After Tuesday night’s loss in the special election for state Senate District 10, Republicans are announcing new efforts to get their voters to the polls in November.
Governor Scott Walker’s campaign announced Wednesday that they have their 72 county coordinators to organize their “grassroots” effort to turn out the vote.
“When we announced our campaign in November, we called for an army of grassroots volunteers to help us move Wisconsin forward in 2018 and beyond,” Governor Walker said. “I am proud to name county coordinators in each of the state’s 72 counties who are working to mobilize neighbors and fuel our campaign.”
The county coordinators will be the lead organizers in each county of the door-knocking and phone call campaign efforts, as well as local social media efforts.
On Thursday, the Republican Party is expected to announce plans to more than double the number of field offices to promote Walker’s re-election and the defeat of Sen. Tammy Baldwin. The party is opening offices in Wausau, La Crosse, Sheboygan, Milwaukee, and Racine. These offices are in addition to the ones in Waukesha, Green Bay, Eau Claire, and Madison.
“Thanks to our tremendous grassroots volunteers, these field offices will serve as hubs for conservatives to organize while we work to re-elect Governor Scott Walker and rally to defeat Senator Tammy Baldwin in 2018,” Party Chairman Brad Courtney said in a statement. “After a highly successful 2016 election, Republicans are building on our best-in-the-nation ground game again for this cycle.”
Republicans were stunned by Tuesday night’s loss in a district Republicans held for 17 years. State Rep. Adam Jarchow (R-Balsam Lake) lost to St. Croix County Medical Examiner Patty Schachtner 54.6 percent of the vote to 44.2 percent in a district won by former state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) with 63.2 percent of the vote in 2016. The seat became vacant when Harsdorf was appointed by Walker as the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary.
Walker called the loss a “wake up call” in a series of Twitter posts Tuesday night and Wednesday.
