David Bowie - Heroes

WI-07: Wisconsin GOP congressional candidate named in $44M settlement of alleged 'Ponzi scheme' lawsuit

Republican Paul Wassgren of Ashland is touting his experience as a financial services broker and corporate attorney as he runs against three other GOP candidates in a primary for Northern Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District. But two years ago, he was involved in a $44 million settlement that ended a class action lawsuit in which investors alleged the Florida-based company Wassgren represented orchestrated a “Ponzi scheme” that raised more than $170 million.

A statement from Wassgren’s campaign blamed “financial ambulance-chaser lawyers” for the suit and settlement, although the initial case was spurred by an earlier U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, investigation.

In 2020, the SEC launched an emergency enforcement action against the Florida-based private real estate firm EquiAlt LLC, along with executives Brian Davison and Barry Rybicki. Wassgren was the company’s attorney.

The SEC complaint alleged EquiAlt raised the $170 million from more than 1,100 investors across the U.S. “through fraudulent unregistered securities offerings.”


https://www.wpr.org/news/republican-congressional-paul-wassgren-44m-settlement-ponzi-scheme-lawsuit

Attorney (D) for charged student protesters seeks seat on U-M Board of Regents

After helping defend students and activists from felony charges stemming from protests at the University of Michigan, a local civil rights attorney is now running to help govern the university.

Amir Makled, who recently represented one of seven individuals charged with felonies by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office in relation to pro-Palestinian protests on campus, announced his candidacy for the Board of Regents in January. He held his first candidate event in Dearborn Heights this week.

Makled is seeking the Democratic nomination for the eight member body that has "general supervision" over the public institution. The regents run for eight year terms in state-wide elections and oversee policies governing tuition, contracts, and the university's budget.

Makled said his the decision to run for the U-M Board of Regents stemmed from a realization that legal victories don't always change university policies.



https://www.michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-02-12/attorney-for-charged-student-protesters-seeks-seat-on-u-m-board-of-regents

Michigan group engaged in Indiana's redistricting war

A nonprofit organization linked to Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall ran social media ads in November and December encouraging Republicans in Indiana to adopt a congressional district map more favorable to the GOP.

The group named Building a Better Economy, which doesn't have to identify its donors and uses a Lansing address, sponsored ads on Facebook that encouraged people to contact multiple Indiana senators and to tell them to "stand with President Trump."

Republican President Donald Trump had unsuccessfully pressured the Indiana Senate to approve a map that could have helped the GOP keep control of the U.S. House this fall. The Indiana Senate voted down the mid-decade redistricting proposal on Dec. 11.

Building a Better Economy sponsored 18 different Facebook ads in early December, targeting individual Senate Republicans, and spent about $7,000 on the ads, according to Facebook's ad archive.



https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/14/michigan-group-speaker-matt-hall-engaged-in-indiana-redistricting-war-trump-gotion-upper-peninsula/88665304007/

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Gateway funding battle could become albatross for N.J. Republicans in 2026 races

In theory, everyone in New Jersey politics agrees on the importance of the Gateway Tunnel, the enormous $16 billion project to build a new rail connection between New Jersey and Manhattan that has recently come under threat from President Donald Trump. The project will provide good jobs, faster commutes, and more reliability; that’s both the Democratic and Republican position.

But as Trump tries to halt the project’s funding, an action for which his administration has given an inconsistent set of justifications, a split is emerging: Democrats are calling the president out directly, while Republicans are proving very hesitant to do the same. As New Jersey gears up for the 2026 congressional midterm elections, and as voters look for who to blame for the project’s woes, that’s a divide that’s likely to come up quite a bit.

Most imminently, there’s the special election in the 11th congressional district, where voters – many of whom commute by train into New York – will head to the polls on April 16 to determine Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s successor. The Democratic-leaning district’s GOP nominee, Joe Hathaway, has been more willing to criticize Trump than some of his fellow Republicans, saying that Trump’s attempt to get New York’s Penn Station and Virginia’s Dulles Airport renamed after himself was a bad move.

“We need to be adults in the room and fund major projects that are critical for one of the most densely commuted areas in the county, and not let a project of this importance be used as a bargaining chip for something that is in my opinion completely irrelevant,” Hathaway said.


https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/gateway-funding-battle-could-become-albatross-for-n-j-republicans-in-2026-races/

Gateway funding battle could become albatross for N.J. Republicans in 2026 races

In theory, everyone in New Jersey politics agrees on the importance of the Gateway Tunnel, the enormous $16 billion project to build a new rail connection between New Jersey and Manhattan that has recently come under threat from President Donald Trump. The project will provide good jobs, faster commutes, and more reliability; that’s both the Democratic and Republican position.

But as Trump tries to halt the project’s funding, an action for which his administration has given an inconsistent set of justifications, a split is emerging: Democrats are calling the president out directly, while Republicans are proving very hesitant to do the same. As New Jersey gears up for the 2026 congressional midterm elections, and as voters look for who to blame for the project’s woes, that’s a divide that’s likely to come up quite a bit.

Most imminently, there’s the special election in the 11th congressional district, where voters – many of whom commute by train into New York – will head to the polls on April 16 to determine Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s successor. The Democratic-leaning district’s GOP nominee, Joe Hathaway, has been more willing to criticize Trump than some of his fellow Republicans, saying that Trump’s attempt to get New York’s Penn Station and Virginia’s Dulles Airport renamed after himself was a bad move.

“We need to be adults in the room and fund major projects that are critical for one of the most densely commuted areas in the county, and not let a project of this importance be used as a bargaining chip for something that is in my opinion completely irrelevant,” Hathaway said.


https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/gateway-funding-battle-could-become-albatross-for-n-j-republicans-in-2026-races/

NY-11: Passaic Dems endorse Mejia for full term; Way doesn't screen for endorsement

Passaic County Democrats will support Analilia Mejia for a full term in Congress, the party announced yesterday following a screening committee meeting – and former Lieutenant Gov. Tahesha Way, a Passaic Democrat considering running against Mejia in the June primary, didn’t screen for the endorsement at all.

Mejia, a progressive activist on her first run for elected office, won the February 5 special Democratic primary to replace Gov. Mikie Sherrill in something of an upset, defeating Way and several other well-known candidates. She’ll be going up against GOP nominee Joe Hathaway on April 16 in the Democratic-leaning 11th district.

During the special primary, Passaic Democrats jointly endorsed Way and County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne), the other Passaic candidate in the race. But Mejia ended up winning the small Passaic County portion of the 11th district by a four-vote margin over Way, 24.7% to 24.6%, with Bartlett far back in fifth place (13.1%).

The fact that Passaic Democrats have flipped to supporting Mejia in the regularly scheduled June primary is foreboding news for Way or anyone else who hopes to take Mejia on. The New Jersey Globe reported last week that Way is actively looking at another campaign, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has hinted that it may seek to get involved in an anti-Mejia effort, but rapid Democratic consolidation behind Mejia will make that more difficult.




https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/passaic-dems-endorse-mejia-for-full-term-way-doesnt-screen-for-endorsement/