Wisconsin
Harris visits battleground Wisconsin in first rally as Democrats coalesce around her for president
By ZEKE MILLER
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is making her first visit to a battleground state Tuesday after locking up enough support from Democratic delegates to win her party’s nomination to challenge Republican former President Donald Trump, two days after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.
As the Democratic Party continues to coalesce around her, Harris is traveling to Milwaukee, where she will hold her first campaign rally since she launched her campaign on Sunday with Biden’s endorsement. Harris has raised more than $100 million since Sunday afternoon and has scored the backing of Democratic officials and political groups.
Tuesday’s visit was scheduled before Biden ended his campaign, but it took on new resonance as Harris took on the mantle of her party against Trump and looked to project calm and confidence after weeks of Democratic Party confusion over Biden’s political future.
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The visit comes a week after the Republican National Convention wrapped up in the city and as Harris works to sharpen her message against the GOP nominee with just over 100 days until Election Day. Wisconsin is part of the Democrats’ “blue wall” of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that is critical to their 2024 plans.
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The vice president previewed the themes that will be prominent in her campaign against Trump on Monday during a stop at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, contrasting her time as a prosecutor with Trump’s felony convictions — “I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said — and casting herself as a defender of economic opportunity and abortion access.
“This election will present a clear choice between two different visions. Donald Trump wants to take our country back to a time before many of us had full freedoms and equal rights,” she said in a statement responding to the AP delegate tally. “I believe in a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedom and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead.”
“I am grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who has already put their faith in me, and I look forward to taking our case directly to the American people,” she added.
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By Monday night, Harris, who also ran for president in 2020, had the support of well more than the 1,976 delegates she’ll need to win on a first ballot, according to the AP tally of delegates. No other candidate was named by a delegate contacted by the AP.
Still, the AP is not calling Harris the new presumptive nominee. That’s because the convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention in August or if Democrats go through with a virtual roll call ahead of that gathering in Chicago.
The AP tally is based on interviews with individual delegates, public statements from state parties, many of which have announced that their delegations are supporting Harris en masse, and public statements and endorsements from individual delegates.
Harris was to be joined by major elected officials in Wisconsin, including Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Attorney General Josh Kaul, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler, as well as state labor leaders.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin Republican leaders are branding Harris as an “extreme liberal” who is out of step with most voters in the swing state.
“Kamala Harris’ favorables are as bad as Joe Biden’s,” said Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming at a news conference ahead of the Harris event at a high school outside of Milwaukee. “So they are exchanging one bad candidate for another bad candidate in the hope that the people of this state and this country don’t notice where she actually stands on the issues.”
AP writer Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin contributed.
Originally Published:
(WLUK) — Warm, sunny weather is expected to continue in Northeast Wisconsin’s forecast, but small storm chances can still pop-up as summerlike conditions settle in.
Weather conditions can change quickly this time of year, with summer heat fueling thunderstorms. As temperatures rise, warm and humid air lifts into the atmosphere, eventually cooling and condensing into clouds. That process continues throughout the day, allowing clouds to form thunderstorms.
Often isolated, these storms are often called “pop up storms” because they can form quickly. Unlike larger storm systems typically triggered by fronts or low-pressure systems, pop-up storms are fueled by heat and humidity. The hotter and muggier it is, the more energy is available for storms to develop.
However, not every hot summer day ends up turning stormy, but when heat and humidity are high enough, summer afternoons can quickly shift into thunderstorms.
A forecasts can indicate when conditions are favorable for thunderstorms, but pinpointing the exact location a pop-up storm will form is difficult because of how small and fast they develop.
This leads to sharp differences in the weather over short distances, meaning one neighborhood sees a downpour while another neighborhood just a few miles away stay dry.
The extended forecast often show a scattered storm chance rather than widespread rain to account for the possibility of pop-up storms.
