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Trump-backed businessman Tim Michels is the projected winner of Wisconsin’s GOP gubernatorial primary, according to The Associated Press.
Michels and former Wisconsin Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch were the frontrunners in a field of four Republican candidates that also included state lawmaker Timothy Ramthun.
Michels will face off in November against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who faced no primary challenge but is under heavy attack from Republicans as he seeks a second term.
“That’s what this race has always been about, and that’s what the general election race will always be about, standing up for the working people of Wisconsin,” Michels said in his victory speech. “They’ve been left behind by the Democratic Party that just wants to focus on social issues. From my first day in office to my last day as governor, jobs and the economy are definitely my number one priority you”.
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Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels, left, speaks as former President Donald Trump, right, listens at a rally in Waukesha, Wis., Friday, Aug. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Morry gash)
“[My wife Barbara and I] We feel like we’re on a slippery slope to socialism, and it’s hiding behind all these other social problems,” he continued. “But we know what’s going on. We can see what happens. And we said, you know what? We will do everything we can to prevent the overthrow of America, the America we know and love.”
Michels added: “I’ll tell you what Tony Evers has failed the people of Wisconsin… He’s been a weak leader. And we’re going to make him a non-essential worker in November.”
Former President Donald Trump stopped by Truth Social to congratulate Michels.
“Congratulations to Tim Michels on his victory against a wonderful and highly competitive opponent, Rebecca Kleefisch,” Trump wrote. “I know both parties will come together and defeat one of the worst governors in the country, Tony Evers.”
The battle for Wisconsin’s GOP gubernatorial nomination was the latest Republican showdown between former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, running mates who could face off for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Michels, a billionaire construction company owner who poured millions of his own money into his race, was endorsed by Trump in early June. Two weeks ago, Pence broke with his former boss again while endorsing Kleefisch, the conservative former lieutenant governor who served eight years under then-Gov. Scott Walker.
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“There is no candidate for governor in America who is more capable, more experienced or more proven conservative than Rebecca Kleefisch,” Pence said as he joined the former lieutenant governor at a campaign stop in suburban Milwaukee on Wednesday past
And Kleefisch said she was “tried and tested and ready to go,” and that she’s “a four-time all-state winner.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence and Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch of Wisconsin participate in a panel discussion Aug. 3, 2022, in Pewaukee, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File) (AP)
Two days later, while leading a rally for Michels in Waukesha, Trump charged that “Rebecca Kleefisch doesn’t have what it takes to beat Tony Evers … She’s going to win if she runs against Rebecca.”
Asked by reporters on the eve of the primary to comment on Trump’s derogatory attacks, Kleefisch replied, “There are no thoughts that I can share.”
And he appeared to rule out Trump’s endorsement of Michels, stressing in a Fox News interview Monday that “the voters of Wisconsin will be the ones to determine the outcome of this race.”
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The Michels campaign tried to frame Kleefisch as a Never Trumper, writing in an email to supporters on the eve of the primary that “if we don’t get Trump supporters to vote for Tim Michels on Tuesday, the Never Trumpers will win.” And Michel’s campaign argued that if Kleefisch wins, “the media will falsely report that Wisconsinites have rejected Trump’s endorsement.”
Michels also spent big money to run ads targeting Kleefisch, while the former lieutenant governor criticized Michels, who has a home in Connecticut, as a part-time Wisconsin resident.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers addresses a joint session of the Legislature in the Assembly chambers at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., on February 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, file)
Candidate Trump endorsed in last week’s Republican gubernatorial primary in Arizona, former TV news anchor Kari Lake, tight-knit real estate developer and Arizona Board of Regents member Karrin Taylor Robson, which was supported by Pence.
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But in May, conservative Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, who received the Pence endorsement, defeated his Trump-backed challenger, former Sen. David Perdue, in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary .
In addition to Pence, two other potential 2024 GOP White House contenders, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former South Carolina governor and former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, endorsed Kleefisch this summer. Haley campaigned with the former lieutenant governor and helped her raise roughly $100,000.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter based in New Hampshire.