Democrats and Republicans work to unify their parties two months from Election Day

MADISON, Wis. (Gray) - With just about 60 days until Election Day, Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans are working to unify their parties.

This week, Wisconsin Democrats rallied in western Wisconsin at an annual corn roast. Next week, Republicans from across the country will head to Dallas for their first ever midterm convention.

At state Sen. Brad Pfaff’s annual corn roast in La Crosse, Democratic hopefuls made their case to key voters in the 3rd Congressional District, urging them to turn out in November.

“Well, our pitch is that there’s a clear contrast,” Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley said. “You know, you can vote for me, someone who’s going to lower costs for all of our working families, investing in public education to make sure that we expand health care for every single person in this state.”

Ben Wikler, former chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, rallied voters on stage.

“You have some of the most powerful ballots in the entire United States,” Wikler said.

Wikler said a Democratic trifecta is a key priority.

“It’s the first chance in a generation to win a Democratic governor and both chambers of the legislature and to get the real change for working families across the state that we’ve been fighting for so many years,” Wikler said.

Meanwhile, Brian Schimming, chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, is preparing for the first ever GOP midterm convention.

“It’s a unity event, it’s a messaging event,” Schimming said.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany will not attend. His team said he has campaign events scheduled in Wisconsin.

When asked whether Tiffany not attending signals him separating himself from President Trump ahead of the competitive election, Schimming said no.

“I’ve never gotten any sense of that,” Schimming said. “I mean, he’s appeared when the president or the vice president has been in the state multiple times. He was endorsed by the president. So if he was going to try to separate himself off, he could have done that a long time ago.”

Among Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Tony Wied will also not attend. U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman and U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden are attending. Congressmen Scott Fitzgerald and Bryan Steil did not respond to multiple requests for comment about their attendance plans.

The GOP convention is scheduled for Sept. 9 and 10. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

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