☀️ Good morning!

Summers in Wisconsin provide so many great opportunities to celebrate communities and take a break from the regular routine. There are county fairs, local festivals and parades, sports events at every level, and seemingly limitless ways to enjoy live music. 

Last weekend, we went down to Milwaukee to spend July 4th at Summerfest and this week we hit our favorite hometown event: the Northern Wisconsin State Fair.

I’d like to thank Todd Allbaugh for having me as a co-host (complete with a visit from a live chicken) on his Civic Media afternoon show. We had great discussions about community pride, fun activities, and sticky food! It was a welcome break from our usual exposure to the day’s more serious stories.

But, to be clear, this is not an endorsement of tuning out politics entirely. It is an endorsement of doing all things in moderation. Even us political wonks need to “touch grass,” as the expression goes!

So get caught up on the news with us for the next few minutes, chime in on our Question of the Week, and then get back out there. After all, we’ve already lost about 15 minutes of daylight over the past couple of weeks. Summer in Wisconsin only lasts so long.

Of course, if and when news does break while you’re out and about, you can stay up to date with our weekday newsletter, our social media posts, and our morning radio show.

⏮️ Last Week: We asked about the 2026 midterm elections, whether the Trump/GOP plan will cost them control of Congress and the Wisconsin Legislature—or if they’ll make gains off it.

🄰  60% of respondents were in line with this comment from Michael B.: “It will be a big Democratic year as voters wake up and finally realize the disastrous effects the BBB is having on the economy and people’s lives as we get closer to the 2026 election. I think there will be many upsets of Republican Congressmen and Senators that even the pundits didn’t expect. I haven’t given up on the American people yet.”

🄱  12% went GOP, like Kurt: “Happy 4th! Republicans are on a roll.” 

🄲  10% expected no significant change from where we are now.

🄳  18% are in full pessimist mode — or they chose 🄰 but not confidently. “I want it to be A, and believe it should be,” wrote Mike F. “I also fear the other possibility could very well be D. With the increased ICE budget I fear they may serve as poll watchers. Imagine poll watchers in full battle drag.”

It’s not as hard to imagine it as it used to be in America.  

⏭️ This Week: Both parties are in disarray, to some degree. Republicans in Congress finally came together on a budget bill, but there are lots of anti-Trump Republicans among our friends and neighbors.

Democrats, meanwhile, are debating whether their party is —or should be— moving further to the left, embracing self-styled Democratic socialists like Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. Some like politicians who are younger or more brash about being liberal. Others disagree. In which direction should the Democratic Party go?

🄰  ⬅ Be bold, go left – Moderate voters will reward Democrats who are less squeamish about expressing values that are more in line with most Americans. 

🄱  🎪 The big tent – There is room in the party for different viewpoints, all rooted in progressive values to varying degrees. 

🄲  ⛔️ No left turn – The embrace of unwaveringly liberal positions will drive away moderates and cause Democratic losses next year. Their hearts may be in the right place, but you can’t govern if you don’t win.

🄳  🐘🍿 – Hey, I’m a Republican and I’m just here for the popcorn. Fight it out, libs. 

To answer this week’s question or to suggest a different answer, hit reply or email me directly at pat@couriernewsroom.com, and we may share it in a future newsletter or on our radio show.

Helicopters crews work on a wildfire near Flin Flon, Manitoba on June 12, 2025. (Mike Deal/The Canadian Press via AP, Pool) 

When your neighbor’s house is burning down, is that really the best time to go complain about the smoke drifting into your backyard?

The premier of Manitoba had a strong response to a letter sent by some Republican members of Congress — including US Reps. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) and Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) — telling Canadians they haven’t engaged in proper forest management, and that the smoke is bothering them.

“In our neck of the woods,” write the US politicians, “summer months are the best time of the year to spend time outdoors recreating, enjoying time with family, and creating new memories, but this wildfire smoke makes it difficult to do all those things.”

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew had some sharp words for the congressional representatives.

“This is what turns people off politics. When you’ve got a group of congresspeople trying to trivialize and make hay out of a wildfire season where we’ve lost lives in our province.”

“I have shaken the hands of American firefighters in northern Manitoba who are helping us out,” said Wab Kinew. “And I would challenge these ambulance chasers in the US Congress to go and do the same, and to hear how much the American firefighting heroes who are here love our province.”

1️⃣   State Budget Anger – Public education advocates are outraged over the new state budget passed last week. It offers no increase in general state aid for public schools, meaning the state’s share won’t keep up with inflation. As a result, they say Wisconsin will continue to see a parade of local school referendums that seek higher property taxes to make up the difference. That’s also after the state raises its reimbursement rate for special education services. Watch the reaction from Heather DuBois Bourenane from the Wisconsin Public Education Network on our radio show.

2️⃣  Pocan: DVO Is Stupid – US Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Black Earth) ripped into fellow Congressman Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) for trying to have it both ways on the Trump/GOP Megabill. Appearing on the radio show, Pocan called out Van Orden for supporting a bill that makes massive cuts to Medicaid while also sending a letter to Gov. Tony Evers that urged him to finish work on a state budget ahead of the cuts that are coming from the bill Van Orden supported.

3️⃣  Bending the Rules – Watch my radio show commentary about the politics behind a recent Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling. This isn’t about the ruling itself, which allows Gov. Evers’ administration to enact rules banning so-called conversion therapy that targets and terrorizes LGBTQ youth. Instead, if you look at this ruling and others about gerrymandered maps and the governor’s partial veto powers, you see the progressive justices trying to rein in efforts by politicians of both parties to bend the rules.

Catch our radio show weekdays from 6-9 a.m. on our Facebook and YouTube pages as well as stations across Wisconsin thanks to our friends at Civic Media. If you can’t listen live, listen on-demand as a podcast by subscribing on Spotify.

📱 And stay up to date all day with all of our team’s work through our social media feeds, including Instagram and TikTok.

🏁 Thanks for reading today’s update.

Have a great week.