At the Capitol, the status of Wisconsin’s chief elections officer remains in doubt. A public hearing on Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe opened with Beloit Democrat Mark Spreitzer arguing there was no nomination for the Senate committee to vote on.
“This committee cannot take up a nomination that has not been made, and so I make a point of order that this nomination is not properly before us,” said Spreitzer.
Committee chair, Germantown Republican Dan Knodl, rejected the opinion by attorneys for the legislature. “And they’re just that, they are opinions. This is not a court of law, here it is a public hearing.”
Rock County Clerk Lisa Tollefson spoke in support of Wolfe, who was was appointed by the bi-partisan, six-member Commission in February of 2018 and unanimously confirmed by the Wisconsin State Senate in May of 2019 for a four-year term.
“Her strength and knowledge, her ability to run a tight ship and keep things running amid immense intense pressure is amazing,” Tollefson said.
But former state Supreme Court Justice Micheal Gableman – whose investigation failed to uncover malfeasance in the 2020 election – was critical. “The record speaks for itself, and nothing speaks as highly as the fact that she didn’t come here today to tell you about all the good work she’s been doing.”
In the end, Knodl, said he hasn’t decided whether to hold a vote on Wolfe’s continued tenure at WEC. A vote to remove her would likely end up in court.