Trump's heir? Pence reemerges, lays groundwork for 2024 run
FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2021, file photo, former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen walk from the plane to greet supporters after arriving back in his hometown of Columbus, Ind. Conspicuously absent from the list: Mike Pence. The former vice president is steadily reentering public life as he eyes a potential run for the White House in 2024. Ad“Obviously Mike Pence has a very different persona, a very different tone. The anger at Pence took a dangerously personal turn on Jan. 6 when rioters paraded through the Capitol chanting “Hang Mike Pence” as a mob outside set up a makeshift gallows.
Foxconn mulls making electric vehicles at Wisconsin plant
Foxconn Chairman Young Liu speaks in a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest electronics manufacturer, is looking at making electric vehicles in its highly anticipated and controversial Wisconsin plant that has been scaled back since its announcement in 2017, the company's chairman said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)TAIPEI – Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest electronics manufacturer, is considering making electric vehicles at its highly anticipated Wisconsin plant that has been scaled back since its announcement in 2017, the company's chairman said Tuesday. The decision will be between whether to go to Mexico or the U.S. for manufacturing electric vehicles, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said at a news conference in Taipei, Taiwan's capital. The Wisconsin project was scaled back after Foxconn initially signed a contract with the state of Wisconsin under then-Gov.
Wisconsin hunters exceed wolf target by nearly 100 animals
Nontribal hunters and trappers registered 216 wolves as of Thursday afternoon, blowing past the state's kill target of 119. The wolf season began Monday and was supposed to run through Sunday, but the DNR shut it down Wednesday afternoon as it became clear hunters would exceed the target. Hunters and trappers also exceeded their kill targets in the three previous wolf seasons but never by more than 10 animals. The state sold 1,547 permits, which equates to 13 hunters or trappers per wolf in the target number, the highest ratio of any wolf season so far. Animal advocates have been urging the state to move quickly on reintroduction, but state officials say they want to move slowly.
Trump returns to spotlight in trial — but not on his terms
Former President Trump has named two lawyers to his impeachment defense team, one day after it was revealed that the former president had parted ways with an earlier set of attorneys. More than three weeks removed from the White House, Donald Trump's voice is again permeating the nation's capital — but not on his terms. Trump's team and allies have assured him that he has more than enough Republican votes to acquit him of the Democrats’ charge that he incited the insurrection on Jan. 6. Trump is not expected to make any changes to his team, though David Schoen is expected to take the central role. He no longer has a White House press corps on standby to chronicle his every utterance.
Longtime Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Abrahamson dies
FILE- In this Nov. 11, 2013 file photo, Wisconsin Supreme Court chief justice Shirley Abrahamson questions state attorney general J.B. Van Hollen, at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis. Abrahamson, the longest-serving Wisconsin Supreme Court justice in state history and the first woman to serve on the high court, has died. King /Wisconsin State Journal via AP, Pool, File)MADISON, Wis. – Shirley Abrahamson, the longest-serving Wisconsin Supreme Court justice in state history and the first woman to serve on the high court, has died. Abrahamson, who also served as chief justice for a record 19 years, died Saturday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, her son Dan Abrahamson told The Associated Press on Sunday. The voter-approved amendment enabled members of the court to choose the chief justice — who oversees the state court system — instead of requiring the title go to the most senior justice. Justice Patience Roggensack has served as chief justice since then.
Biden shores up fragile 'blue wall' in industrial north
“It’s a mistake to ever have thought Wisconsin was a safely blue state,” said state Democratic Chairman Ben Wikler. To reverse Clinton's losses in the “blue wall” states, Biden benefited from both strong suburban turnout and in the urban centers of Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. Even in losing Republican-heavy Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Biden's suburban gains were part of his winning Wisconsin formula. Trump also lost Saginaw County, Michigan, a struggling former General Motors supply manufacturing county Obama carried before the president flipped. But we're still a manufacturing economy and nearly stagnant in our growth,” Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Wertz said.
Biden narrowly wins Wisconsin; Trump to call for a recount
(AP Photo/Stephen Groves)MADISON, Wis. – Democrat Joe Biden narrowly won battleground state Wisconsin on Wednesday, edging out President Donald Trump in a state that was crucial to the incumbent’s victory four years ago. The last presidential recount, done in 2016, cost Green Party candidate Jill Stein $3.5 million. In the recount of the 2016 presidential race, the state elections commission ordered on Nov. 29 that the recount begin on Dec. 1. In the Wisconsin recount, Democrat Hillary Clinton gained 713 votes while Trump picked up 844, widening his lead by 131 votes. There were several reasons why some ballots were counted or not during the 2016 recount, said Scott McDonnel, the Dane County clerk, on Wednesday.
