Midwest
Incoming Senate Dem Elissa Slotkin torches identity politics in 2024 autopsy: 'Go the way of the dodo'
Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said Democrats need to ditch identity politics if they want to win over voters in future elections, telling reporters the ideology needed to “go the way of the dodo.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democrats who won Senate races in the 2024 elections held a briefing for reporters at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) on Tuesday, during which they explained how they managed to get elected despite President-elect Trump winning in their state.
According to Slotkin, who represents a swing district in the House of Representatives that she initially flipped from red to blue, identity politics is not a winning strategy in a state like Michigan.
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Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., attributed her win in part to staying away from identity politics. (Reuters)
She defeated Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers in what was considered a “toss-up” race in the presidential battleground state.
Slotkin further attributed her win to focusing on the economy, or “kitchen table” issues. However, she said it isn’t enough just to focus on those issues, but to talk about them plainly.
Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; DSCC Chair Gary Peters, D-Mich.; and Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., were also at the briefing.
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Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the 2024 election cycle. (Reuters/Mike Segar)
For Schumer, the victories Democrats saw could be boiled down to three things: good candidate quality, economic accomplishments in the Senate that affected each of their states and early strategic television ad investments.
He also pointed to high digital ad spending in the rapidly changing media landscape that he believes helped push them over the edge.
As for the Senate race in Pennsylvania, Schumer noted that DSCC staff will still be on the ground working in the state, where Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., allowed an automatic recount to be triggered by refusing to concede, despite Sen.-elect Dave McCormick’s lead.
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Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., detailed his thoughts on Democratic successes in swing states. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
When asked what went wrong in Pennsylvania, where Casey did not run significantly ahead of Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Schumer just said that a recount was still going on in the state.
Other Democrats in swing states and Republican states managed to run ahead of Harris by substantial margins, leading to some of the wins they saw in Trump-won states.
One of those successful Democrats, Gallego, gave some insight to reporters about why he defeated Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake. He pointed to the voting group of male and Latino voters, who he saw early progress with in polls. He pointed to specific cultural messaging to this demographic through boxing match watch parties and rodeos.
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Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. (Getty Images)
Additionally, he hit Lake for discussing the border crisis in the way that someone outside of Arizona and unfamiliar with the dynamic might talk about it. Gallego said Lake’s talk of shutting down the border sounded like someone from the East Coast.
According to him, Arizona can’t fully shut down its border because its economy relies on travel and transportation of goods between the state and Mexico.
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What to know about NCAA-tourney bound Wisconsin Badgers softball
The Wisconsin Badgers are headed to the NCAA softball tournament. These are some names to know, as well as some pertinent history.
Wisconsin softball could not keep up with the reigning national champions.
Texas – the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament – run-ruled the Badgers, 9-0, in six innings on May 16 in the Austin regional of the NCAA Tournament, easily sending UW to the consolation side of the double-elimination bracket.
Texas pitcher Teagan Kavan took a no-hitter into the fifth inning until Alivia Bark’s single. The Badgers’ only other baserunner during Kavan’s five innings in the circle was on a walk in the first inning.
The Badgers did not have a runner in scoring position until the sixth inning, when Emily Bojan hit a double off Texas reliever Cambria Salmon.
The Longhorns, meanwhile, wasted no time in distancing themselves from the Badgers with their bats. They scored three runs in the first inning after back-to-back hits by Kayden Henry and Katie Stewart, a sacrifice fly by Viviana Martinez and a two-run home run by Reese Atwood.
Texas scored another two runs on a Henry double in the second inning, prompting the Badgers to pull UW ace Shelby Jacobson. One day after her complete-game win over Baylor, Jacobson gave up five earned runs against the Longhorns in 1 ⅓ innings pitched.
Texas piled on with two more runs in the third inning in small-ball fashion after loading the bases, and completed the run-rule win with Henry’s two-run homer in the sixth inning – her third hit of the afternoon – off UW reliever Jordan Felci. (The mercy rule in college softball is eight runs after five or more innings.)
All three UW pitchers to face the Longhorns – Jacobson, Berritt Herr and then Felci – each gave up at least two runs against the host and SEC tournament champion.
