Wisconsin assemblyman argues for strict abortion laws while calling paid family leave ‘lunacy personified.’
Plus, Group representing Haitian migrants in Springfield to file charges against Trump and Vance for incendiary comments
A Republican state legislator running for reelection in Wisconsin has a troubling record on abortion. Assemblymember Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls) is facing off against Alison Page, a Democrat currently serving on the River Falls Board of Education. Access to contraceptives and reproductive health care is a crucial question in the race; the first policy referenced on Page’s website is “restoring a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body in Wisconsin.”
Her opponent, on the other hand, has a much different perspective. At the very beginning of this political career, Zimmerman stressed his anti-abortion commitments.
“Protecting the life of the unborn is paramount to me. At 17 years old, my wife and I faced teenage pregnancy,” he said just days after assuming office. “I am proud to say we made the pro-life decision and, because of that, have the joy of watching my grandchildren grow and thrive. The unborn are among our most vulnerable citizens and need our help.”
And throughout his tenure, Zimmerman has advocated for strict limitations on abortion and other family planning options.
For example, early in his career, Zimmerman voted for a 2018 bill that would have prevented state employees from using their publicly funded insurance to receive an abortion — despite the fact that “most abortions for state and local workers would not be covered by their public insurance plans.” Fast forward to this year, and the incumbent sponsored legislation that would have banned an abortion after 14 weeks.
But despite his claims of being a fighter for the so-called “unborn” and born alike, Zimmerman has actually opposed legislation that would provide family leave to new parents. When a Republican colleague voiced support for the policy last year, Zimmerman called the idea “lunacy personified” and asserted that it would only “support those who don’t really want to work or can’t work.”
Former President Donald Trump has expanded his libelous claims about Haitian migrants and their supposed decimation of small-town America. At a Wednesday rally in North Carolina, Trump claimed that the Biden-Harris policy concerning the border had led to an influx of armed migrants.
“Kamala should have closed the border years ago and we wouldn’t have hostile takeovers of Springfield, Ohio and Aurora, Colo. … Where they’re actually going in with massive machine gun-type equipment — they’re going in with guns that are beyond even military scope,” Trump said.
“And they’re taking over apartment buildings. They’re taking over real estate, they’re in the real estate development business. Congratulations!” he added.
But now, Haitians living in Springfield are now seeking legal recourse for Trump’s rhetoric. On Tuesday, a nonprofit called Haitian Bridge Alliance “invoked a private-citizen right” to charge Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), with disrupting public services, making false alarms, telecommunications harassment and aggravated menacing.
“Trump and Vance have knowingly spread a false and dangerous narrative by claiming that Springfield, Ohio’s Haitian community is criminally killing and eating neighbors’ dogs and cats, and killing and eating geese,” the filing reads.
“They accused Springfield’s Haitians of bearing deadly disease. They repeated such lies during the presidential debate, at campaign rallies, during interviews on national television and on social media.”
The decision from Haitian Bridge Alliance came after local law officials failed to take action against the numerous bomb threats and racially charged comments made towards migrants in Springfield.
“If it were anyone else other than Trump and Vance who had done what they’ve done — wreak havoc on Springfield, resulting in bomb threats, evacuated and closed government buildings and schools, threats to the mayor and his family — they would have been arrested by now,” the group’s lawyer, Subodh Chandra, said.
Pennsylvania Republican Rob Mercuri promotes endorsement from Jan. 6 denier
By Richard Eberwein
Pennsylvania state Sen. Rob Mercuri (R-Pine) ran a campaign ad of him shaking hands with Beaver County Sheriff Tony Guy, a far-right conspiracy theorist and anti-abortion advocate.
Mercuri, who is attempting to flip Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District this November, aired an ad on Aug. 28 that featured him shaking hands with Guy. Mercuri also highlighted an endorsement from Guy in an X post from April 3.
In February 2023, Guy suggested in a social media comment that Jan. 6 was incited by federal agents from the FBI and the Department of Justice.
In 2016, three former Beaver County sheriff’s deputies sued Guy and claimed that they had been wrongfully terminated for their Democratic political beliefs. The same deputies sued Guy again in 2019 for allegedly violating their settlement agreement by making disparaging remarks about them in public.
Guy and Mercuri appeared on a panel together for a town hall last month, where Guy claimed that “scientists almost universally understand that life begins at the moment of conception.” Mercuri has made similar comments in the past and said that abortion exceptions should be “exceedingly rare.”
Mercuri has also voted against making abortion a constitutional right in Pennsylvania, co-sponsored a six-week abortion ban and praised the reversal of Roe v. Wade. In August 2023, Mercuri scrubbed anti-abortion rhetoric from his campaign website, and he has since attempted to distance himself from his previous abortion record.
In November, Mercuri will face incumbent Rep. Chris Deluzio (D), who is seeking his second term in office. 270 To Win currently designates the race as “Leans Democrat.” In his short time in Congress, Deluzio has co-sponsored a Medicare for All bill and voiced support for expanding labor protections.