Wisconsin Republicans have a new target after a crushing loss

Wisconsin Republicans have a new target after a crushing loss

The Supreme Court result, some Republicans say, is a show of just how bad things have gotten for the state GOP in one of the most important battleground states.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/10/wisconsin-republicans-gop-chair-supreme-court-loss-00866880?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter





Wisconsin GOP Chair Brian Schimming speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at the Resch Center on Oct. 30, 2024, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. | Alex Brandon/AP






By Gregory Svirnovskiy04/10/2026 01:00 PM EDT

A historic statewide election defeat has some Wisconsin Republicans calling for the ouster of state GOP Chair Brian Schimming, which would amount to a dramatic shakeup in a battleground state once dominated by a hyper-effective GOP party machine.

Tuesday night’s state Supreme Court race saw liberal judge Chris Taylor trounce conservative appeals court judge Maria Lazar by a margin of more than 20 points. The scope of that defeat in the closely divided swing state — the latest in a string of recent GOP losses — is fueling calls from a growing number of party insiders that the affable Schimming, a longtime fixture in local Republican politics, should step down from his post at the top of the party.
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The dissent is bubbling ahead of critical November elections that will see voters choose Wisconsin’s next governor — and a wide open 2028 presidential race where Wisconsin will once again be one of the nation’s top battlegrounds.

Schimming’s departure, his critics say, would mark the first step in a long road to revitalizing the state’s GOP political apparatus — once dubbed the “Seal Team Six of the Republican Party” — that’s now seen as woefully lacking in fundraising capacity.


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