For Wisconsin liberals, upcoming Supreme Court race is first test of ‘lessons learned’
CNN
Angela Lang is about to send her canvassing teams door knocking. But first, a moment to outline the stakes:
Angela Lang is about to send her canvassing teams door knocking. But first, a moment to outline the stakes: “Fair maps, abortion, voting rights,” is Lang’s list. “It’s not a seat we can afford to lose because if Republicans and conservatives gain control of the court, that’s Elon Musk and that’s a through line to the Trump agenda.” On paper, the April 1 election pits Susan Crawford against Brad Schimel for a vacancy on the Wisconsin state Supreme Court. Liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring, and the election will determine the court’s ideological balance. Crawford currently serves as a Dane County Circuit Court judge and is a former prosecutor and legal counsel to a past Democratic governor. Schimel is a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge and was the state’s GOP attorney general from 2015 to 2019. The court race is a reminder that Wisconsin isn’t just a 50-50 state in presidential races. Close contests for Supreme Court seats have been common in recent years, and liberals are fighting in this one to maintain the 4-3 edge in the court they won in 2023.President Donald Trump’s weekend endorsement of Schimel only elevates the national stakes of the contest. They’re even bigger for Lang and organizations like Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, of which Lang is executive director. She preached a version of that “can’t afford to lose” argument five months ago, but Trump won Wisconsin on his way to a swing-state sweep and the White House. Now, with November’s bruises still tender, she faces another giant organizing and turnout challenge. “There’s always the finger-pointing after an election,” Lang said in an interview. “This would be the first true local test to see if there are lessons learned.”
Cuba is going dark under US pressure. How the crisis unfolded and why its troubles are far from over
Almost three months after the US effectively imposed an oil blockade on Cuba that worsened its energy crunch, nearly every aspect of Cuban society has been feeling the strain.
The Department of Homeland Security has been ensnared by a partial government shutdown as Congress did not act to fund the agency by the end of Friday. But nearly all DHS workers will remain on the job — even if many won’t get paid until the lapse ends — and the public probably won’t notice much of a change.
The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier is moving away from operations tied to the Iran war and sailing to the US Navy’s base in Crete for repairs after a fire broke out in the ship’s laundry area last week, a US official said.
An American college student visiting friends for spring break has gone missing in Spain, his family said, adding police have his phone.
A typically friendly setting for one of their own turned tense on Capitol Hill Wednesday with senators grilling Markwayne Mullin for roughly three hours as he vies to become President Donald Trump’s next Department of Homeland Security chief.
Top Trump administration officials testified publicly Wednesday for the first time since the launch of the Iran war three weeks ago.
The White House is temporarily lifting key limits on the shipping of oil, gas and other commodities throughout the US, in its latest effort to counter rising energy prices sparked by its war with Iran.
Any attempt by the United States to take control of Cuba would be met with “impregnable resistance,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Tuesday, as power returned to some parts of the island following a nationwide grid collapse.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the Justice Department’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and asserted it does not have new evidence to prosecute anyone for crimes related to the convicted sex offender, in an interview released Tuesday.
TSA workers face reality of working without pay as passengers unaware of the shutdown see long lines
More than a third of the security screeners at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport didn’t show up to work Tuesday, the airport’s general manager said, causing passengers to have to wait in line for up to two hours.
Any attempt by the United States to take control of Cuba would be met with “impregnable resistance,” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Tuesday, as power returned to some parts of the island following a nationwide grid collapse.
Many assume JB Pritzker’s run for president is just a year away. His effort to engineer a victory for his lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton, in Illinois’ Senate primary was also a victory for him and a political operation with national ambitions.
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton’s win in the Senate Democratic primary was also a win for Gov. JB Pritzker, while big-spending groups like AIPAC got mixed results in Tuesday’s contests.