As Republicans from around the country attend the party’s national convention in Milwaukee, local GOP leaders are working to make Wisconsin a red state again.
For months, state Republicans have been building an organizing ground game that relies on the resources of out-of-state groups and emphasizes early voting in hopes of reelecting former President Donald Trump.
In 2020, Biden won the state by just over 20,000 votes — flipping it after Trump narrowly beat out Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Campaign organizers expect another close race. This year, the Wisconsin GOP and aligned groups have focused on building a unified ground game to re-elect former President Donald Trump, which they hope will grow stronger after this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
"There will be a lot of opportunity to showcase Wisconsin. And hopefully, we can make the case to all these out-of-staters that we need your help here," said Bill McCoshen, a Wisconsin-based GOP strategist. "If you want to win the presidential race, Wisconsin is critical and we need your support."
Some Wisconsin voters weigh whether to vote in November
While security measures increased in downtown Milwaukee following the assassination attempt on Trump last weekend, hundreds of people in Sussex in Waukesha County gathered for the annual Lions Daze parade on Sunday morning.
Waukesha is one of three suburban counties, outside Milwaukee, that are Republican strongholds but Democrats have gained ground in 2016 and 2020.
Samantha Garcia has set up a lemonade stand with her two kids along the parade route for the past three years. Neighbors swing by to pay $1 a lemonade. She said she has never paid much attention to politics — the last time she voted was for former President Barack Obama. The shooting on Saturday saddened her.
This election cycle, she said she prefers Republican candidate.
“Trump is definitely better than Biden either way,” Garcia said. “Biden can't really talk for himself. So everything I've seen of him doesn't make our country look that great.”
Still, she is not convinced to vote on election day.
“Every President makes promises, and they're not always kept. It is what it is, and it's the cycle of life,” Garcia said.
Up the block setting up some lawn chairs was David Yuris, a lifelong Republican who has voted for Trump in the past. This year though, he said he will be voting for Biden instead.
“I was reading what he wants to do with Project 2025 and I just cannot stand behind that,” Yuris said. “Right now, I'm just trying to get through the next four years and trying to get rid of what we have as current candidates.”
Under a big white tent was Kim Rebarchik, a Republican who said she plans on supporting Trump this cycle, as she had before.
“I don't agree with the way the economy and things have been going with this current administration,” Rebarchik said. “It's just very divisive and this is America. So I'm proud to be an American and I would like to keep it that way.”
Sitting on the grass was Kayla Gulland, who was raised as a Democrat but has since identified more as a Republican. Gulland was also saddened by Saturday’s events, calling the shooting disgusting.
“Violence is never the answer,” Gulland said. “The people behind them, innocent bystanders, like what if they got caught in the middle of it or injured? And I'm sure there's children at those rallies, too. So it's just it's just very messed up. It's sad.”
She did not participate in the last election because she didn’t fully trust the election process nor did she think her vote would matter.
“If I would have gone to the polls, I would have voted Republican, I would have voted for Trump,” she said, adding that she might vote this year because she is unhappy with Biden. But she is also unhappy with what she considers the transactional and polarizing nature of campaigns.
“I just hate how with campaigns, people are coming to your door,” she said. “Or just all the commercials and just the stretch that some of the marketing goes to.”
Voters in Wisconsin have already received attention from the two top candidates: President Biden and Trump. Biden has visited the state five times. Trump’s arrival to Milwaukee on Sunday ahead of the convention marks his fourth visit. Previously making stops in towns like Greenbay and Racine — Trump has used his time in the state to tout trade and agriculture policy, as well as immigration.
Republican leaders in the state are focusing on pocketbook issues -- like inflation and food prices -- to mobilize voters.
"A lot of politics is about perception. The perception is these guys do have an impact on those things and their policies do have an impact," McCoshen said referring to how he thinks voters view presidential candidates. "Whether that's fact or fiction, if voters believe it, that's a politician's reality."
But just focusing on issues is not enough to swing a state, and money and voter engagement are still needed to get those like Gulland and Yenni to turn their preference for Trump into votes.
That is what the GOP is working to undertake and they hope many ballots for Trump are cast before polls close in November.
A GOP goal this cycle is to find new voters and get them voting early
McCoshen said that changes in political fundraising spearheaded by a Republican legislature and approved by former GOP Gov. Scott Walker that changed the limits of donations have resulted in Democrats receiving more funding and donations to fund their efforts.
A report from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign showed that Democratic Party fundraising was fueled by dozens of five- and six-figure contributions from wealthy individuals, including three contributors who each gave $1 million or more.
"Republicans will be outspent here from the top of the ticket to the legislative seats. Democrats here over the past few cycles have had significantly more financial resources than Republicans have," McCoshen said. "We're going to have to work harder."
As a part of working harder, Wisconsin has caught the attention of outside right-wing mobilizing group Turning Point Action, the PAC arm of youth conservative group Turning Point.
The Arizona-based organization launched a new initiative this cycle called "Chase The Vote" in Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan.
They aim to find conservative voters who have never voted and get them to turn out for Trump. They join other conservative organizations like Moms for Liberty and the Wisconsin GOP in mobilizing for Trump in the state.
"We no longer see this as a war of persuasion among swing voters," said Brett Galaszewski. "...It's a turnout problem. And specifically with early voting, we think we can capitalize on that."
Galaszewski explained that through the Turning Point Action App, volunteer and staff organizers, as well as anyone interested, can find identified conservatives near them to mobilize.
"They're with us on the issues, but their only exposure to politics at this point has been a random stranger showing up at their door maybe two weeks out from the election, telling them, 'Hey, it's important for you to vote,'" Galaszewski said. "We want a relationship built through a neighborhood-based approach to be able to relationally get these people out to vote."
After Saturday’s shooting, a spokesperson for Turning Point Action Andrew Kolvet said that “everything still continues” and there is still a “need to do the work.”
Turning Point Action's national goal is to raise $100 million and hire “ballot chasers” to door knock, canvass, register voters and encourage people to vote whether it's in person or by mail. They have dozens of jobs posted in Wisconsin so far. And they are coordinating with the Trump campaign on the canvassing efforts.
The group has previously faced criticism in conservative circles for not successfully helping candidates win general elections, even in their home state of Arizona. The group tends to support conservative firebrand and pro-Trump candidates.
McCoshen said there is concern among rank-and-file Republicans around the state about Turning Point Action's influence on the state party but their resources are. Still, their presence and resources are seen as valuable.
"The reality is Turning Point's got resources that local parties in the state party doesn't have today," McCoshen said. "And so Republicans are going to have to work with them to make sure that we focus on the presidential race, the U.S. Senate race and then down-ballot races as well."
The group’s "Chase the Vote" slogan is repeated from as high up as the state GOP Party Chairman Brian Schimming, who promotes early voting.
"It's someone who thinks like us, acts like us, builds like us, lives like us, but doesn't vote. They just don't vote," Schimming said. "We go get those people to vote for the first time and chase them to make sure that they vote by Election Day."
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