“Wisconsin business owner Bill Berrien, a supporter of President Donald Trump, ended his Republican campaign for governor on Friday, days after it was reported that he followed numerous sexually explicit accounts online, including a nonbinary pornography performer,” the AP reports.
Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 193
The Magnificent Seven
Trial Balloon · Ep. 193: The Magnificent Seven
Tom Tiffany to Run for Wisconsin Governor
Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) “became the third Republican to launch a 2026 campaign for governor, formally jumping into the race after long teasing a bid,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
GOP Candidate Follows Sexually Explicit Accounts
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Bill Berrien (R) is campaigning as a conservative leader who stands up for family values and is especially critical of transgender individuals, saying they are engaged in “radical social experimentation,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“But Berrien’s online footprint tells a different story — one that he quietly tried to erase in recent days.”
“On Medium.com — an older online platform, similar to Substack — Berrien, 56, has an account that was following a transgender porn star named Jiz Lee and several other authors of sexually explicit essays.”
“Other writers he was following include Octavio Morrison, author of ‘7 Types of Orgasmic Sensations’ and ‘3 Terrible Reasons to Have a Threesome’ and Emma Austin, who calls herself ‘a wholesome perv with a touch of whimsy’ who has posted items such as ‘Pegging is A-OK,’ and ‘I Love Getting Jackhammered.'”
Wisconsin Governor’s Race is a Toss Up
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball moves the Wisconsin governor’s race to Toss Up because Gov. Tony Evers (D) will not run again.
Tony Evers Won’t Seek a Third Term
“Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers will not seek a third term, retiring from elected public office after nearly two decades and prompting the first wide-open gubernatorial race since 2010,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“The Democratic governor made his announcement in a recorded video, saying although he expects he would win another term he wants to spend more time with his family.”
Candidate Promises Permanent GOP Control of Wisconsin
“Hinting at his plans to overhaul how elections are run, the Republican running for governor of Wisconsin this week said his party would permanently control the state if he wins,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Tim Michels (R): “Republicans will never lose another election in Wisconsin after I’m elected governor.”
Race for Wisconsin Governor Is Very Tight
A new CNN poll in Wisconsin finds Gov. Tony Evers (D) has the support of 50% of likely voters, while challenger Tim Michels (R) has 48%, a finding that’s well within the survey’s margin of error.
The Senate race is also very close with Sen. Ron Johnson (R) edging challenger Mandela Barnes (D), 50% to 49%.
Tim Michels Calls the Police a Lot
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels (R) has called police to his home more than a dozen times over the past 20 years, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
GOP Candidate Suggests He Wouldn’t Enforce Abortion Ban
Tim Michels (R), who is locked in a tight race with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), suggested that he did not support enforcing the swing state’s near-total ban on abortions, saying “I will never arrest a doctor” before his campaign walked back his comment, the AP reports.
Ron Johnson Pulls Ahead in Wisconsin
A new Marquette Law School Poll survey of Wisconsin finds a wider margin in the U.S. Senate race than a month ago.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R) now leads challenger Mandela Barnes (D), 52% to 46%.
In the governor’s race, Gov. Tony Evers (D) barely edges challenger Tim Michels (R), 47% to 46%.
Why Wisconsin Has Such Odd Politics
The Economist: “On the one hand, it retains a large blue-collar workforce—19% of the state’s GDP comes from manufacturing—who have been drifting more towards Republicans in recent years, making the state look more like Indiana or Ohio, which are now both solidly Republican. On the other hand, it also has a vast and growing progressive vote, particularly around Madison, the home of the largest University of Wisconsin campus. About 7% of the state’s adult population consists of students, who are well organised, and who this year especially, have been fired up by the Supreme Court’s decision to undo abortion rights (it helps that Wisconsin now has, by virtue of a law passed in 1849, one of the strictest bans on abortion in the country.)”
“This helps to explain why the Badger State is so weird. Essentially, when Democrats can motivate their electorate (which also includes the large black population of Milwaukee, and a surprising rural redoubt in the north-west) they can win. The state’s junior senator, Tammy Baldwin, is a lesbian progressive who wants America to introduce universal health care. But when they fail, Republicans, with their more unified base, can also get in their own radicals. Ron Johnson thinks global warming is fake, covid-19 vaccines are dangerous, and that the Trumpist riot on January 6th 2021 was no big deal.”
Republicans Hold Small Leads in Wisconsin
A new AARP poll in Wisconsin finds Sen. Ron Johnson (R) leading challenger Mandela Barnes (D) by five points, 51% to 46%.
In the governor’s race, Tim Michels (R) leads Gov. Tony Evers (D) by three points, 50% to 47%.
Very Tight Races In Wisconsin
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Wisconsin shows Sen. Ron Johnson (R) and challenger Mandela Barnes (D) in a dead heat, 47% to 47%.
In the race for governor, Tony Evers (D) edges Tim Michels (R), 48% to 46%.
Wisconsin Republican Calls for ‘Pitchforks and Torches’
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels (R), who was endorsed by Donald Trump, is calling for people to take up “pitchforks and torches” in reaction to a story that detailed his giving to anti-abortion groups, the AP reports.
Trump’s Candidate Wins GOP Nod for Wisconsin Governor
Trump-backed Tim Michels (R) is projected to win the Wisconsin GOP gubernatorial primary, setting the stage for a marquee fall race against Gov. Tony Evers (D), the Washington Post reports.
Tommy Thompson Won’t Attempt Comeback
Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R), a Republican elected to four terms starting in the 1980s, announced that he will not run again in a bid to take on the Democratic incumbent in the battleground state, the AP reports.
It’s Still 2020 for Wisconsin Republicans
Washington Post: “In just the last four weeks, a state legislator who believes the election can be decertified has jumped into the race for governor; former lieutenant governor Rebecca Kleefisch (R), who has led in polls of that primary, would not say if she would have certified the 2020 election; and a Vos-appointed special counsel told the legislature that it ‘ought to take a very hard look’ at decertifying President Biden’s 10 electoral votes in the state.”
Said Gov. Tony Evers (D): “They are leapfrogging over each other to get the far, far right. They may want to forget about that, when whoever wins the primary runs against me. But we won’t let them forget about that.”
Election Denier to Run for Wisconsin Governor
Wisconsin state Rep. Timothy Ramthun (R), “who was disciplined by the Assembly leader over false election claims and who has repeatedly called on his colleagues to take the impossible action of overturning Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election results, appears to be running for governor,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“A Ramthun entry into the race would scramble the Republican primary for governor. Ramthun has been praised publicly and privately by former President Donald Trump for his push to undo the 2020 election result, a legally impossible task.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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