Trump’s power struggle with local Republicans hits Wisconsin: What to watch in Tuesday’s elections

Former President Donald Trump and his one-time second-in-command, Mike Pence, are lined up on opposite sides of a contentious GOP gubernatorial primary that pits the former president against much of the state’s Republican machine.

It’s the same dynamic this week in Wisconsin as last week in Arizona. Now, Trump-backed businessman Tim Michels and former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch are locked in a tight battle ahead of Tuesday’s primary to face Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, in November.

Kleefisch not only has the support of Pence, but of former Gov. Scott Walker, her former boss. And in another primary, Trump is also targeting state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the powerful and long-tenured state legislative leader who blessed a partisan investigation of the 2020 election, over Vos’ refusal to entertain the fanciful and legally impossible notion of “decertifying” the 2020 results.

The Wisconsin primaries highlight an action-packed slate of elections that include a special election for a red-leaning House seat in Minnesota and the primary for an open House seat in Vermont, where dueling wings in the Democratic Party are competing to send the state’s first woman to Congress.

Here is what to watch on Tuesday.