Tiffany Warns That Wisconsin Could Turn Into Minnesota
Speeches at state Republican convention paint Democrats as 'radicals' and 'socialists.'
Tom Tiffany. (Public Domain).
At the Wisconsin Republican Party convention at Kalahari in Wisconsin Dells Saturday, elected officials, party leaders and former governors repeatedly warned that if Democrats do well in this year’s midterm elections they will turn the state into its more liberal neighbor of Minnesota.
“Look at Minnesota, if you must, look at where taxpayers have been fleeced of millions of dollars by Democrat politicians that chose to look the other way, take a look at Illinois, with their high tax rates, and their politicians that have passed out freebies to illegal aliens, and make no mistake, those same people, they have this state in their sights, and they want Wisconsin to be their next victim,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who was crowned Saturday as the party’s nominee for governor.
The warning comes after 15 years in which Republicans have controlled majorities in the state Legislature and hold six of the state’s eight congressional districts while Republicans hold both houses of Congress and the presidency. In his speech, Tiffany painted a Wisconsin in decline.
“This election is about more than politics. It’s about whether Wisconsin is going to continue down this path of decline,” he said.
The national political landscape, President Donald Trump’s sinking approval rating, a faltering economy and a less gerrymandered legislative map have Democrats dreaming of trifecta control of state government.
“The one thing I am scared about this election is the Democrats are motivated, and they truly believe we’re on the verge of a fascist day or something,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman said. “And because they are so motivated — you see it in the number of protests out there — we have got to match them. To be honest, we’re not matching them quite yet, but they do believe they’re on that verge of losing America, and that that is why they have so many volunteers out there, so many people who are gathering signatures. We have got to find a way to match that enthusiasm.”
State party chair Brian Schimming said Saturday that to staunch that blue wave, Republicans need to lean into “kitchen table issues.”
“Because wherever we are in this state on the big issues, the big kitchen table issues, the voters are with us,” said Schimming, who in recent weeks has faced internal efforts to oust him.
During a panel discussion of current and former Republican legislators, Rep. Tony Kurtz (R-Wonewoc) said that the state’s residents are “feeling the economy.”
“When you look at what’s going on right now, it is affordability, it truly is,” Kurtz said. “Let’s not sugarcoat that. Everybody, at least in my district, we’re feeling the economy. So that’s where I think we, as Republicans, we have to say what we have done and what we will continue to do.”
But from the convention stage, officials such as Tiffany, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, former Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden, railed against alleged election fraud, undocumented immigrants, trained protesters fighting the Trump administration and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“The left never, never talks about the victims of crime from illegal immigrants,” Johnson said. “But they take those two individuals who they trained and encouraged, put themselves into harm’s way, they died, and they turned them into martyrs and use them as an excuse to defund ICE, defund CBP, refuse to fund DHS, and put all of America, or continue to keep America at risk.”
Repeatedly, speakers highlighted their focus on eliminating protections for transgender people and preventing trans people of all ages from receiving gender-affirming care.
“Are you ready for a governor that calls moms moms not inseminated persons? Are you ready for a governor that’s going to protect girls’ sports?” Tiffany said in the opening line of his speech.
Throughout the day, party officials sought to paint Wisconsin Democrats as “radicals” who want to turn the country socialist.
“The Democrat candidates leave the answer simple: the government should provide,” said Schoemann, who briefly ran in the Republican primary for governor but dropped out after Trump endorsed Tiffany. “They want a government that provides your groceries, your education, your health care, your child care. Should I keep going?”
Speakers bashed the Democratic vision for a government that can solve people’s problems — labeling Wisconsin Democrats such as Attorney General Josh Kaul and state Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) as socialists. State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), who has been leading the polls in the Democratic primary for governor and actually is a Democratic Socialist, was also a frequent target.
Speakers also often criticized Democratic proposals to raise income taxes on the state’s millionaires, billionaires and corporations to offset rising property taxes.
In his often meandering 30-minute speech, Johnson argued that if Democrats win back a majority in the U.S. Senate this fall, they’ll use that power to end the Senate filibuster rule to “turn America into a one-party nation.”
