct 28th, 2026 by Milwaukee Brewers

2. MCTS Announces More Service for Fans to Milwaukee Brewers World Championship Parade

 

Oct 29th, 2026 by Milwaukee County Transit System

3. Rep. Donovan Invites Governor Evers for Neighborhood Walks

 

Jan 23rd, 2025 by State Rep. Bob Donovan

4. Milwaukee World Refugee Day 2016 Highlights Cultural Diversity, Syrian Crisis

Neighborhood House co-sponsors event to raise awareness

Jun 2nd, 2016 by Neighborhood House of Milwaukee

5. Digital Bridge Marks Earth Month With Workplace E-Waste Drives Across Wisconsin

 

Apr 21st, 2026 by Digital Bridge of Milwaukee

6. Second-Generation CEO Daphne Jones Dies at 76

Second generation leader expanded Milwaukee-based Glorious Malone’s Fine Sausage

Oct 22nd, 2026 by Press Release

7. Airspace Restrictions in Place for Milwaukee Brewers Champions Celebration Parade & Rally

 

Oct 29th, 2026 by David Crowley

8. Gov. Evers Grants 206 Pardons, Bringing Total Pardons Granted to 2,443

 

Oct 23rd, 2026 by Gov. Tony Evers

9. Milwaukee Art Museum Announces $10 Million Gift to Support the Quadracci Pavilion’s Future

The Quadracci family and the Windhover and Winderful Foundations establish an endowment for the Pavilion’s ongoing care as it marks 25 years  

Oct 26th, 2026 by Milwaukee Art Museum

10. Kegel’s Inn Hosts Free Brewers World Series Big Screen Watch Parties in Its Historic Beer Garden, One Mile from American Family Field

Every game on a giant outdoor screen, no ticket needed, with a new Ballpark Menu, German favorites and cold beer as Milwaukee celebrates its first World Series in 44 years.

Oct 18th, 2026 by Kegel’s Inn

Early voting booth. Photo taken July 28, 2026 by Sophie Bolich.

With only a few days to go until Election Day, hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites have already turned in their absentee ballots — and overwhelmingly, they’re doing it in-person.

On the Friday morning before Election Day, the county totals from the Wisconsin Elections Commission showed statewide 693,334 absentee ballots had come in, which was about 50,000 votes more than at the same time in 2022.

Of that Oct. 30 total, the WEC reported receiving roughly 300,000 mail-in ballots, compared to about 384,000 in 2022 — a more than 20 percent drop.

At the same time, there was a significant uptick in the number of in-person absentee ballots, from about 259,000 in 2022 to 394,000 in 2026 — a more than 50 percent increase.

In-person numbers have been surging this year, following President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to restrict who can vote by mail and concerns over delays in the Postal Service.

Earlier this year, the WEC asked the U.S. Postal Service to speed up their deliveries of absentee ballots — after the majority of clerks reported problems with delays.

The Fond du Lac County clerk previously told WPR that after the April 7 election, she received 100 absentee ballots too late.

And those concerns may have played into many Wisconsin voters’ choices of how they turned in their ballot this year.

Changes reflected in Democratic and Republican counties

As of Oct. 30, Wisconsin’s most populous areas — Milwaukee and Dane counties — both saw a decrease in the number of absentee mail-in ballots.

Milwaukee County’s mail-in absentee totals dropped by more than 25 percent compared to the same time in 2022. Dane County’s mail-in absentee ballots dropped by more than 30 precent over the same span.

At the same time, Milwaukee County’s in-person absentee ballots climbed this year by 45 percent, while Dane County’s climbed by almost 50 percent.

Both counties are Democratic strongholds, but the drop appeared in Republican counties, too.

Washington County saw a more than 20 percent decline in mail-in ballots this year. Waukesha County saw a decline of nearly the same rate.

At the same time, Washington County’s in-person absentee votes were up by about 75 percent. Waukesha County’s in-person absentee voting was up by more than 40 percent.

As Election Day nears, Wisconsin’s in-person absentee ballots have surged was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

U.S. Supreme Court Building. Photo is in the Public Domain.

Federal immigration authorities asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear the case of a Mexican national whom agents arrested last year in Racine. The petition is the latest escalation in a legal fight over the Trump administration’s mandatory detention policy for immigrants facing deportation.

The justices’ decision will determine whether tens of thousands of immigrants currently in federal detention can seek release on bond.

“The question of mandatory detention thus boils down to one question: Can we lock up noncitizens without giving them a day in court first?” said Jenifer Bizzotto, the Wisconsin attorney representing Jaciel Cirrus Rojas, the man at the center of the case. “The stakes could hardly be higher.”

Arrested as ‘collateral’

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents turned up at then-24-year-old Cirrus Rojas’ apartment in June 2025 in search of a prior tenant. They instead arrested Cirrus Rojas, who entered the U.S. in 2018 without a visa, as “collateral.” Wisconsin court records show no criminal convictions under his name.

He spent most of the next nine months in custody at the Dodge County Detention Center in Juneau, entangled in a new White House policy barring ICE detainees from posting bond — a departure from decades of precedent.

The 1996 Immigration Reform Act requires immigration authorities to detain — without bond — anyone found crossing the U.S. border without authorization. Prior administrations applied that rule narrowly, allowing many immigrants arrested in the country’s interior to seek a bond hearing in immigration court.

Jaciel Cirrus Rojas is a Mexican national who federal immigration authorities apprehended in Racine in 2025 as “collateral” while searching for a different target. (Courtesy of Jennifer Bizzotto)

The Trump administration bucked that approach in July 2025, when ICE Director Todd Lyons issued a new legal interpretation requiring detention without bond regardless of where immigrants are arrested.

The Board of Immigration Appeals, a panel of judges who set the rules for the federal immigration court system, later signed off on the interpretation.

With bond off the table, tens of thousands of immigrants in ICE custody turned to a backup option: filing habeas corpus petitions in federal district courts to challenge their detention.

Unlike immigration courts, which are part of the U.S. Department of Justice, federal district courts belong to the judicial branch and, therefore, are technically independent of the White House. When a federal district court grants a habeas petition, it generally orders an immigration court judge to hold a bond hearing.

Wisconsin’s Western and Eastern District courts have received more than 100 habeas petitions over the past year.

A federal appeals court split

The 7th Circuit ruled 2-1 in Cirrus Rojas’ favor in July, joining appellate courts based in New York, Cincinnati, Denver, Atlanta and San Francisco in rejecting the policy.

“If Congress had indeed demanded — but not funded — no-bond detention for all unlawful entrants, that may well have thrown the nation’s immigration system into chaos,” Judge Joshua Kolar, whom Joe Biden appointed to the court, wrote in the court’s majority opinion. “Immigration authorities might have found themselves quickly overwhelmed by a colossal unfunded mandate to arrest and detain millions.” Judge Diane Sykes, a George W. Bush appointee, dissented alone.

“At this point, only the Supreme Court can bring uniformity and settle this question once and for all,” she wrote. “I anticipate that it will do so soon.”

Cirrus Rojas left custody earlier this year after a federal district court judge in California vacated the mandatory detention rule. The San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed that decision less than a month later.

The 7th Circuit allowed his case to move forward because federal authorities plan to re-detain him.

Supreme Court could have final say

“Nothing, absent our intervention, stops the government from making good on its promise,” Kolar wrote.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, is now asking the Supreme Court to step in.

The court agreed to take up another mandatory detention dispute earlier this month. That case involves a Brazilian national arrested during a traffic stop in Massachusetts last September.

DHS asked the justices to hold Cirrus Rojas’ case until they decide the Massachusetts case.

In Bizzotto’s view, both cases “offer the Supreme Court the opportunity to affirm that the Constitution means what it says.”

A ruling against the mandatory detention policy would open the door for thousands of ICE detainees — at least those within circuits that side with the Trump administration — to request bond hearings in immigration court. It would not require immigration court judges to grant their bond requests.

The Supreme Court also quietly declined this week to revive a Biden-era policy that allowed  immigration court judges to pause deportation proceedings for immigrants seeking humanitarian visas or other forms of legal status.

This article first appeared on Wisconsin Watch and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Urban Milwaukee

You’re reading a weekly rundown of all of our short-format ‘bulletins.’ The members-only content allows us to provide additional news and analysis on topics we haven’t written full articles about.

