John Heckenlively
Stories (116/0)
Bryan Watch
Bryan Watch: January Weeks 1 and 2 Back in the early 2000's, I kept a close watch on Congressman Paul Ryan’s voting record under the label “Ryan Watch.” It fell by the wayside once he became speaker. But now that Wisconsin’s First Congressional District has a new congressman, Bryan Steil, it seems like a good time to begin looking at Congress again.
By John Heckenlively5 years ago in The Swamp
Ryan Wasted $73 Million on Midterms
Now that all the dust has settled, and every race determined, it turns out the grand total of all the money the Congressional Leadership Fund wasted on attack ads was $73,177,712. That doesn’t include the just over $3 million they spent on Conor Lamb’s special election in Pennsylvania.
By John Heckenlively5 years ago in The Swamp
How Evers Beat Walker
In 2014, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker beat bicycle entrepreneur Mary Burke by 136,793 votes. In 2018, Walker lost to State Superintendent of Education Tony Evers by a margin of 30, 576. What factors shifted over 167,000 votes between the two elections? There were several.
By John Heckenlively5 years ago in The Swamp
Trump Faces Hurdles in 2020
In 2016, Donald Trump eked out a win in the electoral college by virtue of his strength in the industrial midwest. He did so by outflanking Hillary Clinton on the left, decrying trade deals that had cost factory workers their jobs and promising that he would return prosperity to midwestern states.
By John Heckenlively5 years ago in The Swamp
Ryan Wastes Another $7.4 Million
Paul Ryan's efforts to save incumbent Republicans fell short twice more this week. In Maine 2, Jared Golden defeated Bruce Poliquin. Golden makes history as the first person elected to Congress by ranked voting. Maine instituted ranked voting in 2016, and this was the first election in which it was implemented. Golden and Poliquin were in a four-way race with Tiffany Bond and Will Hoar. After the first round of voting, neither of the leaders had over 50 percent, so the choices of those who finished third and fourth came into play.
By John Heckenlively5 years ago in The Swamp
Ryan Wastes $38 Million on Midterms
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan went all out in his efforts to protect the House majority, and he failed rather spectacularly. His Congressional Leadership fund raised $140 million and spent just over $120 million, about $101 million on independent expenditure ads.
By John Heckenlively5 years ago in The Swamp