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Category: State news

Early in-person voting in Wisconsin surpasses last two presidential elections

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Barry Burden, professor of American politics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it is difficult to compare the numbers to the past two presidential elections because of the pandemic and the longer period allowed for early in-person voting in 2016. However, he said the interest in early in-person voting appears widespread and that there is “clearly a new desire among Wisconsin voters to cast their ballots in person early this year.”

“It is happening at higher rates in communities of different sizes and with different partisan tendencies,” he said in an email.

With new legislative maps in place, Democrats set their sights on the Assembly

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the university’s Elections Research Center, called the spending “astounding.”

“I think the competitiveness of the state legislature this year is the main driver. This is the first time in 14 years that the Assembly has truly been up for grabs between the two parties,” he said. “And there’s no shortage of people who want to give money to try to flip it in their direction.”

Research suggests women farmers may improve local economies

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Wisconsin Public Radio

New research has found that communities with more women-owned or -operated farms have higher rates of business creation, lower poverty rates and a longer average life expectancy.

University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Steven Deller is a co-author of the research first published in January. Deller and colleagues argue that the reduction in rural poverty is particularly important.

‘Voter rescue’: Help in Milwaukee for hundreds who show up at wrong place

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Wisconsin Watch

“This is a really interesting phenomenon,” said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, adding that he had not heard of such initiatives elsewhere. He noted similar confusion among students at UW-Madison, where the early voting site is not always the same as the Election Day polling place.

Could Latino voters decide 2024 election in Wisconsin? It’s possible.

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Wisconsin Public Radio

“If they were registered, Wisconsin would be a no-contest,” said Ben Marquez, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist studying Latino political organization and behavior. “Kamala Harris wouldn’t even have to come here to win. They’d just go out and vote two-to-one for her, and she’d take the state.”

Wisconsin crop harvest is weeks ahead thanks to dry, warm weather

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Jerry Clark, crops educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension, said harvest is at least two weeks ahead of schedule in the western Wisconsin counties of Chippewa, Dunn and Eau Claire where he works.

“Since corn silage started to be harvested in the early part of September right through today, it’s been excellent conditions for getting the crop off,” Clark said on Wednesday.

Limits on non-citizen voting: What to know about Wisconsin’s Nov. 5 referendum

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Even if local officials in Wisconsin wanted to let non-citizens vote on local races or proposals, it’s not clear whether current state law would allow that change, according to analysis from the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.

“Courts  in other states have reached divergent conclusions about whether provisions akin to Wisconsin’s current constitutional text allow municipalities to authorize local noncitizen voting,” the analysis noted.

Conservative talk radio continues to be a powerful political tool in Wisconsin

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Wisconsin Watch

Although less popular than local television and some other forms of media, local radio generally gains strong trust from those who listen, according to Mike Wagner, a University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism and mass communication researcher and professor. In Wisconsin, during the 2016 election, radio stations were airing around 200 hours of conservative talk every day, according to one UW-Madison study.

Sykes’ WTMJ show was Walker’s primary connection to a statewide audience, according to Lew Friedland, distinguished journalism and mass communication professor emeritus and researcher at UW-Madison. “Without Charlie Sykes, I don’t think there would have been a Scott Walker,” Friedland said, calling Sykes “one of the top three most important political actors” at the time.

Journal Sentinel’s Main Street Agenda town hall meeting discusses inflation. Here’s what we learned.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Yes, inflation has gone down, says Menzie Chinn, a UW-Madison economics and public affairs professor. But there’s a catch. He said that, though the rate of prices going up has slowed, it doesn’t mean prices are coming down. “Prices are flattening out,” Chinn said. “They are not going up as fast as they were, but they are still going up.”

J. Michael Collins, UW-Madison professor at La Follette School of Public Affairs and School of Human Ecology, said inflation hits people differently across the state, with one in four saying they’ve had trouble meeting expenses, especially rent, which can be a third to half of a person’s income.

The Main Street Agenda project uncovers top issues among Wisconsin residents

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Wisconsin Public Radio

The Main Street Agenda is a project done in partnership between the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison. La Follette Director Susan Yackee told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” the project aims to get people from different political backgrounds talking with one another.

“We need to be able to talk to each other to get to the mission of the La Follette School, which is evidence-based policymaking,” she said. “That oftentimes takes political compromise and we just can’t get to political compromise if people aren’t talking to each other anymore.”

Watch our Main Street Agenda town hall meeting on inflation

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Journal Sentinel partnered with the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Wisconsin Public Radio on the Main Street Agenda, a 2024 election project designed to focus on the issues Wisconsin voters care about most. Panelists included Menzie Chinn, professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs and Department of Economics at UW-Madison, and . J. Michael Collins, professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs and School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison.

Change is on the Air: New series explores state of Wisconsin talk radio ahead of November election

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Wisconsin Watch

In a new series, student journalists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, led by Wisconsin Watch State Bureau Chief Matthew DeFour, explore all of those changes. The students who collaborated on this series include: Benjamin Cadigan, Hallie Claflin, Meryl Hubbard, Ray Kirsch, Frankie Pica, Ashley Rodriguez, Andrew Schneider, Sophia Scolman, Paige Stevenson and Omar Waheed.

