Wisconsin Republicans’ prospects are withering for the 2024 election cycle, as Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany has now declined to run against Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin. This follows a similar announcement in June from rising House star Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.). Gallagher and Tiffany were considered top-tier contenders to solidify the Dairy State’s Senate conservative delegation.
The Wisconsin Republican Party could face a serious rout in statewide elections. Sen. Ron Johnson has been the only Republican candidate to win a statewide election since 2016. (Conservative justice Brian Hagedorn was elected to the state Supreme Court but was without partisan affiliation.) (READ MORE: Republicans Must Play the Long Game in 2024)
“Tiffany said he will run for reelection representing northern Wisconsin rather than take on Baldwin, who is seeking a third term after an 11-percentage point win in 2018,” Fox News reports. “His decision not to enter the race comes just under two months after fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher also declined to run.”
Tiffany told Fox News that he would rather continue his focus on “natural resources, forest management, energy independence and serving on the judiciary committee.”
However, Fox notes that other individuals, like businessmen Eric Hovde and Scott Mayer, are looking to challenge Baldwin for her seat in the Senate. Former Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke is also considering a run.
This news breaks a week after the overturning of Wisconsin’s conservative majority on its state Supreme Court. New Justice-elect Janet Protasiewicz campaigned almost exclusively on “abortion rights,” according to the Associated Press:
Democrats in the perennial battleground state focused on abortion to elect a liberal majority to the court for the first time in 15 years. The Democratic Party spent $8 million to tilt the court’s 4-3 conservative majority by one seat with the election of Janet Protasiewicz, who spoke in favor of abortion rights and against the Republican-drawn map in a campaign. Her April victory broke national spending records for a state Supreme Court race.
Occupy Democrats called Protasiewicz’s win “a great day for democracy.”
BREAKING: MAGA world stands by helplessly screeching in rage as Justice-Elect Janet Protasiewicz prepares to be sworn into the Wisconsin Court today in a historic moment — for the first time in 15 years, the court will have a liberal majority.
It’s impossible to overstate what a… pic.twitter.com/TlNaXecG0m
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) August 1, 2023
It would appear that the Wisconsin GOP became complacent after many victories during the Scott Walker years. The birthplace of the Republican Party allowed its talent pool to atrophy and has failed to match the vigorous campaigning exhibited on the left. With the exception of Donald Trump’s narrow presidential win in 2016, the state party has seen little but directionless losses that have ceded power to Democrats in the governor’s mansion — and now the judicial bench.
Elizabeth Crawford is a rising senior at Hillsdale College studying politics. A member of The American Spectator’s 2023 intern class, Elizabeth enjoys drinking good tea and plans to pursue a career in journalism.
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