This week, a Wisconsin judge ruled down Governor Scott Walker’s law that eliminates most collective bargaining rights of state employees. The ruling is now expected to be taken up by the state’s Supreme Court.

But Walker hasn’t been deterred. Beyond union-busting, Walker has continued with his quest to push through unpopular legislation, such as the state’s new voter ID law, which The Nation’s John Nichols says on Democracy Now! is the most draconian law of its kind in the nation. It will be costly to implement and will discourage low-income Wisconsinites and senior citizens, who are less likely to have an ID, from going to the polls, he says.

But Walker isn’t the only unpopular politician from Wisconsin. Representative Paul Ryan, now infamous for his disastrous bill that would dismantle Medicare, also hails from the Badger State. Nichols says Ryan is a symbol of a new kind of Republican extremism that Americans don’t buy into and will likely face a significant challenge in the next election.

—Sara Jerving