MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters on Tuesday rejected Republican-authored ballot questions that would have limited the governor’s power to spend federal money that comes to the state for such things as disaster relief, a big win for Democrats who mobilized against them.
In Wisconsin's closely watched U.S. Senate race, Republican businessman Eric Hovde, who was endorsed by Donald Trump, easily won the primary. He advances to face Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin in a race that could determine majority control of the chamber.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters on Tuesday rejected Republican-authored ballot questions that would have limited the governor’s power to spend federal money that comes to the state for such things as disaster relief, a big win for Democrats who mobilized against them.
Republican candidate for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District Andre Jacque participates in a debate, June 25, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (Angela Major/Wisconsin Public Radio via AP)
Republican candidate for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District Roger Roth speaks to a supporter during a campaign event, July 10, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (Angela Major/Wisconsin Public Radio via AP)
Republican candidate for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District Tony Wied speaks on June 4, 2024, in De Pere, Wis. (Angela Major/Wisconsin Public Radio via AP)
FILE - Eric Hovde speaks during the Republican National Convention, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
And in two competitive congressional primaries, Trump-backed Republican Tony Wied defeated a current and former state lawmaker in northeast Wisconsin, and Democrat Rebecca Cooke beat a state lawmaker in western Wisconsin.
Wied will face Democrat Kristin Lyerly, a doctor who sued to protect abortion rights, in the race for the open 8th Congressional District seat. Cooke will try to knock off incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL who is one of Trump’s loudest backers, in the 3rd District.
While the Trump-backed Wied won his race, two of Trump's biggest supporters in the Legislature, including one endorsed by the former president, lost in primaries to more moderate Republicans.
State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who Trump endorsed, lost in a primary to current state Sen. Dan Knodl, a race between two Republican incumbents created under newly drawn legislative districts. And former state Rep. Tim Ramthun lost to state Sen. Dan Feyen.
Both Brandtjen and Ramthun had pushed to decertify President Joe Biden's 2020 victory.
Rejection of the ballot measures was a huge win for liberals.
Democrats, including Gov. Tony Evers, and a host of liberal groups and others organized against the amendments. They had argued adopting them would slow down the distribution of money when it needs to be spent quickly.
“This was a referendum on our administration’s work and the future for Wisconsin we’ve been working hard to build together, and the answer is reflected in the people’s vote tonight,” Evers said in a statement.
Republican backers argued the measures would have added more oversight and serve as a check on the governor’s powers.
Republicans pushed the amendments after taking issue with Evers having the power to distribute billions of dollars in COVID-19 federal relief money without legislative approval.
In the Senate race, Hovde faced only nominal opposition and has been running as the presumptive nominee for months. He’s already spent at least $13 million of his own money on the race to knock off Baldwin, who ran unopposed in her party’s primary as she seeks a third term.
Baldwin has attacked Hovde as an out-of-touch California bank owner, while Hovde argues Baldwin is too liberal for Wisconsin. Hovde previously ran for the Senate in 2012 but lost in the primary.
In northeastern Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District, Wied defeated state Sen. Andre Jacque and former state Sen. Roger Roth.
Wied formerly owned a gas station chain and is running his first campaign for office. Trump endorsed Wied in April before Wied had officially entered the race. His primary victory was an early test of Trump’s support in a heavily Republican part of Wisconsin.
The seat is open due to former Rep. Mike Gallagher stepping down before his term was over in April.
In Western Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, Democrat Cooke defeated longtime state Rep. Katrina Shankland and political newcomer Eric Wilson. Cooke previously ran in 2022 for the seat but lost in the primary.
Cooke, 36, is a former small business owner and political fundraiser. She currently runs a nonprofit.
The district is a target for Democrats as they seek to win back majority control of the House. The district had been represented by a Democrat for 26 years before it flipped in 2022 and is the most competitive district in the state.
The election was also the first under new legislative maps more favorable to Democrats.
Legislative incumbents faced each other in six primaries, including four Assembly races where the new maps pitted them against each other.
The winners in Tuesday primaries will face off in November, when all 99 seats in the Assembly and half in the Senate are on the ballot.
FILE - Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., speaks Jan. 25, 2024, in Superior, Wis. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Republican candidate for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District Andre Jacque participates in a debate, June 25, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (Angela Major/Wisconsin Public Radio via AP)
Republican candidate for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District Roger Roth speaks to a supporter during a campaign event, July 10, 2024, in Green Bay, Wis. (Angela Major/Wisconsin Public Radio via AP)
Republican candidate for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District Tony Wied speaks on June 4, 2024, in De Pere, Wis. (Angela Major/Wisconsin Public Radio via AP)
FILE - Eric Hovde speaks during the Republican National Convention, July 16, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets Friday, a day after the militant group’s leader vowed to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said.
