Michael Gableman's day in court; a tale of two races; 'forever chemical' standards to go into effect

Michael Gableman's day in court

As an ex-judge, Michael Gableman surely knows his way around a courtroom.

That's why it was stunning Friday when Gableman appeared in Dane County Circuit Court and clashed with Judge Frank Remington.

Remington is overseeing a lawsuit alleging Gableman is refusing to follow transparency laws governing his taxpayer-funded review of the 2020 election.

Molly Beck has all the details as Galbeman claimed he was being "railroaded," called Remington a partisan advocate and refused to answer anything beyond his name and occupation.

Gableman and his office were held in contempt. The ex-judge is leading a partisan probe into the 2020 election, which was won by President Joe Biden.

You can read the article here.

And for some background, check out Patrick Marley's article on where Gableman's election investigation stands.

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A tale of two races

We take a dive into the state's two big primary races, with Republican governor candidates taking off the gloves while Democratic U.S. Senate candidates are playing it safe.

With less than two months to go before the Aug. 9 primary, most voters are just now paying attention.

Some snippets from the trail:

Ex-Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch has taken on the lobbyists backing businessman Tim Michels' campaign.

"There were a handful, a cabal of slimy swamp rat lobbyists who have gone around the state Capitol for the last two months telling their friends that I cannot be controlled, that I am not good for their ecosystem," said Kleefisch, who is herself married to a lobbyist.

"And so they have gone around trying to find someone to self-fund to run against me," she continued on April 30. "And so let me tell you, when I am governor, the snakes and the weasels will not get an audience with me."

Kleefisch and businessman Kevin Nicholson went scorched-earth on each other early in separate radio interviews. Kleefisch accused Nicholson of being an "opportunist" and "shapeshifter" while Nicholson, without naming her, said Kleefisch was the candidate of "the Republican political machine."

By comparison, Democrats are turning their campaign into a snooze fest as Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson waits in the wings. Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson accused Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes of being "inconsistent" on issues and ran an ad criticizing Barnes and Bucks executive Alex Lasry over public funding for Fiserv Forum.

In his first ad, Barnes said that he's "not like most senators, or any of the other millionaires running for Senate," a dig at multimillionaires Lasry, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Johnson.

Ex-Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Joe Wineke is confident that the party's primary winner can prevail in the fall.

"I think Kermit the Frog would be viable against Ron Johnson," he said, noting Johnson's high negatives.

'Forever chemical' standards to go into effect

Laura Schulte reports on lawmakers letting so-called "forever chemical" water standards go into effect but they cautioned a further review could halt them.

Schulte writes:

"According to Mike Mikalson, chief of staff for Sen. Steve Nass, legislators will not object to the standards suggested by the Natural Resources Board earlier this year, and they will be sent to the state Department of Natural Resources for implementation. Nass is one of the two co-chairs of the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules, which had jurisdiction over the rules."

Schulte adds:

"Though lawmakers are allowing the rules to move forward, they could still object to how the DNR handles implementation of them."

Scott Laeser, Water Program Director for Clean Wisconsin, told Schulte: "These standards are an important step down the long road we must all walk together to fix this mess,

"Widespread testing for PFAS is overdue, and Wisconsin has a historic opportunity to use tens of millions of federal dollars to help communities deal with these harmful forever chemicals. Because of these standards, we will finally get a better picture of how extensive the PFAS contamination problem is in our state."

You can read the article here.

Around the horn

Parole becomes an issue in the campaign for Wisconsin governor after the rescinded release of a convicted killer.

Wisconsin Elections Commission picks Republican tax attorney as its new chair.

And the commission rejected the bid to block Tim Michels from the GOP race for governor.

Wisconsin congressional delegation offers split response to Jan. 6 hearing as Republicans turn attention elsewhere.

Craig Gilbert writes Wisconsin voters are deeply pessimistic about the state's direction. But that doesn't mean they agree on why.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is coming to Mount Pleasant on Friday to speak with CNH Industrial workers who have been on strike since May 2.

Tweet of the week

This one goes to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: "To be clear, as the President has said repeatedly, he plans to run in 2024."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michael Gableman's day in court; a tale of two races;