Wisconsin

Wisconsin election leader ousted 6 months before election in swing state

Published

7 months ago

May 7, 2024

Press Room

Wisconsin election leader ousted 6 months before election in swing state

Trump campaigns in Wisconsin and Michigan

Trump campaigns in key swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan

03:30

Milwaukee’s election leader has been ousted by the mayor, just months before Wisconsin’s largest city will be in the spotlight in a presidential swing state.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced Monday that he would be replacing Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall with her deputy, Paulina Gutierrez.

Milwaukee has been at the center of attention in Wisconsin, a state known for close elections and where four of the past six presidential contests have been decided by less than a percentage point.

In 2020, former President Donald Trump and others were quick to cry fraud after late-arriving results from Democratic-dominated Milwaukee helped President Biden narrowly carry the state by just under 21,000 votes. Recounts demanded by Trump confirmed Mr. Biden’s victory.

A recent swing state poll by CBS News showed that the 2024 presidential race between the candidates remains extremely tight, with both Mr. Biden and Trump eliciting feelings of worry and anger. With inflation looming large, many voters don’t say there’s been improvement in their state’s economy post-pandemic, and about half said they believe it has actually gotten worse in the pandemic’s aftermath.

Why was Claire Woodall ousted?

The change has nothing to do with how Woodall ran elections, but instead had to do with “other issues internal to the election commission office and to city government that raised concern,” said the mayor’s spokesperson Jeff Fleming. He declined to say what those issues were.

“People see one side on this side of the camera, but there are other things on the other side of the camera that I also have to deal with and that’s exactly what I did with my decision,” Johnson told WISN-TV. He declined to elaborate.

Woodall did not return messages seeking comment. Her replacement, Gutierrez, also did not return messages.

Woodall has been outspoken about the challenges she and other election officials have felt in recent years.

She has described being harassed and threatened after the 2020 election via email, phone calls and letters to her home — threats serious enough that she has an assigned FBI agent to forward them to.

The change came a week after Woodall’s former deputy, Kimberly Zapata, was sentenced to probation and fined $3,000 after being convicted of misconduct in office and fraud for obtaining fake absentee ballots. Zapata argued that she was acting as a whistleblower, exposing vulnerabilities in the state’s election system.

Johnson and others who work in elections stressed that the change would not affect how elections are run in Milwaukee.

“Paulina’s integrity and capabilities are ideally suited to this position,” Johnson said in a statement announcing the change. “She will lead the office at an important juncture when public scrutiny of the work of the department will be extremely high. I have confidence in her, and I will make certain the department has the resources it needs to fulfill its duties.”

Gutierrez has only been a staff member at the city election commission for a little over a year. Neil Albrecht, who led the office for 15 years before retiring in May 2020, has offered his assistance as a volunteer, Fleming said. Woodall took over for Albrecht in 2020 and had been leading the office until now.

Following his reelection in April, Johnson had to renominate all of his Cabinet-level positions for city council approval. That is why he decided to make the change at this time, Fleming said.

None of the city’s three election commissioners returned messages seeking comment. But Ann Jacobs, a Democratic member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission from Milwaukee, said she was surprised by the move.

“Changes like this are always challenging, but given how many elections Wisconsin has there’s no ‘good time’ for these sort of changes to happen,” Jacobs said. “I expect the office to be professional and to continue their work and that the election will be run smoothly and properly.”

Jacobs stressed that elections are run by teams of people.

“The administration of elections isn’t something that is dependent on one person,” she said. “It is dependent on the workflow, the task flows and the operations of an entire office.”

Source link

Click to comment

Wisconsin

Gas prices drop lower during busy holiday travel season in Wisconsin

Published

4 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Press Room

Gas prices drop lower during busy holiday travel season in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – Gas prices are the cheapest they’ve been since the pandemic, just as people prepare to travel for the holidays.

According to AAA Wisconsin, the average gas prices is $2.86 per gallon in the state, a new low since 2020.