MPD’s 750,000 Attendance Claim Defies Logic [Reporting Update]

Milwaukee had a remarkable turnout for the Milwaukee Brewers’ championship celebration. A crowd of 200,000 would be extraordinary. But the Milwaukee Police Department’s claim that more than 750,000 people attended the parade and rally strains credibility—and the department has offered no evidence or methodology to support it.

Start with transportation. A 2016 study counted about 55,400 parking spaces in Downtown and the Historic Third Ward, with 33,000 publicly accessible. That is a broad area, and the inventory is years old, but it gives a sense of scale. The Brewers also offered shuttles from American Family Field. Based on how many vehicles the ballpark lots can hold on game days, those shuttles could have brought roughly 40,000 people at most.

MCTS says it provides about 80,000 rides a day. Divide that by two to estimate the number of people actually served (because of round trips), and the result is about 40,000 riders.. Add several thousand people arriving by bike, and those modes still account for a small fraction of MPD’s claim.

The grounds themselves offer another reality check. Summerfest police estimated about 117,000 people at Henry Maier Festival Park on the famously packed 2013 night when Imagine Dragons played. That was an exceptional crowd. A claim of 750,000 people at the parade and rally is more than six times that number.

The estimate may also count people more than once. Many fans watched the parade, then followed it to the lakefront rally. Adding estimates from the route and the festival grounds could count the same people at both locations.

For perspective, 750,000 is about one in eight Wisconsin residents; the state’s estimated population is nearly 6 million. Milwaukee’s past parade figures offer little validation: the Bucks’ marketing chief estimated 300,000 to 500,000. There was a lot that day, but it was clear it was nowhere near that figure based on estimates offered two days prior for the game six watch party of around 100,000 (and the resulting aerial image comparisons).

MPD has not responded to a request for comment. A huge celebration deserves an estimate grounded in evidence. This one has none.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 30 7:24 pm

This Fan Is Getting Ready Early For The Parade [Scene on the Street]

A fan sets up for the Milwaukee Brewers’ parade nearly 18 hours in advance. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

You never know what you might see Downtown and that includes an individual setting up chairs nearly 18 hours in advance for his family to watch the Milwaukee Brewers championship parade across from the Pfister Hotel.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 29 6:19 pm

World Series Win Makes Jackson Chourio Chalk Mural A Must-See [Scene on the Street]

Katie Bogan's Jackson Chourio Mural, 111 E. Wisconsin Ave. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Oct. 29, 2026.

When Milwaukee artist Katie Bogan was commissioned by Milwaukee Downtown BID #21 to create a realistic chalk mural of Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio, no one knew the Brew Crew would go on to win the World Series.

Now, with Milwaukee’s first World Series title under its belt, Bogan’s mural is particularly timely and symbolic.

Bogan started work on the mural in the plaza at Chase Tower, 111 E. Wisconsin Ave., on Friday and finished on Sunday. The 10-foot-by-10-foot mural features a serious-looking Chourio glancing to his right. He is, of course, depicted in a Brewers uniform.

Perhaps the most impressive detail is Bogan’s ability to capture the highlights and lowlights of Chourio’s facial contours. The work is so realistic that, from a few steps away, it looks like a large photograph plastered on the ground.

The mural will be on display until the weather gradually wears away the chalk.

– Lauren Hafeman, October 29 5:36 pm

Dimitrijevic Amendment Passes, Adds Cosponsors [Reporting Update]

The Common Council’s Finance & Personnel Committee voted 5-0 Thursday to endorse Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic‘s wide-ranging amendment to Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s proposed 2027 budget.

Alds. Peter Burgelis and Scott Spiker joined Dimitrijevic as cosponsors during the meeting.

The proposal would use $2.145 million in newly available revenue to restore Sunday library hours, increase city employee compensation, expand wellness incentives and create a recruitment incentive for electrical workers.

“There is no candy for individual districts here, it’s citywide,” said Spiker.

He praised the proposed increase in employee wellness incentives, saying “healthier employees leads to a healthier bottom line and it’s also just good for people.”

The amendment would also increase the city’s employee residency incentive from 4% to 4.5%, supplementing the mayor’s proposed 2% raise.

Burgelis called it “a very good amendment,” but said he would have preferred a $2-per-hour raise for the lowest-paid city employees instead of a percentage-based increase.

The proposal would add $1 million in High Impact Paving expenditures, enough to resurface approximately 5.5 additional lane-miles. Comptroller Bill Christianson raised concerns about the borrowing involved, which would add approximately $575,000 annually in debt service costs.

Ald. Sharlen P. Moore supported reducing the mayor’s proposed overnight parking permit increase from $110 to $75. The current annual rate is $55.

“People are struggling with utility bills and rent. Doubling the fee seemed a little egregious to me,” she said.

Dimitrijevic acknowledged the package could change before the full council considers the budget Nov. 6.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 29 12:52 pm

MPS Closing Friday for Brewers Championship Parade [Short Take]

Milwaukee Public Schools will close all schools and district offices Friday, Oct. 30, as Milwaukee celebrates the Milwukee Brewers’ World Series championship with a downtown parade and lakefront rally.

The district announced the closure Thursday, citing operational challenges and safety concerns associated with the celebrations.

“We join our entire community in celebrating this historic moment for the World Champion Milwaukee Brewers and the City of Milwaukee!” said MPS in its announcement.

The closure means all classes and before- and after-school activities are canceled. School staff will not be required to report to work, with the exception of essential facilities employees.

District offices, including Central Services, the School Support Center and Facilities, will also be closed.

Milwaukee Recreation programs and activities are canceled, but high school postseason athletic events will proceed as scheduled. Participating families and staff will receive additional information directly.

“We recognize this may present a challenge for families,” said the district. “Please know we considered all options before making this decision.”

The closure comes as thousands of fans are expected to descend on Downtown.

– Jeramey Jannene, October 29 11:01 am

Legend Larry’s Opens with Temporary Limited Hours [Reporting Update]

Last November, Milwaukee learned that Legend Larry’s, a Wisconsin-grown, family-owned chicken wing restaurant, planned to open a Milwaukee location at 1716 N. Arlington Pl., just a few steps off the Brady Street thoroughfare in the heart of one of Milwaukee’s most popular entertainment districts.

In September, Urban Milwaukee profiled the restaurant, sharing its inception story, award-winning history and details about the building that has become its Milwaukee home.

On Monday, the restaurant announced it is officially open with temporary limited hours from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday.

“We can’t wait to meet you MKE!” reads the announcement.

No doubt the restaurant will have a busy first few days, with the Brewers World Series run bringing watch parties, excitement and crowds to Brady Street.

Legend Larry’s is located across the street from The Garage and Hi Hat Lounge, which remain temporarily closed amid ownership changes. Rochambo Coffee & Tea House and La Masa Empanada Bar are other popular spots nearby.

Legend Larry’s Milwaukee location is the restaurant’s fifth in Wisconsin. The restaurant’s flagship location opened in Sheboygan in 2001.

– Lauren Hafeman, October 27 12:32 pm

More: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2026/09/17/award-winning-legend-larrys-comes-to-milwaukee/

Ian’s Pizza Soft Opens Harbor District Location, Official Opening to Come [Reporting Update]

After nearly a year of planning and preparation, the Harbor District location of Ian’s Pizza hosted a soft opening Friday night.

Ian’s Pizza took to social media Sunday, sharing photos of customers enjoying the pizzeria’s popular New York-style slices at the new spot and thanking them for their early support.

Located at 2055 S. 1st St. within the River One development, the Harbor District location is the regional chain’s fourth in Milwaukee, joining locations on E. Juneau Avenue, E. North Avenue and W. Blue Mound Road.

The social media post announced the location would be officially open Sunday, serving “slices, sticks, salads and drinks.” A few hours later, a second post announced the location would actually be closed Sunday and plans to reopen Wednesday.

The location’s hours are listed as Wednesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Through Nov. 3, all Ian’s Pizza locations in Milwaukee are offering a Halloween-themed special called the Turkey Roast Ghost. The slice features hot turkey, bacon, avocado cream, mozzarella, tomato and ghost pepper cheese.

