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Road Clash

Dem U.S. Senate candidates clash over I-94 expansion as primary race boils over

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes challenged his fellow Dem U.S. Senate candidates to go on record over whether they support the expansion of a section of I-94 in Milwaukee County after he was asked at a forum about his opposition to the project.

Dems Sara Godlewski, Alex Lasry and Tom Nelson said they believed the state could look at expanding the interstate to eight lanes from six between the Marquette and Zoo interchanges while also investing in other transportation options.

A member of the audience at yesterday’s forum in the Wisconsin Dells hosted by the pro-transportation infrastructure Construction Business Group asked Barnes about his break on the issue with Gov. Tony Evers, whose Department of Transportation has recommended the expansion.

The event was closed to the public and media. But a source provided WisPolitics.com a recording of the hour-long discussion with the top four Dem U.S. Senate candidates.

Barnes argued repairs and upgrades to the section of interstate should be addressed without expanding it to eight lanes. He added other priorities deserved to be funded, such as structurally insufficient bridges. The I-94 expansion is expected to cost more than $1.2 billion.

Barnes invited those who support it to meet with him, saying they likely had more in common than not and there was room for compromise.

Manydeeds won’t seek reelection to Regents board

Edmund Manydeeds informed his fellow UW System regents that he won’t seek another one-year term as board president this summer and threw his support behind Vice President Karen Walsh to succeed him.

Manydeeds wrote in the message that he needs to spend more time with his 1-year-old law firm in Eau Claire and mentoring his nephew, who is a partner at Manydeeds Law.

Walsh led the search for a new president that led to the hiring of Jay Rothman and has been spearheading the effort to find a replacement for Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank.

“In addition to that, Karen and I communicate regularly and consult on every issue that has faced us since last year,” Manydeeds wrote to his colleagues. “In short, Karen has given her heart and soul to the Board of Regents. She will make a great President of this Board of Regents.”

Walsh told WisPolitics.com in a phone interview that she intends to run for the president’s post at the June 9-10 meeting at UW-Milwaukee. She touted her work on leadership searches while on the board as well as her more than two decades working at UW-Madison in various public information and communications positions.

She said that gives her a unique perspective on system administration.

“Every single day, we should ask ourselves the question, ‘What did we do for a student today,’ and if we can’t answer that we did … we need to go back to the drawing board,” Walsh said.

Evers announces clean energy plan

Gov. Tony Evers announced a clean energy plan aiming to lower energy prices, increase energy independence and create new jobs.

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