State GOP Convention Will Include Vote On Wisconsin’s Right To Secede

When Republicans convene for their annual state convention next month, they’ll be asked to vote on a resolution that would assert Wisconsin’s right to secede from the United States.

The resolution would say the state Republican Party supports legislation that upholds Wisconsin’s right, under extreme circumstances, to secede. While a state political party’s resolution for or against any position is hardly binding, it is very much symbolic.

This particular symbolic vote will take place at a convention where Republicans will formally nominate Gov. Scott Walker for a second term in office. Asked about the vote, Walker said it was the kind of resolution that sometimes gets brought up at a state convention.

“Both Democrat and Republican activists often have a variety of different issues they debate at caucuses and conventions,” said Walker. “Many of them are mainstream things. Other ones, like this one, are probably a bit off from where a lot of Republican elected officials like myself are at.”

State Democratic Party Spokesperson Melissa Baldauff said the fact that a resolution like this could even get a vote at a state party convention said a lot about Republicans.

“I think that it shows the true priorities of Scott Walker’s Republican Party,” said Baldauff. “You know, they’re not focused on jobs or education, and they’re more interested in pandering to a very extreme right wing faction of their party.”

Baldauff said it wasn’t much different than other issues where Republicans are out of the mainstream, including marriage equality and raising the minimum wage.