>> Do endorsements
matter. This week
we look at a few
examples, including in
heated primaries
for the seventh
Congressional District
and the governor's
office, plus the
latest Republican
Party d
rama following
the Supreme
Court blowout.
This is
inside I'monsin politics.
Shawn Johnson
here with my colleagues
Anya van Rich Kremernd
in Eau Claire.
Hey, gang.
>> Hey,
Shawn. >> So
part of wantedeason we
to talk about these races is
that they are
interesting. Okay. If
you been following
these primaries yet
and you'll be
forgiven. It's
April, but the
races ther
seventh District, especiall
y on
the Republican
side and
the Democratic
primary for
governor, are
pretty dramatic.
Let's start with
the seventh, though,
Rich, because
another reason we
want to follow these
is that
they involve
endorsements that
seem like they could
define the
race. Tell us
about what upappened
in the seventh, where
you got kind of the biggest
endorsement of all.
>> Yeah, truly.
President Donald
Trump, way
back in
January, endorsed
one of the
candidates running
for that
seat, Michael
Alfonso. Of
course, Michael
Alfonso is the
son in law of
U.S. Transportation
Secretary Shawn Duffy,
who also
had that
congressional seat
before. So it
definitely created
a stir within
the primary.
And I'm you'll
be hearing a little
bit about that endorsement
in the general.
>> And the
reason we
have open
race up
there, Ana,
is because the
current officeholder, Tom
Tiffany, is
running for governor.
We're going to get race int
a bit. But first all, with Tom
Tiffany as he governor's race,
he also Trumpat
endorsement. How has
that played hist in
race there?
>> Yeah, I mean, if people,
you know, go all the
way were2025, there
briefly three
Republican candidates
for governor
alongside Tom
Tiffany. One
dropped out
after some
negative reporting
about some of the
stuff he'd been following on social media. That
was Schoemann, Washington
County executive, stayed in the race
until the
morning after
Tom Tiffany
got the Trump
endorsement and he
dropped out.
And so it was
a little bit of this nod to
the fact that in a
Republican primary,
a nod from
Trump can really
be a sort of
kingmaking move, at
least in the
primary. But then it can
also allad to
kinds of stuff in the
general. a really
cause effect
situation there, right?
Endorsement. One
day he
drops out the
next. That
has not been
the case the
seventh though. Rich. I
mean, I think that general playbook
is that
Trump endorses.
And people
sort of assume
that in a Republican
primary that
seals it.
That is not
what's happening
there. youd
kind of saw it
first last
night at a
candidate forum
in Mercer.
Tell us about
that. >> Yeah.
So this
forum was
hosted by the
Iron County
Republican Party.
It was in
a former
gymnasium of a very
old school.
And it happened
on the first
80 degree
day that
Mercer saw
this year. So
it was a nice
event. But
the theme
was, if I might
summarize candidates
and some people I
talked to in the audience, we
support President
Trump, but that
doesn't mean
we have to vote
for who he
tells us
to. So
a lot of people
up there, and
this was actually
the first
time that I
saw. Candidates,
Republican candidates,
Kevin Hermening
and Jesse
Ebben go
negative against
Alfonso. They were
criticizing Alfonso, who is
26 years old,
26 years
old, for not
having very much
experience in
politics local
government, etc.
and were
portraying themselves as the
better choice.
But they also
there discussion
about, you
know, does El
Alonzo Duffyn
feel like
this congressional
seat is
something that he's
entitled to?
So it was
really interesting
people there tip
toeing the
line of still supporting
the president,
who did
very inl
this whichrict,
leans pretty
Republican, but
they just
don't. There's this
independent streak
where they don't
like the idea of
being told what to do.
>> And I got to ask you
about what they did stagehe
there, too,
because assigned
seats allr
the candidates,
including Michael
Alfonso. >> Yeah.
