Wisconsin’s 10 GOP electors formally cast votes for Donald Trump, JD Vance

Wisconsin’s 10 GOP electors formally cast their votes for President-elect Donald Trump Tuesday, a ceremonial step that came under a spotlight four years ago when a different group of Republicans cast fake electoral ballots.

Trump won Wisconsin’s 2024 election by 29,397 votes according to official results that were certified by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. His defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris marked the third presidential election in a row in Wisconsin that was decided by a margin of less than 1 percentage point.

Under a process laid out in the U.S. Constitution, states around the country met Tuesday to finalize their votes for Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance through the Electoral College.

“This is a historic moment,” Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming told reporters after the vote. “We put a maximum, maximum effort into winning this state for Donald Trump and JD Vance.”

Congress will count states’ electoral votes on Jan. 6, 2025, four years to the day after the same process led to a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.

That year, fueled by Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election, Republicans sent slates of false electors to Congress. While the step was initially described as a means of preserving Trump’s legal options, key figures in his campaign continued to push the scheme until Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the Capitol and forced Congress to delay its vote until later that night after authorities secured the building.

In Wisconsin, the 10 Republicans who posed as electors in 2020 settled a lawsuit last year in which they admitted their actions were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.” They also agreed they will not serve as presidential electors in future elections featuring Trump.

The slate of electors who met Tuesday in a state Capitol hearing room was composed of 10 new Republicans, including Schimming, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney and state Rep. Angie Sapik, R-Lake Nebagamon. Rounding out the list of electors were Katie Verzal, Julie Helmer, Hannah Testin, Doug Haag and Jim Schildback, who are all members of the state Republican Party’s executive committee, and Charlotte Rasmussen, a past delegate to the Republican National Convention who has been active with the Wisconsin Federation of Republican Women.

The dispute over the 2020 false electors is ongoing. In June, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, filed criminal charges against Trump campaign attorneys Jim Troupis and Kenneth Chesebro, as well as political operative Michael Roman, for their role in the scheme.

Kaul added 10 felony counts to the criminal charges earlier this month, alleging they committed fraud when they lied to the Wisconsin Republicans who signed fake elector documents at the state Capitol on Dec. 14, 2020. Troupis, who has spent decades working for Wisconsin Republicans, made his initial appearance in court last week.

Asked by reporters what he thought about the felony charges, Thompson said it was time to move on.

“Isn’t it about time to turn the page?” Thompson said. “I mean, we can fight over the election of 2020 for the next four years. What does it get us?”

Trump and his most outspoken allies have spent the past four years disputing the 2020 election, with Trump regularly making false assertions that he won the race. The 2024 election was far less dramatic with Harris conceding the race the day after the election and Biden welcoming Trump to the White House a week later.

While Tuesday’s meeting was — by the letter of the law — a significant step, the meeting carried out more like a formality. It was held in a hearing room where state legislators normally meet to discuss the state budget. Most seats were empty. Those who gathered included friends and family of the electors as well as some elected officials who showed up to watch. The crowd applauded when the electoral votes were cast. There were no protests.

Thompson, who was elected governor four times and served as a cabinet secretary under former President George W. Bush, said this was his first time serving as an elector. He conceded, to some chuckles in the room, that the general public is unaware of the importance of electors.

“It’s quite an honor to be able to be one of 10,” Thompson said. “And hardly anybody understands what we did.”