– Lauren Hafeman, October 26 10:54 am

More: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2026/07/13/ians-pizza-shares-plans-for-harbor-district/

Tonja Johnson will be the next president of the Universities of Wisconsin. Photo courtesy of UW system

Tonja Johnson, a senior vice chancellor in the University of Alabama System, will become the next president of the Universities of Wisconsin.

The Board of Regents announced Johnson’s appointment Friday.

Johnson, 57, will be the first person of color to lead the system since its creation in 1971.

“My goal is to help our remarkable UW universities become even stronger, more connected, and more consequential to the future of Wisconsin,” Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson was one of three finalists for the position, along with Steven Gareth Holley, executive vice chancellor and chief operating officer at the University of Mississippi, and Bernard Savarese, vice president for academic affairs, research, and student success at the University of Tennessee System.

She replaces Jay Rothman who was fired in April in a unanimous decision by the Regents.

Renée Wachter will continue to serve as interim president until Johnson takes office on or around Jan. 1.

Wachter will then return to her post as chancellor of UW-Superior.

Johnson will be the 10th president in system history.

Alabama vice chancellor will lead UW system was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Site of Kuumba Juice and Coffee, 274 E. Keefe Ave. Photo taken Jan. 20, 2024 by Sophie Bolich.

Kuumba Juice and Coffee, a cafe and community gathering space along the Beerline Trail, will close next month after nearly three years in business.

The cafe, located in the Connector Building, 274 E. Keefe Ave., announced that its final day will be Sunday, Nov. 15.

“After much thought and reflection we have made the difficult decision to end operations here at Kuumba Juice & Coffee,” reads an Instagram announcement signed by co-founder Alexander Hagler.

The announcement did not provide a specific reason for the closure, instead reflecting on the cafe’s role as a neighborhood gathering place.

“Over the past three years Kuumba has been exactly what we wanted in a coffee shop. It has been a gathering place for neighbors, artists, organizers, friends, and strangers who have become familiar faces,” Hagler wrote.

Hagler, Joe Ferch and Ellie Jackson launched Kuumba in February 2024 after more than three years of preparation. The longtime friends brought backgrounds in arts, wellness, community work and small business to the venture, envisioning a welcoming place to work, meet friends and participate in community programming.

The cafe opened with a menu emphasizing healthful options, including cold-pressed juices, Anodyne coffee and espresso drinks, teas, soups, salads and sandwiches.

Its name references Kuumba, the Kwanzaa principle of creativity, which encourages leaving communities better than one found them.

“We’ve had the privilege of providing a space for meaningful conversations, community initiatives, movement building + solidarity, celebrations, and everyday moments of connection,” Hagler wrote. “Building and sustaining this space has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”

The closure leaves questions about what comes next for a space intended to help activate the former railroad corridor.

An affiliate of Riverworks Development Corporation owns the property. The Connector Building, which opened in September 2023, was a first phase of the organization’s broader, now-delayed effort to transform the neighboring Beerline Trail segment into a linear park.

Along with the cafe, the building includes an event space designed for neighborhood gatherings, community classes and trail programming. The broader park vision calls for a series of community spaces along the trail.

“Updates on what will happen with the space will be communicated as they become available,” the announcement said.

Hagler thanked the cafe’s staff, customers, neighbors and community partners for helping make Kuumba a neighborhood staple.

“Whatever comes next I hope the spirit of Kuumba continues to live on in this space and within all of us.”

Photos

Robin Yount on a motorcycle at the 2026 championship rally. Photo taken Oct. 30, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee showed up for its champions Friday, turning Downtown into a celebration of the Milwaukee Brewers’ remarkable season. The Oct. 30 rally brought together longtime fans, families, players and anyone ready to bask in a title Milwaukee has waited decades to celebrate. Amid the cheers, music and sea of blue and gold, a few moments stood out. Here are seven things we liked about the championship rally, from the big crowd energy to the small details that made the celebration feel distinctly Milwaukee.

1. The Uecker Connection

Bob Uecker clearly meant something to those who met him. Uecker, who died in January 2025, was very much part of the parade. The parade route literally detoured to see his 100-foot-tall mural, but it wasn’t just a symbolic gesture. Parade buses would pause in front of the mural, and several players got off their bus to take photos with the mural. He was also cited repeatedly at the rally, with his family looking on. His own motorcycle was ridden onto the stage by Robin Yount. You would have needed to be more than “just a bit outside” to escape Uecker’s presence.

Ryan Braun passing the Bob Uecker mural, waving to fans. Photo by Lauren Hafeman on Oct. 30, 2026.

2. Sal Frelick‘s Weekend Plans

“I’m going to have a beer for every single person here. I’m going to have 100,000 beers,” proclaimed outfielder Sal Frelick at the rally.

Speaking of which, has anyone seen Frelick recently?

After the Milwaukee Bucks parade in 2021, then-Bucks forward P.J. Tucker announced “we dawgs” and could be found at The Harp and other Water Street bars. Let’s start there in the search for the meme-friendly Frelick.

3. Miz Catching and Chugging

Jacob Misiorowski is not just great at throwing baseballs. He is also great at catching beers. The Miz effortlessly grabbed and chugged a 12-ounce Miller Lite can thrown by a fan during the parade.

Epic toss by @joe_reinicke33

Miz with the catch and chug! pic.twitter.com/kfWA875Hst

— Jordan Love Bookmarks (@BookmarkerLove) October 30, 2026

4. This Man Could Win Every Halloween Contest

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch his name, but one fan came to the rally dressed as the Commissioner’s Trophy. He would win every costume contest he enters this weekend.

Fan dressed as the Commissioner’s Trophy at the 2026 Milwaukee Brewers championship celebration. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The only thing stopping him could be what’s next…

5. Aaron Ashby and His Doppelganger

Aaron Ashby, meet Aaron Ashby. Tim Crispy dressed up as Ashby, with a fake security guard in tow, and followed the reliever along the parade route. He confused a few photographers during the rally, who seemed not to question why a baseball player would walk around with a glove on. Crispy, still sporting the uniform, glove, beard and glasses, was able to meet with Ashby after the rally. Ashby, who earlier said it was the best day of his life, seemed to enjoy every moment, even more than Crispy.

Tim Crispy and Aaron Ashbly at the 2026 Milwaukee Brewers championship celebration. Photo taken Oct. 30, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene.

6. Daniel Vogelbach Performing Karaoke

Did you know who the Brewers’ hitting coach was before today? Did you know he knows every word to the hit 2003 song “Stacy’s Mom” by Fountains of Wayne? Now you do, and so do hundreds of thousands of other people.

Daniel Vogelbach had his karaoke moment pic.twitter.com/ZayVbVyioT

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 30, 2026

7. The Hustlers

Either the Milwaukee skyline tripled in size this week or the unlicensed t-shirt seller economy has been flooded with AI slop. T-shirts depicted a Milwaukee skyline that included One World Trade Center and a host of other clearly not-in-the-city buildings, but alas, it’s always amusing to see what the t-shirt sellers have cooked up (and how fast their prices come crashing down). T-shirts that were $20 each going into Henry Maier Festival Park were $10 coming out. They’ll be three for $20 in gas station parking lots across the city by the end of the week. Get yours for the memories, just make sure someone spell-checked the roster.

8. The Joy

Everywhere you turned Friday, there were people celebrating on the streets of downtown Milwaukee. Families at their first parade. Longtime fans who remembered 1982, some who even remember 1957. People were quick to share their stories of how they drove back from college in Iowa or called in sick to work. If only we could find that joy more often.

In addition to Move Over laws, administrative code makes it illegal to operate an ATV/UTV over 10 mph when traveling within 100 feet of a person not on an ATV/UTV, snowmobile or motorcycle. / Photo Credit: Wisconsin DNR

A proposed addition to state regulations would make it illegal — for the first time — to operate all-terrain and utility-terrain vehicles with an open container of alcohol.

In June, updated regulations went into effect for ATVs and UTVs that required both drivers and passengers to wear seat belts and eye protection. They also required UTVs to mirror window-tint standards for motor vehicles, among other things.

Now, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is proposing a couple of additions and a revision to the new regulations that include barring the use or possession of any bottle or receptacle containing intoxicants. That includes any alcohol beverage, hazardous inhalant, controlled substance or other drug.

In a public hearing Thursday, Jake Holsclaw, the DNR’s off-highway vehicle administrator, said the agency is looking to improve safety.

