Burlington, Wisconsin — After months of playing with Robin Vos, the most powerful Republican in state politics as speaker of the Wisconsin state legislature, former President Donald J. (Donald J. Trump) backed Mr. Voss’ longtime primary challenger in vain on Tuesday. Republicans pushing hard in the state to decertify 2020 election results.
Mr. Trump backed Adam Steen, a little-known and underfunded far-right Republican, who said he aims to take back the state’s 10 electoral votes from 2020 — a move Legally impossible — and make sweeping changes to the state’s voting laws.
Mr Steen’s far-right views are not limited to elections. He opposes all abortions under any circumstances and said in an interview Monday that he would seek to make contraception illegal in Wisconsin.
“It’s a lot deeper than a political discussion. It’s a moral issue,” he said. “To me, you’re ending your life. Yes, I would absolutely ban contraception.”
In his message of support, Mr Trump accused Mr Voss of blocking efforts to conduct a “comprehensive cyber forensic audit” of the 2020 election and said he “refused to do anything to correct mistakes that have been made”.
“Speaker Voss has 17 years to prove to Wisconsin residents that he cares about their best interests, but even on his own campaign, Voss has tried to mislead his constituents by sending a photo of him with me. Mail – trying to convince voters that I’m a Vos supporter, but I’m not,” Trump said. “I’m not going to come close to supporting him.”
Steen, 38, is campaigning on a platform that echoes the grievances of the previous presidential election. He said the new leadership would be more open to a decertification vote if Mr. Voss, who has served as speaker of the Wisconsin state legislature for a decade, was removed, and Mr. Voss blocked the vote on the grounds that decertification was impossible. Results of past elections.
“I would vote to withdraw our voters because fraud damages everything,” Steen said in an interview Monday, using a phrase common among those on the far right who have sought to overturn past election results. “When you see a lot of problems with our election, I’m like, ‘Why, why? Can you tell me why Robin doesn’t want to see it? I don’t know.'”
Mr. Steen’s voting platform also includes limiting in-person voting to one day. He said he would ban all absentee and early voting except for a few active-duty military members and seniors confined to their homes.
Mr. Voss did not respond to an interview request. His spokeswoman said he would not comment until after Wisconsin’s Aug. 9 primary.
