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Yes.

Ann Jacobs, a commissioner on the Wisconsin Elections Commission, stated in a tweet that she is a partisan appointee to the commission, in response to conservative radio show host Dan O’Donnell. O’Donnell had tweeted that Jacobs’ criticism of GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels put into question whether the commission could “be fair to Republicans.”

As designed by the Republican-run Legislature in 2015, the WEC has three Democratic appointees, three Republican appointees and a nonpartisan administrator. The WEC says the appointees are there to represent their respective parties. All appointments are subject to confirmation in the state Senate. Bewley was appointed by Democratic Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley. 

The WEC has increasingly reached stalemates along party lines, with both Democratic and Republican members often taking cues from their party leaders before voting on issues, as Wisconsin Watch reported in October 2020. 

Sources

Ann Jacobs: Tweet from October 17, 2022

State of Wisconsin: About the Wisconsin Elections Commission

State of Wisconsin: Wisconsin Elections Commission members and administrator

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Jacob Alabab-Moser joined as Wisconsin Watch’s fact checker in September 2022, as part of the effort by The Gigafact Project in partnership with different state-level news outlets to combat misinformation in the 2022 midterm elections. Jacob has several years of experience as a fact checker and research assistant at a variety of organizations, including at The Gigafact Project. He holds a BA from Brown University and is pursuing a MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science.