Zac Schultz

Wisconsin

Producer, Reporter and Anchor at PBS Wisconsin

I cover Wisconsin politics and the state at large.

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Articles

Brad Schimel, Susan Crawford on the Jan. 6 pardons by Trump

2 months ago | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

CourtsWisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford discuss pardons made by President Donald Trump of people convicted of crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection. By | Here & Now Copy and Paste the Following Code to Embed this Video: VIDEO TRANSCRIPT Brad Schimel:You know, presidents have the power to pardon people. There's some arguments about what that means.
Zac Schultz on Wisconsin's separation of powers lawsuit

Jan 16, 2025 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz |Frederica Freyberg

CourtsZac Schultz on Wisconsin's separation of powers lawsuitBy Zac Schultz, Frederica Freyberg | Here & NowJanuary 17, 2025 Copy and Paste the Following Code to Embed this Video: PBS Wisconsin senior political reporter Zac Schultz examines the Wisconsin Supreme Court case "Evers v. Marklein II" over who has power to set and strike down administrative rules in state government.
Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel face off in the 2025 election for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat

Jan 6, 2025 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

The 2025 race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is shaping up to again set national records for campaign spending and will determine the ideological control of the court for at least a year. Justice Ann Walsh Bradley is retiring from the court at the end of her term, leaving an open seat that will be filled in the spring election on April 1. Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford are the only two candidates in the race, which is technically non-partisan.
The legal contest over Wisconsin's top elections official

Nov 20, 2024 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

The Wisconsin Elections Commission is wrapping up the final details of the 2024 vote, and as 2025 approaches, one large question hovers over the agency: Will its Administrator Meagan Wolfe be allowed to remain in her position? The answer will be provided by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments on Nov. 18 on Wisconsin Elections Commission v. LeMahieu, a lawsuit that seeks to force her out.
Justices Brian Hagedorn and Rebecca Dallet on abortion laws

Nov 13, 2024 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

Justice Brian Hagedorn:We all know what happened. It's not like we need to put blinders on and pretend that we got these things in a vacuum. So, the question for us is simply like, does a law that was unconstitutional at one point after 100-plus years of enforcement somehow get written off the books because the Legislature tried to do whatever the courts would let it do during the period of the time that the law was deemed unenforceable?
Wisconsin Supreme Court justices take on an abortion lawsuit

Nov 13, 2024 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

Transcript Coming Soon. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has heard oral arguments on whether the state’s 1849 abortion ban is the law of the land. The law went into effect when the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Abortions halted in Wisconsin until September 2023, when a Dane County judge ruled the law actually referred to feticide, the act of someone else causing the death of a fetus. No matter what the court decides, though, abortion as a political issue is not going away.
Josh Kaul on monitoring the 2024 election around Wisconsin

Nov 5, 2024 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

Attorney General Josh Kaul:Yeah, well, by and large, the voting process went smoothly. There were some hiccups in places. As you mentioned, at UW-Whitewater, there were long lines. Fortunately, you know, steps had been taken to address that situation. In Milwaukee, what we saw is actually the process working in the way it was supposed to. There was a concern identified. Action was taken.
Redistricting and control of Wisconsin's Legislature in 2024

Oct 16, 2024 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

ElectionsClose contests for two Wisconsin Assembly districts and one state Senate district in the Green Bay area in the 2024 election reflect political impacts of redistricting the state's legislative maps. By | Here & Now Copy and Paste the Following Code to Embed this Video: Transcript Coming Soon. For the first time in more than a decade, control of the Wisconsin Legislature is actually up for grabs in 2024.
Steve Lavin on campaign complaints about TV ads by opponents

Sep 29, 2024 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

Steve Lavin:It's pretty easy the way we handle it. And really what happens is, I'll get a letter, right, as the general manager, I'll get a letter and they'll demand that we take the spot down. I take that letter, I send it to our gentleman who handles the political for our entire company in Washington, D.C. He'll turn around and send that letter to the other side, demand documentation on how they came up with whatever they said.
AI, media manipulation and political campaign lies in 2024

Sep 25, 2024 | pbswisconsin.org | Zac Schultz

Transcript Coming Soon. Political groups are projected to spend $423 million dollars on campaign ads in Wisconsin in 2024, with $60 million dollars in ads for the presidential race alone reserved for airtime in the final six weeks before Election Day. Wisconsinites may be used to attack ads stretching the truth or twisting facts, but a new concern comes with the growing use of artificial intelligence, or AI, to create an entirely new false reality.