Your Daily Guide

🗳️ Late-Arriving Madison Ballots Rejected

• Poll workers in Madison counted 23 late-arriving absentee ballots on April 7 — a controversial decision that the Wisconsin Elections Commission overruled on Thursday. Madison has been ordered to update the final election result tallies to reflect this ruling.
• Even though state law says that ballots must be “delivered to the polling place no later than 8 p.m.," some commissioners were uncomfortable with the prospect of disenfranchising voters, and Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell is considering suing over the order.
• In 2024, 193 absentee ballots went uncounted in Madison, even though they arrived before Election Day. This mistake resulted in a high-profile lawsuit, state and local investigations, and an overhaul of the city's voting procedures. [Votebeat, Cap Times]

🎤 Kirk Bangstad To Run for Governor

• On Saturday, Minocqua Brewing Company owner and former Wisconsin Legislature candidate Kirk Bangstad announced via a livestream his intention to run for Wisconsin governor. Expressing his dissatisfaction with the current Democrat gubernatorial candidates and wanting someone who can "stand up to Trump," he's working to collect the needed 2,000 signatures between now and May 15.
• Bangstad recently outraged conservatives when he posted on social media about the attempted Trump assassination in April, suggesting that either the attempt was "faked," or someone “in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship." The post caught the attention of federal agents, who interviewed Bangstad about it last week.
• The bigger picture: Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley are among the more than half a dozen Democrats running for governor, in what polls are suggesting will be a close race. The primary election is set for Aug. 11. [Fox 6, WPR, PBS Wisconsin]

📉 Wisconsin Loses Thousands of Manufacturing Jobs

• The state's manufacturing workforce shrank by nearly 10,000 jobs between January 2025 and January 2026 — the continuation of a steady decline that began in 2022. Early numbers seem to indicate that there's been a slight rebound over the last couple months, however.
• Industry leaders say this decline is largely because of an aging workforce rather than mass layoffs. Economic uncertainty is also a factor, though, and employers are less likely to fill vacated positions. [WPR]