When, who will Wisconsin softball play next
The Badgers will look to keep their tournament run alive later today in a consolation game against the winner of the Baylor-Wagner game. (The winner of UW’s next game would then need to defeat Texas twice on May 17 to win the Austin regional.)
UW defeated Baylor in the first round following Hannah Conger’s walk-off double in the ninth inning. Wagner is coming off a 9-1 loss against Texas. The first pitch of UW’s second game is expected to be at approximately 5 p.m., depending on the duration of the Baylor-Wagner game.
This story will be updated after Wisconsin’s second game against Baylor or Wagner.
Every year, the NFL schedule bring upon something new for the Detroit Lions. This year, it’s a trip to Germany, a rare “Sunday Night Football” game at Carolina, and an early bye week. Oh wait, scratch that last one. It happens all that time.
Another constant on the Lions’ schedule is their divisional opponents. Like every other team, Detroit’s six divisional games make up over a third of their entire schedule. That means Detroit’s record within the NFC North will likely be crucial toward their regular season success. And with all three of their road divisional games crammed into the final four weeks of the season, how Detroit fares in those contests will almost certainly decide where they land in the postseason picture.
Last year, Detroit was swept by both the Vikings and Packers, and even though they ended up sweeping the division-winning Chicago Bears, it wasn’t enough to punch their ticket to the playoffs. So today’s Question of the Day is:
How many division wins will the Lions pick up on their 2026 schedule?
My answer: I’m going with three.
First off, let’s get this straight. There is no universe where getting swept by the Vikings again in 2026 is acceptable. I understand their defense is a very tough matchup for an offense-heavy team like the Lions, but Minnesota’s roster just doesn’t compare to the rest of the division right now—especially with the questions at quarterback. Because the Vikings still always play the Lions tough, I’ll give them a split of the series.
And I’m going to be boring with the other two teams, too. I expect a split with each series. I think Ben Johnson will have a chip on his shoulder after getting swept by Dan Campbell last year and find a way to win one of those games. And while I’m really tempted to predict a sweep of the Packers, I’m just having a hard time seeing it given how well they tend to play against Detroit. The Lions will have the benefit of the bye week going into their first matchup, but a Week 18 game in Lambeau will be tough, even if the Lions managed to beat them in that exact scenario during the 2022 season.
How many division wins do you think the Lions pick up this year? Vote in the poll below and share your reasoning in the comment section.
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MILWAUKEE – Where you live can have a significant impact on how much money you need saved for retirement. And according to a new study, Wisconsin ranks near the middle of the pack in terms of the most and least expensive states for retirees.
Big picture view:
MoneyLion, a consumer finance app and marketplace, examined how much money Americans would need to save each month to retire comfortably in each state. The study weighed factors such as average retiree household expenses, Social Security income and the age at which a person started saving for retirement.
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The study’s full methodology can be found on MoneyLion’s website.
What they’re saying:
Ted Jenkin, managing partner at Exit Wealth Advisors, told FOX Business that state income taxes and real estate property taxes are two of the biggest expenses that retirees need to look at. Thomas Aiello, National Taxpayers Union vice president of federal affairs, added that taxes are a reason some retirees may move to places like Florida, Texas and Tennessee – which offer no sate income tax or “death” tax.
How much in Wisconsin?
Local perspective:
Wisconsin ranked No. 28 in MoneyLion’s study, which determined someone would need to save $1,096,140 to retire comfortably at age 65. That’s based on a $54,807 average annual cost of retirement over 20 years.
To hit that number, MoneyLion said someone would need to start saving $2,030 per month at age 20 or $2,610 per month starting at age 30.
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By the numbers:
MoneyLion’s study also determined the following savings needed to retire comfortably at age 65 (as well as the average annual cost of retirement over 20 years) in neighboring states:
- Minnesota, No. 25: $1,162,628 ($58,131)
- Illinois, No. 34: $1,003,326 ($50,166)
- Michigan, No. 42: $868,526 ($43,426)
- Iowa, No. 43: $821,180 ($41,059)
Hawaii was the most expensive state for retirees, with $3,132,206 needed to retire comfortably at age 65. The most affordable state in the study was West Virginia, with $664,463 needed to retire comfortably at age 65.
The Source: Information in this story is from the MoneyLion study, which referenced data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics and other sources. LiveNOW from FOX and FOX Business contributed to this report.
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