Year ended with vegan porn star chancellor. It will only get crazier, Wisconsin. | Opinion
Editor's note: This is a slightly extended version of Kristin's "My Take" column that doesn't need to be trimmed to the whims of social media titans.
Despite what your coastal buddies think, when it comes to the news, Wisconsin is never a dull place.
Don’t believe me? We ended 2023 with a Wisconsin university chancellor who moonlights as a vegan porn star.
In presidential election years, it gets even crazier. In 2024 specifically, like Hamilton, we’ll be in the eye of the political hurricane.
I hope you liked that 8-month respite from aggressive campaign ads because we’re less than two months away from our first of four elections this year.
Yep, on Feb. 20 we have our spring primary to select candidates for the general spring election on April 2. This is where you’ll be voting for nonpartisan local government positions, like judges, mayors, county executives, and school board members.
And if the past couple years of contentious spring elections can predict one thing, it is that you can bet we will be hearing from Moms for Liberty.
Trump likely to seal GOP nod before Wisconsin primary
Also on April 2, Wisconsin Republicans will be voting for their presidential preference. Maybe former President Donald Trump won’t have sealed the deal by then. Unlikely, but maybe!
And at some point between the spring primary general election, we should know what the redistricting maps will look like for the fall elections.
Wisconsin Supreme Court hearing offers hope for restoring fair election maps
If you missed it, right before Christmas the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided to toss the Republican drawn legislative maps and we’re now wading through the uncertainty that created.
The Wisconsin Election Commission set a deadline of March 15 for the new maps to be in place. So sometime between now and then, lawmakers will submit new maps, and if they can’t come up with something that the governor will sign, then the court will draw them with the help of some experts. Unless, you know, the U.S. Supreme Court decides it wants to weigh in to continue this soap opera.
Also this year, the Wisconsin Supreme Court could make rulings on cases dealing with abortion, Act 10 and school choice, also known as the Wisconsin blood boiling trifecta.
Milwaukee to host first Republican National Convention
Then if you’re in the Milwaukee area, you better get your Airbnb listing up before July 14 to make that money, because for the first time in history, the Republican National Convention is coming to Wisconsin.
Then Aug. 13 we will have our partisan primary and get answers to questions like which Democrat will get to challenge U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden and which Republican will take on U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Well, there’s still no leading Republican contenders, but I’m sure there will be soon.
Who wins from I-794 removal? Developers. Rest of us will be stuck in traffic.
And then it’s the final mad dash to Nov. 5 where Wisconsin will vote for a senator and all 8 congressional seats. We’ll see how much power Democrats gain in the State Legislature with the new maps, and of course, Wisconsin is a must win state in the presidential race.
And this is just the news we know is going to happen. Only time will tell what other craziness will unfold, cause we can only guess who else might have a secret OnlyFans account.
Kristin Brey is the "My Take" columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New year eventful with election, Wisconsin Supreme Court rulings
