Senate candidate fact checkup
Consider this your running scorecard on how the 2018 candidates for U.S. Senate are faring on our Truth-O-Meter (and the Flip-O-Meter).
We’ll update it regularly to reflect the latest ratings for the incumbent, Democrat Tammy Baldwin, and the two candidates seeking the Republican nomination: Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir.
Go to PolitiFactWisconsin.com for the latest. And please let us know if you see something we should fact check: PolitiFact@journalsentinel.com.
The candidates are listed in alphabetical order. The most recent fact checks are listed first.
TAMMY BALDWIN Elected senator in 2012
Cheese: Says that “when federal bureaucrats wanted to prohibit the use of wooden cheese boards, which help make tens of millions of pounds of cheese a year” she “stepped in, helped eliminate the regulations.” Mostly True.
Guns: Says 97% of gun owners support universal background checks. Mostly True.
Guns: The Las Vegas shooting was the “273rd mass shooting” in the United States so far in 2017. Half True.
Trump: Says Donald Trump “wants to kick thousands of kids off of BadgerCare.” Half True.
KEVIN NICHOLSON Delafield businessman
Baldwin: “Tammy Baldwin co-sponsored legislation that wanted to establish the Department of Peace and Nonviolence.” Mostly True.
Supporters: Says conservative mega-donor Richard Uihlein is a Wisconsin resident. False.
Guns: “There are more guns in this country than there are people.” Half True.
Ex-Democrats: “Ronald Reagan was a verified Democrat until his mid-50s.” True.
LEAH VUKMIR State senator from Brookfield
Immigration: On separating families at the border. Half Flip.
Baldwin: Says Tammy Baldwin is “more worried about the mastermind of 9⁄11” than supporting CIA director nominee Gina Haspel. Pants on Fire.
Baldwin: Says Sen. Tammy Baldwin “claims to support a ‘Buy America’ philosophy, but her actions speak louder than her empty words.” False.
Crime: In 2016, there were 5,570 people in Wisconsin “who committed crimes on probation and they were not revoked.” Half True.