Saturday, May 23: Tom Tiffany’s election denial hits the campaign trail, mother of teen killed by Wauwatosa cop speaks about fight for justice, Dems run to unseat Derrick Van Orden
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The Democrat candidates leave the answer simple: the government should provide. They want a government that provides your groceries, your education, your health care, your child care. Should I keep going?”
– Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, speaking at the Wisconsin GOP convention
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor, has long been a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump's debunked election conspiracy theories. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
New
Kevin Warsh was sworn in as the new chair of the Federal Reserve Friday. The event ends President Donald Trump’s long history of attacking former Chair Jerome Powell. Trump said Friday Warsh would be “totally independent” while Democrats including Sen. Elizabeth Warren accused him of being a “sock-puppet” for Trump, Ashley Murray reports.
Campaigns and elections
The Republican Party of Wisconsin’s annual convention took place last Saturday at Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells where the state’s conservative luminaries took the stage to attack trans people and warn about Democratic plans to increase taxes and create government programs. Henry Redman reports on the event, where U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany officially earned the party’s endorsement for governor.
Following the convention, Tiffany ramped up the pace of his campaign and was immediately hit with questions about his record of election denial following President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020. The topic has returned to the headlines because of the Trump administration sent the FBI to investigate the state’s 2020 election administration and the U.S. DOJ’s failed lawsuit against the state for a massive amount of unredacted voter data.
In Wisconsin’s swingy 3rd Congressional District, Democrats have once again put U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden at the top of their national list of winnable seats. Redman looks at Rebecca Cooke and Emily Berge, the two Eau Claire Democrats running in the Democratic primary to defeat him. Cooke, who lost narrowly to Van Orden in 2024, argues her institutional support and moderate penchant for bipartisan dealmaking can topple the two-term congressman. Meanwhile Berge says her history as a local official and a focus on helping “regular people,” not millionaires and billionaires, is the right message for the western Wisconsin district.
Criminal Justice
More than six years after 17-year-old Alvin Cole was killed by then-Wauwatosa Police officer Joseph Mensah, Cole’s family is finalizing a confidential settlement with the city. In an exclusive interview, Isiah Holmes speaks with Cole’s mother about the two civil trials against Mensah and her family’s grieving process.
Healthcare
Elected officials, nonprofit groups and advocacy organizations wrote letters this week to two Wisconsin health systems this week urging that they resume gender-affirming care for minors. Erik Gunn writes about the effort and why the hospitals, UW Health and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, are wary to risk drawing federal attention.
Recent orders from the Trump administration have eased some of the restrictions on studying the health benefits of psychedelic drugs. Holmes speaks with the director of UW-Madison’s psychoactive research center about his work and how drugs like psilocybin can help treat a variety of mental health problems.
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More from Washington:
ICYMI
Kevin Warsh, left, takes the oath of office from U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, right, as Warsh’s wife Jane Lauder looks on during his swearing-in ceremony to be the new chairman of the Federal Reserve in the East Room of the White House on May 22, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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