Wisconsin GOP Votes to Oust Election Chief, Dem State AG Sues

A partisan fight among Wisconsin lawmakers has left the state’s election administration in legal limbo.

The Details: On Thursday, Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled state Senate voted 22-11 to oust Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe; state Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) said the vote represented a “lack of faith” in Wolfe. However, state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) sued, arguing that Wolfe remained in office because the removal was not legitimate. Wolfe said she would not leave her post, calling state Republicans’ removal vote “a reaction to not achieving the political outcome they desire.” Meanwhile, Don Millis, the chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, penned an op-ed blaming the commission’s Democrats for the controversy because they previously declined to hold their own vote to reappoint Wolfe, which Millis says they would have won.

Related News: This isn’t Wisconsin’s only partisan controversy. State Republican lawmakers are also considering impeaching a newly-elected liberal state Supreme Court justice over her campaign remarks calling GOP-drawn congressional district maps “unfair.” The new justice also flipped control of the state’s highest court from conservative to liberal for the first time in 15 years.

How the Media Covered It: Some coverage differed in describing the impact of 2020 election fraud theories; The Guardian (Lean Left bias) linked GOP lawmakers to election “denialists” and highlighted “conspiracy theories” surrounding Wolfe. Some coverage from the right framed the same controversies as “ire” over what The Daily Caller (Right bias) called Wolfe’s “conduct” but the Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) called “policies” enacted by the “bipartisan” election commission.