Wisconsin Republicans stress unity at state convention amid infighting

Barely half an hour into the annual convention of the Republican Party of Wisconsin on Saturday, a heated debate broke out.

At issue was whether a proposed state delegate was being improperly denied from being seated. Kelly Ruh is the state GOP treasurer, but had lost her county bid to serve as a delegate in Rothschild, Wis.

Ruh is also staunch ally of President Donald Trump and served as one of Wisconsin’s false electors in 2020, attesting he won the state of Wisconsin even though he had narrowly lost to former President Joe Biden. During the debate Saturday morning, her supporters argued she was the victim of political persecution for being an outspoken member of the party’s grassroots, while others pointed out that she’d significantly lost her own election.

Then a vote was held to overturn those results — and Ruh was ultimately seated.

“Grassroots!” someone in the crowd cheered.

The strife within a typically mundane procedural step illustrated a divide among Republicans, as they contend with divisions between their mainstream and grassroots wings. Those tensions have been laid bare as the party has struggled to translate Trump’s popularity among the base to reaching voters in nonpresidential elections.

Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson pointed to those divides during a speech later in the morning, where he called for an end to “disunity” in the party.

“I have to admit, in the 15 years since I entered this political process, I’ve never seen as many squabbles,” he said.

The event — an annual process for the state party to choose its platform and priorities for the coming year — focused heavily on uniting behind Trump’s agenda, especially on economic, immigration and social issues.

Speakers at Saturday’s convention celebrated the party’s victories in November, pointing to Trump’s win and the Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate. Many from Wisconsin’s congressional delegation pledged to back Trump’s so-called “big beautiful bill,” referring to his proposed signature legislation that would fund a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border, cut Medicaid and federal funding for food assistance and significantly change tax policy.

But hovering over the convention was the specter of a recent defeat for the party. In April, the conservative candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court lost by 10 percentage points, despite ample funding on his side, including $9.5 million from the state GOP.

There’s been some finger-pointing among state Republicans as the party works to understand where those state level disappointments stemmed from. At the heart of that local infighting has been Wisconsin GOP Chair Brian Schimming.

Some in the party have called for his removal. But speaking to reporters during a lunch break Saturday, Schimming said the party is analyzing those losses and looking ahead to next year, when Republicans will be vying for the governor’s office.

“Sometimes when you get post one of those spring elections that are disappointing, you get those kind of questions. But we’re going to be unified going forward, I really believe that,” he said. “Sometimes you have defeats, and people get upset with leadership. And that happens.”

A message of unifying behind Trump’s agenda

Although he did not attend the convention, Trump was central to the event, as many attendees wore MAGA hats or other apparel featuring “47” — a reference to the 47^th (and 45^th) president. Vendors in the hallway of the Wausau-area convention center sold Trump memorabilia and television screens onstage interspersed a screengrab of Fox News announcing his victory in November among photos of local party activity and activists.

“Isn’t Donald Trump tremendous?” said U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R- Glenbeulah, as he opened his remarks. Grothman was the last of Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation to speak. Each member pitched the importance of backing Trump’s agenda in Washington.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R- Minocqua, a potential candidate for governor in 2026, alluded to next year’s elections, saying they could be a test of Republicans’ ability to win statewide. He argued Wisconsin Republicans need to focus on promoting their agenda in Madison as well as Washington.

“The ‘America Last’ methodology is receding here in America and ‘America First’ is rising, isn’t it?” said Tiffany. “But the question — as we have this great reset led by President Trump — is: Will Wisconsin be one of the winners?”

But U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Prairie du Chien, whose House race could be among the most competitive in the country next year, warned that Republicans will not succeed unless the party “put(s) aside our petty squabbles.”

He pointed to April’s Supreme Court election and conservative Judge Brad Schimel’s loss to liberal Justice-elect Susan Crawford as evidence Wisconsin Republicans were too busy infighting to vote.

“We got our a—- kicked, and that’s true. You know why? Because we didn’t vote. We didn’t vote because we were squabbling amongst ourselves,” he said. “If we are going to make sure that we are not disenfranchised, then we are going to put aside our petty squabbles, or we will lose.”

Van Orden called on Republicans to back Trump’s proposed massive immigration and tax bill, criticizing some in the party who have said that some changes to tax policy — including extending tax cuts on wealthy earners, changing some deduction and ending taxes on tipped wages and overtime payment — could expand the national deficit.

“We don’t need grandstanders in the Republican Party. Stop talking and get it done,” he said.

But among those critics of the bill is Sen. Johnson, who spoke out against the legislation, arguing it would be too costly.

“The big, beautiful bill isn’t what it’s advertised to be,” said Johnson. “We wouldn’t be decreasing the deficit. We’re not going to be bending the debt curve down. We would be exacerbating the problem.”

Social issues, immigration at forefront of speeches

U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican who represents a South Carolina district, focused on Trump’s agenda pertraining to social issues, especially gender issues, in her keynote speech.

“Trump is back. He’s securing the border. He’s deporting illegals. He’s protecting women’s sports, and he’s declaring there are only two genders,” she said to applause.

“DEI under Donald J. Trump is DOA,” she added, using acronyms to say that diversity, equity and inclusion programming is “dead on arrival.”

Mace has been a leader of anti-trans legislation in Congress. She introduced a resolution to bar U.S. representatives and their staff from using bathrooms that don’t correspond with their biological sex in congressional buildings. And she introduced the Protecting Women’s Private Spaces Act, which would have the same prohibition on federal properties and buildings.

She received applause throughout her speech when she described this record, and attacked Democrats’ record on immigration and gender.

“They’re trying to erase what it means to be an American. They’re trying to erase what it means to be a woman. But we are not going to let them — not today, not tomorrow and not in Wisconsin,” she said.

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson received the biggest cheers of the day throughout his speech, especially when he criticized Democratic records on immigration, saying Trump has told people living in the country illegally, ”Bye, bye, go back home, not in the United States anymore.”

“That’s Donald Trump. He did what he said he was going to do, and everybody should be happy about it,” he stormed to great applause.

Thompson pointed to his long career in politics, arguing that Republicans don’t have to be worried about future elections as long as they campaign vigorously on conservative values, including gender issues, tax policy and school choice.

“We cut taxes as Republicans, we lower regulations, we give people hope, we give people opportunities,” he said. “We are winners, not losers, ladies and gentlemen. And we’re going to campaign. We’re going to unite.”