By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters decided Tuesday to enshrine the state’s voter ID law in the state constitution.

The state was also electing its top education official, who will guide policies affecting K-12 schools during President Donald Trump’s second term, will be elected Tuesday in a race between the teachers union-backed incumbent and a Republican-supported critic.

Both contests had sharp partisan divisions, though they have drawn far less spending and national attention than the race for control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Polls closed at 8 p.m. CDT.

Here’s a look at the two contests:

Longtime voter ID law enshrined in the state constitution

Wisconsin’s photo ID requirement for voting will be elevated from state law to constitutional amendment under a proposal approved by voters.

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The Republican-controlled Legislature placed the measure on the ballot and pitched it as a way to bolster election security and protect the law from being overturned in court.

Democratic opponents argued that photo ID requirements are often enforced unfairly, making voting more difficult for people of color, disabled people and poor people.

Wisconsin voters won’t notice any changes when they go to the polls. They will still have to present a valid photo ID just as they have under the state law, which was passed in 2011 and went into effect permanently in 2016 after a series of unsuccessful lawsuits.

Placing the photo ID requirement in the constitution makes it more difficult for a future Legislature controlled by Democrats to change the law. Any constitutional amendment must be approved in two consecutive legislative sessions and by a statewide popular vote.

Republican legislators celebrated the measure’s passage.

“This will help maintain integrity in the electoral process, no matter who controls the Legislature,” Sen. Van Wanggaard, who co-authored the amendment, said in a statement.

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who is leading Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal government, also noted the outcome on his social media platform, X, saying: “Yeah!”

Wisconsin is one of nine states where people must present photo ID to vote, and its requirement is the nation’s strictest, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Thirty-six states have laws requiring or requesting that voters show some sort of identification, according to the NCSL.

Union-backed incumbent faces GOP-backed voucher advocate

The race to lead the state Department of Public Instruction pits incumbent Jill Underly, who is backed by Democrats and the teachers union, against consultant Brittany Kinser, a supporter of the private school voucher program who is endorsed by Republicans but calls herself a moderate.

FILE – This photo released by the Jill Underly campaign shows Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly in Hollandale, Wis. in 2024. (Jill Underly campaign via AP, File)

Wisconsin is the only state where voters elect the top education official but there is no state board of education. That gives the superintendent broad authority to oversee education policy, from dispersing school funding to managing teacher licensing.

The winner will take office at a time when test scores are still recovering from the pandemic, the achievement gap between white and Black students remains the worst in the country and more schools are asking voters to raise property taxes to pay for operations.

Underly’s education career began in 1999 as a high school social studies teacher in Indiana. She moved to Wisconsin in 2005 and worked for five years at the state education department. She also was principal of Pecatonica Elementary School for a year before becoming district administrator.

Underly, 47, was elected state superintendent in 2021 and was endorsed by the union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, as well as the Wisconsin Democratic Party and numerous Democratic officeholders.

Kinser, whose backers include the Wisconsin Republican Party and former Republican Govs. Tommy Thompson and Scott Walker, is vying to become the first GOP-affiliated person to hold the superintendent position in more than 30 years.

FILE – This photo released by the Brittany Kinser campaign shows education consultant and candidate for Wisconsin Department of Instruction secretary Brittany Kinser. (Brittany Kinser campaign via AP, File)

She worked for almost 10 years as a special education teacher and instructional coach in Chicago Public Schools. After that she spent 15 years at public charter schools in Chicago, California and Milwaukee.

In the Milwaukee area, Kinser worked for Rocketship schools, part of a national network of public charter institutions, and became its executive director for the region.

In 2022 she left Rocketship for City Forward Collective, a Milwaukee nonprofit that advocates for charter and voucher schools. She also founded a consulting firm where she currently works.

Kinser, 47, tried to brand Underly as being a poor manager of the Department of Public Instruction and keyed in on her overhaul of state achievement standards last year.

Underly said that was done to better reflect what students are learning now, but the change was met with bipartisan opposition including from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who was previously state superintendent himself. Evers has not made an endorsement in the race.

Kinser said the new standards lowered the bar for students and made it more difficult to evaluate how schools and districts are performing over time.