MPS staff protest budget cuts, layoffs and for cost-of-living raises
Milwaukee Public School staff protest budget cuts, layoffs and for cost-of-living raises
Wisconsin teacher unions have seen the nation’s largest drop in strength since 2012, according to a new study from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
The Fordham Institute, a conservative-leaning education think tank, ranked Wisconsin 36th among 50 states and the District of Columbia for teacher union strength, falling 18 spots from its previous 2012 study. The rankings factored in union resources and membership, involvement in politics, the state’s labor and bargaining policies, policy wins and losses, and the perceived influence of teacher unions in the state.
The report said teacher unions across the nation are weaker than they were over a decade ago, with the percentage of teachers who are union members declining in all but four states.
In Wisconsin, membership declined from 98% in 2012 to 45% in 2025, a nearly 54 percentage point decrease and the largest drop in membership nationwide. The state ranked 43rd overall for union resources and membership compared to 13th in 2012.
The report attributed the decline in membership to Act 10, the state’s 2011 law signed by then-Gov. Scott Walker that essentially ended collective bargaining rights for public employee unions in Wisconsin.
In an email, Fordham Institute researcher Meredith Coffey said most of the data in the 2012 study predated the law, and it’s unlikely the initial report fully captured the effects of Act 10. She said the change in Wisconsin’s overall rank understates the impact of the law.
“In other words, the estimated change in rank between 2012 and today is arguably conservative,” Coffey said.
The study also found Wisconsin teacher unions’ financial resources are limited compared with unions in other states. After adjusting for cost-of-living differences, Wisconsin unions have the seventh-lowest annual revenues per teacher.
Wisconsin also ranked 44th for its labor and bargaining policies. Public-sector unions are limited to negotiating for raises capped at the rate of inflation under Act 10.
The report said just five states – Idaho, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma and Virginia – have enhanced collective bargaining rights since 2012.
Wisconsin teacher unions ranked 25th for their political involvement, specifically in elections and campaigns. In 2020 and 2022, the Fordham Institute found, the state’s teacher unions sponsored the second-highest number of state and local political ads in the nation.
About 70% of Wisconsin candidates endorsed by state-level teachers unions won their elections in 2024, according to the data.
The state’s teacher unions additionally ranked 26th in policy wins and losses, which the Fordham Institute measured by analyzing the extent to which Wisconsin policies align with union priorities.
In perceived influence, the organization ranked Wisconsin’s teacher unions 24th. Researchers said they measured this through a survey of people with knowledge of education policymaking in each state, including lawmakers, journalists, state education administrators and members of teacher unions, among others.
Overall, the study found the strongest unions are concentrated in Democrat-led, more affluent states, while the weakest are concentrated in Republican-led, poorer states.
The report said the strongest teacher unions are in Vermont, California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Hawaii. The weakest teacher unions are in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, North Carolina and Mississippi.
Kayla Huynh covers K-12 education, teachers and solutions for the Journal Sentinel. Contact: khuynh@gannett.com. Follow her on X: @_kaylahuynh.
Kayla Huynh‘s reporting is supported by Herb Kohl Philanthropies and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association.
MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly announced Tuesday the launch of a new statewide project focusing on shaping the future of education and student success.
Portrait of a Graduate was created by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to help prepare high school students for life after high school, including college, careers and community leadership.
With students having to navigate new challenges involving technology, the cost of living and evolving career paths, the project was created to give students the knowledge, skills and experiences they need, no matter what post-graduate path they take.
“We want to broaden Wisconsin’s vision for student success,” Dr. Underly said. “The world our students are preparing to enter is changing quickly, and it is critical that we hear directly from the people who know our communities best. Academic rigor is always a top priority and will not change, but we also need to ensure students leave our schools prepared to think critically, adapt, communicate, solve problems, and thrive.”
A committee of educators, students, higher education partners, statewide education organizers, employers and representatives from industries across Wisconsin is helping guide the project.
The Department of Public Instruction will be holding virtual listening sessions scheduled for May 27 from noon to 1 p.m. and June 3 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Registration for the session or more information can be found on the Department of Public Instruction’s website.
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