There are currently four top candidates running to be the Republican nominee to be Wisconsin governor. The four are Rebecca Kleefisch, Timothy Ramthun, Kevin Nicholson and Tim Michels.
While there are some minor differences, there are more similarities than not amongst the four. The biggest one that most of them share is the belief that they couldn't possibly win without the blessing of The Former Guy. Thus three of the four have already made the pilgrimage to Mar-A-Lago to kiss the bloated one's ring and nod along with his increasingly irrational conspiracy theories and unrealistic boasts.
The exception to the rule is Nicholson, who blew his chance at gaining Dear Leader's blessings early one by stating that Biden won the 2020 elections and criticizing the conspiracy theorists.
One might have thought that Kleefisch would be doing better in the campaign within a campaign than she really is. After all, she was Scott Walker's Lt. Governor for eight years. She is also best described as the Sarah Palin of Wisconsin, right down to being a former beauty pageant contestant. A quarter-brainer with cheese, if you will. Not only that, but she's also said some pretty stupid things herself, including comparing same sex marriage to marrying an inanimate object or to a dog:
"This is a slippery slope in addition to that," Kleefisch said. "At what point are we going to OK marrying inanimate objects? Can I marry this table or this, you know, clock? Can we marry dogs? This is ridiculous. Biblically, again I'm going to go right back to my fundamental Christian beliefs, marriage is between one man and one woman."
Kleefisch has also been evolving her stance on the election from Biden won but there was sketchy things to flat out accusations of Democrats cheating.
But the top runner for Trump's blessing goes to Ramthun. Ramthun has based his entire campaign on The Big Lie and still wanting to overturn the election, as he had proposed to do a few months ago.
This has earned Ramthun the praise of TFG and an offer to endorse him. It also won him the adoration and friendship of Mike Lindell (although apparently no free pillows). The downside is that it has also made Ramthun sound alarmingly like Trump:
Sitting in his cramped office late last month, Tim Ramthun said he’d started to hear something intriguing from his colleagues in the Wisconsin state legislature. A hard-line Republican lawmaker, Ramthun is leading the effort to decertify Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election and “reclaim” its 10 electors. He’s friendly with MyPillow CEO and election-fraud activist Mike Lindell; Donald Trump praised Ramthun for his work and offered to endorse him. Ramthun told me his push to investigate supposed election fraud had turned him into something of a Republican hero.
“I’m being told that I’m revered everywhere in the state,” Ramthun told me in mid-January. The statement had a Trumpian ring to it, echoing the former president’s trademark “many people are saying” rhetorical device. Ramthun went on, “It really upsets my colleagues because they’re being put in a place now, because of their lack of engagement and their indifference in the problem, their constituents are saying, ‘Hey, how come you can’t be more like Ramthun?’ “
However, Ramthun needs Trump to come through for him in a big way - including with money and manpower - which is something that Trump has never been known to do.
The most likely nominee will be the establishment's choice of Kleefisch. However, a third party campaign by any of the other three candidates should not be ruled out.
