A Wisconsin Republican running for Congress just publicly trashed his own party’s gubernatorial nominee for skipping a national GOP convention in Texas, exposing fresh cracks in the state party as it heads into a tense midterm cycle.
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Tiffany, who’s running for Wisconsin governor, is staying home from the gathering instead of a full slate of in-state campaign stops. But 26-year-old Michael Alfonso, seeking to fill Tiffany’s vacated congressional seat, didn’t hold back when a voter pressed him on it at a Dallas convention event, the Milwaukee Courier reported on Wednesday.
“If they don’t come out to support the president, then why should we support them?” the voter asked Alfonso, according to audio obtained by the Courier.
Alfonso didn’t defend his fellow Republican.
“It’s a good question. It’s too important this year to have hurt feelings. They’re making the wrong decision,” Alfonso said.
The dust-up highlights a broader tension simmering inside Wisconsin’s GOP: some see Tiffany’s absence as a calculated move to put distance between himself and an increasingly unpopular President Trump ahead of a competitive governor’s race, while Trump loyalists like Alfonso view any perceived snub of the president as unacceptable.
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Alfonso, who won his primary by 22 points despite facing criticism over his relative inexperience and family ties (his father-in-law is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the seat’s previous occupant), has closely aligned himself with Trump throughout his campaign, even accepting donations from a contractor tied to Washington’s botched Reflecting Pool renovation project.
Tiffany, for his part, insisted the absence was purely logistical, pointing to a statewide swing that includes stops in Madison, Wausau, Green Bay and beyond.
“Starting right here in Milwaukee, we’re going to be covering the entire state,” Tiffany said. “We got meetings going on everywhere. So unfortunately I’ll not be able to attend.”
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Neither campaign responded to requests for comment on the growing rift.
