Legislative Drunken Driving Fight Begins Again In Wisconsin

A number of Wisconsin Republicans are hoping new Democratic Governor Tony Evers will help them finally criminalize first-offense drunken driving. Wisconsin is the only state in the nation that doesn’t treat a first offense as a crime. Instead it’s a traffic ticket.   Two Wisconsin Republicans — state Representative Jim Ott and Senator Alberta Darling — have introduced a bill that would make a first offense a misdemeanor. Evers says he supports criminalizing a first offense. The push to criminalize a first offense might look like a can’t-miss bipartisan initiative. But Republican leaders wary of crossing the state’s powerful tavern league and saddling first offenders with a criminal record say the plan is a non-starter.