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Election deniers rail in Wisconsin as state Senate moves toward firing top election official

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Election deniers rail in Wisconsin as state Senate moves toward firing top election official


MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Election skeptics aired their grievances against Wisconsin’s top elections official Tuesday at a hearing Democrats and the Legislature’s nonpartisan attorneys said should never have been held.

Republicans who control the Legislature called the hearing to consider whether to reappoint Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe.

Tuesday’s hearing was raucous at times, with conspiracy theorists repeating widely debunked claims about the 2020 election being rigged in favor of President Joe Biden. At times the audience burst into applause, boos or laughter as officials who oversee elections defended Wolfe and the integrity of Wisconsin’s procedures.

The bipartisan Elections Commission, which is separate from the Legislature, deadlocked in June over whether to nominate Wolfe for another term. Three Republicans voted in favor, while three Democrats abstained in hopes of blocking the next step, which would have been sending Wolfe’s nomination to the Senate for final confirmation.

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However, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said he interpreted the commission’s 3-0 vote as a unanimous nomination, despite it being one vote shy of a majority.

GOP Senate leaders have promised to fire Wolfe.

She declined to testify at Tuesday’s Senate hearing, citing a letter from Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul saying lawmakers did not have the authority to go forward because her nomination didn’t get a majority of votes from the six-person Elections Commission.

The Legislature’s own attorneys also contested LeMahieu’s interpretation of the Election Commission vote.

Wolfe has become a focal point for conspiracy theorists who falsely claim she helped rig the 2020 presidential race in Wisconsin, even though multiple reports and reviews found the election was fair and the results accurate.

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Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin, an outcome that has withstood two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a conservative law firm’s review and numerous state and federal lawsuits.

Nevertheless, the opportunity to testify against Wolfe’s reappointment drew some of the most prominent members of the state’s thriving election conspiracy movement, including Michael Gableman, the former state Supreme Court justice who led a fruitless, 14-month investigation into 2020 election results; Harry Wait, who was charged with fraudulently requesting the absentee ballots of elected officials; Tim Ramthun, a failed gubernatorial candidate and former state lawmaker who was disciplined by the Legislature for challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election; and Janel Brandtjen, the former chair of the Assembly elections committee who used her position to promote election lies.

Wolfe is one of the most respected elections officials in the nation. She has served more than 10 years at the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the body that preceded it. She also has served as president of the National Association of State Election Directors and chair of the bipartisan Electronic Registration Information Center, which helps states maintain accurate voter rolls.

Several local election officials and voting rights advocates testified Tuesday in support of Wolfe’s reappointment.

Rock County Clerk Lisa Tollefson voiced concern that removing Wolfe would mean getting rid of an experienced, guiding hand for Wisconsin’s more than 1,800 municipal clerks who actually run elections, many of whom are new and inexperienced. Her concerns echo those of national elections experts looking ahead to the 2024 presidential race in Wisconsin, where the deciding margins are routinely razor thin.

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Republican Sen. Daniel Knodl, who chairs the Senate elections committee, said he had not yet decided whether to schedule a vote on sending Wolfe’s reappointment to the full Senate for consideration.

___

Harm Venhuizen is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Harm on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.





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Wisconsin

Who should be this week’s Wisconsin Student of the Week? Vote in our poll.

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Who should be this week’s Wisconsin Student of the Week? Vote in our poll.


Thanks to great participation in last week’s USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN’s Student of the Week poll, we were able to crown our first winner.

Now, we need your help again to choose our second winner. This week’s finalists are Jovan Adamavich, a freshman doing big things at Sheboygan South High School, and Ethan LeCaptain, a senior who demonstrates leadership at Green Bay’s Notre Dame Academy.

Be sure to vote for your choice in the second round of this statewide initiative. Voting runs from 5 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7, until noon Thursday, Oct. 10.

Here’s what those who nominated our finalists say about them:

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Jovan Adamavich, Sheboygan South High School, grade 9

“Jovan is currently earning As and Bs in school, and is working hard for his school’s football teams — playing both junior varsity and some varsity games — as a freshman. Jovan is also always polite and considerate in the space he shares with me and other students as part of Boys & Girls Clubs Be Great Graduate program. His hard work academically, athletically, and positive school citizenship is impressive!”

