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 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.
Critics see ‘power grab’ in lawsuit to limit Evers’ veto
By: Ruth Conniff - August 1, 2019
On Wednesday, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) announced that it is filing an original action with the state Supreme Court, seeking to undo several of Gov. Tony Evers’ partial vetoes of the state budget sent to him by the Republican-controlled legislature. “It’s important to get the constitution right,” WILL’s executive director, […]
Justice Abrahamson’s last day at work
By: Ruth Conniff - July 31, 2019
Today is the last day on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for Justice Shirley Abrahamson, the longest-serving justice in state history and a pathbreaker who opened the way for women in the legal profession. At a farewell ceremony on June 18, former Gov. Jim Doyle remembered when his father first hired Justice Abrahamson, the former chief […]
Baldwin pushes climate-ready infrastructure
By: Ruth Conniff - July 30, 2019
Rebuilding roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects after they are wiped out by storms, floods and other disasters is increasingly urgent as climate change drives severe weather events. But “too often, highway infrastructure is rebuilt to pre-disaster specifications, leaving roads and bridges vulnerable to another disaster,” U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said in a statement on […]
GOP leaders deny “discussion” of redistricting plan
By: Ruth Conniff - July 30, 2019
Republican leaders in the Assembly and Senate reacted to yesterday’s report in the Wisconsin Examiner about a possible behind-the-scenes plan to redraw Wisconsin’s voting maps without consulting Gov. Tony Evers. Both told Scott Bauer of the Associated Press that they had never “discussed” a plan to redraw Wisconsin’s political maps by joint resolution. “That approach […]
GOP could dodge Gov. Evers to gerrymander Wisconsin again
By: Ruth Conniff - July 29, 2019
Advocates on both sides of recent redistricting battles in Wisconsin have told the Examiner they believe that the Republican-controlled legislature might draw new, gerrymandered voting maps after the 2020 census, using a process that would avoid sending the plan to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers for his signature or veto. Democrats and advocates for a fair […]
Gonzo journalist who antagonized Scott Walker dies
By: Ruth Conniff - July 23, 2019
Friends and colleagues of journalist and satirist Ian Murphy, former editor of the recently revived Buffalo Beast, an alternative online news site in Buffalo, NY, report that Murphy has died. Murphy passed away on July 17, 2019, Buffalo Beast staff said. He was 40 years old. The cause of death has not been confirmed. Murphy […]
Tour to protect immigrants, restore driver’s licenses
By: Ruth Conniff - July 22, 2019
On a humid Saturday morning, with temperatures climbing into the 90s, about 100 community members gathered at the Centro Hispano community center in Madison for a bilingual teach-in on what to do in the event of an ICE raid, and to organize a statewide campaign to restore driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. The two issues […]
John Nichols: Crisis in journalism is a crisis for democracy
By: Ruth Conniff - July 19, 2019
There is no more ardent champion of Wisconsin’s progressive tradition than John Nichols, national affairs correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times and the author of many books, including “The Genius of Impeachment,” “The Death and Life of American Journalism” (with Robert McChesney) and “The Capital Times: A Proudly Radical Newspaper’s […]
Rep. Pocan calls for oversight of private Florida detention center
By: Ruth Conniff - July 17, 2019
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan held a press call to report on his recent trip to the Homestead Influx Facility in Miami, Florida — a temporary shelter for migrant children run by the private prison operator Caliburn International. Pocan, a Democrat who represents Wisconsin’s 2nd District, sits on the House Committee on Appropriations. He […]
Welcome to the Wisconsin Examiner
By: Ruth Conniff - July 16, 2019
As tanks and armored vehicles rumbled through the streets of Washington, D.C., on the Fourth of July, the kids in my neighborhood were pedaling their bikes, festooned with American flags, in a local parade that passed close by the home of our new Democratic governor, Tony Evers. Evers, a former science teacher, recently ousted Republican […]
GOP’s ‘historic investment’ in public schools fails to fill gaps
By: Ruth Conniff - July 16, 2019
One of Gov. Tony Evers’ trickier maneuvers in his budget battle with the Republican legislature was to use the line-item veto to actually increase school spending. By crossing out the first year of the legislature’s education spending in the biennial budget, Evers effectively expanded an increase slated for the second year, adding $65 million more […]