Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Wisconsin election takeover threatens our republican form of government

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson's push for legislative control of elections is a blatant conflict of interest, according to the authors.

Sen. Ron Johnson and others

Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

Johnson and Vanderklipp are, respectively, the executive director and research fellow for the Election Reformers Network and the co-authors of “Nonpartisanship Works: How Lessons from Canada Can Reestablish Trust in U.S. Election Administration.”

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson has repeated the call for his state’s legislature to seize control of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Although a takeover won’t happen with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers holding the veto pen, this proposal increases a dangerous trend of partisan legislative micromanagement of elections. This threat to fair elections needs to be spotlighted and nonpartisan alternatives pursued instead.

Fundamentally, state legislatures reflect the interests of the political party in the majority, so Johnson’s proposal is tantamount to control of elections by an organization fielding candidates, a blatant conflict of interest and a hugely unfair advantage for incumbents.


Many legislatures already exert far too much control over election administration and rule-making. In 2021, legislatures have passed election laws at an absurd level of controlling detail, limiting not only dropboxes and voting by mail, but also whether voters in line can receive a drink of water. Redistricting led by legislatures, rather than independent commissions, allows lawmakers to help themselves win re-election and help their party win a majority of seats without a majority of votes.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Yes, the Constitution gives legislatures (and Congress) the power to prescribe “the time, place and manner” of federal elections, but the Supreme Court has rightly ruled that setting the rules for elections, not running them, is a lawmaking function.

The Constitution also requires the federal government to guarantee a “republican form of government” in the states, and it is not an exaggeration to say a state with party-controlled elections has lost that status. A republic is defined by elections that reflect the will of the people, not the will of the people already in office.

The underlying dispute in Wisconsin arose when the Elections Commission issued voting rules to comply with Covid-related public health orders that conflicted with state law. Johnson and others argue any breach of the law must be punished. The real culprit, however, is tightly prescriptive lawmaking in a complex area of public administration. Police commissioners, housing authorities and school superintendents all need latitude to find the best means to achieve policy goals in an unpredictable world. The same is true of election administrators.

A study we released this week illustrates how this needed flexibility is working just across the border from Wisconsin, in Canada. There, top provincial and territorial election officials have wide discretion to amend election provisions to meet the exigencies of the situation. The election code of Yukon, for example, says “the chief electoral officer may extend the time for doing any act; increase the number of election officers or polling stations; or otherwise adapt any of the provisions of this Act to the extent the chief electoral officer considers necessary to ensure the execution of the intent of this Act."

Both liberal and conservative governments in Canada have supported provisions like this in the 13 provinces and territories, and at the federal level.

Where Canadian laws are less flexible is in requiring these officials to be nonpartisan. Chief electoral officers must not actively affiliate with or endorse a party or candidate, and in seven provinces they are not even allowed to vote. Our study finds that this nonpartisanship has created a kind of virtuous circle. Increasing recognition of the neutrality of these officials has led to increasing willingness of lawmakers to entrust them with greater authority.

In the United States, that circle is turning in the opposite, and more vicious, direction. No U.S. state has election leadership structured for nonpartisanship, and states like Texas, Georgia and Arizona are pulling back the limited decision-making allowed to secretaries of state and state election boards. The impact of this mistrust can be seen in the 500 lawsuits filed over election laws implemented for Covid; in Canada, there appear to have been only three.

Nonpartisan election administration came about in Canada not because everyone gets along — they don’t — but from an “enough is enough” reaction to a blatantly manipulated election in 1917. Canada’s parties disagree over election security and voter access, and the most recent conservative government enacted a national voter ID. But no one disputes the value of nonpartisans in charge, or proposes a political party takeover of elections.

“Enough is enough” probably sums up the thinking of many in Wisconsin as well. What’s needed there, and in all states, is election leadership constitutionally required to act in a nonpartisan manner and constitutionally protected from legislative overreach. That won't be easy to achieve, But the alternative, as proposed by Johnson, would wreck the republican form of government in the state. The only way left for Wisconsin out of its partisan death spiral is to recognize that nonpartisanship works in many other countries, and to put it in place here.

