Here & Now

Republicans Vote to Fire Meagan Wolfe, AG Files Lawsuit

Frederica Freyberg:

At the Capitol this week, Senate Republicans voted to fire Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe. Democrats contend the law says Wolfe doesn’t need Senate confirmation to continue in her role and the vote shouldn’t have happened in the first place because the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission didn’t have a majority of members send it to the Senate. Shortly after the vote took place, Wolfe, who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2019, made a statement and Democratic state Attorney General, Josh Kaul, announced a lawsuit.

Meagan Wolfe:

During my 12 years working as a non-partisan election official, I’ve learned that when politicians on either side of the aisle are upset with me, it’s usually because I will not bend to political pressure. The Senate’s vote today to remove me is not a referendum on the job I do but, rather, a reaction to not achieving the political outcome they desire.

Josh Kaul:

We have asked the court to issue a declaratory judgment and an injunction making clear that Meagan Wolfe remains the administrator of the Wisconsin Election Commission. The Senate would not have authority to act unless WEC had a majority vote in favor of an appointment. So the story today is not what the Senate purports to have happened; the story is that the state Senate has blatantly ignored Wisconsin law in order to put its stamp of approval on baseless attacks on elections in Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

In more bombshell news, the state Assembly Thursday approved an Iowa-style redistricting bill. The quickly fashioned about-face from majority Republican leaders who have long opposed non-partisan map-making comes as the Wisconsin Democratic Party announced a $4 million ad campaign to pressure Republicans to back down from talk of impeaching liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz if she doesn’t step aside from two lawsuits over the current maps. Under the bill, the maps would be drawn by the Legislative Reference Bureau, non-partisan staff who work for the legislature. Legislators would then vote up or down on the plan, and if passed, it would then go to the governor for final approval.