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Wisconsin election conspiracy theorist running for governor

By: Associated Press//February 10, 2022//

Wisconsin election conspiracy theorist running for governor

By: Associated Press//February 10, 2022//

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By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A state lawmaker who has won praise from former President Donald Trump for his attempts to illegally reverse President Joe Biden’s win in Wisconsin filed paperwork Thursday to run for governor, a move that would shake up the Republican primary.

State Rep. Timothy Ramthun, a conspiracy theorist who was also disciplined last month by Republican leadership over false election claims, filed paperwork with the state creating a gubernatorial campaign committee on Thursday. The move came after his campaign website was up briefly on Wednesday before being taken down after he was contacted by news outlets.

Ramthun did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday. He planned an event Saturday to officially launch his campaign.

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, also a purveyor of false claims that Trump won the 2020 election, is endorsing Ramthun in the race.

“He’s going to win — 100%. It’s not even going to be close,” Ramthun told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We’re going to get rid of the (voting) machines. In Wisconsin, and nationwide, we’re going county by county. And when you do that, now you’re going to have elections that people get one person one vote.”

Ramthun attended a symposium last year in South Dakota hosted by Lindell where election conspiracy theories were discussed. Michael Gableman, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who is leading an ongoing investigation into the 2020 election, was at the same meeting.

Ramthun has called on the Legislature to rescind Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes that were awarded to Biden, a move that Republican leaders and nonpartisan attorneys for the Legislature have repeatedly said is illegal.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos last month removed Ramthun of his only full-time staffer after Vos said Ramthun falsely accused Vos of signing a deal with attorneys for former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to authorize absentee ballot drop boxes.

Ramthun joins former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and former U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson in the GOP primary. Nicholson is running as an outsider candidate, much like Ramthun who has been the leading Republican voice in the Statehouse in trying to overturn Biden’s win.

Kleefisch and Nicholson’s campaigns did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The winner of the Aug. 9 primary will advance to take on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. The race is a top priority for both parties given swing state Wisconsin’s importance in the 2024 presidential race.

Republicans who control the Legislature are fast-tracking a host of bills changing election administration and voting rules, all of which Evers is all-but certain to veto but that other Republican candidates for governor support.

Evers has been running as a defender of democracy and the only thing standing between Republicans and an overhaul of the state’s election system before the next presidential election.

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