{"id":2232401,"date":"2024-04-29T06:48:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T10:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-all-eyes-are-on-wisconsin-going-into-the-2024-election\/"},"modified":"2024-04-29T06:50:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T10:50:59","slug":"why-all-eyes-are-on-wisconsin-going-into-the-2024-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-all-eyes-are-on-wisconsin-going-into-the-2024-election\/","title":{"rendered":"The spotlight is on Wisconsin for the 2024 election"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhy-all-eyes-are-on-wisconsin-going-into-the-2024-election%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2232401&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Wisconsin&#8217;s legislative and statewide races \u200dhave\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-israel-kills-hamas-commander-iyad-fathi-faik-sharir-idf-says\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Israel Kills Hamas Commander Iyad Fathi Faik Sharir, IDF Says\">received significant attention<\/a> from local\u200b and national officials due to the competitive \u2064nature of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bipartisan-approved-arizona-redistricting-map-threatens-democrat-tom-ohallerans-reelection-chances\/\" title=\"Bipartisan-Approved Arizona Redistricting Map Threatens Democrat Tom O'Halleran's Reelection Chances\">newly drawn maps<\/a>. In the upcoming \u2063general election, with\u2064 a near-even split of Democratic and \u200dRepublican voters, close contests are expected. The state&#8217;s political landscape \u2063is evolving,\u2064 offering Democrats a newfound\u2064 opportunity\u200d after recent rulings on legislative maps.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/wisconsin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Wisconsin<\/a>\u2019s legislative and statewide races have caught the attention of local and national officials under newly competitive maps in what is expected to be a competitive general <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2024-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>election<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/2022-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>2022 midterm elections<\/a>, outside groups spent $93 million on races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer. That number surpassed the record $61.86 million spent during the 2018 midterm elections in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery time there\u2019s a race in Wisconsin, it seems a new record for outside spending is broken, and it\u2019s just the sky\u2019s the limit,\u201d\u00a0Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Executive Director Matt Rothschild told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpr.org\/politics\/wisconsin-elections-record-93m-2022-midterms-money-spent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Wisconsin Public Radio<\/a>. \u201cRight now, we\u2019re out here in the wild, wild West.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wisconsin has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/religion\/religious-landscape-study\/state\/wisconsin\/party-affiliation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>near-even split<\/a> between voters registered as Democrats and Republicans. Races are often close in the Badger State.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are a purple state, and there is a reason the Republican National Convention is here,\u201d Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. The Republican National Convention is scheduled for July in Milwaukee. The 2020 Democratic National Convention was scheduled to be in Milwaukee but moved to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/robin-diangelo-balked-at-10k-fee-from-public-university-insisted-on-13k-for-prerecorded-speech\/\" title=\"Robin DiAngelo Balked at k Fee From Public University, Insisted on k for Prerecorded Speech\">virtual format due<\/a> to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Despite close races, Republicans have a 64-35 majority in the state Assembly and a 22-10 majority in the state Senate. The playing field may have evened for Democrats, however, as the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-dropping-millions-in-wisconsin-to-fuel-bottom-up-excitement-for-biden\/\" title=\"Democrats are investing millions in Wisconsin to boost grassroots support for Biden\">previous legislative maps<\/a>, which were considered to be some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/gerrymander.princeton.edu\/redistricting-report-card\/?planId=recAW6q19I516nHpc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>most gerrymandered<\/a> in the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you get a new set of maps, a lot of things can happen,\u201d Schimming said.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time in more than a decade, Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/2901846\/democrats-could-flip-wisconsin-state-assembly-first-time-in-decade-new-maps\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>have a chance<\/a> to win a majority in the Wisconsin Assembly. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.cnalysis.com\/23-24\/sl\/wisconsin#lower\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>CNAnalysis<\/a>, a site that accurately predicted 98 of 99 Assembly races in 2022, Democrats have a 26% chance of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.therecombobulationarea.news\/p\/projections-republican-favored-democrat-assembly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>flipping<\/a> the chamber.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can dive into the numbers, but that\u2019s the very top line is that under the old maps, right, like, [Republicans] can win,\u201d Joe Oslund, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-knows-he-messed-up-on-fracking-at-debate-and-is-now-doing-damage-control-the-daily-wire\/\" title=\"Joe Biden Knows He Messed Up On Fracking At Debate And Is Now Doing Damage Control | The Daily Wire\">communications director<\/a> for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cRepublicans could lose statewide and even still win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under the old maps, which were put in place in 2012, Republicans held at least 60 of the 99 seats each term. For 28 of the last 30 years, Republicans were able to hang on to their majority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince they\u2019re drawn now fair, whoever wins a majority of the votes is going to win a majority of the seats,\u201d Oslund said.<\/p>\n<p>The presidential election is expected to be close in Wisconsin as well. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/2020-election\/results\/wisconsin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>2020<\/a>, President Joe Biden flipped the state blue by only 20,000 votes. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/2016-election\/results\/map\/president\/wisconsin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>2016<\/a>, former President Donald Trump flipped the state red by a little more than 27,000 votes.<\/p>\n<p>Outside Democratic spenders are eyeing the Badger State\u2019s legislative races to fuel ground-up excitement for statewide and federal races, starting with the state legislature.<\/p>\n<p>The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has already donated $24,000 to each chamber of the Wisconsin legislature. Wisconsin is part of its $60 million budget this year. One group, The States Project, has pledged to spend<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/2958146\/democrats-dropping-millions-wisconsin-fuel-bottom-up-excitement-biden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title> $1 million in Wisconsin <\/a>on behalf of Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Campaign finance has been of particular interest in the Badger State. In 2015, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in favor of then-Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, about a matter surrounding campaign finance laws in the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cScott Walker is singularly responsible for rewriting campaign finance law in Wisconsin to make unlimited donations to state parties,\u201d Oslund said.<\/p>\n<p>Walker was investigated for possibly illegally coordinating campaign funds with conservative groups. In the 4-2 ruling, the high court concluded Walker had violated no such law, as the language surrounding campaign financing was \u201cunconstitutionally vague.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Walker] made great use of that, including with a lot of folks who are out of state,\u201d Oslund said. \u201cI definitely feel the frustration that there\u2019s a lot of money in politics, it\u2019s expensive to run these campaigns for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Wisconsin Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wisdc.org\/news\/press-releases\/142-press-release-2024\/7440-state-dems-raise-4x-more-than-state-gop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>outraised<\/a> the state GOP by more than four times. According to Schimming, however, the Wisconsin GOP is outraising the Wisconsin Democrats in terms of in-state funding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve outraised Wisconsin Democrats by more than 2-to-1 in in-state dollars,\u201d Schimming said. \u201cRight now, only 3% of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin fundraising comes from the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey apparently can\u2019t raise money in state, and almost all of their money comes from out of state,\u201d Schimming said. \u201cFor them to go, \u2018Oh, Scott Walker, changed the law\u2019 doesn\u2019t change the fact that they don\u2019t seem to have the appeal in state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those numbers differ for candidates in Wisconsin\u2019s U.S. Senate races. Between the state\u2019s two split senators, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) has taken in more money than his Democratic counterpart from outside state lines. From 2019-2024, Johnson received nearly 70% of his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/members-of-congress\/ron-johnson\/geography?cid=N00032546&#038;cycle=2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>funding<\/a> from out of state.<\/p>\n<p>For Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), 59% of her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/members-of-congress\/tammy-baldwin\/geography?cid=N00004367&#038;cycle=2024&#038;type=I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>fundraising<\/a> in the same time frame came from out of state.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 40% of the Wisconsin Democrats\u2019 funding in 2024 has come from one man:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/donor-lookup\/results?name=Reid+Hoffman&#038;order=desc&#038;sort=D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title> Reid Hoffman<\/a>, the founder of the social media site LinkedIn. He <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DanielBice\/status\/1773356802463154294\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>donated<\/a> $2 million in January, contributing to their total of $5.4 million.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the first six months of 2023, Hoffman donated $3.6 million to Wisconsin Democrats, which, at that point, was about the same number Republicans had raised during that time. Wisconsin Democrats also caught the eye of fellow Midwest Democratic Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D-IL), who donated $1.1 million to the Wisconsin Democrats in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Wisconsin Republicans have quarreled with the state\u2019s Democrats accepting the donations due to Hoffman\u2019s ties to Jeffery Epstein, who was charged with a conspiracy to sexually exploit vulnerable girls. In 2019, Hoffman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2019\/09\/12\/reid-hoffman-jeffrey-epstein-mit-donations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>apologized<\/a> for those visits, saying he went to Epstein\u2019s private island to fundraise for a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wisconsin&#8217;s competitive races have drawn both local and national interest with new district maps. The upcoming general election in November is set to be fiercely contested. In the 2022 midterms, external organizations allocated $93 million for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer races<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2910,"featured_media":2232402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/wisconsin-capitol-1024x596.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2232401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/wisconsin-capitol-1024x596.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2232401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2232401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2232401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2232402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2232401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2232401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2232401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}