And in
fact, the only
seat that
was that had
a sign
on it was Michael
Alfonso. So you had
the three
of the Republican
candidates were on
the stage. That's
Nina Baum,
Jesse Ebben
and Kevin
Hermening. And then
there was an
empty chair
with Michael
Alfonso's name on
a paperof
taped to it.
And even
during the
debate,
Kevin Hermening
stretched his arm
out and
kind of put it
on. The chair had a
big smile. His
campaign person took
a picture
that made it
up, made it on
social pretty
quickly. So there
was that.
But even thefore
debate, one of the
interesting things that kind
of got me
interested going up
there was
this Republican
Party. Their
Facebook page
was essentially
goading or
kind making
a little bit
of Alfonso's
campaign for
not responding.
The GOP
chair up there
told me that
people he knows
with Michael
Alfonso campaign
told him that
the Trump endorsed
candidate doesn't
need to debate,
and in thee
audience say
that. They
told me that's
just the
case. Like,
this is
important. You've
got to and this district
meet people one
by one.
And that's
that's what it toes
win. >> So
you have candidates who
are racethat
saying, you can't
tell what to do. We're
still Anya,g up here.
although one of the
candidates who which
has reporting
on, did
drop out
this week.
Tell us
about that. Paul
Ryan the race.
Yeah. So Paul Washburn
is a successful business
person. He had a
largely self-funded
campaign. And dropping out is kind
of the first big
drop out of the
race. And that's one
of the things we look tof
going into a these crowdedn
fields, is dropping out.
So this is of the first one.
He moneyt ofd quite
from himself, as I mentioned, but very little
in terms of independent donors. And then by
contrast, you have Alfonso, who has received
quite bit of money
from this, PenceC connected
studies on, you know, one thing
that when
Rich covered
the the empty
chair Alfonso
was posting at
the time on
Facebook. Photos
of him
with Republican
Congress ineople
DC. So he has
these big
connections. And so I ithink
was a little bit signal that
even people pockets are
not necessarily
feeling up to
the challenge. He
also said that he
didn't want to
Oscar, and didn'tthat he
want to kind of contribute to a bloody
primary, that that could
Democrats. And
so I think we're see ag to
little bit of that, you know, bowing out
in of theoodmaintain
party. >> Yeah.
If I could
just chime
in on
that. So
the other
thing is
that, you know, there's
this political
action committee
that has
been raising
money. It's based
in Alabama,
it's brand
new and
it's been getting
some of that money, $1 million
from Shawn
Duffy's former congressional
campaign. sond
they've essentially been
doing a lot
of ads, a
lot of
work for
Alfonso. Therefore, he hasn't had
to spend
as much of the
money actually
raised. And
with regard to
Wasserman, what you
noticed, Shawn, on
that last
finance report
that that we
looked when I was
reporting on
it, there was some
interesting loan information. You want to
talk about that? >>
Oh, yeah. I mean, I think the
thing that got attention for Paul
Wasserman when he jumped into
the race was, as
you antioned,
ability to funds.
So he loaned himself
a million bucks there
to start out. He had
repaid a lot of
that in
the the
last report.
So I
think it's a
situation theremoney in
to send a message.
He not wellt was
received and
took the money back
and got on
out there.
Rich, I
guess one
thing we got
to ask thise,
is a very Republican
district. And so we talking about this
Republican primary.
But this
a situation
where because of
this infighting,
you know, uneasiness among
Republicans up there,
is this
a door open
for Democrats?
>> I've heard that
it is, I've
heard that it isn't.
So this is a
district that
has tended to
be more
and more Republican
since, say,
2010. toe have
also remember
that former
Democratic Congressman
Dave Obey
represented that
the seventh for
many, many
years. But of
course, with the Tea
Party wave,
Shawn goty
in and and
it stayed
Republican since, of
course, the map also
changed. But
just what beene
told by Joe
Hendrick, who's
kind of like
the the
maps and
elections data
guru for the
Republicans is
that it
is would becan. It
an uphill forttle
any Democrat.
