Wisconsin Republicans held their state convention (motto: The Big Lie Fest) this past weekend. They took this opportunity to show the world just how much disarray they are in.
Among other things, they were supposed to be voting on which candidates to endorse in the fall elections. The only race that was in question was who their chosen nominee for governor would be. In a surprise move, the Republican voters decided to endorse None Of The Above to be their nominee:
Wisconsin Republicans refused to endorse any of the four candidates for governor at their annual state convention for the first time — a symbolic rejection of the political apparatus that has been blamed by its own members for failing to deliver statewide victories in recent years.
Forty-five percent of votes cast by about 1,500 delegates who gathered in Middleton Saturday for the Republican Party of Wisconsin annual convention voted to abandon the long-established election-year exercise used to signal to voters which candidates are competitive.
The delegates chose between endorsing former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch for governor and not endorsing anyone. Ultimately, no one prevailed — even after former Republican Gov. Scott Walker made an appeal in support of Kleefisch, reminding them he was launched into a string of victories by an endorsement by the party.
Kleefisch is the establishment candidate and the party did everything they possibly could do to pave the way for her. But even with the path cleared for her, she failed to reach the finish line. The Kleefisch campaign tried to claim a victory and the GOP establishment apologists tried to convince everyone that she would still win the primary in August.
While Kleefisch did get 55% of the vote, her winning the primary in August is far from guaranteed. She has the albatross known as Foxconn around her neck. And by not earning the endorsement, she does not get the considerable amount of money and other resources of the GOP for the next few months.
And she's going to need every dime she can get since one of her opponents, Tim Michels, is a very wealthy man and is self-funding his campaign. (Ironic fun fact: Michels earned all of his money from construction contracts with the state, the bulk of which came during the Walker/Kleefisch regime.)
There is also the question of whether she is crazy enough to be willing to shred the constitution. During the convention, 40.3% of the attendees said that they wanted the state to rescind Biden's electors, even though there is no way for them to do that. Overturning the 2020 elections is the sole focus of another of her opponents, Tim Ramthun, campaign.
As time goes on, it seems that the Republican voters made the best choice possible when they rejected all the current candidates.
