“And In This Corner...”

Wolfe Impeachment, Our Mission, and Member Survey

Russ Otten, RPSC Chair

10/29/23

Fellow RPSC Members and Patriots,

I named this column "And in This Corner...." when I first became RPSC Chair because we are in a fight for the soul of this county, state, and nation. Some of us are natural fighters. Most of us are reluctant to fight but will if pushed to the edge. We are at that edge!

Let's start with the fight going on in Madison over whether or not to impeach the top election official in Wisconsin, Meagan Wolfe. She is the one who directed and allowed clerks to take illegal actions during the 2020 Presidential election, with Joe Biden being declared the winner. All of her actions have been well documented. Wolfe's term ended on June 30; yet, she has remained in her position. It will now take the Assembly (Republican majority) and the Senate (Republican majority) to impeach her. However, our own Assembly members, Rep. Amy Binsfeld and Rep. Terry Katsma, are unwilling to put pressure on Assembly Leader Robin Vos to call a vote on an impeachment resolution co-sponsored by our own Assembly member, Rep. Ty Bodden.

On Tuesday, October 24, the HQ was packed to hear former WI Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman clearly lay out that Wolfe's impeachment is not only necessary but can be easily accomplished if Vos will act. In essence, Justice Gableman stated that a simple majority of the Assembly is needed. Vos has the votes but refuses to call for the vote. The Senate already took a straw poll and voted 22-11 to impeach Wolfe. So, they have the super-majority (2/3) to make this happen. Justice Gableman destroyed several of Vos's excuses for his inaction, including that a current lawsuit filed by Wolfe is an obstacle. The lawsuit has nothing to do with moving forward with impeachment! (Justice Gableman, Rep. Bodden, and former Rep. Tim Ramthun received long ovations for their fight in this war!)

Rep. Binsfeld and Rep. Katsma have long said that they support restoring election integrity. Yet, they are doing nothing to push for the impeachment of Wisconsin's top election official, thus allowing her to stay in office and be in charge of the 2024 Presidential election! They are Republicans who we elected to uphold the foundation of our Republic - free and fair elections! At this most critical moment, when Wisconsin will possibly determine our next president, is it too much to ask Rep. Binsfeld and Rep. Katsma to do their jobs by impeaching the corrupt Wolfe? There are only two camps in this fight. In which camp are they?

Let's move on to the battle within the RPSC. For many of you, this comes as news. But it is time to deal with it openly and directly. When you elected me as Chair in February, 2022, I laid out a new mission: To elect patriots to local offices and to those offices that represent us in Madison and then hold them accountable. In nearly two years, I have never wavered from that mission. (Just look at what I wrote above!) There is a small group of detractors that wants that mission changed. They don't like it when our legislators are challenged at Executive Committee meetings. They would rather have them give a brief report and move on. Some legislators stopped attending because they do not want to defend their actions/inactions in Madison. One legislator has never attended since I became Chair.

A few people have told me that it is the Chair's job to keep the Party unified and that this should be the new mission of the RPSC. For many years, there was unity within the membership because Patriots refused to join. So, before I was elected Chair, I reached out to various Patriot groups and assured them that the Party would be their home. They joined. In fact, so many joined that the membership doubled in just one year. I am one of those Patriot Republicans and would love to continue growing the Party. We have great open discussions and disagreements. And, yes, we hold our legislators accountable. The discourse is necessary to create the unity we all desire. However, our strong platform cannot and will not be sacrificed for the sake of unity. I welcome dissent. But I also expect that our disagreements, after shared, will result in legislators joining us, not separating from us, in this fight against socialism at every level.

Finally, the RPSC Executive Committee voted to send out a member survey to gauge views about certain issues and to take the pulse of the membership. It included several questions about the RPSC mission and my leadership. About 30% of members completed and submitted their surveys. Nearly 70% like the mission. And since the mission was not officially voted on by the members, 85% said it should be. I agree and will include that vote at the next caucus in February. Several used the survey to strongly disagree with my leadership. I accept the criticism and will use it to make the Party stronger. I find it ironic, though, that the same small group calling for unity is bent on thwarting the will of the members who unanimously re-elected me in February.

I conclude by inviting non-members to view the attached membership survey results which will be discussed at our next Executive Committee meeting at 7:00PM on Monday, November 13, at the HQ. My hope is that you will be inspired to join the RPSC that night, have a voice, and take an active role in winning local elections and holding our legislators accountable.

God bless you all!

Russ Otten, RPSC Chair
(920)207-3894