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In this update:
- Election Updates
- Court Updates
- Administration Updates
- Committee Schedule
- Upcoming Events
| | 2026 State Senate Races Starting to Take Shape | | Next fall, there will be four competitive seats that could determine the majority control of the State Senate. Three of the seats are currently held by Republican Senators: Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green, 17th SD), Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield, 5th SD), and Van Wanggaard (R-Racine, 21st SD), and the fourth seat is represented by Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick, 31st SD). With an 18-15 majority, Republicans would need to win two of the four competitive seats to retain the majority. Democrats would need to win three of the four competitive seats to flip the chamber to Democratic control for the first time since the 2009-2010 Legislative Session. | | |
Smith announces re-election bid
State Senator Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) this week told WisPolitics he is “absolutely running” for re-election next fall in the 31st Senate District. The statement followed the latest campaign finance report filed by Sen. Smith showing an increase in fundraising over the first six months of 2025, raising $67,370 during the most recent reporting period. The total is almost three times as much as his previous best six-month fundraising period during his second term in 2023. “This entire year, I’ve been zeroed in on running,” Sen. Smith said in a phone interview. Former Vice President Kamala Harris took the 31st SD by 2.2 percentage-points in 2024 over President Donald Trump. Similarly, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) and State Supreme Court Justice Susan Crawford both won the district over their conservative opponents.
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Vining announces run for 5th Senate District
State Representative Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) announced on Thursday via a Facebook post, that included a picture of her surrounded by Democratic legislative colleagues, that she is running for the 5th Senate District seat currently represented by State Senator Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield). According to a report by Wispolitics.com Rep Vining raised $3,061 during the 6 months of the year, and has $22,371 cash-on-hand in her campaign account. During the same time period, Sen. Hutton raised $5,671 and reported $22,371 cash-on-hand. Former Vice President Kamala Harris won the 5th SD by 6 percentage-points over President Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D) carried the 5th SD by 6 percentage-points over Republican candidate Eric Hovde in 2024. Another Democrat, small business owner and community advocate, Sarah Harrison, an unsuccessful two-time State Assembly candidate, has also announced her candidacy for the seat.
| | Currently there are no candidates announced in the 21st Senate District represented by Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine). In the 17th Senate District, two candidates have previously announced their campaigns to challenge incumbent State Senator and Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Finance Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green); State Rep. Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon) and Platteville small business owner Lisa White. | | Candidates file finance reports | | |
Candidates for statewide and legislative offices filed their finance reports for the July Continuing period, which covers all activity between January 1 and June 30, 2025.
Governor
Gov. Evers raised $757,215, compared to the same period in July 2021 when he pulled in more than $5 million. On the GOP side, Bill Berrien’s Never out of the Fight PAC reported $1.2 million in receipts since it launched two months ago, with $1 million of that coming from brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss of New York, known for their prominent roles in the social media and cryptocurrency industries. Meanwhile, the other announced GOP candidate for governor, Josh Schoemann, pulled in $424,144 since launching his bid May 4.
Tony Evers
Raised: $757,214.58
Spent: $806,424.90
Cash on hand: $2,072,517.37
Josh Schoemann
Raised: $424,143.82
Spent: $85,905.09
Cash on hand: $338,238.73
Never out of the Fight (Bill Berrien PAC)
Raised: $1,158,127.27
Spent: $160,527.30
Cash on hand: $997,599.97
Supreme Court
Conservative state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley, who has said she is running for re-election in 2026, raised no money during the reporting period. Her opponent, liberal Circuit Court Judge Chris Taylor raised $583,933 since joining the race six weeks ago. For comparison, recently-elected Justice Susan Crawford had reported $461,274 raised in July 2024 prior to her successful bid in April 2025.
Chris Taylor
Raised: $583,933
Spent: $76,799.78
Cash on hand: $510,178.90
Attorney General
Attorney General Josh Kaul raised $144,231 during the reporting period, roughly a third of what he raised four years ago prior to his successful election bid. During the July 2021 reporting period, AG Kaul had already raised $410,924 and had $537,723 cash on hand.
Josh Kaul
Raised: $144,230.69
Spent: $74,951.34
Cash on hand: $470,971.99
| | Berrien launches first ad | | |
Republican businessman Bill Berrien announced his first ad of his governor campaign after announcing his bid last week. The 30-second ad will run on cable, streaming services, digital, and radio, targeting conservative voters. The campaign will have an emphasis in the Milwaukee and Green Bay markets and statewide radio and digital. The ad compares Mr. Berrien to President Donald Trump, saying he’s an outsider and a businessman. Trump supporters have been hesitant of Mr. Berrien since he supported Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP primary and expressed criticism to the president in 2020 for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Berrien says, “President Trump is taking back Washington for the American people. Now it’s time to take back our state.”
Watch the ad here.
| | WI GOP congressional delegation urges SCOWIS to reject redistricting challenge | |
Wisconsin’s GOP congressional delegation is urging the state Supreme Court to reject a request from Law Forward to appoint a three-judge panel to hear a redistricting challenge to the state’s congressional maps.
