Wisconsin Elections Commission vacancy; Ron Johnson's travel; school shootings aftermath

Wisconsin Elections Commission vacancy

The Wisconsin Elections Commission was supposed to elect a new chair last week. Under the rules of the road on the six-member board, the Republicans were in line to take the spot.

And then ... all hell broke loose.

Dean Knudson — a Republican commissioner who has been under fire by people in his party because he never bought into the false claims that ex-President Donald Trump won Wisconsin in 2020 — quit.

Knudson claimed people at the "highest levels" of the party made clear he should not run for commission chairman. Turns out that Republican U.S. Sen Ron Johnson had suggested Knudson had lost the confidence of grassroots Republicans.

Molly Beck and Patrick Marley have all the back and forth that you can read right here.

Here's where we now stand.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is mulling who he'll choose to replace Knudson. He has said he wants a lawyer in the post. Vos hasn't ruled out anyone, including ex-Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who has been leading a partisan probe of the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden in Wisconsin.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he "can't think of anybody less capable and less prepared to sit on the Wisconsin Elections Commission than" Gableman.

(As an aside, Marley has another story about how Gableman asked for tips from the public about potential voter fraud. A lot of the tips that came in trolled Gableman.)

And there's eventually going to be an election of a new chair. That's slated for the commission's June 10 meeting.

One Republican board member who wants the top job is Robert Spindell, who posed as a Trump elector in 2020. Vos' pick will also be eligible.

Meanwhile, Tim Michels joined the three other Republicans running for governor and said he now wants to dissolve the commission.

[Sign up to get the On Wisconsin Politics newsletter every week.]

Ron Johnson's travels to Florida

Daniel Bice has an article on U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson "using taxpayer dollars to cover the cost of flights between a Florida family vacation home and Washington, D.C., including nine such trips last year," according to federal records.

Bice writes:

"Democrats say the expenditures by the multimillionaire Republican are a waste of public money because they say the trips have nothing to do with his official job representing Wisconsin at the U.S. Capitol.

"But Johnson officials say these are legitimate expenses that were all approved by the Senate Rules Committee."

Johnson spokeswoman Alexa Henning said: "The senator has always gone above and beyond to abide by Senate rules. He has never been reimbursed for travel to visit family in Florida but is reimbursed for returning for official business to Washington, D.C."

You can read the article here.

School shootings aftermath

Last week's murders of 19 school children and two teachers in Ulvade, Texas, marked another bloody milestone on a long list of mass shootings in America.

In response, Wisconsin Democrats called for stricter gun laws while two Republican candidates for governor —  Kevin Nicholson and Rebecca Kleefisch sought to give school officials new funding to hire security guards and police officers.

Wisconsin Republicans have also floated arming teachers.

Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson unsuccessfully pushed a bill for a clearinghouse on gun safety. In a later interview with Fox Business, Johnson opposed new gun laws and appeared to blame "wokeness" and critical race theory for school shootings.

Around the horn

Attorney General Josh Kaul's agency settles race, gender discrimination complaint with top official.

Alison Dirr breaks down what's at stake for Milwaukee's Common Council as it weighs agreeing to a deal for the 2024 Republican National Convention.

Tweet of the week

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson pushed back at Daniel Bice's article about the senator's trips to Florida: "This isn't journalism, it’s advocacy. It is a fully coordinated attack by the Dem Party and their allies in the media. When the truth isn't on their side, Dems and MSM media lie, distort, and engage in the politics of personal destruction. Wisconsin and America deserve better."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Elections Commission vacancy; Ron Johnson's travel