WISGOP-endorsed candidates fall flat in August primary
The Republican Party of Wisconsin endorsed candidates in statewide races for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State. Both lost.
The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time 21-TIME! Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer.
This column is one part of Dan Shafer’s deep-dive mega-breakdown of the election results from Wisconsin’s Aug. 11 partisan primary. Read the full column with all 12 takeaways here.
Each of these 12 takeaways are available as a standalone free version. Find each of those here.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin endorsed Will Martin for lieutenant governor and Nate Pollnow for secretary of state.
Both lost. Oops.
Martin, also backed by many Republican legislators, the Milwaukee Police Association, and Turning Point Action, had been appearing regularly with Tiffany. But he won just three counties, losing to David Varnam 55% to 44%.
Varnam, the former mayor of Lancaster (population: 4,000), was endorsed by Wisconsin Family Action and other anti-abortion groups, which could prove to be a difficult issue for the GOP ticket, given how recent statewide elections have gone for anti-abortion candidates in Wisconsin.
For as much as the party appeared to have consolidated around Tiffany as the candidate — it was really just the Trump endorsement, let’s be honest — there are still clearly levels of disarray internally for Wisconsin Republicans, given results like these.
Dan Shafer is an independent journalist from Milwaukee who writes and publishes The Recombobulation Area. He worked with Civic Media from 2024 to 2026. He’s written for The New York Times, The Daily Beast, Heartland Signal, Belt Magazine, WisPolitics, and Milwaukee Record. He previously worked at Seattle Magazine, Seattle Business Magazine, the Milwaukee Business Journal, Milwaukee Magazine, and BizTimes Milwaukee. He’s won 24 Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards. He’s on Twitter at @DanRShafer.
Subscribe to The Recombobulation newsletter here and follow us on Facebook and Instagram at @ therecombobulationarea.
Already subscribe? Get a gift subscription for a friend.
Part of a group who might want to subscribe together? Get a group subscription for 30% off!
Follow Dan Shafer on Twitter at @DanRShafer, at BlueSky at @danshafer.bsky.social, and on Threads at @danshafer.