Wisconsin Republicans Gather for 2025 State Party Convention

Wisconsin Republicans gathered in Rothschild this weekend, highlighting both their political accomplishments and failures over the last year.

The 2025 Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention comes about a month and a half after Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel fell short of victory in the closely-watched State Supreme Court election. The election was seen by some as a referendum on the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term after he carried the state in November. It was also the most expensive State Supreme Court race in American history, and saw significant financial investment and personal involvement from Elon Musk.

A number of high-profile Republicans from the state took the stage with a message of party unity. Senator Ron Johnson told supporters that Republicans would not win those statewide elections without being unified. Representative Derrick Van Orden from the state’s Third Congressional District echoed that sentiment, saying Republicans didn’t turn out to vote in April because they were squabbling amongst themselves.

State Party Chair Brian Schimming, who has faced criticism after Republicans lost the last two State Supreme Court elections, also pushed calls for unity. While President Trump did win Wisconsin in November, the party has struggled to repeat that success in non-presidential statewide elections. Under Schimming’s tenure as head of the state party, President Trump is the only Republican candidate to win a statewide election. Even in November, Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin emerged victorious over Republican challenger Eric Hovde.

The results of each of those State Supreme Court elections also has a significant impact on Wisconsin’s voting maps. Last year, the court declared the state legislature’s district maps to be unfair and ordered them re-drawn. Republicans did maintain control of both the State Assembly and State Senate, but no longer hold a supermajority in the senate and near-supermajority in the assembly. Following Judge Susan Crawford’s victory in April, the State Supreme Court also expects to hear arguments on Wisconsin’s congressional district maps.

Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina also attended the convention as a guest speaker. Her speech featured a strong focus on attacks against the transgender community, as she even joked that the only recognition she wanted was a women’s bathroom in the presidential library to be named after her. She also referenced the recent arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, referring to potential jail sentences for officials accused of obstructing deportation efforts as “sabbaticals for radicals.”

State Republicans also voted on a number of party resolutions on Saturday afternoon. Among those resolutions, Republicans adopted one opposing same-day voter registration and one calling for the enforcement of the 1849 law they interpret as a ban on abortion.