Underly portrayed Kinser as nothing more than a lobbyist who doesn’t care about public education. Kinser supports the state’s private school voucher and charter school program, which Democrats and Underly oppose on the grounds that such programs siphon needed money away from public schools.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Kevin O’Connell spoke for exactly 31 minutes, 58 seconds on Tuesday morning at the NFL owners meetings. He answered a wide array of questions from local reporters, while national reporters occasionally chimed in with some inquiries of their own.

Not once did Aaron Rodgers come up in conversation.

It was a breath of fresh air for pretty much everybody involved, considering Rodgers has dominated headlines at seemingly every turn.

The reprieve from the rumors gave O’Connell a chance to provide insight into the many moves the Vikings have made this offseason. It marked the first time he has gone in depth about everything that has happened over the past few weeks.

Here are five takeaways from that conversation:

The decision to pair Aaron Jones with Jordan Mason

After striking a new deal with Aaron Jones last month on the eve of free agency, the Vikings immediately started canvassing the market in search of a complementary piece to pair alongside him in the backfield.

Though he managed to play in every game last season, Jones finished with a career high 306 touches, a heavy workload that isn’t sustainable as he slowly progresses into the later stages of his career.

“We wanted to make sure we were using Aaron in a way that allowed him to be his most impactful self,” O’Connell said. “When he has historically had that 1A, 1B backfield structure, he can be a total game changer every time he touches it.”

That led to the Vikings acquiring Mason via a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. His impressive performance against the Vikings last season — he finished with 20 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown — played a role in him emerging as a viable option.

“We really felt what we were looking for was right before our very eyes,” O’Connell said. “He’s tough to tackle when he gets in space, and he has burst and explosion to finish runs.”

The combination of Jones and Mason should give the Vikings some versatility in the backfield as they aim for a marriage between the run and the pass that makes them unpredictable on offense.

The thought process behind signing injured players

It’s not hard to find the common thread when looking at some of the key players the Vikings added in free agency. They signed Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave on the defensive line, and Ryan Kelly and Will Fries on the offensive line, all of whom missed significant time due to injuries last season.

Why did they do that? It’s pretty clear that the Vikings feel like they possess a competitive advantage with Tyler Williams leading their medical staff.

“They’ve just proven it time and time again,” O’Connell said. “They’re world class down there with what they do.”

Not only do the Vikings believe Allen, Hargrave, Kelly, and Fries will be back to 100 percent ahead of next season, they also believe Williams and the medical staff can put together a plan that maximizes their ability to stay healthy moving forward.

The only player that the Vikings signed in free agency that could potentially have his rehab extend into training camp is Rondale Moore, as the receiver continues to recover from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

The return of Harrison Smith and why it matters

There was an unwritten rule that existed between O’Connell and Harrison Smith this offseason when it came to the possibility of retirement. They were allowed to communicate so long as football didn’t come up in any way, shape or form.

There were some text messages about golf here and there and some phone calls about life in general.

“He called me one morning and said, ‘Hey Bossman, I think I’ve got one more in me,’” O’Connell said. “I was like, ‘Am I allowed to talk about football yet?’”

Nobody was more excited than O’Connell that Smith ultimately decided to delay retirement for a little while longer.

“He’s a huge part of who I am as a coach,” O’Connell said. “He’s a huge part of what we’ve built together in Minnesota.”

It can’t be overstated how much Smith means to everything Brian Flores wants to do on defense.

Never mind that Smith is in the twilight of his career. He still plays virtually every snap and proved last season that he can still make an impact.

“Just having him back is massive,” O’Connell said. “He’s a really good player and brings so much.”

The depth at cornerback behind Byron Murphy Jr.

It was important for the Vikings to find a way to keep Byron Murphy Jr. They did that by coming to the table and signing Murphy to a lucrative contract that makes him among the highest-paid players at his position.

The addition of Isaiah Rodgers shouldn’t be overlooked, however, especially considering Flores identified him as a target in the early stages of free agency.

“When he has that tone in his voice about guys, he has been pretty darn accurate,” O’Connell said. “No pressure on Isaiah.”

That Flores was so bullish on Rodgers comes with its own set of expectations. No longer can Rodgers live in obscurity. He’s going to be expected to take the next step in his career as soon as he starts getting reps with the starters.

Aside from Murphy and Rodgers, the Vikings also signed Jeff Okudah, who joins a group that also includes Mekhi Blackmon and Dwight McGlothern.

