Did Republican Party Leaders Discuss Firing Brian Schimming?
He's still the state chair. And party leaders won't discuss details of their weekend meeting.
Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming sits on stage as speakers give remarks Saturday, May 17, 2025, during the Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention in Rothschild, Wis. Angela Major/WPR
Despite calls for his firing following a lopsided state Supreme Court loss, Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming is still on the job. But party leaders can’t talk about it.
Members of the state party committee that could have fired Schimming met over the weekend. Those who attended the meeting had little to say about it because they signed nondisclosure agreements aimed at keeping closed session matters from leaking.
According to the RPW’s website, Schimming is still chair.
The RPW Executive Committee’s meeting was prefaced by anger from conservatives over liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice-elect Chris Taylor’s 20-point defeat of conservative Appeals Judge Maria Lazar on April 7. State GOP Vice Chair Bill Feehan told WPR previously that the results showed the party is “broken” with regard to lagging fundraising and discussions about changes “are happening but no decisions have happened.”
Ahead of the meeting, executive committee member Brett Galaszewski, who’s the vice chair of the Milwaukee County GOP, posted on social media that “a 300k vote loss in a statewide race is unacceptable” and he was looking forward to discussions during the gathering about “what needs to happen next.”
“There’s no option off the table,” said Galaszewski.
Galaszewski later posted a cryptic message claiming that “some state GOP chairs” facing pressure from board members related to fundraising “may start taking out their frustration on actual conservatives in retaliation for the status quo being questioned” by “clipping resources.”
“But this isn’t just Wisconsin,” said Galaszewski. “I’m watching several other states where this dynamic may surface. The swamp runs deeper than people think.”
Galaszewski is a national enterprise director for the conservative group Turning Point Action and has been at odds with Wisconsin GOP leadership. During a 2023 event, he said conservatives need to take over the Republican Party infrastructure.
In a Tuesday interview with WPR, longtime Republican Party of Wisconsin executive committee member Bob Spindell, who also sits on the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said he can’t talk about what happened during the meeting’s closed session because he and other members signed nondisclosure agreements.
The NDAs are now required for executive committee members, elected members of GOP county parties and congressional district organizations.
The change was enacted in December. It came two months after Galaszewski posted a resignation letter from party Treasurer Kelly Ruh, a longtime conservative activist, who cited “dysfunctional leadership” within the party.
Ahead of the December rule change, a Facebook post from the Waupaca County Republican Party said the state GOP leadership “is up to their old tricks.”
“They don’t fight to win elections because they are RINO’s. They fight with real conservative county parties so rural people don’t have a voice,” read the post.
Spindell said the thought behind the NDA requirement was to keep important GOP strategy discussions and data from falling into the hands of Democrats. As a member of the state elections commission, he said he’s long been aware that what goes on in closed sessions is top secret.
“I understand that you cannot talk about any of that,” said Spindell. “But I think the other people in the executive committee, or some of those who may or may not have the experience with that, they thought a confidentiality agreement was necessary.”
GOP created process to remove local party officials in 2025
The calls for Schimming’s ouster have become a perennial refrain among some Wisconsin conservatives following bruising Supreme Court defeats. After former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel lost his 2025 court race to liberal Justice Susan Crawford, Galaszewski said it was “time for change” after he and other Turning Point-aligned county Republican officials were elected to the state executive committee.
Schimming withstood the pressure and the executive committee passed new rules soon afterward creating a new process to oust party members who harass or publicly defame leaders like Schimming or elected Republican lawmakers. That change was attacked by county GOP chairs aligned with Turning Point, who claimed it was aimed at stifling dissent.
Brian Schimming is still running the state GOP. Party leaders say they can’t talk about it. was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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GOP is losing because they are following the path a warped, megalomaniac, madman with dementia who somehow was re-elected as president of a once truly democratic country. GOP is losing because they have demonstrated that they don’t work toward the best interests of working-class Americans or care about sustaining a true democracy anymore. They are out of touch with working-class people on healthcare, inflation, fair districting and voting, education, civil rights, workers rights, and so much more. Until the GOP stops going in this direction, they will keep losing.
Question that I have is: Once Democrats reclaim more seats and power, will they actually DO something that will help the people they represent? Or will Democrats once again, try to “play nice.” get nothing done, and so eventually the voting proletariat will once again, in frustration, return that power to the right-wing politicians in futile hopes that life will get better? It’s exhausting to think about.
Maybe Republicans should take a stand against child rapists to start. They won’t Republicans are frauds at heart.