“Alcohol over the last several years has been a top contributing factor in ATV and UTV fatal crashes and serious injury crashes,” Holsclaw said.

Between 2021 and 2025, the DNR found 43 percent of fatal ATV/UTV crashes involved alcohol. So far this year, the state has seen 42 fatalities among ATV/UTV drivers and passengers, which is near the record-high of 47 deaths in 2021. At least six fatal crashes involved alcohol this year, but many results are still pending.

Over the past 10 years, citations for operating while intoxicated among ATV/UTV operators have nearly quadrupled from 68 to 255 citations issued by conservation wardens and local law enforcement.

Under the change, it would be illegal to operate with an open container on roads, trails, frozen waterways and other public areas. The added regulation would not apply to use on private lands. The move would bring ATV/UTV regulations in line with motor vehicles. However, it would allow containers to be kept as garbage as long as they’re not in the driver or passenger area.

Allison Bussler, public works director for Waukesha County, said the proposal is a step in the right direction. The county started a pilot program last year to allow ATVs and UTVs on some county highways in partnership with local communities.

“Some have started it, but some municipalities are very concerned that this would allow people on our county roads in their communities that have open intoxicants,” Bussler said.

In Waukesha County, ATVs and UTVs must travel the speed limit of 55 mph on county roads, raising safety concerns for people who may be operating while intoxicated at high speeds. Bussler said that’s limiting the number of roads that may be opened to recreational vehicles.

The Wisconsin County Highway Association also supports the changes, along with the Wisconsin ATV/UTV Association. Randy Harden, president of WATVA, said the organization has lobbied for legislation to address alcohol use.

“That part we’ve tried to get through legislatively twice, and we’re unable to get it through the legislative process,” Harden said. “We are hopeful this makes it through because that is an issue that comes up all the time, and it’s concerning to our clubs and our members as well.”

A 2021 bill would have required a court to count previous convictions for intoxicated use of different recreational vehicles together rather than separately when imposing a penalty. A 2023 bill would’ve made it illegal to carry open containers of alcohol while driving ATVs and UTVs on trails and public roads.

Both bills were introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, but they failed to advance in the Legislature.

Under the proposal, the DNR is also revising window-tint regulations to allow exemptions for medical reasons. Additionally, the agency is seeking to grandfather in ATVs and UTVs manufactured prior to March 1 of next year after discovering some vehicles were manufactured with window tint outside of current requirements under the law.

The agency is also proposing to require hand or turn signals in line with motor vehicle requirements.

The changes to state regulations are set to be taken up by the Natural Resources Board at its December meeting.

Proposed change would make it illegal to operate UTVs/ATVs with open alcohol containers was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

With fiscal pressures mounting, Sup. Shawn Rolland proposed a plan to save the county millions on prescription drug costs in coming years by increasing the co-pay county employees pay for GLP-1 prescription drugs, a class of medications originally formulated to treat diabetes that are now prescribed for weight loss and heart disease.

County employees currently pay $40 a month for the drug. Rolland proposed raising that to $150, but only for non-diabetes uses like weight loss. His colleagues on the Committee on Finance shot it down.

Rolland’s plan would have saved the county $1.1 million on prescription drug costs in 2027, and potentially more in coming years. Since county employees began filling GLP-1 prescriptions for weight loss in 2023, their use has steadily risen year over year. Today, weight loss is the reason for a majority of GLP-1 prescriptions. GLP-1 prescriptions account for approximately 14% of the county’s total drug costs in the 2027 budget.

The growth in GLP-1 use among county employees mirrors the rapid rise in prescription drug costs that is putting significant pressure on the county’s annual budget. Since 2022, the county’s prescription drug costs have doubled. They are on track to increase another $8.4 million, or approximately 30%, in 2027. They have become a significant factor driving the county’s structural budget gap, which was projected at $50.8 million in 2027.

Rolland told his colleagues Friday he is trying to head off future budget cuts by saving the county money on a growing contributor to annual deficits.

“I’ve seen [GLP-1s] work. I see how impactful they are in people’s lives. The question I have is whether the current cost-sharing arrangement we have is financially sustainable for Milwaukee County,” Rolland said. “We might be able to save and drive a great deal of revenue that we could use to help people in the community, which is I think why a lot of us ran for this in the first place.”

The county is increasingly running out of options to avoid huge cuts to Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) and Milwaukee County Parks, which are not mandated by state law. County Executive David Crowley saved the 2027 MCTS budget from a 25% service cut with a $12 million cash withdrawal from the county’s debt service reserve, a fund created to pay down county debt. The county’s Behavioral Health Services (BHS) is similarly drawing on operational reserve funds to maintain funding for substance abuse services. Depending on what happens in the next state biennial budget, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) may have to choose between a budget deficit or implementing a $532,500 cut to the Credible Messengers program set up to disrupt youth violence and involvement in the justice system.

After a brief debate, supervisors on the Committee on Finance voted down Rolland’s proposal almost unanimously. Supervisors primarily criticized the proposal for failing to consider health benefits of GLP-1s beyond weight loss.

Sup. Anne O’Connor called the amendment “a little bit like short-sighted” and said, “I’m a little concerned about the sort of implied binary between diabetes and non-diabetes prescription.”

Sup. Felesia Martin said that GLP-1s are used to treat multiple co-morbidities, not just diabetes and weight loss. “I really wish we would have taken the time and had some specialists come in and give testimony as to why they would prescribe a drug for their patients for any particular diagnosis,” she said.

Sup. Caroline Gómez-Tom agreed, adding, “I have to say that I’m disappointed in the execution of the amendment, knowing that it does seem short-sighted in terms of all the co-morbidities that are included.”

Sup. Sky Capriolo, a co-sponsor of the amendment but not a member of the Finance Committee, suggested her colleagues consider a compromise that increases co-pays from $40 to $75 or $80. She also expressed some trepidation about the proposal, noting that a majority of weight-loss prescriptions are filled by women.

Sup. Kathleen Vincent, also not a member of the Finance Committee, was the only supervisor who suggested a $150 co-pay for non-diabetes-related prescriptions was reasonable position. “I work for a large government agency, and they are not covering GLP-1s for the employees,” said Vincent, who teaches for Kenosha Unified School District. 

While research his amendment, Rolland’s legislative aide reached out to nearby municipalities and found Elmbrook School District, the city of Wauwatosa, the City of Greenfield and Dane County all do not cover GLP-1s for employees. Nationally, less than 50% of similarly sized organizations cover GLP-1s, according to 2025 survey data by the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

The proposal also did not have support from the county administration. Jeremy Lucas, Crowley’s acting deputy chief of staff, told the board that the administration briefly considered looking for savings in GLP-1 coverage, but opted not to touch it in the budget proposal. He did agree that the county needs to rethink its prescription drug spending as a whole.

The budget meeting was held Friday morning as thousands of visitors were descending on downtown Milwaukee to celebrate the Brewers winning the World Series. As it became clearer during debate that his amendment was dead on arrival, Rolland pleaded with his colleagues to dig into the trade-offs being created by the county’s rising prescription drug prices and work with him on a solution.

“Don’t not advance something, I guess is my point. Don’t have this conversation today and then go to the Brewers rally and forget,” Rolland said. “Let’s do something. This is our time to offer amendments, so this is the time for us to do it as part of the budget.”

The previous day, the Milwaukee Common Council spent nearly 12 hours debating and considering hundreds of changes to Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s proposed budget.

Sup. Steve Taylor said Rolland’s amendment was pointing out a real problem for the county and trying to address it.

“We are going to have to pick and choose,” he said. “There will be winners and there will be losers, and those are decisions that we’re going to have to make… To think that we’re banking on a governor’s race and Assembly races and Senate races to literally save the day, that’s shortsighted.”

With Crowley running for governor and Democrats in position to potentially flip control of the state Legislature, Milwaukee County is in a position to have a new balance of power in Madison as it renews efforts to secure more support from the state for transit and state-mandated services.

Ultimately, only supervisors Rolland and Taylor voted for the amendment. The rest of the committee — O’Connor, Gómez-Tom, Martin, Martinez, Johnson Jr. and Bielinski — voted against it. The committee then unanimously advanced an amendment, also sponsored by Rolland, asking for a comprehensive report from the administration that breaks down the costs driving the increase in prescription drug expenses and the timeline and options available for changing the county’s contract.

