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Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee to be rescheduled for August

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The 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee has been rescheduled to mid-August, due to concerns over the developing COVID-19 pandemic.

The event, originally scheduled for July 13-17, will instead be held the week of August 17. The convention was expected to draw upwards of 50,000 people to the Milwaukee metro area, with the convention itself to be held at Fiserv Forum. The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) made the announcement in a Thursday press release:

“In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention. During this critical time, when the scope and scale of the pandemic and its impact remain unknown, we will continue to monitor the situation and follow the advice of health care professionals and emergency responders,” said Joe Solmonese, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee. “I have always believed that American innovation and ingenuity shine brightest during our darkest days, and for that reason, I’m confident our convention planning team and our partners will find a way to deliver a convention in Milwaukee this summer that places our Democratic nominee on the path to victory in November.”

History will be made in Milwaukee when the 2020 Democratic National Convention takes place, not just because Democrats will nominate the next president and vice president of the United States, but because they’ll be doing it in a state that’s never before hosted a political party’s national convention. The Democratic Party believes that this important battleground state is the perfect place to share their vision for a safer, stronger country and lift up the voices of the working families that the party fights for every day.

“The city of Milwaukee welcomed our convention team with open arms over a year ago when our convention planning first kicked off. We remain inspired by the people who live and work here, and we remain committed to hosting this historic moment in their hometown,” Solmonese added. 

Ensuring the safety of the convention’s host community and all convention-goers has been—and always will remain—the top priority of the Democratic National Convention Committee. As convention planners continue to monitor the unpredictable and unprecedented public health emergency, they remain in constant communication with the local, state, and federal officials responsible for protecting public health and security, and will continue to follow their guidance.

“Leadership means being able to adapt, and that’s exactly what our party is doing. The city of Milwaukee has been an incredible partner, especially over the past few weeks as we’ve confronted this global crisis, and we couldn’t be more committed to highlighting Wisconsin as a key battleground state, as it is at the center of so many of Trump’s broken promises,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez. “Ultimately, the health and safety of our convention attendees and the people of Milwaukee is our top priority. And we will continue to be in contact with local, state, and federal health officials as we monitor this fluid situation. The Democratic Party is ready to defeat Donald Trump, the American people are ready to elect a Democratic president, and I have absolute confidence that our team is ready to deliver a successful convention for our nominee.”

As part of their contingency planning efforts, the Democratic National Convention Committee has confirmed that Fiserv Forum, the Wisconsin Center District and hotel accommodations in the surrounding area are available in August. The convention planning team will now use the coming weeks to further explore all options to ensure nominating the next president of the United States is done without unnecessary risk to public health. These options include everything from adjusting the convention’s format to crowd size and schedule.

Contingency planning is an important feature of preparations for every convention. The Democratic National Convention Committee is comprised of seasoned convention and event veterans who have been contingency planning for a variety of scenarios from day one. As they continue to monitor the coronavirus health crisis, and the impact it’s having on the country, they will continue to examine all options for the success of the convention that ensure the safety of any participants and the host city. As the convention’s plans are further finalized, more details will be made publicly available. 

On Wednesday, Wednesday Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden who told Jimmy Fallon of the “The Tonight Show,” “I doubt whether the Democratic convention is going to be able to be held in mid-July or early July. I think it’s going to have to move into August.”

Republicans still plan to gather August 24th through the 27th in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Latest MU Poll shows support for state’s COVID-19 response and Biden in Dem primary

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Wisconsin residents seem to have a lot more confidence in the state versus the federal response to COVID-19, according to the latest Marquette Law School Poll.

Poll director Charles Franklin said Wednesday that 76 percent of respondents approve of how Governor Tony Evers is handling the pandemic response, as opposed to just 51 percent of people who approve of President Trump’s handling of it.

“That’s a little bit higher than his overall approval rating which we’ve seen in national data as well, but it’s not as high by any margin as we’re Tony Evers at this point.”

Franklin said more and more Wisconsinites are taking the response seriously as the situation became more clear.

“Paying a lot of attention or very concerned about it’ didn’t even pass 50% until a couple of weeks ago so this is been a fast-developing matter of public opinion and public concern.”

More than half of poll respondents would also like to see the Spring Elections moved, with 51 percent saying the date should be moved and 44 percent saying it should be held as scheduled.

Numbers from the latest poll are also showing a reversal in the Democratic presidential primary. Franklin said Bernie Sanders had a commanding lead going into this month’s poll.

“This month the roles are totally reversed with Biden just over 60% Sanders at about 32%.”

Franklin said that people should still view these numbers with caution, simply because of the massive amount of absentee balloting that’s been going on for the Spring Primary.

