GOP calls to unite on abortion, embrace mail-in voting during Republican’s state convention
APPLETON Wis. (CBS 58) -- During the Wisconsin Republican Party convention, party leaders encouraged their base to unify on the issue of abortion and to embrace mail-in voting with the possibility of absentee ballot drop boxes becoming legal again in the battleground state.
Hundreds of convention-goers gathered at the Fox Valley Exhibition Center as Republicans gear up for some high-stake elections in 2024. This year's theme: Unite to Win.
Speeches from prominent Republicans focused on some of the defining issues in the 2024 election including the economy, immigration, and abortion.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) called on the party to unify on abortion as it's an issue Democrats are heavily relying on to motivate voters this fall.
"It is a profound moral issue," Johnson said during his speech. "It's not easy for anyone to decide this… but if we're going to win, we must unify."
Johnson renewed his support for a statewide referendum to decide when abortion should be legal in Wisconsin.
It comes as many Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have softened their stance on abortion restrictions after it was a major issue during the 2022 midterms that took place months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Earlier this month in Waukesha, Trump downplayed the idea of nationwide abortion ban, something he backed during his 2016 campaign, and instead shifted his support to allowing states to decide their own abortion laws.
Early Vote
State GOP Chairman Brian Schimming also continued to encourage Republicans to vote early and consider mail-in voting despite the former president criticizing it.
It comes as voters could have the option to use absentee ballot drop boxes in future elections after liberals on the state Supreme Court signaled their willingness to overturn a previous decision by the court that declared them illegal.
"We're operating on the presumption that the court makes a change," Schimming said. "If the state law that affects this election says we’ll have drop boxes or we end up with ballot harvesting, we're going to do what it takes to win."
Schimming added, "I'm not going to leave any potential advantage that we might have on the table."
Election Integrity
Election integrity was also a central theme. GOP Rep. Bryan Steil, who represents Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District and is facing reelection, urged the crowd to "use every tool in the tool kit" to keep working to instill trust and confidence in elections.
Steil called it a "major victory" that voters recently approved a pair of constitutional amendments in April that impact how elections are administered. He empathized how ballot referendums are a path for conservatives to take advantage of with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoing GOP bills that sought to change election policy and procedures.
"It's why we need to continue to pass constitutional amendments in this state to go over the top of Gov. Evers and over the top of the liberal Supreme Court to get election integrity laws on the books," Steil said.
Hovde Secures Party Endorsement
During the convention, U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde also secured the party's official endorsement. It was mostly a symbolic vote given he does not have a GOP primary opponent, clearing the way to face off against Democratic incumbent Senator Tammy Baldwin.
"Do you like what Tammy Baldwin and Joe Biden have done with our border, with our debt, with our inflation?" Hovde said. "We together can take back our country."
Democrats React
In response to the GOP event, Democrats knocked Republicans for their "extreme agenda" on democracy and reproductive freedoms.
"The Republican Party of Wisconsin is bankrupt, in every sense of the word, they're broke they are beholden to Donald Trump and his bankrupt ideas, and they are politically bankrupt, representing an extreme agenda that has no resonance with the people of Wisconsin," said Ben Wikler, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.