It all started with the liberal group Opportunity Wisconsin announcing that Van Orden would not be attending town halls they organized this week in La Crosse and Eau Claire. The group included a copy of the email from Van Orden’s Communications Director Grace Kim (who I should note works in his official congressional office, not on his campaign), in which she ripped the organization for claiming the event would be neutral when they are regularly critical of the congressman on a variety of issues.

She even attached a “medical diagnosis form” for “Derrick Derangement Syndrome,” and it closed with the line “I’m genuinely sorry that so much of your time and energy seems to revolve around hating my Derrick.” 

The line “My Derrick” was used in follow-up press releases from Opportunity Wisconsin.

Despite the temptation to write about it based only on one point of view, I wanted to check with Ms. Kim herself. I expected a sarcastic response, if I got one at all. Instead, she surprised me by responding to my email by ringing my phone right away. 

She said she’d written different drafts that closed with the words “hating my boss” and “hating on Derrick” and that’s how “hating my Derrick” came to be. She said her team had a good laugh about the mix-up, and I acknowledged that as much as I loved my old state Senate staff, their dedication would never rise to the level of defending “my Patrick.” 

To be clear, I would also never want my staff answering inquiries the way she did. It was overtly political use of an official email account. But this is Derrick Van Orden we’re talking about, so that level of language is what you get. At least there was some proof today that there are limits, even now, that are respected by reporters who double-check quotes and staffers who pick up the phone, even when calling someone whose work they don’t necessarily like. 

NEXT WEEK: Look for a special edition of our newsletter with details on our new resource for information about the 2026 election. 

Have a good weekend and stay on top of our social media feeds on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and more.

Wisconsin is one of the few states with specific requirements that deepfake videos be labeled — but only in political ads, not social media posts.

Read my story on our website, where Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire), a coauthor of the state law, reacts to what she sees as Van Orden violating voters’ trust.

Tiffany has long supported tax breaks for big businesses, including the multi-billion dollar Foxconn package of unfulfilled promises, but now says he opposes the current sales tax exemption for data center construction and pledges to protect farmland from corporate development.

And while Tiffany says he would support new restrictions on AI-driven data centers, he voted last year in favor of a bill that would have put a 10-year ban on state laws regulating artificial intelligence. Tiffany also supported the SPEED Act, which targeted the timeline for environmental review of data center projects.

Read my full story on our website about Tiffany’s record of undermining local control of development and how Crowley is talking about his stance on data centers, which stops short of a total moratorium or a full reversal of the tax exemptions.

We were pleasantly surprised at the positive responses to our extremely tongue-in-cheek question about the Democratic US Senate primary in 2028. I mean, not all of them were positive.

“That was mean!,” said one reader. “We need to win a governor first.”  

We’ll have more of your responses right after we get back to current events.

There was a new Marquette Poll this week. We haven’t written much about it because — surprise! — it shows Crowley and Tiffany in a statistical dead heat. (News flash: Wisconsin is a purple state!)

But the poll also included an interesting question about public perception of the two major parties. We’d like to see how you come down on the current political placement of each, whether one party is too liberal/left or the other is too conservative/right.

Click the box above to be taken to our website where you can select your response. Feel free to say more in the comment box—and leave your first name and hometown so we can share your answer in our next newsletter.

We asked who you would like to see as Wisconsin’s 2028 Democratic nominee for US Senate — and shame on us for missing some names: Sarah Godlewski and Ben Wikler, among others. We were simply convinced there would be an overwhelming response for not wanting to pick anyone yet! But here’s what you said:

A – Francesca Hong 20%

B – Mandela Barnes   8%

C – Kelda Roys 24%

D – Josh Kaul 19%

Only 14% of you went with option E: “Stop! No! Get out of here with that!” And another 15% chose some other name or response. Among your responses:

👉🏼  “Francesca Hong’s momentum was huge and I think it would be wise for her to keep moving.”

👉🏼 Josh Kaul “has won two statewide elections and if he wins this fall that will be three in a row. He’s the most experienced and electable of the bunch.”

👉🏼 Linda from Greendale wants Sen. Kelda Roys: “I was impressed with her during her debate with the other democratic candidates. I felt she had a tempered approach to changes and I appreciated her awareness of needs in Wisconsin.”

👉🏼 Kim from Green Bay wants Mandela Barnes: “It was a close enough race that I think he could win in the current environment. That being said, any Democrat from the group would be infinitely better than Ron Johnson.”

Also receiving votes (alphabetically): Joel Brennan, state Senate candidate Katrina DeVille, former US Sen. Russ Feingold, Sarah Godlewski, state Sen. Chris Larson, US Alex Lasry, Rep. Mark Pocan, Rep. Angela Stroud, and Ben Wikler.

Thank you for your participation!

Fridays 5:00-6:30pm – Text Out the Vote in Ozaukee County – On Fridays, join the Ozaukee Democrats in Grafton to text out the vote for local candidates across the county.

Saturday 11:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Four-County Democratic Coalition Picnic – Montello City Park, 345 Doty Street. Join members of the Adams, Green Lake, Marquette, and Waushara County Democratic parties for a picnic and to hear from speakers, including: Devin Remiker, Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair; Sarah Godlewski, candidate for Lieutenant Governor; Yee Leng Xiong, candidate for State Treasurer; Brad Smith, candidate in the 6th Congressional District; Appeals Court Judge Pedro Colón and Clark County Judge Lyndsey Brunette, 2027 candidates for WI Supreme Court; and many candidates for state Assembly and Senate.

Tuesday 5:00 p.m. – A Round for the Valley: Raise a Glass to Flip the Assembly Menomonie – Join 3rd Congressional District candidate Rebecca Cooke and Assembly candidates Kevin Knoke (District 30) and Jeremiah Fredrickson (District 92).

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!