Mark Jefferson has heard the complaints. He understands them and, quite frankly, he agrees with many of them. Now the newly reappointed executive director of the Republican Party Wisconsin is working on remedying them.
Jefferson, who previously served as executive director from 2007 to 2011, was announced as Mark Morgan's replacement on Wednesday. On Thursday, he joined Dan O'Donnell to discuss the future of the GOP in both the short and long-term.
In the short term, he pledged to work on firing up conservative grassroots activists and leaders ahead of April's Wisconsin Supreme Court election to avoid a repeat of last year's debacle.
"Everybody has their lane and the best lane that the Republican Party has is the grassroots activation," he said. "We're the one entity that can get people off the couch and knocking on doors and making phone calls."
The Supreme Court race is nonpartisan, but both the Republican and Democratic Parties have always campaigned on behalf of their preferred candidates. Last year, the GOP was heavily criticized for what was perceived to be complacency in Michael Screnock's loss to Justice Rebecca Dallet.
This year, Jefferson is promising a big change in the Supreme Court race and in every contested race moving forward. Hear his specific plans in Dan O'Donnell's wide-ranging interview: