Wisconsin

Top Wisconsin Republicans urge easing of party divisions. ‘You’re not going to win being disunified’

Published

7 months ago

May 17, 2025

Top Wisconsin Republicans urge easing of party divisions. ‘You’re not going to win being disunified’

ROTHSCHILD – Some of Wisconsin’s top Republicans sought to tamp down party divisions at the state Republican convention here, saying the Wisconsin GOP cannot win elections without unity.

“There’s always a power struggle, but I’ve committed 15 years since I entered this political process, (and) I’ve never seen as many squabbles,” U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, the state’s top Republican, said May 17 of the current state of the party. “You’re not going to win being disunified.”

U.S Rep. Derrick Van Orden attributed a conservative state Supreme Court candidate’s double-digit loss in April to party infighting.

“We didn’t vote because we were squabbling amongst ourselves,” Van Orden said.

The remarks to a crowd of Republican delegates gathered in a convention hall just south of Wausau directly addressed the ongoing, bitter infighting among Wisconsin Republicans over the leadership and direction of the party.

A number of Republicans across the state have grown frustrated with Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming, pointing to the party’s years of disappointing fundraising and consecutive double-digit state Supreme Court losses.

Schimming could soon face moves to remove him as chairman of the party, according to GOP sources. And a faction of Republicans at the convention over the weekend were considering forcing a vote of no confidence in the man who was first elected to chair the party in December 2022.

At the convention, however, the state’s top elected Republicans appeared to try to cool those tensions.

Johnson told delegates he was “not going to” choose sides in the heated debate. But he asked county party leaders and the winners of local and executive board races “to be gracious winners, to follow the rules, to be inclusive, to broaden the tent.”

Van Orden, who represents the state’s battleground 3rd Congressional District, said Wisconsin Republicans “got our asses kicked” in the April court race due to intra-party disunity.

He referenced the conservative dark money group Turning Point Action, which is expanding its influence in Wisconsin, saying the group was “fighting with us.” He added Republicans had “individual groups… fighting amongst ourselves.”

“We are going to make sure we are not disenfranchised, and we are going to put aside our petty squabbles,” Van Orden said.

Van Orden, though, similarly declined to weigh in on Schimming’s leadership of the party over the past two years, saying he was “going to leave that to the folks in this room.”

“I’m a federal officer, and obviously I’m a Wisconsinite and I have skin in the game here,” Van Orden told reporters. “But I want the folks that the individual parties have elected in the counties to make these decisions.”

Schimming, who was reelected this past December, told reporters he planned to serve out his new two-year term leading the state party, even as a flyer listing a dozen reasons to support a vote of no confidence in Schimming circulated the convention hall.

Asked what his message is to delegates who have lost confidence in his leadership, Schimming said “every metric we wanted to hit in this past six and eight months are metrics that we all hit.” He said the party last cycle built out its election operation and “helped over 100 candidates get elected across the state.”

President Donald Trump is the only Republican to win a statewide election under Schimming’s tenure.

“We would like to win every one, but sometimes you don’t win every one,” Schimming said of elections.

“Sometimes when you get past one of those spring elections that are kind of disappointing, you get those kind of questions,” he added of questions about his leadership. “But we’re going to be unified going forward. I really believe that.”

Johnson, Wisconsin’s senior senator, in his speech to delegates referenced the last two resounding high court race losses for conservatives and said Wisconsin Republicans need to figure out a way to win without Trump on the ballot — a key issue for 2026 races for governor and the House.

“Let’s face it, as much as many would want Donald Trump to be on the ballot again, he won’t be,” Johnson said, despite hints from Trump and his allies that he’d like to run again in 2028, which is outlawed in the Constitution. “He won’t be.”

Still, Johnson and Van Orden suggested Wisconsin Republicans’ performance without Trump on the ballot would be a moot point if the party cannot move past its divisions.

“When we fight amongst ourselves, we lose,” Van Orden told reporters. “And we’ve proven this again and again and again.”

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

Published

5 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin judge sends Slender Man attacker back to mental health institution after group home escape

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate to please the fictional horror villain known as Slender Man was ordered back to a state psychiatric hospital Tuesday after she escaped from her group home last month.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge K. Scott Wagner granted a state Department of Health Services request to revoke 23-year-old Morgan Geyser’s release privileges. Geyser told the judge through her attorney, Tony Cotton, last week that she would not fight revocation. Wagner then approved the request during a short hearing.

Cotton didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.

Geyser and her friend Anissa Weier lured their classmate, Payton Leutner, to a Waukesha park in 2014. Geyser stabbed Leutner 19 times while Weier cheered her on. A passing bicyclist discovered Leutner, who barely survived. All three girls were 12 years old at the time.