2026 Milwaukee Brewers championship celebration. Photo taken Oct. 30, 2026 by Jeramey Jannene.

The crowds were big, the lines were long and the people were happy, so, so happy.

Tens of thousands of people gathered Downtown Friday to celebrate the Milwaukee Brewers‘ World Series victory, the first in the team’s 46-year history.

“For me and my teammates, this has been one of the most special days of our lives,” said pitcher Aaron Ashby at a rally held at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater.

Several others shared his sentiments and acknowledged they might have overserved themselves on the open-top buses that drove them along the parade route.

“Today has been better than any other day we have had in our lives,” said first baseman Jake Bauers.

“I am going to have a beer for every single person here. I am going to have 100,000 beers,” proclaimed outfielder Sal Frelick.

“Too many parade beers. I took the trophy to the face and got a black eye, but it was all worth it for you guys,” said outfielder Christian Yelich.

Star pitcher Jacob Misiorowski was captured along the parade route catching a beer thrown by a fan, and chugging it. At another point, team staff was spotted passing out bottles of wine from a bus.

Late radio broadcaster Bob Uecker was looking down on the celebration, literally.

The parade route down Wisconsin Avenue to the lakefront had a hitch in it so the buses would wrap around the new, 100-foot-tall mural of Uecker. Many of the buses carrying players would stop near the mural, with players jumping out to have their pictures taken in front of the mural, known as “Mr. Baseball.”

Fans watching nearby, some of which had put out chairs as early as 4:45 p.m. Thursday and others which showed up at 6 a.m. Friday, said it was worth the wait.

“I’m feeling… without words,” Michael Schrank told Urban Milwaukee. “Elated. Just trying to take it all in.”

“Getting to be so close to your idols is incredible,” said Nick Nahnsen, who drove from Madison to attend the event.

Many parade-goers leaned into the Halloween spirit, creatively celebrating the holiday and the Brewers’ victory at once. Matt Shea dressed in a Polish Racing Sausage costume his aunt made for him in grade school. He’s grown to be over 6 feet tall since then, but said the parade was “a great occasion to bring it out,” so he made some crafty alterations for it to fit his adult frame.

A fan at the rally dressed as a larger-than-life replica of the Commissioner’s Trophy, the iconic trophy awarded to the winning team and carried by players throughout the day.

Tim Crispy took things a step further. He dressed up as Ashby, the record-setting reliever. With a full uniform, glove, Ashby’s signature glasses, beard and shaved head, Crispy confused a few photographers on media row at the rally. The fake security guard that followed him around only added to the effect. After the rally, Ashby and Crispy posed for photos together.

It wasn’t just current players and their lookalikes at the parade, but a variety of former players.

Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons and Rollie Fingers, all members of the 1982 team that lost in the World Series, were all featured in the parade and on stage at the rally. Yount, recapturing a moment from the 1982 celebration, even drove Uecker’s former motorcycle onto the stage during the rally. “This group of players has all made us feel like champions,” said Simmons.

More recent players, including Ryan Braun and Eric Thames, were also at the celebration. Braun gave the longest speech at the event, a fact he acknowledged was going to happen when emcee Brian Anderson handed him the microphone. He ended his remarks by leading the crowd in a chant of “Ueck.”

Broadcast team member Sophia Minnaert deftly interviewed World Series MVP William Contreras and outfielder Jackson Chourio in Spanish, translating their answers as needed and pausing to let the crowd chant “MVP” repeatedly for Contreras.

Manager Pat Murphy thanked the fans for their support. “There is no way we would have done it without you,” he said.

The fans were treated to an inside joke by a team that just completed playing more than 180 games together. The players forced a microphone into hitting coach Daniel Vogelbach‘s hands, who admitted he hated speaking in front of crowds. His awkward speech was just a precursor, though. Soon, “Stacy’s Mom” began playing and Vogelbach demonstrated he knew every word by singing along before the song was cut off.

A capacity crowd could be found inside the amphitheater, but the other stages at Henry Maier Festival Park all carried live broadcasts of the rally with live entertainment before and after. Drink and merchandise lines were longer than that would be found during Summerfest, a fact rendered more impressive by the fact that it was before 10 a.m. when they formed.

The parade, which began at Vel R. Phillips Plaza, featured sidewalk-filling crowds throughout.

Comedian Charlie Berens opened the rally, but only after Mike Schneider played “Take Me Out To the Ballgame” on the accordion. Spotted in the crowd at the rally were County Executive David Crowley, Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Governor Tony Evers, but only Evers was recognized from the stage. Crowley, the gubernatorial hopeful, was, however, recognized from the sky. A circling plane had a trailing banner that read “David Crowley helped keep the Brewers in MKE,” a rare case of a campaign promoting a public subsidy to a private corporation.

Team owner Mark Attanasio gave a brief speech and Anderson also paused to thank former owner Bud Selig, seated in the crowd, and the Uecker family.

Players lingered on stage for at least 15 minutes after the celebration ended, dancing to “All I Do Is Win” and the viral hit “Milwaukee Brewers” by Foenom.

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Voters stand in line before filling out a ballot in the partisan primary election Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at Madison East High School in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

Many Wisconsin voters will again be asked to approve tax increases for their local public schools on Tuesday’s ballot.

There are 79 school referendums on the Nov. 3 ballot in 72 different school districts. In total, they will decide on $1.6 billion in operational and capital referendums.

In April, there were 75 school referendums across Wisconsin, which means that this year voters in more than one-third of the state’s public school districts have had to decide if they are willing to raise their property taxes to support the schools.

Public school officials say state-imposed revenue limits make it impossible for districts to fund day-to-day operations. But opponents say school districts receive more than $18,000 per pupil — slightly above national averages — so the problem is how that money is being spent.

Green Bay, Middleton-Cross Plains and Janesville have the three largest operating referendums on the ballots this year at  $158 million, $119 million and $98 million, respectively. All three are non-recurring.

There are 16 school districts that had a failed referendum in April and are trying again on Tuesday.

Damian LaCroix, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators, and Dan Rossmiller, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, penned an op-ed this week saying schools aren’t asking for a “blank check.”

“Critics talk about ‘tightening our belts’ when it comes to spending,” they wrote. “Here’s what that phrase often leaves out: Inflation erodes purchasing power, so a dollar appropriated today buys less than it did two, four, or six years ago. The gap keeps growing, especially because per-pupil adjustments in school funding have failed to keep pace with inflation.”

In Middleton-Cross Plains, diesel prices for the district’s fleet of school buses have gone from about $20,000 in September 2025 to $44,000, said Assistant Superintendent of Operations Jerrud Rossing. Health insurance costs have gone up 15 percent.

Rossing said the cost of educating children has changed too.

“We have over 60 languages that are spoken in our school district,” Rossing said. “And we know there are so many different mandates that are coming from the federal and state government.”

In Green Bay, spokesperson Lori Blakeslee said the school district did a significant amount of work to address rising costs, but inflationary increases made it impossible to keep up.

Those cuts include reducing staff by 100 full-time equivalent employees, consolidating six schools and closing a virtual school and canceling some vendor contracts.

“I think it really points to the fact that we continue to struggle with a funding system that’s been in place for over 30 years,” Blakeslee said. “While school funding has increased from the state, it has not kept up with inflation.”

Public schools are funded through a combination of state aid, local property taxes and a small percentage of federal funds. State aid is based on several factors including student enrollment, district property values and district spending.

The 2025–27 Wisconsin state budget kept general school aid flat at $5.58 billion for the third consecutive year, providing zero inflationary increase for public schools. At the same time, declining enrollment has hit nearly every district in the state. 

Will Flanders, research director with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, says districts will have to reconcile that enrollment increases are not likely to happen anytime soon.

“So in many instances there is going to have to be more severe belt tightening than we usually consider,” Flanders said. “We have districts that are on the very high end of spending that are going to referendum, and we have districts that are at the opposite end of the low end of spending, going to referendum.The nice thing in Wisconsin is that we leave it up to voters to decide.”

In April, more than 60 percent of school districts saw their referendums approved. But polling shows voter fatigue.

In March, when the Marquette Law School Poll asked if people would be inclined to vote for or against a school referendum, 51 percent said no, while 48 percent voted yes. That changed from June 2025 when 46 percent of people said no and 52 percent said yes.

