Waukesha, Wisconsin — Businessman Tim Michels wins Wisconsin's Republican primary, advances to NBC News Project general election, and Democratic Governor Tony Evers .
Backed by former President Donald Trump, Michels overcame deep support from the establishment around Rebecca Kleefish, the state's former lieutenant governor. State Rep. Tim Lam Thun, who vowed to contest the result, finished a distant third in his place.
This means that while they continue to lie about their losses in Wisconsin and other hotly contested states in 2020, they will be true if they start bidding for another White House in 2024. Another battle-state victory for Trump, who is looking to establish hopeful allies. Michels accepted Trump's debunked claims that his second term was stolen from him. Mr. Michels, though at times baffled, is in an effort to revoke the recognition of President Joe Biden's victory in the state, even though there is no real legal means under state or federal law to revoke the state's electoral votes. It says it's open.
Mr. Evers was reappointed without objection.
Michelle's supporters gathered in a small catering hall in Waukesha, home of the Republican Party where voters hold the key to the primary, sipping drinks, sliders and other food while waiting for Tuesday night's results. I ate a sandwich.
Michels, a co-owner of a successful family-owned pipeline construction company, said in the final weeks of the campaign that he was under pressure from Trump to support the state decertifying him in 2020. sent a mixed message about how willing they were to comply. election results. Both Michels and Kleefisch have made a splash, allegations of Trump's voter fraud during the primary election have been debunked. did.
Creefish's list of supporters included former Governor Scott Walker, with whom she served, and former Vice President Mike Pence. Pence's involvement marks another Republican rift between Trump and the former No. provoked a proxy war.
Some Kleefisch voters who spoke with NBC News in the days leading up to Tuesday's primary said they were impressed with the work she and Walker had done together. People agreed with her concerns that Michelles, who owns a home in Connecticut and lives there for part of the year, was not sufficiently involved in the crisis that Wisconsin has been dealing with in recent years. 23}
Bill Means, a retired school administrator at Pleasant Prairie, called Michelles a "half-year student" who "Johnny recently came in with a lot of money."
Meanwhile, Michelle's voters consistently said they were drawn to his experience as an "outsider" businessman who had largely stayed out of politics until this election. in their decision to support him.
"He was refreshing," said Carol Smith, a former counselor at Oconomowoc. "I think they both represent Wisconsin, but I like that he's an outsider." He is the latest Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate to advance to the general election in a hotly contested district Biden won by a narrow margin in 2020. Trump's efforts to remove Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican who refused to overturn the state's election results, fell through in this year's primary.
"After a scorched-earth primary that saw constant attacks and dizzying competition for the radical right, the Republican Party chose the most extreme and divisive candidate possible. "It's someone who tells Donald Trump something just to keep it up," Evers campaign manager Cassie Fenilli said in a statement emailed shortly after the race was called. 33}
Wisconsin's GOP Chair, Paul Farrow, characterized competitive primaries as a strength.
“Unlike the Democrats, who mistrusted primary voters and pressured their candidates to go along with them, Republican voters, thanks to the candidates' willingness to step forward, were well-informed. We're grateful that we were able to make choices based on what we've put on the plate and bring a unique perspective to the table," Farrow said in an emailed statement from the State Party.
Wisconsin was also home to Trump's revenge mission against state legislative speaker Robin Vossfor refusing to overturn the 2020 election results on Tuesday. Trump endorsed Voss' chief rival Adam Steen last week. The race continued late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, tensions in the Senate elections were low. In recent weeks the Democrats have vacated the Lieutenant's constituency. Mandela Burns will take on Trump ally Republican Senator Ron Johnson in another important matchup this fall. Both of the NBC News projects have won primaries in the face of slight opposition.
Connecticut, Minnesota and Vermont also have primaries on Tuesday.
In Connecticut,Trump-supporting girlfriend Leora Levy won the Republican Senate primary, NBC News Project. She faces off against Democratic incumbent Richard Blumenthal in a Democratic-strong state.
Democratic Senator Becca Balint faces off against Republican Liam Madden, an NBC News project, in Vermont's congressional congressional district. Balint, the first openly gay interim president of the Vermont Senate,, is expected to make history this fall . there is She never sent a woman to Congress.
House seats are open as Democrat Peter Welch seeks the seat to be vacated by Senator Patrick Leahy, also a Democrat. Welch won the Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday and will face Republican nominee Gerald Malloy in the general election, NBC News reports.
Minnesota has been leaning Democratic in recent years, but can be competitive. Democratic Gov. Tim Waltz faces off against Republican Dr. Scott Jensen and former state senator of the NBC News Project. Republicans also nominated political newcomer Jim Schultz to face Attorney General Keith Ellison this fall.
Minnesota's 1st congressional district will also hold aspecial election on Tuesday to fill out the remaining months of Jim Hegedorn's term. His Hagedorn, a Republican, died Feb. Republican Brad Finstad, a former state legislator, U.S. Department of Agriculture official, and Democrat Jeff Ettinger, former CEO of Hormel Foods conflicting.
In a twist, Finstad and Ettinger also won Tuesday's primary election, allowing November's general election to run for his two-year term and a reorganized first election to take effect next year. represented the district.
Henry J. Gomez from Cleveland, Ohio and Adam Edelman from Waukesha, Wisconsin He was reported by Adam Edelman.
Correction (August 9, 2022 at 7:15 PM ET): In a previous version of this article, the Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate My last name was misspelled. He's not Rathman, he's Tim Ramsan.