Benjamin Franklin once said, “The world is run by the people who show up.” We encourage people of faith to consider showing up for future meetings of the political party of their choice, or other organizations, to help shape policy. Scroll to the bottom for photos of newly elected Republican and Democratic leaders. 

This past weekend, while a DNC Chair was being picked in one convention, I spoke with first-time attendees at our Republican Caucus and asked if they would return. Most said they would, although some were frustrated by how long the meeting dragged on. Two individuals, in particular, were responsible for stretching it to four hours by rising to comment more than 40 times. They are the exception, not the rule. After their outbursts, the votes were clear: they lost by huge margins (44-149 and 35-140). The overwhelming majority of attendees—98% on both sides—simply want to figure out how their respective parties can promote great policies.

While Wisconsin Faith and Freedom does not endorse candidates for political parties or offices, we sometimes report on the results of caucuses after the vote has taken place, including those at DNC and my local Milwaukee GOP caucus, which saw a record turnout under the leadership of Hilario Deleon, the youngest Midwestern GOP Chair (first elected 2 years ago at age 22).

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Democratic Chair Ben Wikler was in a close race for Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), with the goal of keeping national focus on Wisconsin, especially after Milwaukee hosted the Republican National Committee (RNC) last year.

Ultimately, the candidates I endorsed (highlighted in red in the attached results photo) won by lopsided margins, while Wisconsin Democrats were disappointed that Wikler came in second place to Minnesota’s Ken Martin. More on the results later.

Opportunity to Change Issue Focus for Parties

Beyond who wins these party elections, these meetings are important because they give faith-based voters in both parties a chance to nudge their party on key issues. Many faith-based Democrats, for example, do not want their party to continue supporting the multi-billion-dollar sex change industry or promote policies that allow men in women’s sports, anti-semitism on campuses, or eliminate Voter ID laws. 

These policies, adopted only recently, may help explain why the Democratic Party now has a record-low 31% favorability rating. (see Newsweek report, “The Democratic Party is facing a harsh reality as a record number of voters have the highest unfavorable view of the political party since 2008, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.)

Historically, when a party loses an election, it reassesses and focuses on policies that can win back support from the American people. We’d like to see both parties adopt candidates who oppose these positions, in races like the upcoming Wisconsin Supreme Court election. In a surprising poll, the conservative-leaning candidate now leads 40% to 35%, just two years after the liberal candidate won 55% to 44%.

Wikler had a strong second-place finish but ultimately lost to Martin, with only 12% choosing other candidates for DNC Chair. The Democrats did one thing they do better than Republicans after their race—they rallied around the winner. Wikler and others praised Martin, and all candidates agreed that the party must refocus on working Americans. The big question now is whether they can understand which leftwing issues they need to drop in order to make that happen.

The Democratic Party’s record-low approval rating—31%—is consistent with positions that many Americans reject, including anti-Semitic protests on campuses, support for the multi-billion dollar sex change industry, men in women’s sports, and the push to eliminate Voter ID laws.

Ironically, Martin, the new DNC Chair, is the first white man to hold the position since 2011, elected on the same weekend that a very diverse group of leaders was elected at the Milwaukee GOP, with an average vote of 116-39.

A Strong Cross-Section of Leaders in the GOP

On the Republican side, in addition to the young Latino Deleon (who is very media friendly at 414.217.1857), the GOP meeting chose a diverse group of individuals to help shape the party. These included:

• A Jewish volunteer with over 1,200 hours of volunteer work (Janzer)
• A Black Republican, known as the best grassroots organizer in the state (Lawrence)
• A Teamster leader (Siemik)
• Two of the best young campus organizers (Rinelli and Galaszewski)
• The woman who designed some of the best Trump billboards during the 2024 election (Turner)

This is a compelling cross-section of conservatives who can help shape policy beyond Milwaukee to the state and nation. At the event, I authored a two-page letter expressing my concerns about the alternative, which included Orlando Owens and Cindy Werner’s surrogate, Tom Meyer, who interrupted the meeting more than 40 times. Additionally, the opposition sent out attack emails, including one that linked to a video where one of our candidates stressed that the Republican Party should be a grassroots, bottom-up organization to let conservatives come to meetings like this and take over—not a top-down structure.

By expressing shock over this message, the opposition seemed to favor a Mitt Romney-type, top-down approach to the party, rather than the grassroots approach that Donald Trump advocates, where conservatives can have disagreements and still contribute to the party’s direction. As just one recent example, our friend from the September bus tour Kash Patel noted that he agreed with President Trump on freeing those who were simply walking around the grounds of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, but not on calls from some conservatives for pardons that would cover anyone who committed any violence that day.

The new DNC Officers elected were:

• Chair: Ken Martin 
• Vice Chair for Civic Engagement and Voter Participation (CEVP): Reyna Walters-Morgan
• Vice Chair (three positions): Artie Blanco, Malcolm Kenyatta, and David Hogg
• Secretary: Jason Rae 
• Treasurer: Virginia McGregor 
• National Finance Chair: Chris Korge

Looking Ahead

We hope that all parties will continue to listen to feedback from grassroots, working Americans in order to craft policies that uphold conservative values and protect freedoms.

Thank you for your continued support!