”We’ve had so many disruptions in the last four to five years between Covid and then the Ukraine conflict that has sent prices either far down or bringing them to historic highs,” AAA Director of Public Affairs Nick Jarmusz said. “We kind of forget what normal is.”

He said the low cost at the pump is a result of peak summer travel season ending, an even supply and demand for fuel and fewer global crises.

”Right now we’re in a pretty favorable balance between lower demand and pretty plentiful supply and no real disruptions to speak of,” he said.

Gas prices drop lower during busy holiday travel season(Marcus Aarsvold)

People can save more money at the pump if they drive the speed limit.

”By sticking closer to the speed limit, avoiding aggressive driving in situations, you can actually increase your fuel efficiency by about 40% or up to 40%,” Jarmusz said. “Which can add up to pretty significant savings.”

If trends continue, he also said prices might drop even more. ”Really, I would not be surprised to see these prices continue to go down,” Jarmusz said. “I don’t think we’ve seen the lowest prices we’ll see this year yet.”

According to AAA the best times to travel before Thanksgiving on Thursday is in the morning hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. Roads will be busiest in the afternoons.

Click here to download the WMTV15 News app or our WMTV15 First Alert weather app.

Source link

Wisconsin

Game 12 Wisconsin football two-deep for Minnesota Gophers game Nov. 29 at Camp Randall Stadium

Published

12 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

Game 12 Wisconsin football two-deep for Minnesota Gophers game Nov. 29 at Camp Randall Stadium

MADISON – A look at the unofficial two-deep for the Wisconsin football team heading into its game against Minnesota at 11 a.m. Friday at Camp Randall Stadium.

OFFENSE

Quarterback

1 – Braedyn Locke, 6-1, 205, redshirt-soph.

2 – Mabrey Mettauer, 6-4, 230, fr.

Running back

1 – Tawee Walker, 5-9, 218, sr.

2 – Darrion Dupree, 5-10, 205, fr.

Receiver

1 – Bryson Green, 6-3, 213, sr.

2 – C.J. Williams, 6-2, 196, jr.

Receiver

1 – Vinny Anthony II, 6-0, 188, jr.

2 – Quincy Burroughs, 6-2, 212, r-soph.

Slot recever

1 – Will Pauling, 5-10, 187, r-jr.

2 – Trech Kekahuna, 5-10, 187, r-fr.

Tight end

1 – Riley Nowakowski, 6-1, 243, r-sr.

2 – Tucker Ashcraft, 6-5, 255, soph.

Left tackle

1 – Jack Nelson, 6-7, 316, sr.

2 – Barrett Nelson, 6-6, 302, r-soph.

Left guard

1 – Joe Brunner, 6-5, 313- r-soph.

2. – James Durand, 6-5, 305, r-fr.

Center

1 – Jake Renfro, 6-3, 302, r-sr.

2. – Kerry Kodanko, 6-2, 308, r-sr.

Right guard

1 – Joe Huber, 6-5, 310, r-sr.

2 – JP Benzschawel, 6-6, 312, r-jr.

Right tackle

1 – Riley Mahlman, 6-8, 308, r-jr.

2 – Kevin Heywood, 6-8, 325, fr.

DEFENSE

Line

1 – Ben Barten, 6-5, 308, r-sr.

2 – Elijah Hills, 6-3, 282, sr.

Line

1 – Curt Neal, 6-0, 290, r-soph.

2 – Cade McDonald, 6-6, 285, r-sr.

Outside linebacker

1 – Darryl Peterson, 6-1, 248, r-jr.

2 – Aaron Witt, 6-6, 247, r-jr.

Inside linebacker

1 – Jake Chaney, 5-11, 233, sr.

2 – Tackett Curtis, 6-2, 228, soph.

Inside linebacker

1 – Christian Alliegro, 6-4, 240, soph.

2 – Jaheim Thomas, 6-4, 245, r-sr.

Outside linebacker

1 – Leon Lowery, 6-3, 252, r-sr.

2 – Sebastian Cheeks, 6-3, 230, r-soph., or John Pius, 6-4, 250, r-sr.

