State Republican Party Creates New Rules That Allow County Chairs To Be Ousted
Changes come as Milwaukee chairs, others, have been critical of party, called for Brian Schimming to resign.
Brian Schimming speaks at a groundbreaking in 2018 during his time with WHEDA. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin has created a new process to oust county party officials and members of a state executive committee if they harass or publicly defame state party officials or Republican lawmakers.
The changes are being attacked by local GOP chairs who’ve been at odds with state party leadership, but a top Republican says the party is “trying to take the temperature down” when it comes to contentious votes on party business.
The changes were approved by the GOP’s state executive committee Sunday. They state that while volunteers and “grassroots members” have the right to elect leaders at the county and congressional district level, those individuals “should be working in coordination to achieve the Republican Party of Wisconsin’s goals and mission.”
A code of conduct requires local, regional and state GOP leaders to treat GOP officials with respect, support candidates endorsed by the Republican Party and not engage in “sexual, verbal, or physical harassment” of fellow Republican Party members.
“When an individual in a leadership position violates the Code of Conduct, it reflects poorly on the Republican Party as a whole and affects RPW’s purpose of electing Republicans to local, county, and state offices,” the new rules state.
Some local GOP chairs say new rules stifle dissent
In reaction to the new rules, the Republican Party of Milwaukee County issued a press release citing the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment right to free speech.
“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority,” the statement said.
Milwaukee County GOP Chair Hilario Deleon has been critical of state party leadership. Two days after Republicans lost the Wisconsin Supreme Court election by 10 percentage points, he called for swift accountability “at all levels at the state party” in a social media post.
Another critic of the state party’s new rules is Ken Sikora, who chairs the Oconto County Republican Party and was was recently elected to lead the GOP’s 8th Congressional District group. On Sunday, he took to Facebook and accused state party leaders of working to “tamp down dissension in the party.”
“From what I’m told, they intend to make it impossible to speak out against the party, post any social media about the party, disclose information about the party, use any information not approved by the party, and it goes on and on and on,” Sikora said.
Sikora, who has recently called state GOP chair Brian Schimming to resign, claimed the rule changes were made before newly elected district leaders, like himself, could take their seats on the executive committee “so that they can rid the party of those of us that don’t understand.”
The same day, Sikora posted a spreadsheet listing the names, phone numbers and emails of the executive committee’s 31 sitting members and encouraged supporters to push back on the new rules.
State GOP vice chair says rules changes aimed at ‘egregious’ behavior
Republican Party of Wisconsin First Vice Chairman Bill Feehan told WPR the free speech claims from some county GOP chairs are “ridiculous.” He said the rule changes have been discussed since 2023, when the state party revoked the Republican Party of Barron County’s charter. He said the chair at the time was allowing people from outside the county and even the state to vote on party matters.
Feehan, who also chairs the La Crosse County Republican Party, said he was tasked with investigating complaints this year from Republicans in Brown County. They alleged local Republican leaders blocked five members from being delegates at the GOP’s 8th Congressional District caucus based on how they would vote on certain issues.
“When you start making tests to determine whether or not somebody has the right to vote, you have now egregiously violated the rights of that person who is a member of the Republican Party,” Feehan said.
He said without the new rules, passed Sunday, the state GOP had no way to discipline individual members.
“Our only response to this stuff that had any kind of weight was to revoke a county charter,” Feehan said. “And the problem with that is, when you revoke the county charter, you punish everybody in that county, right?”
Ahead of Sikora’s rise to chair the 8th Congressional District, state and local GOP officials in northeastern Wisconsin feuded over which party members could vote during a GOP caucus in March. There were accusations of bullying and Sikora filed a lawsuit against incumbent 8th District Chair Stephanie Soucek to force delegates from Oconto, Waupaca and Brown counties to be recognized in order to cast their ballots.
An April 12 Facebook post from the Republican Party of Brown County claims there has been misinformation about what happened at its caucus and that the five Republicans who didn’t serve as delegates for the 8th District chair election didn’t get enough votes.
Feehan described the 8th District caucus as a “circus” led by an “angry mob.”
“It’s politics that people are going to get angry,” Feehan said. “They’re going to disagree. There are going to be conflicts. But that’s why we have all of these rules that govern the way the meetings go, so that we we try and keep that more civil.”
More broadly, the GOP’s grassroots hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with party leaders in the era of President Donald Trump. Three years ago, a vocal contingent of GOP delegates to the annual state convention booed Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the Legislature’s most powerful Republican, after he said the state couldn’t overturn the 2020 presidential election. GOP delegates have also tried unsuccessfully on multiple occasions to pass resolutions calling for Vos to resign.
Wisconsin GOP creates process to remove local party officials for harassment, defaming Republican leaders was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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It is beyond laughable that reTrumplicans seem concerned about how their behavior toward each other could reflect poorly on their party. Their governing style, or lack thereof, speaks volumes. As does their cowardly, cowering butt-kissing of their Orange-faced fuhrer.
These are just more reTrumplican attempts to get their neo-gestapo party in lock step (or goose step) with their all-knowing leadership. How dare anyone have differences of opinions! How dare they speak those differences publicly!
It won’t be too long before the State Republican Party develop a uniform for all of its members and demand that they where them while goose stepping in their meetings. They will then take a pledge of alliance to Trump and MAGA.