More than 70 Wisconsin school districts seek $1.6B total in referendums Nov. 3 was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Candidates for lieutenant governor, Democrat Sarah Godlewski, left, and Republican David Varnam, right. Photos courtesy of the campaigns

After a long primary season and a mad dash to November, Wisconsin residents may have put a lot of thought into who they plan to vote for in the race for governor.

And when they cast that vote, they’ll also be selecting a second person, for a role they may not have thought about at all.

The position of lieutenant governor is, according to the Wisconsin Constitution, a simple one: They take over if the governor is no longer able to serve, or leaves office for any reason.

Anything beyond that is gravy, according to Anthony Chergosky, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

“Their power depends heavily on their relationship with the governor,” he said.

The candidates for lieutenant governor this year are Democrat Sarah Godlewski, who’s running alongside Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, and Republican David Varnam, who’s running alongside U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.

Regardless of what they think of their running mates now, neither Crowley nor Tiffany had any choice in the matter. It’s not like vice presidential candidates, who get picked by candidates for president.

Governor candidates typically find out their running mates on primary day, along with everyone else.

Two different paths to the ticket

This year’s campaign is a clear example of the different path lieutenant governor candidates can take to the ticket.

Godlewski ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. That guaranteed she’d share a ticket with whomever emerged from a fractured primary for governor, whether it be Crowley his chief rival, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong.

By contrast, Varnam was something of a surprise winner in the Republican primary, which featured two candidates for lieutenant governor. The Republican Party of Wisconsin endorsed Will Martin, not Varnam. But Varnam won commandingly in the August primary, by 11 percentage points.

Now, both Godlewski and Varnam are out on the campaign trail alongside their candidates for governor. Godlewski, the sitting secretary of state, previously served as state treasurer, and ran for U.S. Senate in 2022. Godlewski’s name appears alongside Crowley’s on yard signs that pepper the state.

“When you look at the complex problems that are facing our state, whether it’s funding our public schools or how we can provide affordable housing or quality access to healthcare, I mean those are big issues that … it’s going to take a team” to address, Godlewski told WPR in an interview.

On his website, Varnam describes his policy priorities as lowering taxes, preventing transgender students from playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams, and encouraging cooperation between state law enforcement and the Trump administration. He did not respond to WPR’s request for an interview.

His name does not appear alongside Tiffany’s on yard signs. Instead, GOP supporters can set up a separate sign, reminding voters that Varnam is on the ticket, too.

A yard sign supporting Tom Tiffany for governor, and a yard sign supporting David Crowley for governor, on the same residential street in Milwaukee, Wis., on Oct. 28. Corri Hess/WPR

Varnam serves as the mayor of Lancaster, a small city in southwestern Wisconsin, and previously ran for lieutenant governor in 2022, losing in that year’s Republican primary. He once worked for Focus on the Family, an Evangelical organization that takes a hard line against abortion access.

Running mates don’t have a lot of influence over voters’ decisions, Chergosky said — unless they veer off message.

“Their job is to be the No. 1 cheerleader for the top of the ticket, and so everything that the running mate does has to be in support of the candidate for governor,” he said. “It can hurt a ticket when the running mate becomes the story.”

An open-ended office

The lieutenant governor position has little guaranteed authority. Its primary function is to succeed a governor, should the governor resign, be impeached or die, or to stand in for a governor as needed.

It wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time, a lieutenant governor also served as president of the state Senate, and could cast a tie-breaking vote — much like the vice president does in the U.S. Senate. That changed in 1979, when a constitutional amendment made Wisconsin Senate president a position selected by chamber members.

These days, the  office is seen as a stepping stone for people with aspirations to higher office. This year’s Democratic primary for governor featured two people who held the office under Gov. Tony Evers: current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Former Lt. Gov.  Rebecca Kleefisch, who served  under Gov. Scott Walker, ran for governor as a Republican in 2022.

None of these bids were successful. According to Eric Ostermeier, a political scientist at the University of Minnesota, only three sitting or former Wisconsin lieutenant governors have gone on to be elected governor.  The last of these was Democrat Patrick Lucey, a former lieutenant governor who was elected governor in 1970.

Another seven took over when a governor left office. The last of those was Scott McCallum, who served under former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson. He became governor when Thompson resigned in 2001 to join President George W. Bush’s cabinet.

That line of succession is an example of the risks of running two separate races to become running mates: The two reportedly had a rough relationship, with Thompson once revoking McCallum’s state-issued car.

“The lieutenant governor’s office can be powerful,” Chergosky said. “But it is highly contingent on the vision that the governor has for that role and the lieutenant governor’s personal relationship with the governor.”

Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor candidates are top of the ticket. But maybe not top of mind. was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Bartolotta’s Bar and Ristoro ribbon cutting ceremony. Photo courtesy MKE Airport Media.

Less than two months after chef Paul Bartolotta and his team at The Bartolotta Restaurants celebrated the grand opening of the High Stakes steakhouse, another Bartolotta venture has taken off.

Located in Concourse D at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE), Bartolotta’s Bar and Ristoro celebrated its grand opening Thursday.

“We’re excited to introduce another exceptional dining experience at MKE,” said Brian Dranzik, the airport’s director, in a press release. “This new addition reflects our ongoing commitment to enhancing the travel experience while bringing the best of Milwaukee’s local dining scene right to our travelers.”

The new concept’s menu mirrors the Italian focus Bartolotta is celebrated for. It offers a selection of antipasti (the first course of a traditional Italian meal) including bresaola and shrimp scampi; a variety of pastas; pizza alla Romana; and a focaccia panini. Secondi (second course) options include chicken Marsala and salmon olivada.

“Italian food has always been about great ingredients, simplicity and taking care of people,” Bartolotta said. “Bartolotta’s Bar & Ristoro brings that philosophy to travelers while staying true to the Italian cooking that has shaped my career. Milwaukee is our home, and whether you are arriving in our city, returning home or heading out on your next journey, we want the food you experience here to be something memorable.”

The restaurant’s bar program will serve red, white and sparkling wines alongside Wisconsin craft beers and signature cocktails such as the Italian 75, Hugo Spritz and Lakeshore Sunset. It will also offer nonalcoholic options.

The new concept was created in partnership with SSP America, the airport’s food and beverage operator. It is replacing Nonna Bartolotta’s, which opened in MKE in 2009.

Bartolotta’s Bar & Ristoro is open daily at 4 a.m., serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks and snacks. A second location on Concourse C is expected to open in the coming months.

Wendy Mendez, left, and Richard Godfrey, second from left, stand with their two sons. The family moved to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from Costa Rica in 2020. Photo courtesy of the Godfrey/Mendez family

When Richard Godfrey received a call last week letting him know that his wife, Wendy Mendez, had safely landed in Costa Rica, he said it felt like “having a truck taken off” his chest.

That’s because he knew she was finally safe after more than a week in federal immigration detention, Godfrey said.

He said his wife, a Costa Rica native, was transferred to six detention facilities in eight days, where he says she was forced to sleep “on concrete floors with rags for blankets in a whole room of people.”

“Who gave them a right to mistreat people like this? You never have a right,” he said of federal immigration authorities. “We never acquire a right to mistreat people. If you have to process them through a system, process it. Have dignity.”

Godfrey, an Oshkosh resident, spoke with WPR Wednesday morning at Menominee Park in Oshkosh. He said he wanted to “set the record straight” about his wife’s immigration case.

Mendez is a middle school Spanish teacher and a former “employee of the year” for the Oshkosh Area School District. Godfrey is a U.S. citizen who grew up on the west side of Chicago. He moved to Costa Rica around 35 years ago after “getting the bug” to travel the world.

While he was in Costa Rica, Godfrey worked in construction and contracting. He eventually met Mendez and the two began dating roughly three decades ago.

They share two children together and moved to Oshkosh from Costa Rica in 2020. Godfrey said the family wanted to come to the U.S. in large part because their youngest son has Down syndrome and there are more special-needs services in America than Costa Rica.

“We have a now 13-year-old Down syndrome boy who’s highly functional due to the care and therapies and private classes that Wendy’s had him in the whole time,” Godfrey said. “I attribute his success to her.”