Far from the border, immigration a top GOP issue in swing state Wisconsin

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Trump regularly invokes anecdotes about immigration and crime. But despite some high-profile individual cases, University of Wisconsin-Madison sociologist Michael Light says research shows increased immigration is not tied to higher crime rates.

“Criminologists have been studying the issue of immigration and crime for over a century and, generally speaking, what we find is that immigrants tend to have lower crime rates than native-born U.S. citizens,” he said. “It’s a fairly consistent finding.”

Voters in Wisconsin are weighing which candidate better understands their economic anxieties.

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The New York Times

The middle class is an amorphous concept that neither candidate has really defined. But one thing is clear, said Katherine Cramer, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison — the days when “middle class” meant “stability” are long gone.

“Now, there’s just so much precarity in terms of people not being sure of whether the jobs that they’re currently in are going to be there in the future,” Cramer said. “They’re not sure of their ability to maintain their standard of living, whether it’s meeting their mortgage payments or rental payments.”

Wisconsin has among the lowest kindergarten vaccine rates in the U.S. That worries doctors

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Dr. James Conway, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and medical director of UW Health’s immunization program, said the personal convictions exemption tends to be applied loosely.

“It’s been allowed to be interpreted as, basically, if you don’t want it, you don’t have to get it,” he said.

Wisconsin family farms increasingly relying on off-farm employment to supplement income

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Wisconsin Public Radio

The economic relationship between Wisconsin family farms and the rural communities that surround them is changing.

UW-Madison agricultural and applied economics professor Steve Deller said that smaller farms are struggling to generate enough income to support themselves, so families are more often turning to off-farm employment to help pay the bills.

State estimates around 40 percent of private wells contain pesticides

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Trade associations for corn, soybean, potato and vegetable growers in Wisconsin were either unavailable or didn’t respond to requests for comment. Russ Groves, chair of the Department of Entomology at UW-Madison, said detections of pesticides are unfortunately a logical outcome in areas where agriculture is more intense on the landscape.

“Those are the tools that we have relied upon so that we don’t have real significant economic losses for a producer or an industry,” Groves said.

Wisconsin’s air quality continues to improve, UW-Madison professor says

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Earlier this year, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency tightened air quality regulations across the United States.

University of Wisconsin-Madison environmental studies professor Tracey Holloway told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that these regulations are the tightest they’ve ever been. And that means our air is the cleanest it’s ever been.

The high stakes of mapping the Midwest

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In These Times

The Princeton Gerrymandering Project described the Wisconsin district lines as ​“some of the most extreme partisan gerrymanders in the United States.”

How extreme? In 2012, while 48.6% of voters backed Republican candidates for the Wisconsin Assembly, Republicans ​“won” 60 of 99 seats. There was ​“no question — none — that the recent redistricting effort distorted the vote,” explained University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Kenneth Mayer.

Attending college in Wisconsin and unsure how to vote? Here’s our Election 2024 student voter guide

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

College students can play a pivotal role in a swing state like Wisconsin, where elections are often won by razor-thin margins.

Voting rules can be confusing to navigate — and even more so for college students, most of whom live at a new address each school year. Here’s a guide on what to know, where to register and how to vote:

2 years after fall of Roe, Democrats campaign on abortion rights, ‘freedom’

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Wisconsin Public Radio

During an interview with WPR, UW-Madison Professor of Sociology Emerita Myra Marx Ferree said when Roe fell, “it was like this bucket of cold water poured on the public consciousness” and Americans began seeing the abortion issue as far deeper than simply having a choice.

“It’s fundamental, it’s freedom, it’s rights. It’s respect for you as a human being. It’s justice,” said Marx Ferree. “Freedom is not about buying coats or shoes or taking a vacation or not taking a vacation. Freedom is about determining the course of your life.”

Survey: Demand for child care outpaces providers’ capacity

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Wisconsin Public Radio

Hilary Shager, author of the report and associate director of the University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty, said not having enough staff was a primary reason for not expanding capacity, mostly among group providers. She said providers pointed to low compensation as one of their top issues.

Voter frustration fueled by lack of policy details on issues like health care, climate

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The town hall meeting featured a panel discussion with two faculty members from the La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison who focus on climate change and health care policy, Morgan Edwards and Yang Wang, and Laura Olson, chief business development officer at Eneration, a subsidiary of Gundersen Health System that helps health care companies reduce their energy costs.

Chancellor Mnookin reflects on free speech, student housing, protest violations during media roundtable

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The Daily Cardinal

A lot has been on University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin’s plate since the spring.

Between a 12-day pro-Palestine encampment and juggling the university budget process, she’s had to carefully tread an upcoming election with a student body that has divided perspectives. Mnookin and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori Reesor sat down with campus media Tuesday to discuss free speech efforts, the affordable housing shortage and protest culture.