April 3, 2024
Wisconsin Democrat loses Wausau mayoral race in warning sign for Biden
by Mabinty Quarshie
WashingtonExaminer.com
Katie Rosenberg, a rising Democratic star (or maybe not! - De) in Wisconsin, lost the Wausau mayoral race Tuesday evening to conservative challenger Doug Diny.
Diny, who was supported by Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming, won the race 52.1% to the incumbent Rosenberg’s 47.9%, with just over 10,000 people voting in the election.
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“Congratulations to WisGOP-backed Doug Diny on his triumph in the Wausau Mayoral election,” Schimming said in a statement Tuesday night. “His stunning victory over incumbent Mayor Katie Rosenberg marks an unmistakable repudiation of failed Democrat policies and is a win for Central Wisconsin values.”
Rosenberg’s loss is a warning sign for President Joe Biden in the crucial battleground state he won by roughly more than 20,000 votes, or less than 1 percentage point, in 2020 against former President Donald Trump.
Biden easily won Wisconsin’s Democratic primary, but an organized effort to urge Democrats to vote “uninstructed” had successful results.
A coalition of Arab, Muslim, young, and progressive voters have launched several protest vote campaigns against Biden over his administration’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. As the protest vote movement has spread across the United States, the coalition has attempted to put pressure on Biden to endorse a permanent ceasefire in the conflict.
Biden won 88.6% of the primary vote, with 99% of the votes counted, after the Associated Press called the race at 9:13 p.m. Eastern time.
Nearly 8.5% of Democrats voted “uninstructed” in a rebuke of Biden while 3% of voters supported Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who previously suspended his presidential campaign.
The more than 47,840 voters who voted “uninstructed” surpassed the goal of 20,682 ballots organizers had set and doubled the more than 20,000-vote margin Biden won the state by in 2020.
Republicans scored two more victories Tuesday night in Wisconsin after voters approved two amendments to the state constitution that changed how elections are conducted.
Wisconsinites voted yes to Question 1 which bars the use of private funds in elections. The measure was a rebuke of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $400 million in donations to a nonprofit organization that helped administrations during the 2020 election and the struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans had denounced the donations as “Zuckerbucks.” The measure passed with 54.4% support, with 99% of the votes counted.
Voters also approved Question 2, under which “only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums.” The measure passed with 58.5% in favor, with 99% of the votes counted.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/2951123/wisconsin-democrat-loses-wausau-mayoral-race-biden/
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