Author

Ruth Conniff is Editor-in-chief of the Wisconsin Examiner. She formerly served as Editor-in-chief of The Progressive Magazine where she worked for many years from both Madison and Washington, DC. Shortly after Donald Trump took office she moved with her family to Oaxaca, Mexico, and covered U.S./Mexico relations, the migrant caravan, and Mexico’s efforts to grapple with Trump. Conniff is a frequent guest on MSNBC and has appeared on Good Morning America, Democracy Now!, Wisconsin Public Radio, CNN, Fox News and many other radio and television outlets. She has also written for The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times, among other publications. Her book "Milked: How an American Crisis Brought Together Midwestern Dairy Farmers and Mexican Workers" won the 2022 Studs and Ida Terkel Award from The New Press.
Wisconsin Republicans step back from Trump, but Trumpism is alive and well
By: Ruth Conniff - November 17, 2022
Wisconsin Republicans are moving away from Trump. Who can blame them? Trump-endorsed candidates, among them GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, sustained heavy losses in the midterm elections. And Trump’s rambling, petulant speech announcing that he is running for president in 2024 was not exactly inspiring. “Two years ago, we were a great nation,” Trump declared, […]
What you don’t know about the UW System’s new charter schools should worry you
By: Ruth Conniff - November 15, 2022
The UW System’s Office of Educational Opportunity (OEO), created by the Wisconsin Legislature in 2015, is well on its way to overseeing more K-12 schools than the superintendents of most of Wisconsin’s 423 school districts. Currently, the OEO, the UW System’s charter school authorizer, lists 10 independent charter schools it has authorized on its website. […]
Five top takeaways from the midterms in Wisconsin
By: Ruth Conniff - November 10, 2022
This week’s midterm elections were most notable for what didn’t happen. There was no “shellacking” of Democrats. The much-talked-about red wave failed to materialize. Armed vigilantes did not descend in force on polling places to harass and intimidate voters. Neither, for the most part, did a flood of baseless accusations of fraud derail Democratic victories, […]
Why is the UW System working with the controversial Hillsdale charter school network?
By: Ruth Conniff - November 5, 2022
Controversy surrounding Hillsdale charter schools led the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University in Wisconsin to threaten to sever ties last month with Lake Country Classical Academy — Wisconsin’s first Hillsdale-affiliated charter school. The tribe cited “inflammatory, derogatory, and racist comments captured by hidden camera” by the president of Hillsdale College, Larry Arnn. Arnn’s comments, which […]
New Marquette Poll shows races for Senate, governor are toss-ups
By: Ruth Conniff - November 2, 2022
One week out from the Nov. 8 midterm election, the latest Marquette University Law School poll shows both the Wisconsin Senate race and the race for governor are extremely tight. Among likely voters in the Senate election, incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson has 50% support compared with 48% support for Barnes. “That’s obviously inside the […]
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University to sever relationship with Hillsdale charter school
By: Ruth Conniff - October 26, 2022
The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University (LCOOU) Authorizing Board says it will end its affiliation with an Oconomowoc charter school affiliated with Hillsdale College unless the school renounces reported racist and derogatory comments made by Hillsdale’s president, Larry Arnn. The tribal university notified leaders of Lake Country Classical Academy (LCCA) that unless the charter school […]
Beware skewed numbers on school funding
By: Ruth Conniff - October 25, 2022
The Badger Institute, a conservative Wisconsin think tank, touts its “instrumental” role in “successes ranging from implementation of school choice to the passage of right-to-work legislation to the repeal of prevailing wage and overly onerous occupational licensure laws.” Last week it came out with a new report, “Mandate for Madison: Policy Recommendations for a More […]
Getting past toxic partisanship: Dairy farmers and undocumented workers
By: Ruth Conniff - October 24, 2022
Throughout the late summer and early fall I’ve been traveling, giving talks at bookstores, libraries and university classrooms in various cities about my new book “Milked: How an American Crisis Brought Together Midwestern Dairy Farmers and Mexican Workers.” The subject of my book — the deep economic and personal relationships between dairy farmers and the […]
Sarah Godlewski’s crusade to elect women and preserve the veto
By: Ruth Conniff - October 11, 2022
On a brilliant Saturday morning in October, a buzzing crowd was crammed into the kitchen of Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski’s lakefront home in Madison, sipping coffee and waiting to hear from six pro-choice women candidates running in some of Wisconsin’s most competitive legislative districts. After dropping out of the race to replace Republican U.S. […]
Facts and fantasy collide in Wisconsin’s Senate debate
By: Ruth Conniff - October 8, 2022
The flurry of one-minute answers during Friday night’s U.S. Senate candidate debate are unlikely to change many voters’ minds. There was Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in his dark blue suit and white hair looking senatorial as he glibly explained that the government is wasting money on silly climate change initiatives and reassuring voters that, despite […]
Dairy farmers demand year-round visa for immigrant workers
By: Ruth Conniff - October 7, 2022
At World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday, a coalition of dairy farmers and advocacy groups, including the American Business Immigration Coalition, held a press conference to demand the passage of a Senate bill that would legalize the nation’s immigrant agricultural workforce in year-round jobs. By some estimates, 80% of the labor on Wisconsin […]
Abortion special session turns into a political rally
By: Ruth Conniff - October 5, 2022
It was over as soon as it began. Within seconds, Republican legislative leaders gaveled in and out of Tuesday’s special session, called by Gov. Tony Evers to create a referendum process so voters could amend the state’s 1849 abortion ban. The outcome was never in doubt. Republicans made it clear from the start that they […]