Bice: State GOP names new top staffer

Things are a lot easier in politics when you win.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brad Courtney recently won another term in a unanimous vote, and he is expected to name Mark Morgan as the party's new executive director in charge of day-to-day operations, a party spokesman confirmed. Morgan will replace Mike Duffey, who was recently named to President-elect Donald Trump's national security team at the Pentagon.

This year, Morgan served as both the political director for the state GOP and as the Republican National Committee's state director in Wisconsin. Before that, he had been the party's deputy political director during the 2014 election cycle. He has also worked on a number of GOP campaigns and at the Legislature.

State Democrats, who endured a disastrous election cycle, also recently through some changes at the top. The party's executive director, Kory Kozloski, announced he was leaving his job. Democratic Party Chairwoman Martha Laning then pushed through a vote to replace him with Jason Sidener, a labor official with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 32 in Madison.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.