At first, I thought Tony Evers had moved onto the acceptance phase of grief. A defeated Evers, looking exhausted and a bit rumpled, stood in a sun-dappled grove of trees, where Channel 12’s indefatigable Matt Smith cornered him on Tuesday. He sounded resigned. Hey, getting out in the sun does wonders for the mood.
Then, he basically called Senate Democrat leader Dianne Hesselbein a control freak. In so many words. So, yeah, I guess he’s not over it.
In fact, he’s dropping truth bombs on Democrats! What would we do without Matt Smith? We’d get a bunch of press releases masquerading as news stories.
There is apparently no point in dragging legislators back to Madison for a re-vote on the bill to help schools and taxpayers, Evers said, because Hesselbein, a former Dane County supervisor with a saccharine smile, has Senate Democrats wrapped around her finger by holding plum jobs over their heads to get them to turn their backs on kids. He said that in so many words anyway, but that was the gist.
Wait, what? There’s fight in Evers yet! He’s moved onto the “truth bomb” phase. As in, he’s a guy with nothing to lose now because he knows his significant other (the Democrat Party) has definitively moved on and left him in the dust, so he’s revealing the truth about the now toxic relationship to anyone who will listen. It’s like we’ve all become the bartender with a dejected Evers unloading his trauma at the bar, facilitated by Matt Smith, who keeps feeding him drinks. Metaphorically speaking only.
“I’m sure she’s got people wrapped around her finger by giving them jobs that they want.”
Gov. Evers after Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said the Senate won’t re-vote on failed tax relief deal: “If their leader is saying no way, my guess is it’s going to be no way.” pic.twitter.com/cKTffX66l6
— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) June 2, 2026
Matt Smith asked Evers whether he’d spoken to Senate Democrats lately. To give you context, all Senate Dems split with their party’s governor to sink the bipartisan tax and school relief deal he drafted with Republican legislative leaders. He needed two measly Democrat votes, and he couldn’t get them. Then, yesterday, Evers and Assembly Republican leader Robin Vos said they were willing to come back into session and try again. One last ditch attempt to get Democrats to come to their senses and not yank millions of dollars from schools.
But then Dianne Hesselbein slithered in front of the cameras and tried to pretend it wasn’t really her fault after all because Republican Senate leader Devin LeMahieu didn’t want to come back (which he has not confirmed nor denied. LeMahieu has basically fallen through a trap door and is not returning requests for clarification.) What Dianne Hesselbein left out, or slithered over, was the fact she whipped her caucus into complete unity against taxpayers, disabled vets, schools, special ed kids… and Tony Evers. She then added in a little jab that Senate Democrats don’t regret yanking tax relief from disabled vets or letting government keep some of your tip and overtime money. And that told Evers all he needed to know.
Dianne Hesselbein Clearly Doesn’t Care What Tony Evers Thinks
Dianne Hesselbein is ruling the roost now, and she clearly doesn’t care what Tony Evers thinks. His legacy be damned.
So, cornered by Smith in the sun-dappled grove, Evers, wearing a puffy vest over a pinstriped shirt, declared that it’s actually really Democrat Hesselbein’s fault after all. I guess he didn’t buy her, “It’s Devin’s fault” spin. (It’s also the fault of Chris Kapenga, Steve Nass and Rob Hutton by the way.)
Truth bomb! To be totally honest, I’m greatly enjoying this version of Tony Evers. He’s also not wrong.
“I have not recently. I have not,” he said of whether he’d spoken with Senate Democrats.
“And I doubt if their leader (Hesselbein) is saying no way, my guess is it’s going to be no way because she controls what people get to do. Who is going to be head of the joint finance committee on the Senate side,” shared Evers. “I am sure she’s given promises there. She gives promises just like other leaders do. I haven’t spent a lot of time doing that. That’s what happens in the Legislature. I am sure she has people wrapped around her finger by giving them jobs that they want.”
Wow. Let’s unpack that.
Evers basically says Senate Democrats were willing to pull needed funding from special ed kids and tax relief from disabled veterans and everyone else… because they wanted a seat on the Joint Finance Committee. And that Hesselbein promised them jobs. Or they feared they’d lose a job if they didn’t do what she wants.
A Legislative Maleficent, Princess of Darkness?
He just recast Hesselbein as a legislative Maleficent, Princess of Darkness. And he added the snipe that he would never operate this way. But that legislature, guess that’s how they do things over there…
That was a punch with a velvet glove. And you thought his swipes at Sara Rodriguez were interesting…
By the way, when Hesselbein wasn’t yanking tax rebate checks from Wisconsinites, she was whipping out a new bill called the “no tax dollars for insurrectionists” act.
Lucas Vebber, one of the literal legal geniuses over at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, then explained, “Regardless of whether you like that fund or not, this legislation is a bill of attainder. It is unconstitutional under both the United States and Wisconsin Constitutions. A bill of attainder is a law that applies to a specific group of people (here, anti weaponization fund recipients), and then punishes that group (here, with a 100% tax) without the opportunity for a trial (or literally any due process at all).”
He added for good measure: “This is obviously a political gimmick… but a very dangerous one. Using the power of government to target and punish a specific group of people just because you dont like them is abhorrent to our republic.”
Yeah, what he said.
Back to Evers.
“We could bring people back into special session, but if there’s no change in the Senate, there’s no reason to drag anybody into Madison to do it,” Evers added. “It’s not anything to do with Hesselbein or me or anybody else. It’s about kids and affordability.”
This is a very passive aggressive swipe if you study it. Translation, hey Dianne, this isn’t about your ego, you control freak, it’s about KIDS and Wisconsinites who are hurting. So sorry you don’t get that. At almost the same time, Hesselbein posted a photo showing her sitting at her desk laughing uproariously as she claimed she cares about those constituents she doesn’t want to get tax rebate checks.
Keep the truth bombs coming Tony!
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