Can Wisconsin Elect Someone Normal to Congress?
A Trump Endorsement May Be Thwarted
I have to report a tale of marital strife. No, not that one. The good folks at The Badger Report are reporting that billionaire Republican donors Liz and Dick Uihlein don’t see eye-to-eye on who should represent Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, which occupies the “Up North” part of the state.
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Dick’s super-PAC is supporting Michael Alfonso, the son-in-law of US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in the race to succeed Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor this year. Duffy, of course, represented the district before Tiffany, so it makes some sense that he would like to find gainful employment for his daughter’s husband in the family business so she can continue to live the lifestyle she’s known until now. It’s nice of Dick to chip in over $1 million, according to the Badger Report, to help the cause.
On the other hand, Dick’s wife Liz wants to help Jessi Ebben of Superior try to get the job as congressman for the district. Liz has also donated more than $1 million to her super-PAC to help out Ebben. Perhaps she used some of that money to move, since her previous election experience was a losing campaign in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District.
Of some interest, Ebben signed the petition to force the Recall Election of Gov. Scott Walker in 2012. She claims her parents were “tricked” by the teachers unions, and she made the mistake of trusting her parents. Too bad she wasn’t raised by the Duffys.
If either Liz or Dick are interested in helping a starving writer (I am on a diet), I’ll take $1 million. Or $2 million if they both like me.
Surprisingly, neither of the happy couple are supporting Kevin Hermening who is also running for Congress in the 7th district.
On paper, Hermening would be the perfect candidate for them, or any Republican, to support. Hermening is most famous for being a US Marine who was one of the hostages held by Iran for 444 days during the term of President Jimmy Carter. Hermening is also a businessman, a former candidate for Congress back when Democrat Dave Obey represented the district, and a former county party chairman. Hermening has been a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump and would continue to be in the House of Representatives.
Hermening’s only flaw, in the eyes of the Trump GOP, is that he wasn’t related to the Duffy family, so Trump endorsed Alfonso.
One might ask why the Duffy family didn’t go the traditional nepotism route and just find the 26-year-old Alfonso a job in the Transportation Department. But then Duffy would have to see the kid every day in the office, or at least every day Duffy showed up to work, so it was probably easier for dad-in-law to write a check for $1 million from his own campaign fund to find Alfonso a different job down the road.
Could Hermening beat the Duffy kid? Maybe.
The New York Times poll tracker only has two polls listed, both from TIPP Insights, and they both show Alfonso with a substantial lead. However, one campaign insider told me that Hermening’s internal numbers are looking good and he may upset the kid.
And another Republican insider from “Up North” told me that a common reaction among voters to the Duffy son-in-law is, “Alfonso is a good guy but he’s just not ready.”
Alfonso has been hiding his youth and inexperience by ducking debates and joint candidate appearances in the 7th District. In Iron County, the local Republican Party just pinned a piece of paper with his name on an empty chair while the other candidates had a debate. But Alfonso did have time to appear in the Duffy family vacation videos, a cross-country vacation for the family with the tab picked up by corporate special interests. (The series has yet to be released, even though it was supposed to coincide with America’s 250th birthday.)
We should be under no illusions that, if Hermening pulls off the upset on Tuesday, that he will be much different than most congressional Republicans when it comes to supporting Trump. The days of having a Republican congressman from Wisconsin like Mike Gallagher, who showed some flashes of independence, or Reid Ribble, the original Never Trump Republican, or even former House Speaker Paul Ryan, are in the past.
But compared to Rep. Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s third congressional district, Hermening would actually be somewhat normal. Well, as much as anyone is normal in today’s Republican Party.
Meanwhile, in the Race for Wisconsin Governor
Another poll from the organization State Navigate on the Wisconsin governor primary election is dropping on Friday at 11:00 AM central time. The election is Tuesday. A reminder that, in Wisconsin, betting on an election in which you’re voting is not only wrong, but also illegal. Also, I’m not vouching for the accuracy of the poll.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley spoke to a packed room in La Estacion in Waukesha on Wednesday. Current Mayor Alicia Halvensleben and former Mayor Larry Nelson spoke to the gathering as well, offering their endorsements. I noticed a number of prominent local Democrats in the crowd. We’ll see just how crucial Waukesha County is to Crowley’s chances of overtaking state Rep. Francesca Hong in the Democratic primary.
The “meet and greet” event filled the main dining room at the restaurant, and an overflow crowd filled the hallway outside. According to Nelson, the online RSVP count for the event was over 100. However, given the size of the room plus the spillover, it wouldn’t surprise me if the attendance was double that, which is a pretty good crowd of Democrats in normally Republican Waukesha.
Speaking of Waukesha County Republicans, online rightwing influencer Jessica McBride is encouraging Republicans who do not have important primary elections in their area to vote instead in the Democratic gubernatorial holiday for Hong.
In Wisconsin, it’s an open primary system, so a voter does not have to pledge to vote for a particular party in November. However, a resident cannot vote in both primaries. They must choose one or the other, or else their ballot will not count.
While McBride is agreeing with the Republican Party about which Democratic candidate would be easiest for Congressman Tom Tiffany to defeat in November, putting Hong on the ballot for the general election is like playing with a loaded gun. It’s likely Hong will lose to Tiffany, but it’s not impossible for her to win.
Finally, Hong admitted to Politico that she is a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to the holidays, but she likes Thanksgiving the best. Perhaps she’s trying to court Wisconsin’s cranberry growers who, as Sen. Tammy Baldwin reminded everyone recently, produce the most cranberries in the country.
I won’t believe Hong likes Thanksgiving until I see her in a Pilgrim outfit gnawing on a turkey drumstick. Even then, I’ll bet her favorite Thanksgiving side dish is steamed broccoli.
On a personal note…
I’d like to take this moment to say to my wife, the Lovely Doreen from Waukesha, happy 27th anniversary. Here’s a picture of two crazy kids in love:
When I started writing 26 years ago, I needed a quick reference to my wife that wouldn’t grow repetitive, so I called her, “the Lovely Doreen.” The name stuck because it is so appropriate. She was lovely then, and she is more lovely to me every day.
British comedian David Mitchell told the story of how he met his wife, Victoria Coren Mitchell, three years before they could start dating because she was with someone else. He had resigned himself to being alone, but his life immediately changed when they could be together. He said that, if he had been told that all he had to do was wait three years, he would’ve been happy to wait for her.
That’s how I feel about Doreen. If someone were to offer me a chance to live my life completely over, change it anyway I want, I would ask only one question: at what point do I meet Doreen, fall in love, and marry her? Because if that doesn’t hppen, then I’m not interested.
We met in 1997 and quickly fell in love. Our first date was to see the ballet, Romeo and Juliet, and we were engaged ten days later. We married in 1999, in a ceremony filled with music and celebrated with fireworks. It’s a crazy story, but it’s ours, and I pray that it continues for many more years to come.
James Wigderson is a writer living in Waukesha, Wisconsin. He has been writing about Wisconsin and national politics for 26 years. He is a former education reporter, the former editor/owner of RightWisconsin and a former columnist for The Waukesha Freeman.
Happy Anniversary!