SCOTT BAUER

State government reporter

Bauer is the AP’s Statehouse reporter covering politics and state government in Madison, Wisconsin. He also writes music reviews.

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos derides supporters of former President Donald Trump who are trying to recall him from office as "whack jobs" and "morons" and predicted their effort would fail on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, during an event in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

Wisconsin GOP leader says Trump backers seeking to recall him don’t have enough signatures

Wisconsin’s top Republican lawmaker says the effort by supporters of former President Donald Trump to recall him from office has failed.

FILE - Eric Hovde, a Republican businessman and real estate mogul, announces he's for running U.S. Senate against Wisconsin Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Feb. 20, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Hovde wants to be the U.S. senator representing Wisconsin, but he’s picking a team from Indiana to win the NCAA basketball tournament. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate picks out-of-state team to win NCAA tournament

Republican Eric Hovde wants to be a U.S. senator representing Wisconsin. But he’s picking a team from Indiana to win the NCAA basketball tournament.

FILE - Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks at Cumberland Elementary School, Thursday, July 8, 2021, in Whitefish Bay, Wis. Evers on Thursday, March 21, 2024, has vetoed Republican proposals that would have allowed election observers to get closer to poll workers and required a new post-election audit. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer, File)

Evers vetoes Republican election bills, signs sales tax exemption for precious metals

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed Republican proposals that would have allowed election observers to get closer to poll workers and required a new post-election audit.

FILE - Motorists recharge their Tesla vehicles at a Tesla supercharging location, Jan. 16, 2024, in northeast Denver. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed bipartisan bills Wednesday, March 20, 2024 designed to jump-start creation of an electric vehicle charging network along Wisconsin's interstate system and major highways. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)

Governor signs bills creating electric vehicle charging station network across Wisconsin

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has signed bipartisan bills designed to create a statewide electric vehicles charging network.

Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos derides supporters of former President Donald Trump who are trying to recall him from office as "whack jobs" and "morons" and predicted their effort would fail on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, during an event in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

Wisconsin GOP leader calls the Trump supporters trying to oust him ‘whack jobs and morons’

Wisconsin’s top Republican is deriding supporters of former President Donald Trump who are trying to recall him from office.

FILE - This undated photo provided by Perrigo Company shows boxes of Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill. Medicaid recipients in Wisconsin will have access to the first over-the-counter birth control pill starting Tuesday, March 19, 2024, allowing them to easily receive contraceptive medication with no out-of-pocket costs or doctor's prescription, Gov. Tony Evers announced. (Perrigo Company via AP, File)

Over-the-counter birth control pill now available to Wisconsin Medicaid patients

Medicaid recipients in Wisconsin are getting access to the first over-the-counter birth control pill. Democratic Gov.

FILE - People vote at the Milwaukee County Sports Complex, Nov. 3, 2020, in Franklin, Wis. Early voting begins Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in Wisconsin for a host of local races, two proposed constitutional amendments that could alter how future elections are run and the-now anticlimactic presidential primary. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

Early voting to start in Wisconsin for president and constitutional amendments

Early voting will begin in Wisconsin for a host of local races, two proposed constitutional amendments that could alter how future elections are run and the now anticlimactic presidential primary.

FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2020 file photo, voters wait in line outside a polling center on Election Day, in Kenosha, Wis. Wisconsin voters are being asked to make it unconstitutional to accept private grant money to help administer elections, a Republican-backed effort in the ongoing battle over how to run elections in the presidential battleground state. That proposed constitutional amendment, along with a related one saying that only election officials designated by law may administer elections, are both on the state's April 2, 2024 ballot. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

Wisconsin voters to decide on banning private money to help fund elections

Wisconsin voters are set to decide whether to make it unconstitutional to accept private grant money to help administer state elections, one of two Republican-backed ballot measures that Democrats say are meant to make it harder to conduct elections in the presidential battleground state.

FILE - Eric Hovde, a Republican businessman and real estate mogul announces he is for running U.S. Senate against Wisconsin Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Feb. 20, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Hovde pledged in a new campaign ad Friday, March 15, to donate his salary to charity if elected, a move that comes as Democrats try to paint the California bank owner and real estate mogul as an out-of-touch multimillionaire.(John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, file)

Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate Hovde promises to donate salary to charity

Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde pledges in a new campaign ad to donate his salary to charity if elected.

Matthew Snorek, right, submits petitions to force a recall election targeting Wisconsin's top elected Republican, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Vos angered backers of former President Donald Trump when he refused to impeach the official who oversees the battleground state's elections. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

Wisconsin elections review shows recall targeting GOP leader falls short of signatures needed

Supporters of former President Donald Trump who organized an effort to recall Wisconsin’s top elected Republican did not gather enough signatures to trigger the recall election under one scenario reviewed by elections officials Tuesday.

