Don’t we know it, Ferris? One moment, we’re publishing a newsletter on a Thursday. Less than 24 hours later, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez pulled the plug on her gubernatorial campaign. (And blew up our Question of the Week. Oof!) And 24 hours after that, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley jumped back in the race… with a surprise endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers.

And that, boys and girls, is why we are not a newsletter-only operation! 

We do love our newsletters (and our website) and we’re glad you do, too. But obviously that’s why we also have social media feeds on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and more so you can see what’s new as soon as things change in Wisconsin politics. 

Here’s one more reason: We’re polling Wisconsin voters for the Democratic gubernatorial primary. 

We’ve heard a lot of people express a need for someone to fill the information gap between Wednesday’s latest Marquette Law School Poll and the August 11 election among the five active Democratic candidates for governor, so we’re doing something about it!

We’re joining up with Main Street Action and State Navigate, a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit organization with a knack for data on state government. In 2025, their inaugural year, they were named the most accurate pollster of the year. We’ll be giving you an updated look at where the candidates stand next week.

And do you know who’s going to get a first preview of what we find? You, for being a subscriber to our weekly politics newsletter. So forward this newsletter email to a friend so they see this and get subscribed before the latest numbers drop. Thank you… and have a great weekend.

Click on the photos to read more about each story.

See the full interview at Facebook.com/PatKreitlowUpNorth

It was former House Speaker Tip O’Neill who famously coined the axiom “all politics is local,” but Ben Wikler is telling readers of his new book that local politics is also the key to unleashing the big institutional changes needed to clean up politics in the United States.

Wikler, former chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, wrote “This Is The Plan,” out this week, to be both past and prologue. Taking control of the party during the bleakest days of Scott Walker’s governorship, Wikler worked with local leaders and activists across the state to chip away at the Wisconsin Supreme Court, win just enough elections to deny Republicans a supermajority in the Legislature, and eventually end the gerrymandered maps that had allowed GOP lawmakers to go against the values of a majority of Wisconsinites. Wikler says that same “bottom up” focus on local elections, groups, and candidates is key to the country’s future.

“Most people don’t know who their state legislators are,” Wikler told UpNorthNews. “But that means that if you do pay attention and if you can persuade other folks that something that they care about is at stake in these local elections, you have a bigger ability to change the outcome. You can get a group of friends together to get involved in races for city council, mayor, state legislator, state Supreme Court. And that starts a chain of dominoes that can affect the course of your state or the entire United States of America.” 

“This is something that the richest people in the world figured out a long time ago, and they’ve been putting money in to try to take over power at all these levels,” he continued. “It’s time for people who believe that the government should work for the public to get involved and fight back.”

Once voters see elected leaders who genuinely tackle issues like the cost of living, Wikler said, they’ll be supportive of political reforms that will make it harder to lose that progress because of things like big money in elections and lifetime US Supreme Court appointments.

Head to our website to read more from Ben Wikler and learn about his new video series with Civic Media, “This Is Wisconsin.”

There’s no way to sugarcoat it, we got our butts kicked with last week’s question about whether Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez should pull out of the race for governor! We clearly did not foresee her decision coming less than 24 hours after we published, but that’s the beauty of news as-it-happens. Rarely a dull moment.

So let’s see if we can come up with something that has a little more staying power — one that’s more of a numerical guessing game and immune to the news cycle!

As we saw in yesterday’s Marquette Poll, Rep. Francesca Hong led the field of five active Democratic candidates with around 26%, but nearly half of Democratic voters said they remain undecided. A lot can change by the time Election Day rolls around. Someone could build momentum. Other candidates could drop out.

In the end, will the primary victor barely win or barely break a sweat?

Click the blue box above to visit our website and select the answer closest to your point of view. We’d really appreciate you adding your comments and your first name and hometown.

Despite last week’s question becoming a moot point, it still attracted around our usual healthy number of responses. So, for the record…

A: 26% wanted Rodriguez to drop out.

👉🏼 “Whether it was her fault or someone else’s, confidence in her is lost. We need a strong candidate.” 

B: 33% wanted her to stay in the race.

👉🏼 “She dealt with the problem immediately and decisively. That shows leadership.”

C: 38% went with classic Midwestern Nice and said we should wait a week.

👉🏼 “It’s horrible for Sara to be in this situation. I feel let’s give it a few days. Straighten the problem. Get back on message. If that doesn’t happen, she has to get out.”

Thank you for your responses!

See more on our website.

SATURDAY

Small-Town & Rural Seniors | Governor Candidates Forum, Baraboo, 1-3pm – Issues include the attack on public nursing homes, housing, rural transportation, isolation, intergenerational care options, Medicaid and SNAP funding, care worker wages, and more.

ANYTIME

Indivisible | Hands Off Our Vote, Virtual – In light of President Donald Trump’s persistent but false election claims, Indivisible has launched a national program to ensure all eligible voters get to cast their ballot, and that those ballots get counted. You can sign-up to join the Hands Off movement to commit to protecting the 2026 election and to receive election and voting-related updates and calls to action for election protection in Wisconsin. 

Send your events and announcements to Abigail Deatrick, UpNorthNews’ regional community development organizer, at least one week before the event to see them here.

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

🏁 Thanks for reading our update.

Have a great weekend!