Author: Todd Richmond

For the first time in more than a decade, Democrats in key battleground state Wisconsin have a chance at wresting some legislative control from Republicans thanks to new district maps from Governor Tony Evers. Republicans will likely retain their majority in the Senate in November’s elections. But redrawn districts coupled with retirements have left almost two-thirds of the Assembly’s seats open this election cycle, giving Democrats their best shot at taking control of that chamber in a generation. “It’s been too partisan for too long,” Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said. “I know I’m sick of it and the...

The warden of a maximum-security Wisconsin prison and eight members of his staff were charged on June 5 following investigations into the deaths of four inmates over the past year, including one that was not discovered until at least 12 hours after the man died. With a “Shawshank Redemption”-style stone exterior and high castle-like guard towers, Wisconsin’s oldest prison, built in the 1850s, has long been a target for closure amid concerns about deterioration, extended lockdowns, and staffing shortfalls. Randall Hepp, warden of the Waupun Correctional Institution, was charged with misconduct in public office. The other eight face charges...

Wisconsin Democrats plan to spend $7 million on television ads in five state Senate races they believe are key to regaining control of the chamber, the biggest ad buy of its kind Democrats in the state have ever made in legislative races. Wisconsin, a perennial swing state, is no stranger to big spending on high profile races. But the money typically goes to top of the ticket statewide races, not contests for the Legislature where Republicans have held a strong majority for more than a decade. For example, this one ad buy is nearly half of the money Democrats...

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Assembly introduced a bill in early January that would call for a binding statewide referendum on whether abortion should be banned after 14 weeks of pregnancy. The proposal could still galvanize the conservative base after Democrats parlayed anger over the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn its landmark 1972 Roe v. Wade ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide, into big election wins across the country. Nowhere was that dynamic more evident than in Wisconsin, where Janet Protasiewicz won a seat on the state Supreme Court last year after repeatedly announcing on the campaign trail that...