FILE - The Wisconsin Capitol is seen, Oct. 24, 2023, in Madison, Wis. The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature is poised to finish its two-year session Tuesday, March 12, 2024, by passing a ban on high school transgender athletes competing on girls teams, but a bipartisan effort to allow for early processing of absentee ballots appears to be dead. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer, File)

Wisconsin governor promises to veto transgender athlete ban passed by Republican Legislature

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has renewed his promise to veto a bill passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature that would ban high school transgender athletes competing on girls teams, saying he will be “damn proud to do it.”

Matthew Snorek, right, submits petitions to force a recall election targeting Wisconsin's top elected Republican, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Vos angered backers of former President Donald Trump when he refused to impeach the official who oversees the battleground state's elections. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

Trump backers submit signatures to force recall election of Wisconsin GOP Assembly leader

Supporters of former President Donald Trump have submitted petitions seeking to force a recall election targeting Wisconsin’s top elected Republican, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

Supporters of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' plan to re-draw the state's legislative maps react as he stands at a podium during the bill-signing event at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. Monday, Feb. 19, 2024. Democrats tried unsuccessfully for more than a decade to overturn the Republican-drawn maps. But it wasn’t until control of the state Supreme Court flipped in August after the election of liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz that Democrats found a winning formula. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects Democrats’ congressional redistricting challenge

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected a Democratic lawsuit seeking to throw out the battleground state’s congressional maps.

FILE - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers addresses a joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chambers during the Governor's State of the State speech at the state Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019, in Madison, Wis. Evers has vetoed a nearly $800 million income tax cut passed by Republicans, along with bills that would have increased the income tax credit for married couples and raised the amount of r(AP Photo/Andy Manis, File)

Evers vetoes Republican-backed bills slashing the income tax, cutting taxes on retirees

Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed a nearly $800 million income tax cut passed by Republicans, along with bills that would have increased the income tax credit for married couples and raised the amount of retirees’ income exempt from the state income tax.

This screen shot from cell phone video provided by Eric Hovde’s campaign shows the candidate for U.S. Senate shirtless in the cold waters of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wis. on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. He was hoping to show he’s more of a hardy Wisconsinite than a soft Californian. He also challenged his Democratic challenger, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, to take a cold plunge as well. (Eric Hovde via AP)

Shirtless US Senate candidate submerges himself in Wisconsin lake, issues challenge to opponent

A shirtless candidate for U.S. Senate broke through the ice of a Madison lake hoping to pour cold water on any notion that he’s a soft Californian, not a hardy Wisconsinite.

Conservationist Aldo Leopold’s last remaining child dies at 97

The last remaining child of famed conservationist and author Aldo Leopold has died. Estella Leopold was a researcher and scientist who dedicated her life to the land ethic philosophy of her famous father.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers shows new signed legislative maps Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, at the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. Evers signed new legislative district maps into law that he proposed and that the Republicans who control the Legislature passed to avoid having the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court draw the lines.(Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

Redistricting experts submit $128K bill for review of Wisconsin legislative maps

Redistricting consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court submitted a bill for more than $128,000 for the work they did reviewing proposed new legislative maps.

FILE - Eric Hovde, a Republican businessman and real estate mogul announces he is for running U.S. Senate against Wisconsin Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Feb. 20, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Hovde is launching his first television ad of the race on Tuesday, Feb. 27, part of a seven-figure statewide buy his campaign said Monday will include multiple spots over the next month. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, file)

Republican Wisconsin Senate candidate Hovde launches first campaign ad

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde is launching his first television ad of the race on Tuesday, part of a seven-figure statewide buy his campaign said Monday will include multiple spots over the next month.

FILE - Wisconsin state Rep. Janel Brandtjen speaks as former President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally for Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels at the Waukesha County Fairgrounds in Waukesha, Wis., on Aug. 5, 2022. The Wisconsin Ethics Commission is recommending that state prosecutors file felony charges against a fundraising committee for former President Donald Trump and Brandtjen, a Trump ally, related to an effort last year to unseat Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. (Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, File)

Wisconsin ethics panel recommends felony charges against Trump committee, lawmaker

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Ethics Commission has recommended that state prosecutors file felony charges against a fundraising committee for former President Donald Trump and a Republican state lawmaker related to an effort to unseat Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

FILE - Dr. Claude Tiller Jr. speaks at the Aging & Disability Resource Center of Brown County on July 18, 2023, in Green Bay, Wis. The Green Bay school district on Wednesday, Feb, 21, 2024, released the recording of its first Black superintendent's appearance on an Atlanta radio show in which he made blunt comments about race relations, criticized the community and derided one of the district's principals. Tiller Jr. resigned on Saturday after a closed-door meeting with school board members. (Seeger Gray/The Green Bay Press-Gazette via AP, File)

Wisconsin school district releases tape of Black superintendent’s comments that led to resignation

The school district in Green Bay, Wisconsin, has released the recording of its first Black superintendent’s appearance on an Atlanta radio show in which he made blunt comments about race relations, criticized the community and derided one of the district’s principals.

