For those unaware, the Republican Party of Wisconsin decided — in contrast to its past principles and traditions — to endorse candidates at its state Convention in May.  The endorsed candidates were Ron Johnson for U.S. Senate and Scott Walker for Governor.  I wrote a commentary shortly after the Convention in which I criticize the entire process and explained how it is a slap in the face of Wisconsin primary voters and the Tea Party.

The state party continues to engage in behavior that is not appropriate for a political party. According to Barry Orton, a Professor of Political Science at UW-Madison, the Republican Party of Wisconsin’s pollsters called him on July 18.

When asked which candidate he was supporting in the Governor race, the choices were Scott Walker (R) or Tom Barrett (D).  When asked which candidate he was supporting in the U.S. Senate race, the choices were Ron Johnson (R) or Russ Feingold (D).

Excluded were RLC-endorsed candidates Mark Neumann for Governor and Dave Westlake for U.S. Senate.

Wisconsin voters will not be bullied by Party Bosses to support the candidates they are told to support, so I suggest the Republican Party of Wisconsin end its menacing tactics immediately.

The Republican Liberty Caucus of Wisconsin supports transparency and is opposed to the state Republican Party making pre-primary endorsements.

Please contact the Republican Party of Wisconsin today at at (608) 257-4765 or gop@wisgop.org and ask them why they are excluding Republican ballot-qualified candidates from their polls. Better yet, contact Wisconsin GOP Chairman Reice Priebus at rrpriebus@michaelbest.com or phone him at (414) 225-2746. As the state GOP Chair, I’m sure he will be interested in hearing from Republican voters in Wisconsin.

The level of insider deals and unbalanced powergrabs continue to hurt the Republican Party of Wisconsin, so much so that it’s time to withhold any support from the state Republican Party until their leadership does not permit pre-primary endorsements and treats all candidates the same.

Until that time, please support the Republican Liberty Caucus of Wisconsin as a principled alternative.

Please let the state party know what you think of their desperate efforts to propel Ron Johnson and Scott Walker to victory in September. They realize their candidates are weak and are using all tactics possible to advance their struggling campaigns.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the RLC.