But it's
not impossible. And
he said
if the GOP
picks the
wrong candidate in
the primary
and it's
a wave year,
which He
said, it seems to
be looking like it
might be. It's
possible for this
to flip
back to
Democratic hands.
Whether that
happens Hendrick
said. It's unlikely,
but it's not
off table.
>> So let's turn
to the primaryic
for governor
here, where
we have
seven candidates
running. And it
is at stage
not getting
a ton of
attention statewide. I mean,
we did just have Court race
that ate up some of that. There's a
little that has people'sht
attention Barron
in that
race, it
feels like
you could be talking
about endorsements
every week in
a way about
how that
might affect the
race. What's one
that caught
our eye this
week? >> Yeah. I mean,
so there all of these kind
of smaller or more endorsements that have
been firefightersgh. So
unions or kind of
thing. But then
this week was the
first, at least that I've noticed
sort of national
figure to
back a candidate.
So Ilhan
Omar of Minnesota
backed Francesca Hong, who
is a
Democratic fromresentative
Madison, she withgns
the Democratic
Socialists sort of And soorm.
she's one of the
further left
candidates, obviously,
getting the
backing of a further
left ofber
Congress. And this
really caught our
attention for sort of
a double edged
reason, right,
that that can
really signal
where Huang stands
here in Wisconsin.
But of course,
Ilhan Omar
has plenty of
people who
don't care for
her in
the Republican
and oft
conservative side of
things. And so
looking towards the
general election, I'm
curious what it'll mean to
have these more
divisive endorsements. But right
now, it's also
really interesting
for a big
national figure with a lot
of media
attention, social
media attention,
to be throwing
her weight
behind candidate in the
Wisconsin governor's election.
>> Yeah, to me,
I think if
you're a
voter out there
who's barely
paying attention to these
races this point,
and you
have this,
you know,
overwhelming list
of choices in
front of you,
essentially, they're
probably looking
for clues
on if they
want to go
for a liberal
candidate. This is
a way of
sending message,
that Representative Hong is
that candidate. You know, you
don't earn an endorsement like that
without being
a candidate
like that. iso it
a way to send a
little Q kind of
early going, >>ight.
There's not a lot differentiation on
policy issues.
There's some differentiation on sort of
the specifics of
things. But
basically every Democratic
candidate supports
abortion rights,
supports expanding
Medicaid. kind of thesee
of signals there. And so endorsement can
offer a
more specific
kind of endorsement, I'm
sorry, a
signal around
values. And also,
again, invite
some of media attention
that come with that. So
it's have, oh, Io
the support of this local union in my
community. about myydoes
support for another thing, if,
you know, Mamdani
comes in and
backs you, right, a
sort nationally
famous figure
where people have
already doneof
the work to is.o that person
And so then they apply it to
the candidates >> Rich.
We can't hear
you. Rich.
So Ana,
I guess
a question that
I have it comes to
endorsements this on
the Democratic
side, is
there an equivalent
to the
Donald Trump
endorsement where
if person
comes in,
you kind it's
of all over >> Irimary?
mean, put simply, no,
Trump is really the
standard bearer for the Republican Party and has
been for a decade.
Democrats just don't have
that equivalent
person, in part because,
you know, you have some of this
division between more st
Democrats and more wing
Democrats. And so,
again, somebody
like Ilhan
Omar is going to
really peopleto
who are kind of
already in the Francesca Hong
camp, notuld
necessarily appeal to
more sort
of moderate or
business minded
Democrats. And
then there are people,
a Kamala Harris
or similar who
might appeal more to
those kind of centrist
folks. But notere's
really a uniting
figure in the same
way that Donald
Trump is.
>> You could
imagine if,
let's say, former
President Obama
were to jump
in anith
endorsement primary,
which unlikely, but you
never mightThat
turn some heads.