“Our roster is pretty full at that position right now,” O’Connell said. “It’s going to be competitive throughout the spring.”

The plan heading into the draft

There are a number of ways the Vikings could use the No. 24 pick. They could trade down and add more draft capital. They could stay put and take the best player available.

The optionality is something the Vikings suddenly have as a luxury after addressing so many weaknesses in free agency.

“I think the best player available is good at some positions,” O’Connell said. “We don’t want the best player available to have such a tremendous roadblock in front of them to getting on the field.”

Essentially, if the Vikings decide to use the No. 24 pick on a player, they want that player to be able to come in and make their presence felt as soon as possible.

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U.S. Bank executive Terrance “Terry” Dolan, 63, of Edina, was officially identified as the pilot flying the small plane that crashed into a Brooklyn Park house last weekend, the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office announced Tuesday.

The day after the crash, U.S. Bank had said the Minneapolis-based company believed that Dolan, its vice chair and chief administrative officer, had been piloting the plane, a single-engine Socata TBM7.

The crash occurred about 12:20 p.m. Saturday near 109th Avenue North and Noble Parkway. One of the two occupants of the house was home at the time and was able to escape without injury. Nobody else was killed or injured besides Dolan. The house was destroyed by the plane nose-diving into the roof and the subsequent fire.

One neighboring home suffered damage to its siding and some homes had debris from the crash in their yards, authorities said.

Dolan was flying back to Minnesota from Naples, Fla. After a stop in Des Moines, Iowa, he departed for the Anoka County-Blaine Airport, which is a few miles from the crash site.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

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Minnesota’s health department is laying off 170 employees whose positions were funded by pandemic-era federal grants to the state that were recently terminated by the administration of President Donald Trump.

In addition to those layoffs, around 300 employees are on notice that they are at risk for layoffs, the Minnesota Department of Health announced on Tuesday. And nearly 20 people who expected to start jobs in the last week no longer have offers.

The moves come after the federal government announced the end of more than $11 billion in COVID-19-related funding last week. MDH is losing more than $220 million in federal support.

Minnesota is one of 23 states suing the Trump administration over the federal COVID aid freeze.

Grant money helped the state respond to measles and avian flu and monitor wastewater to gauge levels of diseases like COVID-19, according to state officials.

Minnesota layoffs

State Health Commissioner Brooke Cunningham said the funding cutoff came with little warning.

“The sudden and unexpected action from the federal government left us with no choice but to proceed with layoffs immediately,” she said in a statement. “They left us in the lurch, with no advance notice, no close-out period, halting work that would have helped us address chronic gaps in the system and be better prepared for future threats.”

Minnesota layoffs come as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services begins a push to reduce its workforce by more than 20,000 workers to about 62,000, according to the Associated Press. Many scientists, doctors and others with years of experience are expected to lose jobs.

MDH has more than 2,000 employees and is tasked with, among other things, monitoring the spread of infectious diseases in the state.

In the last two-year state budget, MDH had about $1.5 billion in a mix of state, federal and other funds. About 55% of that comes from the federal government, according to the agency.

Pandemic era funding

During the 2020-2021 biennium, its budget grew to about $2.7 billion due to an influx of temporary funding from the state and federal governments in response to COVID-19.

During the worst of the pandemic, MDH helped set up testing sites and provided regular updates on key information like new infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

HHS officials announced the end of state and local COVID funding last Tuesday.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the federal health agency said in a statement to the Associated Press.

Much of the funding, which was set to end within the next six months, was used for testing, vaccination, and community health workers responding to the pandemic. the AP reported. It also supported a 2021 program aimed at addressing “health disparities among high-risk and underserved patients, including those in minority populations.”

“Abrupt terminations of grants and contracts is unprecedented and will impact our work and that of our partners,” MDH said in a statement on the cuts last week.

Federal grant cuts will affect several state programs, according to MDH, which expects that less staffing will mean slower response times to infectious disease outbreaks.

Community clinics, vaccination efforts, and the state public health laboratory will not offer the same level of service that they did before, the agency said. As a result, the state won’t be able to offer as much laboratory support for hospitals and health care systems.

There will also be significantly less support for nursing homes, including funding for ventilation system upgrades and staff training.

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