So, he said, to preempt that effort, Republicans should end the filibuster this summer in order to pass the SAVE Act instituting much stricter rules on voting.
“We better end it first, so we can save this nation,” he said. “If we were to end it, we wouldn’t be doing it to turn this into a one-party Republican party nation. No, we would do it to preserve this nation, to preserve voter integrity, so that no matter who wins we have the confidence that that’s a legitimate result.”
At convention, Wisconsin Republicans say midterms could turn state into Minnesota was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.
Protecting girls’ sports is always at the top of my list when I think of Wisconsin’s future. Protecting billionaires wealth is a close second however.
L
Tom Tiffany is so good at campaigning he’s practically running one for the Democrats.
Perhaps these elected officials shold hold public town halls where they can share the comments/beliefs with the voters who they apparently think are ignorant and need to be protected. Let’s ask Tom Tiffany about his governing philosophy and why he opposed the negotiated tax cut deal.
Was Linda McMahon able to make a side trip to South Milwauke to lay a wreath at the base of the Crusher statue?
Becoming more like Minnesota? That would be phenomenal. Minnesota is a stated that funds K-12 education including free lunch for every student. The healthcare available in Minnesota is night and day better than Wisconsin. The roads? Much better in Minnesota plus the state is committed to public transportation. To that point, Minnesota has experienced an increase in development along those public transit routes. Minnesota has addressed many social issues, such as housing with informed public-private initiatives. What’s more, Minnesota does not treat its university system as a drain on taxpayer dollars. Why, because the economic powerhouse the university system is can be seen throughout the state. Many major employers began as spin-offs of U of M research.
What about the enormous taxes Minnesotans pay, taxpayers recognize that return on the taxes they pay, is head and shoulders better than what we get in Wisconsin. Minnesota increased the taxes on the very wealthy (by only 2 percentage points) instead of using working class taxes to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. For average Minnesotans, their taxes buy them better K-12 education (and lower property taxes), better healthcare for most of the population, better roads as well as a less reliance on pollution causing automobiles. Minnesota even has less of a problem with mosquitoes, despite endemic encephalitis (regularly occurring in an area.)
So too, Minnesota takes a more reasoned approach to the issues surrounding girls’ sports. Minnesotan turn to science and NOT blind prejudice for guidance. Minnesotans, for the most part, recognize that trans-gender students account for less than 1% of the population. With such a tiny number of students, Minnesotans realize that legislating against them is unconstitutional and quite frankly, a poor use of taxpayer dollars. Minnesotans resent politicians who stir up hatred and fear. They do not believe in the cancel culture RRRs (radical reactionary republicans) purvey.
I say to Rep. Tiffany, Wisconsin should be so wise to follow the example of Minnesota. It is far better to become Wisnnesota, than Wississippi.
I wish! I love Minnesota!
Rep Tiffany’s MAGA desire to return to the happy times of the early 20th century is evident. A time when we had high tariffs, needless wars, an invasion of China, environmental disasters, great recessions and finally the great depression. All this and more can be possible, along with protecting our female athletes from a possible transgender joining a team if Yiffany becomes governor.
Yes! Lets build a transit system like they have in the Twin Cities!
Per Josh Schoeman: “They want a government that provides your groceries, your education, your health care, your childcare. Should I keep going?” Yes, Mr. Schoeman, please keep going. Are you planning to shut down our public K-12 schools (education), and end Medicare (health care) for our parents and grandparents? Last I checked, those were things provided by the government with plenty of Republican takers. Or maybe you would like to end the public dollars that go to private and religious K-12 schools in the form of school vouchers. I suspect, however, that you still think the government should fund unnecessary road name changes.
Every Wisconsin airport connects to Minneapolis at least once a day at least via Delta. Tom Tiffany’s district would be severely impacted if MSP were not an option. It would be nice if MKE had a more robust airport but that likely will never happen.
Mass transit around Minneapolis is much more robust than here in Milwaukee but Tiffany likely doesn’t know what that means.