Supreme Court smackdown has some Wisconsin Republicans calling on GOP chair to resign

A historic statewide election defeat has some Wisconsin Republicans calling for the ouster of state GOP Chair Brian Schimming, which would amount to a dramatic shakeup in a battleground state once dominated by a hyper-effective GOP party machine.

Tuesday night’s state Supreme Court race saw liberal judge Chris Taylor trounce conservative appeals court judge Maria Lazar by a margin of more than 20 points. The scope of that defeat in the closely divided swing state — the latest in a string of recent GOP losses — is fueling calls from a growing number of party insiders that the affable Schimming, a longtime fixture in local Republican politics, should step down from his post at the top of the party.

“As a leader, he’s failed,” said Ken Sikora, a member of the state party’s executive committee representing the 8th District.

The dissent is bubbling ahead of critical November elections that will see voters choose Wisconsin’s next governor — and a wide open 2028 presidential race where Wisconsin will once again be one of the nation’s top battlegrounds.

Schimming’s departure, his critics say, would mark the first step in a long road to revitalizing the state’s GOP political apparatus — once dubbed the “Seal Team Six of the Republican Party” — that’s now seen as woefully lacking in fundraising capacity.

“While all of us had high hopes, I think the time has run out,” said another congressional district chair on the state GOP executive committee, granted anonymity to discuss private conversations with colleagues. “And it's time we go a different direction for the sake of our philosophy.”

The Supreme Court election result, the Republicans said, is the ultimate example of just how bad things have gotten for the state GOP.

In her Tuesday blowout win, Taylor nabbed more votes than Lazar in a wide swath of traditionally Republican counties won by President Donald Trump in 2024.

Trump bested former Vice President Kamala Harris in eastern Wisconsin’s Outagamie County by 10 points in 2024. Taylor won it by 16 points this week. Trump won Green Bay’s Brown County by 8 points in 2024. On Tuesday, Taylor won it by 14. Taylor also won Ozaukee County in suburban Milwaukee, which a Democrat hasn’t carried in a presidential election since 1964.

“Anybody who runs a business, or anybody who runs a sports team knows that the quarterback needs to win games in order to stay the quarterback,” the district chair said. “And if we're looking at this like a business, like an operation, we need our leaders to supply the infrastructure for victory.”

In a statement, Schimming — who weathered an attempt to oust him last year — told POLITICO that he remains “dedicated to continue improving as we head into November.”

“What we must all remember is that the results on Tuesday do not and will not decide the November election,” he said. “With Democrats in disarray our candidates are in a good position. We must come together and turn our anger towards the Democrats as we work to defeat them.”

The state GOP pointed to tangible steps it took to support Lazar’s candidacy, including sending out mailers, nominating thousands of poll workers, increasing its digital footprint on TikTok and through digital advertising and launching a dedicated microsite against Taylor last year.

Lazar’s campaign finances tell another story. The state GOP contributed just over $163,000 to her coffers throughout the 2026 campaign, according to Wisconsin Ethics Commission records, a far cry from the roughly $863,000 the Democratic Party of Wisconsin gave Taylor.

“You need somebody in charge of that party who is just a ruthless fundraiser,” said Dan O’Donnell, a Wisconsin talk show host and conservative media editor. “What I’ve said is, you got to find the Republican Ben Wikler.”

Wikler ran the state Democratic Party from 2019 to 2025, and is widely credited with revitalizing the party. Under his tenure, Wisconsin Democrats raised hundreds of millions and transformed the way state Supreme Court races are won in Wisconsin.

All told, Taylor raised roughly $6 million in campaign contributions in 2025 and 2026, according to the state ethics commission. Lazar, by comparison, brought in around just a million.

“No one can overcome that advantage in a swing state,” former Gov. Scott Walker wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.

But fundraising alone isn't the only problem facing the beleaguered state party, Billie Johnson, another RPW executive committee member representing the state’s 2nd District, told POLITICO.

“There's so many things you need to do,” he said. “Our messaging is poor. It's bland. We don't want to take the fight to the Democrats.”

Lazar’s loss wasn’t the only bad defeat for Republicans on Tuesday. Alicia Halvensleben, a Democrat, scored an upset against Scott Allen in a mayoral race in Waukesha, long a Republican stronghold in suburban Milwaukee. The GOP also dropped Supreme Court races in 2023 and 2025, and only one of the state’s executive offices is currently occupied by a Republican.

“It shows how important a political apparatus is, and the Democrats mobilized their entire force behind Chris Taylor, and we just didn't have an equivalent operation,” said Alec Zimmerman, a longtime Republican operative and the communications director for Sen. Ron Johnson during his 2022 campaign. “The state GOP seemed a little bit uninvolved, and it definitely had an impact on that race.”

The state party, Zimmerman said, “feels a little bit lost right now.”

Republicans need to turn things around quickly. Wisconsin has an open governor’s race this November, where the Trump-endorsed Rep. Tom Tiffany will face whichever Wisconsin Democrat emerges from a crowded primary in August. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes are among the top competitors for their party’s nomination.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) — a battleground member and top target of Democrats this cycle — said April elections are not a good benchmark in the state because of their low participation rate. But he issued a stark warning that his party needs to kick into a higher gear.

“Republicans in Wisconsin need to wake up and realize that every election; local, state, and federal have a real effect on our lives and that if we don’t get into the business of government, the government will get into our business,” Van Orden said in a text message Wednesday morning, before stressing he was not referring to state leadership.

Tiffany’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on faith in Schimming’s leadership. But some Republicans are already asking questions about the future.

“There’s a lot of people looking at [Tuesday] night and what’s next as far as where the party should go and who should lead it,” Zimmerman said.

Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this report.