— Mary Michels, graduation specialist at Boys & Girls Clubs of Sheboygan County

Ethan LeCaptain, Notre Dame Academy, grade 12

“Ethan LeCaptain is a senior and has a strong work ethic. He knows what needs to get done. In addition, he also knows that other students, especially underclassmen, may struggle in their classes; therefore he has committed to tutoring others on a weekly basis. Finally, outside of the classroom, Ethan is a two-sport athlete who carries himself in a dignified manner both on and off the field of play.”

— Cassidy McGowan, learning resource consultant at Notre Dame Academy

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Click the link below to vote:

Do you work with youth and know someone who should be Student of the Week? Reach out to Debi Young, statewide education editor, at debi.young@jrn.com to get a link to the nomination form.

Madison Lammert covers child care and early education across Wisconsin as a Report for America corps member based at The Appleton Post-Crescent. To contact her, email mlammert@gannett.comPlease consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to Report for America by visiting postcrescent.com/RFA.



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Wisconsin NICA league visits Rhinelander for the first time

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Wisconsin NICA league visits Rhinelander for the first time


RHINELANDER, Wis. (WJFW) – The Wisconsin Chapter of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association – also known as NICA – held the fifth race of their 2024 season at Camp Tesomas Boy Scout Camp on Sunday. Renee Griswold is the Wisconsin NICA league director says the goal is to help kids of middle and high school age to find community and be their best selves through mountain biking.

“We have 977 athletes competing from across Wisconsin,” Griswold said. “They are riding a brand-new course that was built for this event. And we’re just really happy to be here.”

While the Association has never been to Rhinelander, Griswold said the Northwoods terrain had everyone excited to get up to Rhinelander for a day of riding.

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“The topography, the nature that we’re riding through,” Griswold said. “This venue itself, Camp Tesomas, is a Boy Scout camp and they have all of the amenities that we need. They have trails here already. They have space for camping, space for parking, all of the infield fun that we need. We can do all the activities we need to at this one big beautiful venue.”

Coming to beautiful new places like the Northwoods is part of what Griswold calls her “NICA why.” Which encourages athletes and coaches to ask themselves what they are riding for and why it’s important.

“For me personally, my NICA why is creating a safe space for our student-athletes and our coaches and our families to have new experiences,” Griswold said. “Everyone can do this to the best of their ability and make it their own experience and conquer their own challenges.”

The Rhinelander Northwoods Composite team also took some time to talk about what kinds of challenges they were expecting for Sunday’s races. And while they may only be in 7th grade, these kids came ready for a race on their hometown turf.

“Today…it’s a cold one, so we’ve got to stay warm,” Rhinelander Composite Mountain Biking team member Jase Houg said. “So, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be challenging for most kids but I feel like it’s going to be a good race.”

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“It’s a very technical race…more technical than a lot of the other ones,” added Houg’s teammate Hans Sommer. “There’s some bigger hill climbs and more technical riding.”

When asked what their favorite part about mountain biking is, they said that anyone can find a welcoming community in the sport.

“There’s other trails, not just super technical trails or super trails that have a bunch of jumps. There’s also trails that are fun, flowy and just more fun to ride,” Sommer said. “And you’re out in the wild. Usually, you go around school and your friends are asking you ‘what’s the Rhinelander bike team?’ and you tell them ‘oh, it’s fun. You go out with a mountain bike and buddies and you go ride around on the trails,’” Houg added.



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Trump Wisconsin visit; rallying in Juneau, Dodge County

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Trump Wisconsin visit; rallying in Juneau, Dodge County


Former President Donald Trump will deliver remarks at a rally in Juneau, Wisconsin on Sunday, Oct. 6.

He started speaking at 2 p.m. at the Dodge County Airport.

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Trump was last in Wisconsin on Oct. 1 – with stops in Milwaukee and Waunakee. He delivered remarks at Discovery World in Milwaukee on Tuesday evening. He also visited Dane Manufacturing in Waunakee.

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The day before, on Saturday, Trump rallied in Butler, Pennsylvania, the same city where he was nearly assassinated.

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Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in the Fox Valley in Wisconsin on Thursday, Oct. 3.

President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Milwaukee on Tuesday, Oct. 8, to discuss his administration’s “progress replacing lead pipes and creating good-paying jobs.”



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