Wisconsin
Wisconsin election leader ousted 6 months before election in swing state
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.”
Wisconsin
What time, TV channel is Johns Hopkins vs Wisconsin-River Falls game on today? Live stream, preview
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The Division III Championship Semifinals feature the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (12-1) facing off with the Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons (12-1) as they look for a chance to play for a title. Kickoff takes place on Saturday, December 20, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET (11 a.m. MST) with a live TV broadcast only with ESPN Plus.
• You can watch Johns Hopkins vs. Wisconsin-River Falls football streaming live on ESPN+ (now called ESPN Select) today.
Is Johns Hopkins vs. Wisconsin-River Falls on TV today, or streaming only?
When: Saturday, December 20, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET (11 a.m. MST).
Where: David Smith Stadium at Ramer Field | River Falls, WI
TV channel: This game is not available on traditional broadcast TV, and is only streaming on ESPN’s live sports streaming platforms available on the ESPN App with one of the “ESPN Select” or “ESPN Unlimited” subscription plans. (This is the streaming service formerly known as ESPN Plus. Here’s a look at the breakdown of ESPN streaming plans, what they cost and include.)
Where to watch streaming live on TV, or online: You can watch a live stream of this game for less than $12 on ESPN Select (It’s just $11.99/month or $119.99/full year subscription, and you can cancel anytime. Just choose the “ESPN Select” plan in the drop down to sign up for the cheapest version of the service.).
- The best deal: If you sign up for ESPN Unlimited ($29.99/month), you will get all of the ESPN networks and services, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN+, ESPN on ABC, SEC Network+, ACC Network Now and ESPN3.
- Get promo codes, signup deals, and free bets from our Oregon Betting News home page.
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – The Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association is speaking out about the U.S. House passing the “Pet and Livestock Protection Act”.
“I’ll be honest, our cattlemen are pretty fed up. I mean, they have been dealing with this issue for a long time, so. I mean just really felt like we are finally making progress here. And that’s really exciting that we can help our producers deal with this issue,” says Brady Zuck, a cow-calf producer and the past president of the Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association.
Brady Zuck, one of many livestock producers in Wisconsin, is responding to the U.S. House passing a bill to delist the gray wolf from the “Endangered Species Act”.
The population of gray wolves is increasing, and according to the Wisconsin DNR, from April 2024 to April 2025, there were 70 verified wolf conflicts with livestock.
“That’s what’s been the most frustrating, is that we have producers locally here in northwest Wisconsin or your area by Green Bay that are dealing with this issue, and it’s all controlled in Washington, and we have people in our state that could make those management decisions, but their hands are tied,” says Zuck.
Supporters of the bill say non-lethal methods used to keep gray wolves away, such as strobe lights and music, are only short-term solutions.
“We’re asking, saying hey, if we’re having problems with wolves on farms, we need ways to effectively deal with that, that work,” says Zuck.
The Great Lakes Wildlife Alliance shared a statement from Thursday about the delisting, saying: “We are disgusted by this reckless abandonment of science-based wildlife management. However, our advocates showed up in extraordinary numbers against overwhelming odds, and their voices were heard. This organization and our supporters are not defeated.”
“As cattlemen, we never said we want to eliminate all wolves, we don’t want any wolves, we never said that. But we just need to make sure we have the tools in place that we can, you know, if we have wolves killing calves, we need a way to deal with it, right?” Zuck says.
The bill still has to pass the Senate and reach the president’s desk before changes are made.
Copyright 2025 WBAY. All rights reserved.
LANSING, Iowa (KCRG) – The Black Hawk Bridge, connecting Iowa and Wisconsin over the Mississippi River will come down Friday morning.
The Iowa DOT and Wisconsin DOT are partnering on the demolition, which is set for 9:30 am on Friday. You can watch the demolition live in this article when it happens.
The bridge has been closed since October with plans to construct a new bridge, planned to open in 2027.
The Iowa DOT laid out safety plans for the demolition:
- A zone around the bridge will be blocked off to protect people from debris.
- The Lansing Ferry service will not run from 6:00 p.m. on December 18 to the morning of December 22.
- Highway 26 will be closed from around 8:45 a.m. on December 19 and reopen around 30 minutes after the implosion. Detour signs will be posted.
- The demolition zone will be closed to recreational boat traffic on December 18 and expected to reopen during the night of December 19.
- No trains will run through Lansing for four hours on the morning of December 19.
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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