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.”