GOP Chair Schimming Says Hong Makes Job Easier

Chairman of Wisconsin Republican Party Brian Schimming at 2024 Republican National Convention. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Wisconsin Republican Party chair Brian Schimming said he thinks his job will be easier during the coming midterm elections if state Rep. Francesca Hong is the Democratic candidate for governor.

As chair of the party, Schimming is in charge of turning out Republican voters ahead of the midterm election. “We don’t do the messaging. We state parties do the organization, the turnout, all that sort of thing,” he said during an event organized by the America First Policy Institute with U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner.

Historically, midterm elections provide an opportunity to vote against the party in control of the presidency, energizing voters for the party out of power. Democrats in Wisconsin believe national political trends and President Donald Trump‘s unpopularity put them in a position to score big victories in the midterms, including possibly winning majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature while hanging onto the governor’s office.

Schimming said his job ahead of the midterms is to turn out the Republican base and independent voters, adding, “[Hong] just does make it a little bit easier. I’ll say that.”

Schimming sees Wisconsin Democrats divided, pointing to Gov. Tony Evers‘ decision to endorse County Executive David Crowley over other candidates, such as former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes or his former Cabinet official Joel Brennan. On the other hand, Trump’s decision to endorse Tiffany remains “a strong endorsement,” according to the party chairman.

The latest Marquette University Law School poll placed Hong well ahead of her Democratic opponents, with 38% of respondents saying they would vote for her. Asked whether Republicans want to see Hong as the Democratic nominee, Schimming said Hong has “unique weaknesses” and “a lot of people, not just Republicans,” view Hong as the “weaker of the candidates.”

“I mean, the information on [Hong]’s record goes to the ceiling,” Schimming said. During a debate for Democratic candidates for governor Tuesday, Hong faced questions about her past support for abolishing the police and calling the police killing of Corey Ruiz an “execution.” As a socialist, Hong could also be attacked for positions taken by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which calls for abolishing the U.S. Senate and prisons.

Republicans across the country are already attempting to frame the upcoming midterm election cycle as a battle against far-left political ideology and, more specifically, communism. Trump has taken to referring to political opponents as communists, and a recent memo from the House Republican Conference published by Ms. Now shows the group urging House Republicans to lean into using the word “communist.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, attended the America First Policy Institute event at Clifford’s Supper Club in Hales Corners on Wednesday. Security would not let media near the Republican candidate.

But the day prior, during an interview with Fox Business, Tiffany said Democrats had “turned their party over to the radicals, to the big government socialists” and “We’re going to be the firewall here in Wisconsin that’s going to stop socialism here in the heartland.”