Former Vice President Mike Pence is squaring off Tuesday against his old boss, President Trump, in a proxy battle of their endorsed rival candidates in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial Republican primary.
Mr. Pence is backing former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, and Mr. Trump has endorsed construction company owner Tim Michels. An Emerson College poll last week showed Ms. Kleefisch with a 2 percentage point lead — a statistical tie.
Wisconsin is a battleground state that will likely play an important role again in the 2024 presidential election. Mr. Trump, who is weighing a third run for the White House, has repeatedly criticized state officials for failing to address his claims of a stolen election in 2020.
The high-profile primary in Wisconsin is among several contests Tuesday. Voters also will go to the polls in Vermont, Connecticut and Minnesota to pick candidates for November ballots.
Minnesota also will hold a special election to fill a U.S. House seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a Republican who succumbed to kidney cancer in February.
The Republican battle for governor in Wisconsin pits Mr. Trump squarely against Mr. Pence. Mr. Trump has called Mr. Pence cowardly for failing to help him challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joseph R. Biden.
Mr. Trump has all but dismissed Mr. Pence as a running mate if he does make a bid for a second term.
It’s the second time this month that candidates endorsed by the former president and vice president have faced off.
In the Arizona gubernatorial primary last week, Mr. Trump’s pick, former news anchor Kari Lake, prevailed against Pence-endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson, who was considered the establishment candidate.
Mr. Pence, who has criticized Mr. Trump indirectly since the two left office for focusing too much on the past, is backing the establishment candidate in Wisconsin. He described Ms. Kleefisch as “a proven conservative” and “the only candidate that will deliver a stronger and more prosperous Wisconsin.”
Ms. Kleefisch also has the support of former Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican. Mr. Pence campaigned in Wisconsin for Ms. Kleefisch on Aug. 3.
Mr. Trump went to Wisconsin two days after Mr. Pence and held a rally for Mr. Michels at the Waukesha County fairgrounds. The former president said Ms. Kleefisch is too weak as a candidate to defeat Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat.
“Evers is close to incompetent, but he’s going to win if he runs against Rebecca,” said Mr. Trump, who frequently touts the power of his endorsements. This year, he has a success rate of more than 92% in Republican primaries.
A survey of 900 Republican primary voters taken Aug. 3-5 by Emerson College Polling showed Ms. Kleefisch leading Mr. Michels by a margin of 41% to 39%.
According to the survey, 39% of Republican voters said Mr. Trump’s endorsement “makes them more likely to support a candidate,” compared with 11% who said they were less likely to support a Trump-endorsed candidate. About half of Republican primary voters, 49%, said Mr. Trump’s endorsement “made no difference.”
Mr. Trump has also waded into the statehouse primary in Wisconsin. He has endorsed Adam Steen, who is vying to defeat state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
Mr. Trump has criticized Mr. Vos for refusing to allow the Legislature to vote on decertifying the 2020 presidential election results that narrowly favored Mr. Biden.
The former president hammered Wisconsin’s top Republican even after Mr. Vos ordered an investigation into the state’s 2020 election process, which Mr. Trump says was rigged.
Both parties will be watching Tuesday’s results in Minnesota, where Republican farmer Brad Finstad is considered the front-runner in a special election to replace the seat left vacant by the death of Mr. Hagedorn. He faces off against retired Hormel Foods CEO and Democrat Jeff Ettinger.
Some analysts are watching the race for fresh indications of whether the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade is motivating Democrats to go to the polls.
Democrats were buoyed by the Aug. 2 referendum in Kansas, where voters soundly defeated a constitutional amendment that would have allowed the Legislature to ban abortions in the state.
Some believe the high court ruling will help Democratic candidates in other races across the nation and perhaps save the party from a Republican “red wave” that many analysts have predicted.
In Minnesota, Mr. Finstad is favored to win, “but the margin could offer clues as to whether Democrats have closed the ‘enthusiasm gap’” since the Supreme Court decision in June, said Dave Wasserman, senior editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
In Vermont, where a Democrat is strongly favored to win the at-large House seat in November, voters will pick from three Democratic candidates: state Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, Lt. Gov. Molly Gray and physician Louis Meyers.
The favored candidates are Ms. Balint, a liberal, and Ms. Gray, a centrist, which means Vermont is poised to send the first woman to represent the state in the U.S. House.
In Connecticut’s GOP primary to take on Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the party has endorsed former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides. She’s a social moderate who supports abortion rights and certain gun control measures and says she did not vote for Mr. Trump in 2020.
Ms. Klarides contends her experience and positions can persuade voters to oppose Mr. Blumenthal, a two-term senator who in May registered a 45% job approval rating, his lowest in a Quinnipiac poll since taking office.
Ms. Klarides is being challenged by conservative attorney Peter Lumaj and Republican National Committee member Leora Levy, whom Mr. Trump endorsed last week. Both candidates oppose abortion rights and further gun restrictions, and they back Mr. Trump’s policies.
• This article is based in part on wire-service reports.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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