Cornerback

1 – Ricardo Hallman, 5-10, 185, r-jr.

2 – R.J. Delancy III, 5-11, 193, r-sr., or Jonas Duclona, 5-10, 190, soph.

Strong safety

1 – Hunter Wohler, 6-2, 218, sr.

2 – Owen Arnett, 5-11, 210, r-jr.

Free safety

1 – Preston Zachman, 6-1, 212, r-sr.

2 – Austin Brown, 6-1, 210, jr.

Cornerback

1 – Nyzier Fourqurean, 6-1, 190, r-sr.

2 – R.J. Delancy, 5-11, 193, r-sr., or Xavier Lucas, 6-2, 198, fr.

Nickel back

1 – Austin Brown, 6-1, 210, jr.

2 – Max Lofy, 5-10, 188, r-sr.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter

1 – Atticus Bertrams, 6-3, 225, soph.

2 – Gavin Meyers, 6-1, 198, r-sr.

Field goal kicker

1 – Nathanial Vakos, 6-1, 205, jr.

2 – Gavin Lahm, 6-0, 213, jr.

Kickoffs

1 – Gavin Lahm, 6-10, 213, jr.

2 – Nathanial Vakos, 6-1, 205, jr.

Long snapper

1 – Cayson Pfeiffer, 6-0, 205, sr.

2 – Duncan McKinley, 6-2, 222, r-sr.

Holder

1 – Gavin Meyers, 6-1, 198, r-sr.

2 – Atticus Bertrams, 6-2, 225, soph.

Punt returner

1 – Vinny Anthony II, 6-0, 188, jr.

2 – Hunter Wohler, 6-2, 218, sr.

Kickoff returner

1 – Vinny Anthony II, 6-0, 188, jr.

2 – Trech Kekahuna, 5-10, 197, r-fr.

Source link

Wisconsin

Where Wisconsin's class of 2025 ranks nationally after big-time addition of QB Carter Smith

Published

20 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

Where Wisconsin's class of 2025 ranks nationally after big-time addition of QB Carter Smith

Wisconsin football’s recruiting performance is far better than the current on-field product, to say the least.

Luke Fickell’s team has now lost four straight games after Saturday’s 44-25 defeat at Nebraska. It is just 5-6 on the season and 3-5 in Big Ten play, desperately needing a season-closing victory over Minnesota to clinch bowl eligibility.

There is more context behind that on-field performance, including the recent firing of offensive coordinator Phil Longo and historic blowout losses to rivals Iowa and Nebraska sandwiching hard-fought losses to top-ranked teams. That context doesn’t help the general trend of poor play.

But for those still optimistic about the Badgers’ future under Luke Fickell, the biggest calling card is his recruiting performance.

Wisconsin made headlines on Sunday when it landed a commitment from four-star class of 2025 quarterback Carter Smith. Smith is ranked as 247Sports’ No. 15 quarterback in the class and No. 164 overall player. Beating Florida State for his commitment was a statement for Fickell and his staff — even doing so after firing Longo just seven days earlier.

The addition of Smith brings Wisconsin’s class of 2025 to 25 total commitments — eight of which coming from blue-chip players. Notably, it rose the group four spots up to No. 21 in 247Sports’ national rankings.

The Badgers now boast the eighth-highest-rated class in the Big Ten, trailing just Ohio State (No. 2 overall), Oregon (No. 8), Michigan (No. 9), USC (No. 11), Penn State (No. 15), Washington (No. 18) and Nebraska (No. 20). The No. 21 ranking is an impressive follow-up after Luke Fickell finished the 2024 class with 247Sports’ No. 25 overall class and a Blue-Chip Ratio of 50%.

Smith’s addition continues a growing debate about how to weigh Wisconsin’s on-field struggles with its recruiting success. In reality, the 2025 football season will be somewhat defined by the performance of the 2024 recruiting class and another crop of transfers. If that strong recruiting doesn’t lead to improved on-field play, the clock may start ticking on his tenure.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion.

Source link