The Capitol Report

Tuesday’s gubernatorial election underscored that Republicans have an acute problem in Dane County and suburban Milwaukee.

With early voting underway and Election Day nearing, national surrogates are flooding into Wisconsin to drive turnout for nationally important governor and U.S. Senate races.

GOP and Democrat insiders agree Republicans pining for a supermajority have a mostly clear path in the Senate, but winning 66 Assembly seats is a much bigger lift.

Wisconsin communities will take up questions about legalizing marijuana, election administration, clean water, abortion, and local levy increases on the November ballot.

Five weeks out from the election, Wisconsin Democrats sought to place a spotlight on abortion as Gov. Tony Evers told a Capitol rally he and Democrat Attorney General Josh Kaul have been a “brick wall” against GOP efforts to restrict access to the procedure.

GOP gubernatorial hopeful Tim Michels has pumped another $5 million into his governor campaign over 37 days, bringing his personal commitment to the race to $15.7 million, according to a WisPolitics.com check of the latest campaign finance reports.

In the midst of a big campaign year, state agencies and Gov. Tony Evers’ office are working on the next budget proposal, which will be unveiled early next year.

Wisconsin has big races this fall, for sure. The races for governor and U.S. Senate are nationally important.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association has decided against endorsing in the governor’s race this year, saying both Democratic Governor Tony Evers and GOP challenger Tim Michels are good on the group’s issues.

While GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels won’t take PAC contributions, running mate Roger Roth isn’t placing any similar restrictions on his fundraising.