Derrick Van Orden

BARABOO – Staring down a challenging midterm election season, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and other party leaders appealed for unity as Republicans gathered Saturday for their 2026 state convention.

Republicans from across the state gathered May 16 at the Kalahari Resort, where the state's top Republican warned that a lack of voter enthusiasm could have dire consequences for the party in an election year with an open race for governor and Democrats pushing to retake one or both chambers of the Legislature for the first time in more than a decade.

Midterm elections, particularly in congressional races, historically go against the party in power in Washington, amplified this year by President Donald Trump's sagging approval ratings.

"If we're going to win, we need to unify," Johnson said, warning that "radical" Democrats have harnessed more voter enthusiasm in recent elections. "We have no room for division."

He lamented the lack of turnout for the three recent state Supreme Court elections, and said that those who voted for Trump in 2024, but did not turn out to help the conservative candidates running for the court, could risk ceding control of the Legislature or Congress if they don't head to the polls this year.

"It's not a fair fight, but we understand the reality of what we face," Johnson said. "We know that if Democrats get back in the majority, we know how destructive their policies are."

Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, who dropped out of the governor's race earlier this year, urged attendees to coalesce around Tom Tiffany, who faces no major competition among Republicans running for governor.

"We need that leadership for our party, for our state. He will end the 400-year-veto and freeze property taxes, he will bring the common sense of the Northwoods ... and he will make our party great again," Schoemann said, referring to a veto issued by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers that locked in revenue increases for school districts for four centuries.

'This is an election about turnout,' Rep. Derrick Van Orden says

Derrick Van Orden in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said unity is important, as is ensuring that Republicans vote this fall.

"Wisconsin is not a blue state, it's not even a purple state, it's a state full of conservatives that don't vote regularly," he said. "This is an election about turnout, and we're going to turn out the vote, we're going to win ... It's going to be alright, I have confidence."

Unity is going to be more achievable this election, Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming precicted in a conversation with reporters, because the party only has one candidate for governor, Tom Tiffany, and one candidate for attorney General, Eric Toney.

Democrats, by comparison, have a wide open, competitive primary for governor after Evers decided not to seek a third term. Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, is seeking re-election, setting up a rematch of four years ago with Toney.

"The Democrats have the biggest Democratic Party primary mess I have seen in 40 years of doing this," he said. "So they have a seriously, seriously tough issue on the other side."

He said the party will capitalize on that, and be able to show more cohesion.

"This is a perfect opportunity to show the difference between us and them," he said. "We can take advantage of that."

Donald Trump remains a fixture of the party

Trump, while not attending, was still a central figure at the convention.

In addition to Trump-related merchandise for sale in the halls outside the event, many of the candidates spoke about advancing Trump's agenda.

Trump has weighed in on some of Wisconsin's races, including endorsing U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany for governor, and Michael Alfonso, the son-in-law of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in the race for the 7th Congressional District, as well as Van Orden, who is locked in a tough reelection battle in the western Wisconsin 3rd Congressional District. Alfonso is running in a four-way Republican primary to succeed Tiffany.

Voters will head to the polls on Aug. 11 for primary elections, and then again on Nov. 3 for the general election.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon kicked off the event by urging Republicans to "vote like never before," this year, ensuring Republican victories up and down the ballot. She praised Trump's policies, and said Wisconsinites are doing better than ever before.

"Under the leadership of President Trump, this is a resurgence," she said. "We are not merely remembering our founding principles, but we are declaring independence from open borders, and weakness abroad ... This is our time to prove that the American spirit is not a relative of history, but a living, breathing force that grows stronger with every generation."

Van Orden said Trump's agenda could be derailed if Democrats take control of Congress.

"If the house flips, which it's not going to, but if it did, three of my colleagues have put in articles of impeachment for President Trump. That's not what the American people want," Van Orden said. "The American people want us to move together as citizens and have our country become the best place in the world, which under Donald Trump's leadership is moving in that direction."

The Democratic State Convention will be held in Madison on June 13 and 14.