Federal authorities falsely claimed Mendez was in custody

Mendez was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Oct. 14 in Milwaukee, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The statement from DHS, widely circulated to media outlets on Tuesday, said Mendez would “remain in custody pending her removal from the United States.” But Godfrey says she hasn’t been in the country for nearly a week.

“She’s been there since last Thursday,” Godfrey told WPR.

In response to an inquiry Wednesday about discrepancies between the statement from DHS and Godfrey’s account, a spokesperson from DHS issued a nearly identical statement. But it had one major change.

The new statement acknowledges Mendez is no longer in custody.

“On October 22, 2026, ICE removed Mendez from the country,” the Wednesday statement read.

Federal authorities say Mendez came to the U.S. legally on a “temporary basis” in 2020 and “failed to depart” by February 2021. The statement also says Mendez was placed into removal proceedings in February and ordered to be removed on Sept. 9 “for failing to show up for her removal proceedings.”

Godfrey disputes several aspects of the statement. He said the family was actively pursuing a marriage-based adjustment of immigration status when she was detained.

Oshkosh Area School District Superintendent Bryan Davis presents Wendy Mendez, right, with an “employee of the year” award in 2025. Source: Oshkosh Area School District YouTube

The family began the process shortly after moving to Wisconsin in 2020, he said. Godfrey said immigration officials first needed to approve his petition on behalf of his wife before she could continue the green card process. He said that approval took roughly five years.

The family thought they were doing everything right. Godfrey said Mendez received a work permit and Social Security number from immigration authorities in 2023.

“She got her Social Security number,” he said. “She paid two years of taxes, so it’s like, ‘What do you mean she’s not supposed to be here?’”

On Oct. 14, he said the couple was in Milwaukee for spousal interviews with federal authorities as part of their I-130 petition, a legal step for applying for a Green Card through a U.S. citizen spouse or relative.

Godfrey said federal agents asked him for Mendez’s birth date, as well as a few other questions. He said he brought photos of the couple together in Costa Rica from years ago — back when he “still had dark hair.”

After his interview, he said Mendez went in for hers. The next thing Godfrey knew, an official was telling him that his wife had been placed in detention.

“I go, ‘What? For what?’ I almost fainted,” Godfrey recalled.

He said federal personnel were dismissive of his questions and concerns. When one official showed him a notification that had been sent in the mail, Godfrey remembers saying, “We don’t live there.” He said the official responded: “I don’t care — just call a lawyer, and he’s going to handle it.”

Godfrey said the notification was sent to an address the family hasn’t lived at in nearly four years. He said other documents from immigration officials, such as her work permit and Social Security number, were being sent to the correct address.

DHS did not directly respond to questions about the family’s claim that immigration notices were mailed to an outdated address.

Godfrey said his wife’s concerns about the mix-up also fell on deaf ears.

“People from ICE told her, ‘Yeah, it looks like there was a mistake. But by the time your lawyer does something, you’re going to be back in Costa Rica’ — kind of taunting her like that,” Godfrey said.

ICE’s 2026 National Detention Standards say the agency’s personnel and facilities are required to provide “humane living conditions” to those in detention, as well as “address detainees in a professional and respectful manner.”

Four days into his wife’s detention, Godfrey said federal authorities approved the couple’s I-130 petition.

13-year-old son will move to Costa Rica

Godfrey said both of the couple’s sons are Americans. The oldest is in college. He said he and his wife plan for their youngest, the 13-year-old, to return to Costa Rica to be with his mother until she can return to the country.

“Probably within two weeks he’ll be moving back there, which is very hard to even imagine because we’re a family unit, and she’s in exile right now,” he said.

He said Mendez was the social one in the couple, always planning parties and events for their friends in Wisconsin. They’ve received overwhelming support from those friends since news of Wendy’s detention and deportation spread.

Godfrey said the couple is waiting for an immigration judge in Chicago to rule on the technical error, and then finish the green card process following the already-approved I-130 petition.

“She’s not coming back until she has her green card in her hand in Costa Rica,” he said. “I’m not putting her at risk. Even coming back, she runs the risk of being out in a supermarket and being grabbed by ICE. But she’ll have her documents with her.”

‘She’s in exile right now’: Husband of deported Oshkosh teacher speaks out was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Milwaukee City Hall. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The Common Council’s Finance & Personnel Committee finished its annual budget amendment day shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday, after reviewing more than 100 proposed changes to Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s 2027 budget.

The committee considered 112 amendments, several of which were withdrawn, and adopted several dozen footnotes directing city departments to report on or explore specific issues. Among the proposals that passed were a broad package from committee chair Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic that included expanded library hours and a half-percent raise for city workers who live in Milwaukee, and a complicated package that included funding for a new fire engine. Several high-profile proposals, including additional raises for city workers beyond the mayor’s proposed 2% and a study of a city-owned electric utility, failed.

As the work was nearing completion, Budget Director Nik Kovac warned the committee that its actions were adding more than $4 million to the property tax levy, which could cause the city to lose state aid, and adding about $500,000 in future annual costs by adding more than $6 million in new borrowing.

The amendments will go to the full Common Council, which is scheduled to adopt the budget Nov. 6. Mayor Johnson could then veto provisions of the council’s budget.

Dimitrijevic’s Budget Package Passes

The committee unanimously approved Dimitrijevic’s first amendment, a package directing $2.15 million in newly available revenue toward services and employee compensation. The money includes additional state transportation aid and a correction in state payments associated with the UW-Milwaukee campus.

The amendment would add $1 million for high-impact paving, increase the city’s residency incentive for eligible employees from 4% to 4.5%, and restore Sunday library hours at five locations from 1 to 5 p.m. It would also establish a $50,000 recruitment bonus fund for electrical workers and reduce the planned overnight parking permit increase from $55 to $75, rather than $110.

The package would add $6 million in borrowing for paving while reducing a planned $5 million transfer from the Transportation Fund. Together, those changes would add $1 million for paving and leave more money in the fund, which has struggled in recent years as parking revenues have fluctuated.

Dimitrijevic said the package was intended to address issues raised by residents and city workers, including street conditions, library access and difficulty recruiting electricians. The added residency incentive would be on top of the mayor’s proposed 2% general employee raise.

“We want to encourage that residency by adding to the mayor’s 2% pay raise by adding an additional 0.5% for city residents,” she said.

“There is no candy for individual districts here; it’s citywide,” said Ald. Scott Spiker, in encouraging support for the package.

Ald. Peter Burgelis, who joined as a cosponsor, said he supported the amendment but would have preferred a larger raise targeted to lower-paid employees. Dimitrijevic said she would work on the amendment with Burgelis and others in advance of the full council meeting.

Proposals for Nonprofits and Raises Fail

The committee rejected proposals to provide $150,000 to Pathfinders and $75,000 to the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center. Both organizations had sought city support after losing federal funding. Each amendment drew a 2-2 vote, with Ald. Milele A. Coggs abstaining, leaving neither with enough support to advance.

A proposal from Ald. Alex Brower to replace the mayor’s 2% general employee raise with a $1-an-hour increase also failed after extended debate. Brower argued an hourly raise would provide more help to lower-paid workers. The proposal relied on cuts to Milwaukee Police Department accounts, drawing questions about its effect on police operations and equipment.

The committee also rejected a $140,000 proposal to continue city funding for the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee’s Eviction Free MKE program. The proposal would have continued support provided in 2026. Members raised concerns during the debate about the amendment’s process and the city’s ability to direct the funding.

New Funding for Fire Equipment, Neighborhood Programs

A revised proposal from Ald. Mark Chambers, Jr. passed 3-2. It would shift capital borrowing from police vehicles and facilities maintenance to fire equipment and traffic calming, while adding operating support for neighborhood programs.

The amendment adds $1.6 million in borrowing for Milwaukee Fire Department to purchase a fire engine and $500,000 for the Department of Public Works‘ Transportation Safety Improvement Program, which seeks proactive traffic calming changes in troubled areas. The amendment would reduce borrowing for replacing police vehicles by $1.6 million and police facilities maintenance borrowing by $500,000.

“We are not under any circumstances fans of, ‘Now we’re going to steal it from our public safety partners to make this work,'” said Fire Chief Aaron Lipski. The mayor had not proposed any fire engine replacement after it was a hotly debated item in the last budget. Lipski said the resulting scenario left police and fire like “dogs in the street” for funding.