I think one
difference is
that President
Trump has
sort of gone after
people who
don't fall in
line in a way that
I don't know that Obama would or
could. Trump
brags about it, mean, he. I
is not afraid to
enforce his
endorsements. Id so
don't know that thate something like
on the Democratic side. >> Well, and you
also don't Tony
Evers weighing in who would be a
good sort recipient of the
torch that he wants to
pass. And I have asked him
several times if he's to endorse and
he shoots time. Soeryon
it looks like he's really not playing
And so that's, another lack of
a signal, right? If if
there's nobody to kind carry forward the
specific Evers
legacy, then who is
the person who can he did,t
which is win pretty narrowly against a
Republican? >> Yeah.
I want to
just like
reinforce that that
is a
perfectly question and you
should asking it. And I
think different circumstances
, he'd have
somebody. But
in race, he
doesn't want to go
there for for
whatever reason.
So I guess
it is
an open question
that we could ask
every single
campaign. But I
don't care. I want to ask
it again. Do endorsements
matter? Do they
matter for
voters?
To me,
I think the answer
is absolutely
yes. Given
given the
circumstances. One, I
think that see it you
definitely mattering ourn
upcoming court race. I
don't know you've paid attention
to knowean, Iet.
you have you've about it, but
you did not
have candidates
endorse. You
did not theve
liberal justices
endorse in that
race Soet.
in the 2024
Supreme Court
race, you had the
four sitting liberal
justices endorsed
Susan Crawford
early on
in 2025.
You had them
endorse Chris
Taylor. You've had
a candidate
jump into race
this race already.
Ana that you've written
about Lindsey
Brunet, she
did not immediately get that
endorsement. And so
now have
maybe Judge
Pedro Milwaukee
could be
running. So
the lack of
endorsement may be spawning
a little
liberal primary on
that side.
>> Yeah. Again, and
especially with
the courts,
right. There can be
a bit of that, you
know, king making approach again. So I
think when you
have a crowded reallythe endorsements
matter. But we live
in also such polarized
times that going
into a
general election,
there going to be very
few surprising
endorsements. So
the people that I've
talked about
the politics of
endorsements have said, you know,
surprising endorsements
really matter.
Less surprising
ones lesster
because, you know,
of course,
Democratic royalty
is going to
back Democrats
and Republican
royalty going to back
Republicans in
general. >> Before
we wrap
up I feel
like we got to about the
kind of thetermath
2026 Supreme
Court race,
though, in
just aabout
minute here,
there some
talk that
the state
party chair,
Brian coulding,
lose his job over
that race. Some
people wanted
him out.
What's the update
on that?
>> Yeah, he's
still in
the party
web page still
shows him
as chairman.
They an
executive committee.
So that's the group
of people
that could
have and they
apparently did not.
But the
twist is
people I talked
to that
are on the committee
said, we can't tell
you happened
there because we
signed non-disclosure
agreements. Those
agreements were put
in effect
in December.
And for
context, after the
2025 loss
that had,ublicans
that was the
Schimel and Susan
Crawford race.
There were
calls for
Bryan Schimming to
be fired
or resigned.
So kind of
the thing.
And shortly
after that,
the executive
committee passed
some new
rules to
kind of clamp
down people
complaining publicly
about GOP
party leadership.
So this
is Schimming is still in
place, there's a
new rule
where you have to sign an
NDA. executive committee
for the
party makes
decisions like this.
And, you know,
you to one of the
members didn't
really tell what went on, but
he said, check the
website. >> Yeah, check
the That's right.
And there's Bryan name asg
chair. Well,
we'll continue to
follow that one and
all these
endorsements. That'll
do it for
this week. That's
all the time we
have. Our
colleague beac Schultz will
back next week. Thanks for joining us.
This been
inside Wisconsin usure to follow
on PBS wisconsin.org.
WPR.org, YouTube,
or wherever you
get your podcasts.
>> They've been they've been wrestling with it,
forn,
days. Sorry,
I had
a banger
answer answer