WisPolitics.com

As another new school year approaches, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, address the issue of students returning to public schools, colleges, and universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

Vice President Mike Pence was in the battleground state of Wisconsin last week, campaigning for another four years of him and President Donald Trump. Pence made a couple of stops, including one in Ripon, the birthplace of the Republican Party. Trump narrowly won Wisconsin in 2016 and is trailing former Vice President and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the polls.

Pence said if Biden wins the election, the country will spin into economic decline, as he is pushing a “radical” socialist agenda. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Democratic Party blasted Trump for the latest unemployment numbers, which show the country at 11% in the wake of the coronavirus. Party spokesman Phil Shulman says if Trump had taken the pandemic seriously from the start, “we wouldn’t see this many Wisconsinites suffering.”

In this week's Capitol Notes conversation, WUWM's Marti Mikkelson asked JR Ross of WisPolitics.com if Wisconsin voters can expect more heated rhetoric from both sides as it gets closer to November.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, discuss which court should take up a likely legal challenge to Wisconsin congressional and legislative district boundaries in the 2020 redistricting plan.

Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

WisBusiness: The Podcast with Mike Thirtle, Bethesda by wispolitics

The Wisconsin Republican Party held its annual state convention over the weekend in Green Bay.  About 300 people attended the two-day in-person event in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Masks were available, but few people wore them, and participants sat close to each other. The GOP took the opposite approach of state Democrats, who held an all-virtual convention last month.

Speakers at the Republican convention included a couple of top advisers to President Trump.  They blasted Democrats for “allowing mobs to destroy our cities” and referred to Trump as a “law and order” president who would win over Black voters in November. Democrats dismissed the comments as rhetoric, laced with lies and conspiracy theories. 

In this week’s Capitol Notes conversation, JR Ross of WisPolitics.com told WUWM’s Marti Mikkelson that the convention yielded several takeaways.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, look at the effect of COVID-19 on state political conventions and the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee.

Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

A federal appeals court panel has upheld some voting restrictions in Wisconsin just four months before the November presidential election. They include limits on in-person early voting hours to two weeks before an election -- and a return to requiring people to live in a district for 28 days, not 10, before they can vote.

In this week’s Capitol Notes conversation, JR Ross of WisPolitics.com discusses the winners and losers of the ruling with WUWM’s Marti Mikkelson. He also describes what the November presidential election might look like if the ruling stands.

WisBusiness: The Podcast with Kurt Bauer, WMC by wispolitics

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, discuss the appointment of former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson as interim president of the UW System.

Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence made separate stops in Wisconsin last week, while surrogates for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden held a virtual event here. Both sides took swipes at each other during their appearances.

In this week’s Capitol Notes conversation, WUWM’s Marti Mikkelson asked Jeff Mayers of WisPolitics.com if all the attention signals Wisconsin’s importance in the November election.