FILE - This image taken with a drone shows the Wisconsin State Capitol on Dec. 31, 2020, in Madison, Wis. Measures that would legalize medical marijuana, spend $125 million to combat pollution from “forever chemicals” and allow election officials to speed up the counting of absentee ballots all appear to be doomed as the Wisconsin Legislature plans to meet for a last time on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, file)

Wisconsin bills to fight ‘forever chemicals’ pollution, speed ballot counting in jeopardy

Measures that would legalize medical marijuana, spend $125 million to combat pollution from “forever chemicals” and allow election officials to speed up the counting of absentee ballots all appear to be doomed as the Wisconsin Legislature approaches the end of its session for the year.

CORRECTS BYLINE AND SOURCE TO JOHN HART/WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL - Eric Hovde, a Republican businessman and real estate mogul launched, announces he is for running U.S. Senate against Wisconsin Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, in Madison, Wis. Hovde previously ran for Senate in 2012 but finished a close second to former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson in the primary. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)

Republican Eric Hovde seeks to unseat Democrat Baldwin in Wisconsin race for US Senate

Republican businessman and real estate mogul Eric Hovde launched his bid for the U.S. Senate against Wisconsin Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin on Tuesday.

FILE - Wisconsin Republicans who control the state Legislature held a hearing on elections-related proposals in the state Capitol on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Madison, Wis. The Wisconsin Legislature was racing to finish its work for the session by voting Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, on everything from a massive tax cut to raising out-of-state hunting fees. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer, File)

Wisconsin Republican-controlled Senate votes to reject Evers appointees

The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate has voted to reject four of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ appointees.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers shows new signed legislative maps Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, at the Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. Evers signed new legislative district maps into law that he proposed and that the Republicans who control the Legislature passed to avoid having the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court draw the lines.(Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor signs his new legislative maps into law after Republicans pass them

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, has signed new legislative district maps into law that he proposed and that the Republicans who control the Legislature passed to avoid having the liberal-leaning state Supreme Court draw the lines.

FILE - In this Aug. 15, 2012 file photo, Eric Hovde, candidate for the U.S. Senate, gives his concession speech to supporters during his election night party in Peaukee, Wis. Eric Hovde is planning to launch a bid for U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Hovde campaign spokesperson Ben Voekel said Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024 that Hovde will be announcing next week. (AP Photo/Tom Lynn, File)

Republican businessman Hovde to enter Wisconsin US Senate race against Baldwin

Multimillionaire Republican businessman Eric Hovde is planning to launch a bid for U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

FILE - Assembly Speaker Robin Vos watches Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers give his annual State of the State address, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, in Madison, Wis. A Republican proposal to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin is dead. Vos said Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, that there will still be a public hearing to build support for passage next session, but it won't occur until after the Assembly has adjourned for this year. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

A Republican plan to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin is dead

A Republican proposal to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin is dead. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday that there will still be a public hearing to build support for passage next session, but it won’t occur until after the Assembly has adjourned for this year.

FILE - Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos speaks during an interview at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. A constitutional amendment supported by Republicans that attempts to limit diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in Wisconsin was up for its first vote in the Legislature on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Harm Venhuizen, File)

Wisconsin Assembly passes constitutional amendment to limit diversity efforts

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A constitutional amendment supported by Republicans that attempts to limit diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in Wisconsin won approval Thursday in the state Assembly.

FILE - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks before President Joe Biden at the Earth Rider Brewery, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Superior, Wis. Wisconsin's Republican-controlled Senate is taking another shot Tuesday, Feb. 13, at passing a new legislative map before the liberal-controlled state Supreme Court does it. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

GOP-led Wisconsin Legislature passes Democratic governor’s legislative maps

Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled Legislature has passed legislative maps that were proposed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

FILE - Senate President Roger Roth, (R - Appleton), listens during a break in the session, April 15, 2020 at the Wisconsin State Senate in Madison, Wis. The surprise retirement of a GOP congressman in a solidly Republican Wisconsin congressional district has potential candidates weighing a run, even as a former state lawmaker quickly jumped into the race. U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher announced Saturday that he won’t run for a fifth term representing the 8th Congressional District in northeast Wisconsin. Just hours after the announcement his retirement, former state Sen. Roger Roth, of Appleton, announced his candidacy. (Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, file)

Wisconsin Republicans eye surprise open congressional seat in strong GOP district

The surprise retirement of a GOP congressman in a solidly Republican Wisconsin congressional district has potential candidates weighing a run, even as a former state lawmaker quickly jumped into the race.

An aerial view of the damage along North Tolles Road Friday morning, Feb. 9, 2024, after a confirmed tornado went through the area just northwest of Evansville, Wis., the prior evening. The tornado was the first-ever reported in February in the state of Wisconsin, according to the National Weather Service. (Anthony Wahl//The Janesville Gazette via AP)

Summer-like conditions with record temperatures lead to first Wisconsin tornadoes in February

The first tornadoes ever recorded in Wisconsin in the usually frigid month of February came on a day that broke records for warmth, the type of severe weather normally seen in the late spring and summer.