“I appreciate the candor, and that’s why I have to be the bad guy and find the money for this,” said Chambers.

The amendment also creates a $300,000 Good Neighbor Special Fund and adds $100,000 to the MKE Community Excellence Fund. Together, those funds are intended to support neighborhood and community programs.

The committee also approved a separate proposal to shift $350,000 from a planned fifth pothole-patching machine to vehicles for DPW electrical services crews instead of renting. City Engineer Kevin Muhs said the department has struggled to train workers to use the patching equipment amid a high volume of pothole repairs, but still believes in the long-term efficiency of the one-person machines. But Burgelis said he favored stopping the practice of renting equipment for electrical services.

Another adopted proposal would provide $475,000 in borrowing for an enterprise records management system. The system is intended to improve the city’s management of digital records and reduce the risk of data breaches.

Pothole Audit Advances Despite Concerns

Ald. Lamont Westmoreland won committee support for $100,000 to hire an outside firm to audit DPW’s snow, paving and pothole operations. The proposal passed 4-1, with Comptroller Bill Christianson and DPW officials questioning whether the money would be enough to examine the broad range of work.

DPW also raised concerns about the funding source: raiding the department’s personnel cost adjustment, which uses anticipated savings from temporary vacancies due to turnover. Commissioner Jerrel Kruschke said it could force the department to delay hiring later in the year.

Christianson’s office, which normally conducts city audits, questioned whether the proposed amount would be sufficient.

The committee approved funding for an innovation policy analyst in the Department of Administration’s Innovation Office. A two-year Bloomberg grant has supported the position, which is set to expire in August. The adopted amendments provide position authority and $28,620 in partial-year funding from the department’s personnel cost adjustment, which uses anticipated savings from vacant positions. The council eliminated the same position in last year’s budget, resulting in an individual being laid off.

“If this is an office worth having, it’s worth having it not just be a one-person show,” said Spiker, the sponsor. Jim Bohl, the innovation director, said there is more work than even two people can handle and the office is producing savings for the city.

The committee also approved $75,000 for an Innovation District Special Fund, intended to support programming for the Walker’s Point district and potential future innovation districts. Backed by Council President José G. Pérez, it would be funded by reducing the personnel cost adjustment in the City Clerk‘s office.

Utility Study and Fire Proposals Rejected

A proposal from Brower to borrow $1.35 million for a feasibility study of turning We Energies into a publicly owned utility within Milwaukee failed on a 2-2 vote, with Coggs excused. Brower argued that borrowing would spread the study’s costs over several years. Other members questioned the expense. Erick Shambarger, director of the Environmental Collaboration Office, argued against the study based on the experience of other cities. A memo he authored proposes alternative approaches, including solar projects in partnership with the utility.

Burgelis’s proposal to add $6.4 million in borrowing for new MFD engines and trucks also failed on a 2-2 vote. Johnson’s proposed budget includes no new borrowing for fire trucks or engines. Lipski warned that the department’s equipment is aging, but Budget Director Nik Kovac said the council had already added more than $6 million in borrowing above the mayor’s $116 million proposal.

A separate $2 million borrowing proposal for a fire facilities study also failed. The study would assess where fire stations, a training academy and a maintenance facility should be located. Lipski said the department needed long-term direction, while Ald. Scott Spiker questioned whether the city would be able to act on the recommendations.

The committee rejected an amendment from Dimitrijevic to restore funding for an equal rights complaints liaison within the Department of Compliance and Engagement. Director Mary Reed said cutting office-space funding to pay for the position “would actually achieve the opposite of what you intend to accomplish,” because the department was already at capacity, but she said she wouldn’t oppose the position.

Equal Rights Commission Chair Tony Snell advocated for the position, but did not find vocal support from the department.

“This and just the energy of it all makes me feel uncomfortable,” said Coggs after a lengthy debate. “We all know that it’s a lot more than what is being said here today.”

Budget Limits in View

At the end of the meeting, Kovac said the council had added more than $4 million to the city’s property tax levy, boosting it to over $345 million. He said the budget was within about $3.5 million of both the state-imposed levy limit and the state’s expenditure restraint limit, the latter a complicated formula-based system. Exceeding the restraint formula, said Kovac, would cost Milwaukee approximately $11 million in state aid in 2027.

The committee’s work modifies Johnson’s proposed $2.26 billion budget, which relied on $42.8 million in reserve withdrawals to close a $96.8 million structural gap. The city faces state-imposed constraints on how much it can raise in revenue and the rising cost of services.

The full council will meet to consider the changes on Nov. 6. Johnson has vetoed multiple provisions in recent years, but has been consistently overridden by the council.

The committee adopted dozens of footnotes during the marathon meeting, directing departments to provide reports or explore possible changes. Urban Milwaukee will have coverage of the amendments in a future article.

MCTS bus on W. Wisconsin Avenue. Photo taken Thursday, June 4, 2026 by Graham Kilmer.

The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) announced it will increase bus service along a handful of routes running to downtown Milwaukee for the Brewers’ World Series victory parade Friday.

MCTS will run extra buses along five routes that can drop riders within blocks of the parade route: Connect 1, GreenLine, Route 12, Route 18 and Route 57.

“With hundreds of thousands of fans expected to line the streets for a victory parade on Friday, limited downtown parking and road closures along the parade route, taking the bus can help fans avoid the search for parking and focus on celebrating the new World Series champions,” MCTS said in a statement Thursday.

The parade begins at 10 a.m. Friday at the intersection of W. Wisconsin and N. Vel R. Phillips avenues. It will run briefly in a semicircle along N. Jefferson Street, E. Mason Street, and N. Jackson Street to pass the Bob Uecker mural before turning left onto E. Chicago Street and running into Henry Maier Festival Park.

Bus fare is $2.75 and MCTS offers contactless payment with credit card, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Riders can also use the traditional WisGo Card or download the UMO app on their digital device. The latter hosts MCTS’s mobile app for fare payment, route navigation and live tracking of buses.

Riders will want to use the MCTS website to see the detour for their selected route before heading Downtown.

The Milwaukee Brewers are also offering shuttles from American Family Field for $5 per rider. Timed tickets are required to be pre-purchased.

Milwaukee Brewers championship parade route. Image from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Common Council members, MPD officials and Office of Community Wellness and Safety members discuss public safety on July 30, 2025. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

What makes a city stronger? It’s not just new buildings, better roads or economic development. It’s also an informed public, an accountable government and residents who understand the decisions shaping their community.

Research has shown that communities with strong local journalism tend to have higher rates of civic participation. Residents are more likely to vote. Public officials face greater scrutiny. Government operates with greater transparency. And debates about the future are grounded in shared facts, rather than rumors or speculation.

That’s the work Urban Milwaukee does every day.

We attend the Common Council meetings where decisions about your tax dollars are made. We examine development proposals that could transform neighborhoods. We follow city budgets, public investments, housing policies, permit requests and transportation projects. We ask questions of elected officials, scrutinize public records and explain complicated issues that might otherwise go unnoticed.

And we do it with a distinctly Milwaukee perspective.

Our job is to connect those dots, give residents the context they need and hold decision-makers accountable.

That’s why local journalism is a form of civic infrastructure, every bit as essential to a healthy city as its roads, libraries and schools. Without it, important decisions can happen with little public awareness. Promises can go unexamined. Residents lose a vital tool for understanding and influencing the community around them.

Milwaukee deserves better than that.

But producing independent, in-depth local journalism takes resources. It takes reporters who can spend hours in public meetings, dig through government documents, ask difficult questions and follow stories long after the initial announcement. It takes a newsroom committed to covering Milwaukee not just when something spectacular happens, but on the ordinary days when consequential decisions are quietly being made.

That’s where you come in.

An Urban Milwaukee membership isn’t simply a subscription to a website. It’s an investment in the civic infrastructure that makes Milwaukee a stronger, more informed and more accountable city.

It helps ensure that someone is watching City Hall, following the money, questioning assumptions and telling the stories that shape Milwaukee’s future. It funds a reporter to dig into court records, not press releases.

If you believe Milwaukee’s future matters, if you want decisions made in the open and if you believe residents deserve more than official talking points, become an Urban Milwaukee member today.

A better-informed Milwaukee is a stronger Milwaukee and strong local journalism makes that possible.