Author

Ruth Conniff

Ruth Conniff

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 the author of "Milked: How an American Crisis Brought Together Midwestern Dairy Farmers and Mexican Workers" which won the 2022 Studs and Ida Terkel award from The New Press. She 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. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband and three daughters.

US Rep Sean Duffy official portrait

Rep. Sean Duffy’s last day—special election date set

By: - September 23, 2019

Gov. Tony Evers announced he will order a special election to fill the seat in the 7th Congressional District left open as Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wausau) officially steps down at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept 23. The governor issued an executive order setting the election date for Jan. 27, 2020. The primary election, if there […]

Former state Sen. Leah Vukmir with a hunting rifle

Leah Vukmir taunts Gov. Evers with rifle on Twitter

By: - September 20, 2019

In a tweet with a photo of herself aiming a hunting rifle, former state Sen. Leah Vukmir, the Republican candidate for Senate who lost to Tammy Baldwin in 2018, tagged Gov. Tony Evers, challenging the governor to “come and take it.” Come and take it, @GovEvers. #2A pic.twitter.com/mbrqnvEuzh — Leah Vukmir (@LeahVukmir) September 20, 2019 […]

Chris Taylor at a rally for common-sense gun laws at the Capitol

‘Our kids are at risk every single day’

By: - September 19, 2019

At a rally for common-sense gun laws on the steps of the Capitol,by the Wisconsin Coalition for Gun Safety, Rep. Chris Taylor (D-Madison) urged a crowd of about 150 people to support universal background checks and other measures to stem gun violence. Instead of progress on gun safety, “what I’ve mostly seen in this building […]

Aftermath of the Brumadinho dam collapse in Brazil. Photo by TV NBR (CC BY 3.0)

Potential mining disaster on the Menominee River?

By: - September 18, 2019

Michigan and Wisconsin could face devastating environmental damage if an open-pit mine near Lake Michigan releases toxic waste into the two states’ waterways, Al Gedicks reports in Urban Milwaukee. The planned “Back Forty” metallic sulfide mine, owned by Aquila Resources, a Canadian exploration company, would cover 123 acres next to the Menominee River on the […]

Betsy DeVos at a podium at the US Dept of Education

More controversy around vouchers, DeVos

By: - September 17, 2019

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s “back-to-school” tour kickoff at a private Milwaukee voucher school triggered a passionate response from public-school advocates and voucher-school defenders alike. In her speech at St. Marcus Lutheran School, DeVos denounced “the education cabal” that “puts other issues above what’s right for students.” DeVos blamed school administrators for wasting money […]

Betsy DeVos at a podium at the US Dept of Education

Betsy DeVos’ Milwaukee voucher school visit draws fire

By: - September 15, 2019

US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is launching a “Back to School” tour on Monday with a visit to a private voucher school in Milwaukee—a city described by The Department of Education in a press release as the “birthplace of education freedom.” “Thanks to the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, now in its 30th year, thousands […]

F_35 fighter jet

F-35 stirs strong reaction in Madison

By: - September 13, 2019

The Air National Guard held a public forum on the plan to bring F-35 fighter jets to Madison’s Truax Field on Thursday night at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center. Public comments on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared by the Air Force are open until Sept. 27. Worried residents of the […]

US Capitol Building exterior

Knives come out as Tom Tiffany announces for Congress

By: - September 11, 2019

On Tuesday, state Sen. Tom Tiffany (R-Minoqua) became the first candidate to announce he is running for the seat vacated by Congressman Sean Duffy (R-Wausau), after Duffy’s surprise announcement that he is stepping down.  Tiffany made his announcement at several stops in the 7th Congressional District, the largest in Wisconsin, encompassing 20 counties and most […]

sign outside school slated for closure: proudly educating panthers since 1896:

Palmyra residents fight to save their school district

By: - September 9, 2019

Last Friday at noon, Tara LeRoy walked into the school district office at the back of the Palmyra-Eagle High School, to turn in petitions with 680 signatures from community members who do not want to see their school district dissolved and their local schools closed permanently at the end of the current school year. A […]

Mark Pocan sees political winds shifting in Wisconsin

By: - September 5, 2019

In a wide ranging conversation with reporters in his district office on Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) pointed to a big drop-off in support for President Donald Trump in the latest Marquette Law School Poll. One of the big reason’s for Trump’s declining approval rating in the state, Pocan said, is “the stupid, silly, […]

Wall on US/Mexico border

Wisconsin losing funding to border wall ‘folly’

By: - September 5, 2019

Truax field in Madison, Wisconsin will lose $8 million in funding for a small-arms range, as one of 127 military construction projects that will see funding diverted to pay for a $3.6 billion border wall between the United States and Mexico. The Defense Department released a list of projects that will lose funding on Wednesday. […]

Wisconsin state flag

Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler on his plans to win Wisconsin

By: - September 4, 2019

The new state Democratic Party chair of Wisconsin, Ben Wikler, moved back to Madison to run for current job, leaving his role as Washington director for MoveOn and promising to use his organizing experience defending the Affordable Care Act to help Democrats retake his home state. Sitting in his office across the street from the […]