MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Latest on Wisconsin’s Senate race (all times local):
12 noon
House Speaker Paul Ryan says he’s warmed to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to help down ballot Republicans.
Ryan said in an interview on WTMJ-AM on Monday that “I do not want to harm our team going into the election. I want to unify our team going into the election.”
Ryan last month said he would not campaign with Trump or defend him after audio surfaced of Trump making sexually crude comments about women. But over the weekend Ryan appeared at a rally with Trump’s running mate Mike Pence and said he intended to appear with Trump at an event near Milwaukee that was subsequently canceled.
Ryan says he has no idea whether Trump will win.
He says, “Nothing’s baked in the cake and don’t take anything for granted. Don’t assume things.”
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11 a.m.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson says the latest letter from Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey clearing Hillary Clinton is “cravenly political.”
Johnson was asked about Comey’s letter Monday during an interview on WTMJ-AM. Johnson says Comey “is just covering his backside here. This looks just cravenly political.”
Johnson says the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server when she was secretary of state was not “designed to uncover the truth and lead to prosecution. It was really more designed to cover up the truth and lead to exoneration.”
Johnson faces Democrat Russ Feingold in Tuesday’s election. Feingold praised Comey for releasing the letter, saying “clearing the deck is good.”
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10:45 a.m.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson says he needs “massive” turnout to defeat Democratic former Sen. Russ Feingold.
Johnson spoke Monday in an interview on WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee. He says the race is winnable but “we need a massive turnout.”
Democrats have been encouraged by record-breaking numbers for early voting which ended Sunday. Turnout was much higher in Democratic counties than conservative ones that are key for Johnson and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump to carry the state.
Johnson has been outperforming Trump in recent polls, giving his side hope he can win even if Trump loses in Wisconsin.
Johnson says, “This is entirely winnable. I should win this thing. If truth can prevail over lies, distortion and class warfare, I will win this race.”
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9:50 a.m.
Democrat Russ Feingold is praising the latest Federal Bureau of Investigation letter saying Hillary Clinton won’t face charges over her use of a private email server.
Feingold said Monday that “clearing the deck is good” and that now voters in the presidential race will have a “nice and clear” choice in the presidential race. Feingold says he’s confident Clinton will win Wisconsin on her way to the White House.
Feingold was asked about the letter sent Sunday by FBI director James Comey clearing Clinton after he sent a vague message Oct. 28 to Congress saying more Clinton-related emails were being reviewed.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin Monday she “still questions the judgment that was exercised” by Comey in sending the initial letter so close to the election.
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9:40 a.m.
Russ Feingold says “there is no way” Democrats can retake majority control of the Senate unless he defeats Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin.
The Democrat Feingold stopped at a campaign office near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus Monday where he thanked volunteers and urged them to get people to the polls on Tuesday.
Feingold is already looking ahead to what he hopes will be the first 100 days of a Hillary Clinton administration with Democrats in control of the Senate.
Feingold says after the election under what he hopes is a Clinton presidency Democrats must follow through on their campaign promises to help middle income Americans by raising the minimum wage, making college more affordable and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
Johnson is campaigning with House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday.
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8:30 a.m.
Sen. Ron Johnson and Russ Feingold are making their final push across Wisconsin in the state’s hotly contested race for the U.S. Senate.
Feingold was spending Monday hitting campaign offices across the state as volunteers prepared for one last get-out-the-vote push. Johnson is wrapping up his bus tour with a rally in conservative Waukesha where he was to be joined by House Speaker Paul Ryan, Gov. Scott Walker and other Republican office holders.
Johnson also planned a stop at Pacur, the Oshkosh plastics manufacturing company he helped start and ran until he was elected to the Senate in 2010. That’s where he also launched his re-election campaign.
Polls show the race to be tight and majority control of the Senate could hang in the balance.
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