Van Wanggaard Fights To Reclaim His Old State Senate Seat In 21st District

When Republicans redrew the state’s political map in 2011, they turned Racine’s competitive Senate district into a Republican stronghold — one tailor-made for Van Wanggaard, the former state senator who lost his seat in the 2012 recalls.

Now, Wanggaard is trying to reclaim his seat in a dogfight of a primary against fellow Republican Jonathan Steitz.

A recent tea party rally on a farm in rural Racine County was officially billed as a “Get out the Vote” rally, but the event’s high-profile conservative speakers were focused on getting out the vote for one candidate in particular: Van Wanggaard.

“Van Wanggaard was always on our side,” declared Assembly Majority Leader Robin Vos.

Said state Rep. Sam Kerkman: “I stand with Van. He is the man with the better plan.”

The crowd also heard from a voucher school advocate and a conservative talk radio host. Even U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan flew in from Washington, D.C., to endorse Wanggaard. Ryan said he remembered talking to the then-senator on the phone right after Walker introduced Act 10, and recalled Wannggaard telling Ryan that he would support the bill.

“And it was abundantly clear to me from that conversation with Van, and abundantly clear with him, that he knew he was going to take a vote that would probably cost him the job he just fought to get. But he was going to do it anyway, because he thought it was the right thing to do,” said Ryan.

It’s not every day that a former vice presidential nominee gets involved in a state Senate primary, but Ryan made the trip because there’s a plausible chance that Wanggaard could lose his primary. Other conservatives are siding with Wanggaard’s opponent, Jonathan Steitz. Local GOP activist Bob Geason among them.

“We have a gift here in the 21st District,” said Geason. “It’s a very strongly conservative district now.”

The district is so conservative, in fact, that whoever wins this primary is likely to win the general election. Given those circumstances, Geason said Republicans should elect the most conservative candidate — someone who could shift the entire state Senate to the right. Geason said that person is Steitz.

“I’ve taken a lot of heat here, because all of the other so-called establishment have just simply circled the wagons and lined up behind the guy that they think deserves the seat,” said Geason. “And I don’t agree with that position. I think we should elect the best candidate.”

Steitz is an investment banker who boasts MBA and law degrees from Northwestern University. He’s never held public office before, though he ran and lost in an election against state Sen. Bob Wirch (D-Kenosha).

Steitz says there are plenty of issues on which he differs with Wanggaard. He noted that when Act 10 was forged, Wanggaard, a retired police officer, led the charge to extend civil service protections to local government workers.

“And in my opinion, that’s the exact opposite direction of where we need to be headed,” said Steitz. “We’ve got to get away from the idea that there’s one set of rules for the private sector and another set of rules for the public sector, like they’re some kind of protected class.”

Steitz would also eliminate the state income tax, and he favors “constitutional carry,” which would let people carry concealed weapons without a permit.

Van Wanggaard said that anyone who doubts his conservative credentials should look at his voting record.

“I don’t know how he can say that I’m not conservative when I voted for every conservative item that the governor brought forward,” said Wanggaard. “We actually had more conservative legislation in the time I was in the Senate than we’d had in decades, and I’m proud of that.”

Wanggaard puts Act 10 at the top of that list.

The organizers of Wanggaard’s Get out the Vote rally said it was an easy call to endorse him. Racine Tea Party co-founder Nancy Milholland said that the area is still in recall mode, and is looking to avenge Wanggaard’s loss.

“For us, it’s handing it back to the liberal left,” she said. “You recalled our guy? Well, guess what — boom, we’re putting him back in office. It’s closure, is what it is.”

Still, the event was nothing like the massive tea party rallies of just a couple years ago. Perhaps the nice August weather was a factor in the turnout, or it could be that Van Wanggard’s in no real trouble — or it could be that other conservatives plan to get out their votes for Jonathan Steitz.