Beyond November: At GOP convention, there's a 2024 subplot
WASHINGTON Republicans this week are focused squarely on their convention's star, President Donald Trump, and securing his reelection in November. Theres a lot happening behind the scenes already," said Republican strategist Alex Conant, who worked for the 2016 campaign of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Also allotted time slots: Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Florida Sen. Rick Scott and Donald Trump Jr. "Theres others out there, but nobody else is even close in that stratosphere.Much will depend on whether Trump secures a second term. In her convention speech Monday night, Haley gave an unabashed endorsement of the president while spending time introducing herself to viewers.
Pelosi tells fellow Democrats 'it's all riding on Wisconsin'
MADISON, Wis. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a stark reminder to Wisconsin Democrats on Thursday about the importance the battleground state plays in the presidential election less than 11 weeks away. No pressure, its all riding on Wisconsin, Pelosi told more than 100 Democrats during a virtual meeting tied to the final day of the Democratic National Convention. No pressure.Democrats, as well as President Donald Trump, have made no secret how essential winning Wisconsin is to the race this year. Wisconsin did not get the national attention it hoped for when the Democratic convention originally planned for Milwaukee moved online. The road to the presidency runs through Wisconsin, said Holder, who was attorney general under former President Barack Obama.
2020 Watch: Does Trump have a strategy to win in November?
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump points as he arrives to speak at a campaign rally, in Toledo, Ohio. Multiple polls suggest that a majority of voters, including many Republicans, simply don't believe what Trump says about the pandemic. Meanwhile, Trump also refused to say whether he would accept the results of the general election. Scott Walker, the former Wisconsin governor and a Trump ally, tells us that he sees no clear strategy coming from the Trump campaign. ___2020 Watch runs every Monday and provides a look at the week ahead in the 2020 election.
Biden eyes GOP supporters while Trump focuses on his base
FILE - In this June 20, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., Saturday, June 20, 2020. As the closing stretch of the campaign nears, that effort will expand to include Republicans disaffected with President Donald Trump. At the least, she said GOP backers could help mute Trumps efforts to paint Biden as a tool of the left. But Walker said he has no clear sense of Trump's campaign message or political strategy. Acknowledging concerns about his campaign, Trump named veteran GOP operative Bill Stepien as his new campaign manager.
Democrats warn against overconfidence in fight against Trump
Biden and his leading supporters are stepping up warnings to Democrats to avoid becoming complacent. If the election were held today, I think Biden would win Michigan, said Michigan Rep. Debbie Dingell. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was leading by wide margins nationally and in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania -- the very states that ultimately put Trump over the top. Still, in Biden, Trump faces an opponent with a stronger standing among some groups of voters, especially independents, than Clinton had. While Trump animates the left, Dingell warned that Democrats havent closed the deal with alienated moderates and can unwittingly help Trump expand his white base.
Joe Biden turns focus to Wisconsin with battle-tested hires
Wisconsin, where Trump won by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016, joins newly emerging battleground Arizona as the first two states where Biden has named his campaign team. Two veterans of Sen. Tammy Baldwins successful 2018 reelection campaign will run Bidens Wisconsin operation. Shirley Ellis, a longtime adviser to U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, will join Biden team as a strategic adviser focused on Milwaukee. She will join Bidens campaign formally after the August convention, according to the campaign. The Wisconsin team, especially, is intended to show that the Biden campaigns talk of a wide map isnt at the exclusion of traditional battlegrounds.
'It's broken:' Fears grow about strength of US voting system
A person waits in line to vote in the Georgia's primary election at Park Tavern on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, in Atlanta. President Donald Trump is also fighting states' plans to expand voting by mail, raising repeated concerns with no evidence about voter fraud. Beyond lines, the mail voting boom has caused unprecedented reporting delays. Scott Walker, a Republican, said he's confident in the state's voting system and blames any issues on the incompetence of municipal election officials. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said he's working to ensure Ohio has adequate poll workers.