Israel’s military said the rockets came in three waves Friday afternoon targeting sites along the ravaged border with Lebanon.
In Gaza, Palestinian authorities said 15 people were killed overnight in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children.
Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Meanwhile, the leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah is promising to retaliate for deadly attacks on its communication devices after Israel’s defense minister announced a “new phase” of the war. Fears are increasing that 11 months of exchanges of fire between the two sides will escalate into all-out war.
Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. They have come close to a full-blown war on several occasions.
Here's the latest:
Palestinian authorities say 15 people were killed overnight in the Gaza Strip in multiple Israeli attacks.
An airstrike early Friday morning in Gaza City hit a family home, killing six people including an unknown number of children, Gaza’s Civil Defense said. Another person was killed in Gaza City when a strike hit a group of people on a street.
In Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza City, another person was killed and several others injured when a vehicle was hit by an Israeli strike, the Civil Defense said.
Late Thursday, six more people were killed in a strike that hit a home in the center of Gaza City, while another was killed in Beit Lahya, north of Gaza City.
Israel maintains it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military, which rarely comments on individual strikes, had no immediate comment.
The war has caused vast destruction and displaced about 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
Israel's foreign ministry said Friday it submitted two legal briefs in response to the International Criminal Court prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants against the country's leaders.
The court’s prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other Hamas leaders. One of them was since assassinated in what was believed to be an Israeli strike.
The foreign ministry said it has submitted two legal briefs challenging the court’s jurisdiction to arrest Israeli leaders and claiming the court did not provide Israel the opportunity to investigate itself before requesting the warrants.
“No other democracy with an independent and respected legal system like that which exists in Israel has been treated in this prejudicial manner by the Prosecutor,” wrote Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein on the social media platform X. He said Israel remained “steadfast in its commitment to the rule of law and justice” and would continue to protect its citizens against militancy.
Israel is not a party to the court. Rights groups say the country has struggled to investigate itself in the past. Netanyahu has brushed off calls for a state investigation into the failings that led to the Oct. 7 attack.
BAGHDAD — A leader of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia was killed Friday in a strike in Syria, a war monitor and a militia official said.
Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group — which is different from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — said in a statement that Abu Haidar al-Khafaji was killed “while performing his duties as a security advisor in Damascus.”
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported that a leader in Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group was killed and another person injured in a drone strike on the car they were traveling in on the road to the Damascus airport.
An official with an Iraqi militia confirmed that a car carrying a group of militia members was struck in Damascus, killing one person and injuring three others. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
There was no comment from Israeli officials on the strike. Israel frequently strikes Iranian and Iran-linked groups in Syria but rarely acknowledges the strikes.
Tensions have heightened in the region following a wave of apparently remotely detonated explosions in Lebanon targeting pagers and walkie talkies belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah. The attacks, widely blamed on Israel, which has not commented on them, killed at least 37 people - including two children - and wounded about 3,000.
— By Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad
BEIRUT — Israel’s military killed two Hezbollah members who were planting explosives along the border over the weekend, Israel’s military and an official with a Lebanese group said.
The official with a Lebanese group said the two members of the militant group were killed Sunday and their bodies were taken by Israeli troops because they were too close to the fence along the tense frontier. The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
On Thursday, Israel’s military released a video it said was taken by one of the fighters showing the militants coming under fire. The military said that the two fighters were killed by Israeli troops as they tried to plant an improvised explosive device near a military post.
In the days following the tense border interaction, thousands of devices exploded in different parts of Lebanon and Syria, killing 37 people and wounding around 3,000 others. The attack was blamed on Israel, and many of those killed or injured were members of Hezbollah.
Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue contributed to this report.
Hezbollah members carry the coffin of their comrade who was killed when a handheld device exploded, during a funeral procession in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Right-wing Israelis with relatives held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and their supporters, rally against a hostage deal, in Jerusalem, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. The placard in Hebrew reads: " To bathe in his blood." (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Houses are engulfed in fire as the Israeli army raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians duck for cover as the Israeli army raided the northern West Bank town of Qabatiya on Thursday, Sept.19, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
FILE - Hezbollah fighters carry one of the coffins of four fallen comrades who were killed Tuesday after their handheld pagers exploded, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein, File)
