Well, here we are, a little over a week past the Spring Primary, and Republicans are unified in a common cause. Right?
Apparently, not everyone is. At a time when we need all hands on deck to Elect Dan Kelly to the Supreme court, the Racine GOP is ‘unifying’ by systematically rejecting any members who dare question the infinite wisdom of Robin Vos. He and his devout followers are desperate to cling to power because they are entitled, and how dare anyone challenge them?
Robin should change his name to Greta since, HOW DARE YOU!
Because I am pretty involved in the Wisconsin political sphere, I get to be part of some very interesting email chains. Yesterday morning, I saw an email that literally made my jaw drop at the utter hypocrisy. More on that later.
Recently, I have been writing several Columns critical of the now-former leadership in Dane County and Milwaukee County. On the other hand, I have been vociferously supporting Waukesha County Republicans.
I hadn’t been paying much attention to Robin Vos’ home turf of Racine County…Until now. Ever since Adam Steen had the audacity to challenge His Royal Majesty, Robin Vos the Racine GOP has been a little chaotic. Of course, I am kidding about the ‘royal’ title, well, at least a little. You see, Robin Vos sees himself as royalty who is beyond contestation.
While I was supportive of the idea of the primary, I did not support the write-in campaign. That being said, Adam Steen had EVERY RIGHT to run and Republicans had every right to support him. Unfortunately, acting like a royal spoiled child, Vos did not share that view.
In order to keep control of his personal fiefdom in the Racine County GOP, Vos is desperately trying to keep his people in place and it looks like he is willing to do anything to hang on to power. After he barely squeaked to re-election, he cast aside any ounce of humility and made sure to set the wheels in motion to ‘purge’ the Racine GOP of any dissent.
That’s right, eliminate any opposition in order to have TOTAL CONTROL and have everyone in Racine County GOP thinking alike. Keep in mind, these are changing all the rules and fighting to keep volunteer positions. It’s ironic that the Racine GOP Website has ‘GET INVOLVED’ when they really mean ‘UNLESS YOU SUPPORTED ADAM STEEN.
A few weeks ago, I received word that Racine GOP had removed the online Join button from the website to make it harder for new people to join. That was just the beginning. Yesterday, I received an anonymous email with information showing how the Racine GOP is systematically rejecting membership of people the leadership deems ‘unfavorable.’
in other words, if you dared support Adam Steen or maybe even President Trump, you must be cast out. This is nothing new since he has been doing everything to cast out Janelle Brandtjen, including teaming up with Liz Cheney and Adam Kintzinger to defeat her in her Senate primary. But, I digress.
The Republican Party consists of many factions and levels of Conservatism, we simply cannot win without everyone unified, there’s even a place for Pelosiesque leaders like Robin Vos.
Since when did the Republican Party become devoid of independent thought? Who does Robin Vos think he is dictating who is ‘worthy’ of being allowed the honor to be involved in the Racine County GOP? His entitlement knows no bounds, and even his wife, the board treasurer’ is in on the action. Funny how that works.
Now back to the email I eluded to above. I was in an email thread where Michelle Litjens Vos chimed in literally complaining that HOT people are daring to ‘tale over’ their little cabal. Then she had the audacity to say, ‘Hard to have a unified campaign when your own so called voters to continue to drag you down.’
See it for yourself:
That’s rich coming from Mrs. Vos who is part of the ‘power couple’ doing everything to dis-unify by demonizing and casting aside their own membership. They are literally canceling members who dare have a contrary opinion. IN OTHER WORDS, ACTING JUST LIKE DEMOCRATS!
For someone who is supposed to protect and defend the Constitution, Robin Vos sure seems to be ripping it to shreds when it comes to the Racine County GOP. This is the people’s party, not Robin Vos’ personal Royal Court.
Nobody is entitled to their position, even if it’s a volunteer position. What’s more, anybody has the right to challenge leadership, and if said leader is worth their salt, they will remain. It’s not a dictatorship.
The Caucus is this Saturday, I should go ahead and congratulate the Vos Royal Court on their victory since they seem to have already set it up. Once again, just like Democrats set up elections.
With Republicans like Robin Vos, who needs Democrats? The fact of the matter is, HOT and other groups like them are here to stay and we are ON THE SAME SIDE. What is it about those groups that Robin Vos doesn’t like? Voter integrity? Liberty? What’s more, Robin is going to have to get over the fact that not everyone is going to like him and is entitled to their own opinion.
Below are images of actual rejection letters and a summary of what’s been happening that I received from an anonymous source.
The Systematic Membership Rejection Practices of the Racine County GOP
According to the Republican Party of Racine’s website, “We support traditional American values and advocate for conservative leadership in our elected officials. We encourage our diverse body of members to form a conservative coalition that ensures our representatives advocate for “We The People.” The Republican Party of Racine supports equal rights, justice, and opportunity for ALL people, regardless of race, color, national origin, or sex.”
No words have ever been further from the truth.
In an effort to eliminate America First Conservative Republican voices from joining the Racine County Republican Party (Racine GOP), the following tactics have been implemented by their board over the previous months.
- The Racine GOP website membership sign-up/payment portal was removed in mid-January of this year.