Geyser and Weier later told investigators they attacked Leutner in hopes of impressing Slender Man enough that he would make them his servants and wouldn’t hurt their families. Both of them were eventually committed to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute — Geyser for 40 years and Weier for 25 years.

Weier earned conditional release in 2021. Wagner granted Geyser conditional release this past September despite warnings from state Department of Health Services officials that she couldn’t be trusted.

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Geyser was placed in a Madison group home. Authorities say that on Nov. 22 she cut off her GPS monitor and fled the state with a 43-year-old companion. Police arrested both of them the next day at a truck stop outside Chicago, about 170 miles (274 kilometers) south of Madison.

Geyser’s companion told WKOW-TV that the two of them became friends at church and had been seeing each other daily for the last month. Geyser decided to escape because she was afraid the group home would no longer allow them to see each other, the companion said.

Slender Man was created online by Eric Knudsen in 2009 as a mysterious figure photo-edited into everyday images of children at play. He grew into a popular boogeyman, appearing in video games, online stories and a 2018 movie.

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Wisconsin

Wisconsin warns of “sextortion,” online crimes against kids

Published

17 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin warns of “sextortion,” online crimes against kids

MILWAUKEE – The FBI calls it an online crime against kids – perpetrators convincing kids to send sexual images of themselves and then blackmailing them.

Online crime against kids

The backstory:

The reality is settling in. This will be Brittney Bird’s first Christmas without her son, Bradyn Bohn, since he was born. That is because just nine months ago, the 15-year-old died by suicide, just hours after telling his family good night.

“This winter has been pretty heavy,” Bird said. “This will be a lot of first this year.”

Bird said Bradyn was the kind of kid who would always try to make you launch. The teen had a lot of friends, played sports, did well academically, and had big plans for the future.

“Definitely a kid who we were just so proud of,” Bird said. “Bradyn never struggled with or suffered from mental illness or depression or anything of that nature so immediately we knew, you know something’s wrong.”

Once police went through Bradyn’s phone, she said it came out he was the victim of the cyber crime, sextortion.

What is sextortion?

What we know:

“Sextortion is a form of online child exploitation where a child is coerced by a perpetrator to send compromising images,” said Jesse Crowe from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

This week, the Wisconsin Department of Justice sent out a public service announcement on sextortion.

Officials say suspects often pose as someone else online. While exchanging messages, they convince a child to send images of themselves. Once they have explicit images of the child, they use the photos or videos to blackmail the child into sending even more images, money or ask for sexual favors.

FBI data, change in Wisconsin law

Dig deeper:

The FBI said victims are typically males between the ages of 14 and 17, but any child can be a target.

This crime led to at least 20 suicides between October 2021 and March 2023.

In the months after Bradyn’s death, change would come to Wisconsin. Earlier in December, Gov. Tony Evers signed Bradyn’s Law. It creates a new crime of sexual extortion in Wisconsin. It aims to ensure harsh penalties for those who exploit children online.

“It will bring, hopefully statewide, eventually nationwide attention to where every family is having this conversation with their kids,” Bird told FOX6 News.

Take action

What you can do:

The Department of Justice said the best thing to do if a child finds themselves in this situation is the following:

Block the perpetrator
Report the account, but do not delete the messages
Tell a trusted adult
Do not send any money

Resources available

The Source: Information in this post was produced by FOX6 News.

Crime and Public SafetyMilwaukeeNews

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Wisconsin

Trump names Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 federal holidays. What does that mean for Wisconsin?

Published

1 day ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Trump names Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 federal holidays. What does that mean for Wisconsin?

President Donald Trump declared Christmas Eve and Dec. 26 to be federal holidays this year.

The Dec. 18 executive order deems the days as work holidays for all federal departments and agencies, but adds some of them will remain open. Certain offices may stay open on one or both days for “national security, defense, or other public need,” the order reads.

But, what does this mean for other federal workers and services?

Here’s what to know in Wisconsin:

Are Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 official federal holidays?

Even though Christmas Eve and Dec. 26 have been declared federal holidays in 2025, they are not permanent additions to the holiday schedule.

Legislation must be passed by Congress and then signed into law by the president for a federal holiday declaration to be official.

Who gets Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 off in Wisconsin?

Only federal agencies are set to be closed on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to USA TODAY.

Since these two days have not been designated permanent federal holidays, many businesses that follow the schedule will likely not give their employees a last-minute extended Christmas break.

Wisconsin state government and Milwaukee city offices are closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will be open on Dec. 26.

Will mail still be delivered on Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 in Wisconsin?

Yes. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver mail and post office locations will remain open on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to its website. Mail will not be delivered and locations will be closed on Christmas.

Will banks be open on Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 in Wisconsin?

Yes. Banks will follow the typical schedule of being open on Christmas Eve and Dec. 26, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Banks will be closed on Christmas.

Mary Walrath-Holdridge of USA TODAY contributed to this report.

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