POLITICS

Top Assembly Republican comes around to Trump

Jason Stein
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison — The top Republican in the Assembly is warming to Donald Trump after saying last month he was "embarassed" by his party's presidential nominee.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said Thursday that he had been prepared for Trump to be a drag on state GOP Assembly candidates but is finding that's not the case

"Frankly, it's exactly the opposite, which I never would have predicted," Vos said. "We see all across the state that Donald Trump is actually a benefit to our candidates in competitive races."

Republicans argue that Trump does best in the rural Wisconsin districts where most of Wisconsin's competitive legislative districts are now found. Though Trump has struggled in Wisconsin in both Democratic cities and suburbs with college-educated Republicans, these districts are much less competitive in legislative races so the impact is blunted.

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Speaking at a luncheon held by the website WisPolitics, Vos said that he believed Republicans would hold on to most or all of their 63 seats in the 99-member Assembly, despite the fact that some of those districts include traditionally Democratic areas of the state.

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) dismissed that, saying he believed his party would make gains in November over its low number of 36 seats.

"I feel quite confident we'll be coming back with more seats," Barca said.

After Trump criticized U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Janesville Republican, last month, Vos sharply returned the criticism, saying that he was "embarrassed that (Trump) is leading our ticket.

But Vos said that he had since put aside those feelings because Trump had subsequently endorsed Ryan and because it was important for Republicans to oppose Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.