Federal judge can’t delay election but rips Evers and legislative leaders for failure to do do

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A federal judge doesn’t believe he has the legal authority to postpone Wisconsin’s April 7 elections. But U.S. District Judge William Conley clearly wishes he could.

During a lengthy video hearing on Wednesday, Conley said that holding the election is “a really a bad public policy idea and they should stop it,” because of the risks associated with COVID-19.

The “they” Conley was referring to: Democratic Governor Tony Evers and Republican leaders in the legislature, who Conley said had abdicated their responsibilities and refused to “step up” during a crisis.

The judge said if anyone contracts COVID-19 while participating next Tuesday, that “will be on the hands of the Legislature and the governor.”

Conley said he’d consider some changes to how the election is conducted, but may not issue a decision until closer to Election Day.

On the ballot are the state’s presidential preference primary, the election for Wisconsin Supreme Court, and hundreds of local elected offices.

Wednesday’s confirmed COVID-19 cases top 1500 with 24 deaths in Wisconsin

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The Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported on Wednesday that total positive tests for COVID-19 coronavirus totaled 1,550 on Wednesday. Also as of Wednesday, there had been a total of 33 deaths in Wisconsin, along with 18,819 negative tests.

For the first time on Wednesday, DHS began including the number of patients hospitalized as a result of COVID-19.  That number was 398, or 26%.

The Milwaukee County COVID-19 Dashboard showed 833 positive cases Wednesday afternoon, and 16 deaths. The Dane County Covid-19 Dashboard showed 232 confirmed cases and 3 deaths.

Need for poll workers remains acute in Wisconsin

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Governor Tony Evers has agreed to allow Wisconsin National Guard personnel to be available to work at polling places in the state’s spring elections, as fears about coronavirus keep many regular poll workers at home.

With an acute shortage of workers for the April 7 election in Wisconsin, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Wednesday urged those who can work the polls to volunteer.

“I intend to work at a polling place on Election Day,” Vos said. “My wife has also volunteered at a different location, because we do appreciate that many of the poll workers either are concerned about their own safety or have some kind of an issue that might prevent them from being at the polls.”

More than 100 Wisconsin municipalities don’t have enough poll workers for next week’s election. Local clerks were surveyed by the Wisconsin Elections Commission The survey found 111 municipalities are short more than 670 poll workers – meaning they are too short-handed to offer in-person voting. Another 126 municipalities say won’t be able to staff all of their polling sites because they are missing more than 27 hundred poll workers.

The Elections Commission announced Wednesday that well over 1 million absentee ballots have been requested, and some 350,000 votes have already been cast. “Hopefully that will reduce the number of people who show up on the 7th of April, to cast their ballot in person,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald.

Vos and Fitzgerald commented during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. People who are interested in working at the polls April 7 can should contact their local clerks.

Support Wisconsin made products during the COVID-19 response

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The economic slowdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting Wisconsin’s farmers and food producers especially hard.

Alice in Dairyland Abigail Martin says buying local and keeping produce moving is vital to Wisconsin’s farmers. 

“1 in 9 people working in our state to hold a job related to agriculture so agriculture is really important to provide food for us but also to keep our economy going.” 

That’s over 437,000 people. A major portion of Wisconsin’s food and dairy goes to food service companies, so while restaurants are closed, more and more food isn’t going to market. 

Martin says more and more, people need to be looking for and buying Wisconsin-made food. 

“Your dollars aren’t going too far away from home and you’re going to be supporting your neighbors that are working in agriculture so that’s really one thing that we could be doing to help during this time.”

Martin says that the longer the shutdown lasts, the harder it will be to rebound for farmers. 

Evers asks White House for Emergency Declaration

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Governor Tony Evers on Tuesday requested that President Donald Trump declare a federal emergency disaster for Wisconsin.

Evers sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency making the request, as a result the COVID-19 pandemic. It covers all 72 counties and 11 federally recognized tribes. Evers said the outbreak has caused multiple deaths, exhausted many of state resources, resulted in record unemployment claims, and taken a toll on the community infrastructure that is in place to protect the public.

Evers said the coronavirus has required a tremendous response from the state and all of its communities that far exceeds the resources currently available.

A copy of the governor’s letter is available here.

UW-Madison Police investigating double homicide

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Two people are dead following a double homicide at the UW-Madison Arboretum.

UW Police are reporting that a jogger found two people, a man and a woman, lying in a ditch early Tuesday morning.

One person was dead on scene, while the other was transported to a hospital and died a short time later.

Police are still investigating, but say it does not have anything to do with a shooting at UW-Hospital Tuesday afternoon.