Here & Now

Wisconsin's Unsettled Republican Governor's Race

Frederica Freyberg:

A lot of Republican candidates want to be the next governor of Wisconsin. One of them has to win the August 9 primary to take on incumbent Democrat Tony Evers, but there’s a perceptible split amongst the Republicans to the extent that none of the candidates got the endorsement of delegates. Rebecca Kleefisch came close to the 60% threshold, but Tim Ramthun, Kevin Nicholson and Tim Michels fell way short. Is the frontrunner considered the “establishment” candidate with the others like Tim Ramthun, who wants to decertify the last election, considered fire brands? We check in with Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Bureau Chief Shawn Johnson with the goings on of the campaign. Nice to see you, Shawn.

Shawn Johnson:

Hey, Frederica.

Frederica Freyberg:

To that question, is that how this breaking down that Rebecca Kleefisch is kind of the “establishment” candidate and the others are anti-establishment?

Shawn Johnson:

I think if you look at the positions they hold on policies, there’s not a huge amount of daylight between them. They’re pretty similar. I think if you look at who is by definition kind of the establishment candidate in terms of who’s supporting them, it would have to be Rebecca Kleefisch. I mean, she has the support of, for example, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s largest business lobby. Scott Walker, you might remember him, governor for eight years. Robin Vos, Assembly Speaker has voiced strong support for Rebecca Kleefisch. And she’s been running for this the longest. So kind of just by the definition, she is the establishment candidate, even if what she says and believes doesn’t differ greatly from the others.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what’s the effect of the delegates at the convention voting not to endorse in this race, including Rebecca Kleefisch?

Shawn Johnson:

I would say it’s not just a popularity contest. So Kleefisch got close to the 60% threshold she would have needed to win the party’s endorsement. Had she won that, the party could campaign on her behalf. You know, they could present her as the endorsed candidate of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which is obviously would have been a good thing for her in a divided primary like this, especially one where Tim Michels can throw so much of his personal wealth at the race and he’s been on TV a lot. Kevin Nicholson has the backing of billionaire GOP mega-donor Richard Uihlein. So it’s not like she can just walk away with this. It would have been helpful, certainly helpful to probably Tony Evers that she not get it, but it’s not like it’s a deal breaker for her candidacy either.

Frederica Freyberg:

So party delegates gave the same nod to other candidates for statewide office including attorney general. I mean, they had those kinds of Rebecca Kleefisch numbers.

Shawn Johnson:

Yeah, and you saw maybe a little bit of a theme there. Eric Toney, the Fond du Lac district attorney who came closest to the endorsement in the primary for attorney general. He has the backing of Brad Courtney, the former Republican Party chair under Scott Walker. Amy Loudenbeck, secretary of state candidate for Republicans has been on the legislature’s budget committee for several years, worked on Scott Walker’s budgets. So Im not saying they’re a team where they presented themselves as a ticket, but you see a similar thread there where they had a lot of people at this convention but there was a sizable group of people who said we don’t want to endorse anyone right now, leave it for the primary.

Frederica Freyberg:

So does any of this kind of suggest a Trump effect, whereby people are moving even further to the right than they were?

Shawn Johnson:

Potentially. I mean I think one thing you can say definitively is that you have this portion, an active portion of the Republican base who is saying we want you to focus on us. If there’s no primary, these candidates can kind of pivot to the general election if they think that it is politically advantageous for them. But when there’s a contested primary, and you know, Rebecca Kleefisch, Tim Michels, others have to pursue these primary voters, they have to focus on Republicans and Republican policies. So that’s what they’re going to have to do. But you could see maybe a Trump effect here too because there was a similar margin of voters who said let’s decertify the election at this convention, around 40%, similar to the number of people who said let’s not endorse.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what’s happening with the Wisconsin Elections Commission right now?

Shawn Johnson:

Pretty big surprise this week when Dean Knudson, a Republican member of the commission who was appointed by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced he’s resigning at the meeting. This happens right before this commission is about to vote on the next chair. Knudson is one of two candidates, under the commission’s rules, who is eligible to be chair. The other candidate is Bob Spindell, vocal critic of the agency, who was one of ten Republicans who posed as electors after the 2020 election. So a big shock to I think people who watch the Elections Commission closely and now Vos is going to appoint a replacement for Knudson and that person could be elected chair at the next meeting in June.

Frederica Freyberg:

We’ll see who he appoints. Shawn Johnson, thank you very much. Thanks for covering all this.

Shawn Johnson:

Thanks, Fred.