Read More

Raising Taxes or Cutting Spending: House Budget Committee Argues Over Debt Crisis Fix

Republican and Democratic representatives discussed the fiscal state of the United State in a House Budget hearing on May 7, 2025

Huiyan Li | Medill News Service

Raising Taxes or Cutting Spending: House Budget Committee Argues Over Debt Crisis Fix

WASHINGTON –– Republicans and Democrats clashed on May 7 at a House Budget Committee hearing over how to address the nation’s mounting federal debt—whether to raise revenue through tax increases or cut spending on federal programs such as Medicaid.

Both parties agreed that the United States was on an unsustainable fiscal path and that urgent action is needed to prevent a debt crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taxing the Rich To Pay for Trump Priorities Wouldn’t Slow Economic Growth

Under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, people who earned more than $400,000 a year paid a top tax rate of 92%. Today's top rate is 37%.

Adobe Stock

Taxing the Rich To Pay for Trump Priorities Wouldn’t Slow Economic Growth

Reports of the Trump administration considering taxing wealthy Americans to pay for mass deportations and other priorities come on the heels of a new study showing how the move could generate significant revenues without slowing economic growth.

Mary Eschelbach Hansen, associate professor of economics at American University and the report's co-author, said raising tax rates for people who earn more than $609,000 a year to 44% would add 3% to the nation's tax coffers, enough to stave off cuts to popular programs serving low-income Coloradans.

"In current budget proportions, that's about enough to pay for some of the biggest, most important programs like food stamps SNAP, Children's Health Insurance Program, and also Temporary Assistance for Needy Families," Eschelbach Hansen outlined.

While 44% may seem high compared to today's top rate of 37%, it is a lot less than the 92% paid by people who earned more than $400,000 a year under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Republicans have long argued tax cuts create economic benefits for all, and leaders in Congress, including Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., the House Speaker, have said they would oppose any tax hikes.

Eschelbach Hansen argued raising the top tax rate would also increase how much of the national income pie most Americans get to keep, compared to how much the wealthiest get, by about 2%. She added years of trickle-down economics have shown only the wealthy benefit from low tax rates.

"If lowering top tax rates was going to trickle down, then you and I would be much richer than we are now," Eschelbach Hansen pointed out. "Because we have had an era of low top tax rates for decades."

Eschelbach Hansen stressed higher personal tax rates have virtually no impact on long-term economic growth, and lower personal tax rates lead to less economic growth, because people tend to take advantage of the lower rate by moving their income.

"Instead of reinvesting it in your business, where it will grow your business and grow the economy, you'll be more likely to just take it as personal income, which is not going to stimulate growth," Eschelbach Hansen explained.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Keep ReadingShow less
Chicago Head Start Programs Face Uncertainty After Regional Office Closure

Morning drop-off at the Carole Robertson Center for Learning.

Claire Murphy

Chicago Head Start Programs Face Uncertainty After Regional Office Closure

ALBANY PARK – The laughter of preschool children permeates the hallways of the Carole Robertson Center for Learning on a sunny Thursday morning in Albany Park.

Teachers line their students up outside classrooms, counting names off one by one. Children congregate by their playmats and colorful rugs, about to be served breakfast.

Keep ReadingShow less
Treasury Secretary Bessent Foreshadows Trade Deals With Major Economic Partners

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent talks with Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-NC, after testifying in front of the House Appropriations Committee May 6, 2025.

Athan Yanos/MNS.

Treasury Secretary Bessent Foreshadows Trade Deals With Major Economic Partners

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attempted to reassure Americans about the state of the U.S. economy, despite President Donald Trump’s major economic changes and the instability they have brought to the stock market.

“In the first 100 days of the new administration, we have set the table for a robust economy that allows Main Street to grow with Congress and the White House working hand in hand. We expect to see even more positive results over the next few months,” Bessent told the House Appropriations Committee last week.

Keep ReadingShow less