In a recent letter to the Court, GOP attorney Misha Tseytlin argued that the state Supreme Court—not a lower court—should decide whether such a panel has the constitutional authority to overturn congressional maps the state Supreme Court approved in 2022. In the letter, Mr. Tseytlin contends that because the panel would be an “inferior tribunal,” it lacks the power to override a decision made by the state’s highest court. Recently, the court has already rejected two previous lawsuits seeking to overturn Wisconsin’s congressional maps.
| | Lawsuit alleges "Brazen Scheme" backed by Elon Musk to influence Wisconsin Supreme Court Race | | |
A lawsuit filed on behalf of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign accuses Elon Musk and affiliated groups—including America PAC and United States of America Inc.—of orchestrating a “brazen and illegal scheme” to sway the outcome of the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election. According to the complaint, the defendants violated state election-bribery laws by offering large cash payments to voters, including three $1 million “awards” to Wisconsinites who voted for Musk-endorsed candidate Judge Brad Schimel.
“We are fighting for free and fair elections,” said Jeff Mandell of Law Forward. “We believe our democracy demands better than schemes like the one detailed in our complaint. So, we are working to hold Musk accountable and stop this from becoming the new normal.”
See full press release here.
| Supreme Court of Wisconsin selects one case for Review | | |
At its June 25 conference, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to accept one case and decline review of several others. The accepted case is:
Case No. 2024AP126 - Wren v. Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Inc.
Issue: Whether Wis. Stat. § 894.4801, which grants immunity to healthcare providers for allegedly negligent actions during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, violates an individual’s constitutional right to a jury trial.
Pending appellate cases can be found here.
Published Court of Appeals opinions can be found here.
Supreme Court case status can be found here.
| | Trump Trade 2.0: Trump Releasees Trade Letters for the EU and Mexico | | |
On July 12, President Trump announced a new set of tariffs against both Mexico and the European Union to go into effect on August 1. Imports from both the EU and Mexico will face a tariff rate of 30% exclusive of current and proposed Section 232 tariffs for sectoral imports like steel, aluminum, autos, pharmaceuticals, copper, semiconductors, critical minerals, aircraft and trucks. It remains unclear whether Mexican goods exported under the USMCA will continue to be exempted from tariffs.
Read the complete update from the Michael Best Strategies Federal Team.
Are you concerned about the impacts of the outlined trade issues? Please contact Sarah Helton, Michael Best Strategies’ Trade Practice Lead at sarah.helton@michaelbest.com for assistance.
| | DHS releases memo on Medicaid | |
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) released a memo addressing Wisconsinites’ access to Medicaid following the passage of the federal budget reconciliation bill. The agency wrote the bill will increase barriers for FoodShare and Medicaid members as well as “force 270,000 Wisconsinites to lose health insurance by taking away necessary support for them to afford health care coverage.” The memo provides an overview of Medicaid provisions like losing $1.3 billion in additional federal funding for Medicaid expansion, changing eligibility for retroactive coverage, and limiting the state’s ability to finance the Medicaid program sustainably.
Governor Tony Evers (D) said in the news release, "Republicans' vote to cut popular programs like Medicaid will have a devastating impact on working families, kids, seniors, and Wisconsinites across our state. Wisconsinites will lose access to their health care and basic necessities like food that people depend on every day—and all so Republicans could pay for tax breaks for wealthy millionaires and billionaires. Make no mistake: the people of Wisconsin and our state will not be better off because of this bill."
Wisconsin Health News hosted a “What’s Next for Medicaid” luncheon this week. Wisconsin Medicaid Director Bill Hanna discussed the topics highlighted in the memo as well as the challenges the agency is facing during the event. Regarding requirements to the Medicaid programs, he said, “It'll be really important to see the specific rules from CMS, which are not due out until June of next year, which is an incredible challenge for us to get the technical rules in June and have only six months to make all the changes to our system, to make data connections and to communicate to individuals what they have to do.”
| Gov. Evers and WisDOT deliver $174M boost to local road improvements | |
On July 14, Governor Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) announced that counties and municipalities across the state have received $174 million in General Transportation, Connecting Highway, and Expressway Policing Aids. These funds will support the repair, maintenance, and improvement of local roads and highways in communities throughout Wisconsin.
“Whether driving to work or school, heading to an appointment, or exploring one of our state’s natural wonders, local roads are the first and last mile of nearly everyone’s trip, so keeping local infrastructure in good repair is essential,” said Gov. Evers. “Over the past six years, we’ve made considerable progress to ensure our local communities have the 21st-century infrastructure needed to get folks from point A to point B safely and efficiently and keep our economy moving forward, and I was proud to sign a budget that continues to invest in the safe, efficient transportation system Wisconsinites deserve.”
“We’re working hard to deliver on the governor’s promise of improved roads and quality infrastructure,” said WisDOT Secretary Kristina Boardman. “Wisconsinites shouldn’t have to wonder if the road or bridge they’re driving on is safe. Thanks to increased transportation investment, our department’s commitment to fixing roads and maintaining bridges, along with the strong partnerships we have with local governments, infrastructure improvements can be felt in all corners of our state.”
See full press release here.
| | As of 12:00 pm Friday, there have been no committee meetings scheduled for next week. Committee and Agency meeting notices are frequently updated and can be found here (for the Legislature) and here (for the Administration). | | |
Monday, August 25th at 11:30am - Meet the Cabinet with Department of Children and Families Secretary-Designee Jeff Pertl
Register for the event here.
Tuesday, September 16th at 11:30am - Meet the Cabinet with Department of Natural Resources Secretary-Designee Karen Hyun
Invite coming soon!
We are briefly pausing “Capitol Chats” through the summer, and the series will resume in September.
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If you would like any additional information about the above topic, or if you would like to find time to discuss the above matter in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact your Michael Best Strategies contact.
Have a great day,
Wisconsin GR Team
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One South Pickney Street, Suite 700
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608-257-3501
Fax: 608-283-2275
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