It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy.

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Photo by Bing Guan/Reuters

WISCONSIN. A STATE TO WATCH.
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

This is the season when we political journalists stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning most nights, combing through races. By moonlight, or laptop glow, we look at a wild palette of statistics, polls, television ads and policy statements.

And in the end, we often gravitate to a core group of states and districts we like to watch.

Over the next few weeks, we will highlight several of these. Today, we’re starting with a key Senate state: Wisconsin.

Our anchor and managing editor Judy Woodruff traveled to the Badger State last week and filed this initial report ([link removed]) (with more reports on Wisconsin races to come this week). Here are a few things to know.

Why watch Wisconsin?
* Wisconsin's races have been close recently. Take the presidential contests: President Joe Biden won Wisconsin by 0.6 percentage pointsin 2020 ([link removed]) , and former President Donald Trump took the state by just 1.7 percentage points in 2016 ([link removed]) . Gov. Tony Evers, too, won the gubernatorial race in 2018 ([link removed]) by 1.1 percentage points.
* A high-profile incumbent senator is at risk. Wisconsin's Ron Johnson is the most vulnerable Republican senator on the ballot this year. As we discuss below, he has become a far-right lightning rod.
* A record amount of money is being spent there, with over half of it from outside of the state, Judy Woodruff reported from Madison ([link removed]) .
* The fight to control the Senate remains tight and vigorous, with polling starting to swing in a few states where Republicans are gaining ground. According to the Cook Political Report’s ratings ([link removed]) , Wisconsin is the only toss-up Senate seat with a Republican incumbent on the ballot.

A quick state snapshot

Overall, Wisconsin is older and whiter than most of the country. It also has about the same median income level, but a higher rate of people with health insurance, as well as somewhat lower rents when compared to the United States on average.
* Race and ethnicity. Per the U.S. Census ([link removed]) Bureau ([link removed]) , 80 percent of the state is white, non-Hispanic or Latino, compared with 59 percent for the U.S. ([link removed])
* Age. Nearly 18 percent of Wisconsin is 65 years old or older, compared with nearly 17 percent for the U.S.
* Origins. Five percent of the state was born in another country. That compares with 14 percent for the U.S. on average.
* Housing. Median rent in Wisconsin, 2016 to 2020, was $872. For the U.S., the median was $1,096.
* Income. In Wisconsin, the median household income (in 2020 dollars) from 2016 to 2020 was $63,293. In the U.S., it was nearly the same – $64,994.
* Health care. More than 6 percent of people under 65 in Wisconsin are uninsured. That’s significantly fewer uninsured individuals, on average, than the national figure of about 10 percent.

Who is running?
* Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is a former accountant and CEO of a plastics company. He won his first political race, for the Senate, in 2010, against Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold. Johnson has drawn the attention of both the left and right for his recent remarks and ideas. He has rejected the idea ([link removed]) that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was an insurrection, raised conspiracy theories and personally declined COVID vaccinations ([link removed]) in the initial phase of the pandemic. He is a former chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee and his supporters tout his get-tough policies and rhetoric ([link removed]) regarding immigration and crime.
* Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, the Democratic challenger, is a former community organizer who became a state representative at the age of 27. He won the lieutenant governor’s seat in 2018. Outside groups and Johnson’s campaign have blasted Barnes as too liberal, and not tough enough on crime in particular. His supporters reject that and Barnes himself has said while he supports some reform, he wants to “keep criminals in jail.” ([link removed])

How the state votes
* Registration. The deadline to submit a new voter registration by mail is next week, Oct. 19. Wisconsin also has same-day registration ([link removed]) at polling places on Election Day.
* Early in-person voting. Wisconsin has “in-person absentee” voting. Starting Oct. 25, towns and counties can offer voters the chance to fill out an absentee ballot in-person. That is allowed through Nov. 6.
* Absentee voting by mail. Any registered voter can request an absentee ballot ([link removed]) now. It must be mailed or carried back to the local election clerk, with a witness signature, and received by 8 p.m. locally on Election Day.
* Ballot drop-boxes? No. They are illegal in Wisconsin, per a ruling ([link removed]) of the state’s Supreme Court earlier this year.
* In-person on Election Day. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. locally. The state is in the Central time zone.

WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Do you have questions about voting or the political process ahead of this year’s midterm elections? Voting rules can be confusing, especially after a sea of changes enacted on the local and state level over the last two years. Submit your questions here ([link removed]) .

Your questions can help guide our coverage in the next several weeks.

More on the midterms from our coverage:

Watch: Americans with disabilities fight for access ([link removed]) as states enforce restrictive voting laws.

One Big Question: Voters who struggle to read will confront an election system that relies on literacy. How are low-literacy voters preparing for this year's election ([link removed]) ?

A Closer Look: Latino voters will be critical in deciding a number of key races this year. Correspondent Laura Barrón-López reports on how Democrats and Republicans are courting Hispanic and Latino voters ([link removed]) ahead of the midterms.

Perspectives: Biden is hitting the campaign trail to make his pitch to voters and donors out West in the final campaign stretch. What’s behind that West Coast swing? NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report weigh in ([link removed]) .
THE RESCHEDULED JAN. 6 HEARING HAPPENS THIS WEEK

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Watch the upcoming Jan. 6 hearing in the player above.

By Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage ([link removed])
Senior Editor, Digital

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building will hold its next hearing this Thursday ([link removed]) .

After initially postponing the hearing as Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, the panel will return to its public-facing work this week – less than a month before the midterm elections.

The select committee, made up of seven Democrats and two Republicans, will release a final report after hearings have concluded. It must then disband 30 days ([link removed]) after issuing that report, per its own rules.

The committee is expected to gavel in on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. EDT.

The PBS NewsHour's digital coverage will begin at 11:15 a.m. EDT with a look back at key moments from the eight public hearings held over the summer and a look ahead to the next.

Of course, things are subject to change when it comes to the proceedings. Dates and times for hearings have shifted before. And the committee has not yet confirmed the focus for the upcoming hearing. For the latest and greatest on the Jan. 6 committee’s moves, check out this page ([link removed]) . We will update that guide whenever the committee confirms more info.

#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Ali Schmitz, @SchmitzMedia ([link removed])
Politics Producer

After spotlighting Wisconsin ([link removed]) this week, we wanted to bring up more of the state's history. In 1911, Wisconsin was the first state to introduce a statewide income tax ([link removed].) .

Our question: How many U.S. states do not have statewide income taxes?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: When Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was a college student at Harvard University, she took an acting class and this now-famous celebrity became her scene partner. Who was it?

The answer: Matt Damon ([link removed]) . In her 2017 speech at the University of Georgia Law School, Jackson said Damon was assigned to be her scene partner for a drama course one semester. “As a side note, although I was pretty good, I doubt he would remember me now,” she joked.

Congratulations to our winners: Gina Polovina and Ruby Heinzelman!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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