According to Racine GOP Chairman, Andrew Docksey, the issue was related to “trouble” with their website’s Bloomerang payment portal. Of note is that the very same Bloomerang payment processing feature was fully functioning on their website’s “donate to the party” link. In addition, no alternative means of membership sign-up (such as a PDF) was posted to their website nor was it published on any of their social media platforms. Interestingly enough, the week following the membership form/payment submission deadline to vote in this year’s Racine GOP County Caucus, the membership sign-up/payment portal reappeared in working order.
How were existing members to renew membership? The board mailed a membership form to selected individuals on their existing membership list.
How were new members to sign-up? Per the Racine GOP website, they were instructed to contact them via email or phone. According to numerous individuals, they received no response to their new membership/membership renewal inquiry. - An unfortunate choice of words added to the Bylaws pertaining to membership eligibility.
For those that may be unaware, each Wisconsin county GOP organization must operate by basic rules of functioning; these rules are in the form of a Constitution (outline of the organization’s fundamental principals) and Bylaws (specific procedures for operating). According to the Racine GOP Constitution, proposed changes to the Bylaws may be altered and are immediately effective upon the Bylaw passing by a majority vote of the board.
○ In November of 2021, the following criteria for membership was added to the Bylaw pertaining to the duties and responsibilities of the board’s Membership Committee:
The subjective and ambiguous nature of the language used in the aforementioned Bylaw allows the Membership Committee carte blanche authority to decide what sort of behavior they surmise as “probability of illegal activity” or “highly unethical behavior” or “activity resulting in a conflict of interest.”
- Unscrupulous reasoning provided for the rejection of new membership/membership renewal applications.
It’s important to mention that the Racine GOP Constitution calls for the establishment of a Credentials Committee; in essence, this committee determines if county GOP members are in “good standing” and thus eligible to vote at the annual county caucus. The board’s Treasurer is to be appointed to this committee; in Racine’s case, the Treasurer position is held by Michelle Vos, wife of 63rd Assembly District Representative and Speaker of the House, Robin Vos. Mrs. Vos is also on the Membership Committee (discussed above).
Why is this important?
■ To date, 18 people have stepped forward in frustration upon receiving a new
membership/membership renewal rejection letter from the Racine GOP.
■ Of the 18, 11 people were first time member applicants.
■ Of the 18, 7 people were denied membership renewal.
The majority of the 18 individuals denied new membership/membership renewal received a rejection letter highlighting the portion of the Constitution listing the reason/s for membership rejection or termination. Along with the rejection letter, their completed membership application form was returned with a handwritten note stating, “Contribution Steen” alongside the date of contribution (rejection letter and returned membership form examples are attached). The majority of the 18 individuals denied new membership/membership renewal were said to be in violation of the following:
“Member is no longer considered ‘in good standing’….. if member affiliates with, supports, or declares a preference for a candidate of another party or candidate who is opposed to a candidate nominated or supported by this party.”
There are several fundamental concerns with their above cited reasoning: - Adam Steen nearly won the primary election in August 2022 against career politician, Robin Vos. The message from the Racine GOP couldn’t be more clear— The application of such criteria eliminates nearly half of the conservative Republicans residing in the 63rd district who “dared” to engage in thinking and/or behavior (campaign contributions) not consistent with the party’s values. As a result, they do not belong.
- How do membership standards outlined within the Racine GOP Constitution (and to some extent, the Bylaws) apply to someone who’s never been a party member? Interpretation: How dare he/she break rules they were unaware of in an organization they were not yet a member of!
- The Racine GOP has been notoriously secretive about disclosing their Constitution and Bylaws. Neither document is available on their website, on social media, but perhaps most concerning is that it’s not part of standard correspondence to members (new and existing) to notify them of such organizational rules— failure to provide members these documents prevents them from understanding the structure and internal operations of their own party. How do they break rules when they are unaware such rules exist?
Again, the point must be emphasized that Michelle Vos is involved in membership decisions. This is a clear conflict of interest that should be addressed.
2 In Conclusion:
There are many other conduct issues counter to the proclaimed mission and vision of the Racine GOP, however the purpose of this exposé is to reveal the hurdles set forth by the Racine GOP to deter America First Conservative Republicans from becoming a part of their local Republican party. By the actions outlined above, the Racine GOP has chosen to throttle free-thinking conservatives who do not agree with the egregious decisions made by their board.
What the Racine GOP fails to realize is that their actions have damaged the credibility of the Republican Party as a whole. Their behaviors have alienated grassroots conservatives, donors (current and potential), and those that disagree with the actions of the Racine GOP— in reality, the board’s juvenile conduct serves only to benefit the Democrats.
The circumstances in Racine are alarming and unsettling. Ephesians 5:11 tells us, “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.” We don’t know what will occur at the upcoming March 4th Racine GOP County Caucus, but we are duty-bound by God to continue fighting both for our rights and for what is right. We strive to return Christian defined morals as well as the original intent of our U.S. Constitution to the Racine County Republican Party and reject the moral and constitutional relativism currently infecting our party’s leadership.
Written by a Racine County group of free-thinking America First Conservative Republicans
