Swing state Wisconsin hotbed for virus politics

Partisan fighting over opening of economy

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin has been the battleground for political proxy wars for nearly a decade, the backdrop for bruising feuds over labor unions, executive power, redistricting and President Donald Trump.

Now, six months before a presidential election, the state is on fire again. With a divided state government and a polarized electorate, Wisconsin has emerged as a hotbed of partisan fighting over the coronavirus, including how to slow its spread, restart the economy, vote during a pandemic and judge Trump’s leadership.

In recent weeks, every political twist has been dissected by the parties, political scientists and the press, all searching for insight into which way the swing state might be swinging in the virus era.

Democrats had the most significant recent win, a contested statewide Supreme Court race. It gave them a claim on sense of momentum after making gains in the 2018 midterm elections. But Republicans this past week won a special election for Congress, albeit in a GOP stronghold, and successfully had the governor’s stay-at-home order tossed out by the state Supreme Court.

But no one is making predictions about Wisconsin in November, other than to note that the latest fight over the fallout from the coronavirus may be the most important of them all.

“The jury’s still out,” said former Gov. Scott Walker, perhaps the figure most closely associated with Wisconsin’s political turbulence. The Republican had previously said the economic recovery favored Trump carrying the state. On Friday, he said the November presidential election will be a referendum on Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

Taking their cues from Trump, who has called on states to “liberate” residents from stay-at-home orders and get back to normal, state Republican lawmakers challenged Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ order in court.

While some rushed to bars to celebrate the court’s ruling, many were confused about the new patchwork of restrictions. Meanwhile, a majority of residents say they support

Evers’ handling of the crisis, according to a Marquette University poll.

Democrats were quick to cast the issue as much larger than the previous partisan feuds.

“By November, a significant fraction of Wisconsinites might be close to someone who has been hospitalized or even died because of coronavirus,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler said. “And those are, unlike passing news cycles, the things that can create scars that change how people view politics in their own lives.”

Mark Hoffman The Associated Press Protesters in Madison, Wis., demonstrate against Gov. Tony Evers’ restrictions due to the pandemic. With a divided government and a polarized electorate, Wisconsin has emerged as a partisan hotbed over the coronavirus.