With only a few days to go until Primary Election Day hopefully many are talking about the candidates but it seems to be a good time to talk about parts of the process; mainly endorsements and the primary itself. By talking about these two issues now the discussion won’t be tainted by winners and losers nor will it be forgotten until the next election cycle and then too late to initiate change.

To endorse (a verb) is to give approval to or to support, as in a political endorsement for a candidate. An endorsement (a noun) is a statement in support of a person or a product as in an advertisement of a letter to the editor. Earlier in this campaign season I was overwhelmed with “endorse this candidate, send money” communications. That did not fit my definition of an endorsement as there was no opportunity to explain the justifying “why” or “how come” of sending the money!

Some campaigns list dozens and dozens of names of people who have endorsed the candidate but, again, without explanation. A list of names doesn’t do much for me. Others, and the endorsements I think are most effective, have a paragraph or two explaining the “why” or “how come” the endorsement has been made. A well written Letter to the Editor is an awesome endorsement as this generally means a citizen has taken the time to explain why the candidate is the best choice for the office.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) normally endorses a candidate for the five state-wide offices and the U.S. Senate. The intent is to pick the best candidate going forth and the others are encouraged to drop out. This is further pushed by many county parties then not letting unendorsed candidates share in their facilities or activities. This begs the question of “let the people decide” in the late summer primary election.

And, the RPW process hasn’t always worked so well. In 2010 candidate Rebecca Kleefisch was last in the first round of endorsement voting for LT Governor – but survived to win the Primary election and the General Election that fall. In 2022, LT Governor primary winner Roger Roth finished 6th out of 7 in the endorsement process. Also in 2022 future State Treasurer John Leiber won the Primary over the endorsed candidate.

In the 2026 contest for Secretary of State Nathan Pollnow has an impressive list of State Legislators that have endorsed him. While some have tried to make this a liability others see that as positive. Remember the Legislature had passed a large number of bills only to be vetoed by Governor Evers so maybe with an effective Republican Secretary of State the Legislature’s efforts will get better results in the Governor’s office.

Primaries are another topic worthy of discussion. All 50 states have a State Primary, some as early as March 3rd (AR, NC, & TX) and others as late as September (NH, MA, & RI early in the month and DE on the 15th). June has the most Primaries (15) followed by August (14). There are 32 primaries in the months before August and only 4 after August. Wisconsin’s Primary is August 11th – a date worthy of discussion.

Another unspoken concern in Wisconsin is the lack of a State Primary Runoff election because the candidate with the most votes wins the primary. Nine states (OK and eight former Confederate States) have a State Primary Runoff election as they must require the election winners to gather 50% of the votes cast. This could be impactful in Wisconsin in 2026 with four Republican candidates for Secretary of State and seven candidates on the Democrat ballot for Governor. Mathematically, the successful Republican candidate for Secretary of State might win with less than 30% while the successful Democrat candidate for Governor could win with less than 20%. Maybe Wisconsin should consider that 50% threshold to declare a primary victory!

Maybe Wisconsin can get creative and figure out how to have the Spring Non-Partisan Election and the Partisan Primary on the same day – thereby saving the expense of one Election Day every other year. This would change the major political party conventions from trying to pick the candidate to trying to figure out how the candidate the people picked can win the general election? What a concept – remember “We the People”?

Efforts now should be directed to getting our Conservative candidates successfully across the finish line in November. Ask the candidates the tough questions about endorsements and primaries. Then, work on pertinent resolutions to present at your Republican County Caucuses. It will take work to get them passed at the County level, then the District level, and then at the State Convention. Time is now to determine your goals and plot your strategy. Get informed and get involved.