Brief

Trump calls Vos ‘horrendous RINO’ in recorded robocall on behalf of write-in challenger Steen

By: Henry Redman - November 7, 2022 3:10 pm

ADAM STEEN announces in Burlington, Wisconsin Thursday August 18, 2022 that he will be a write-in candidate in the November general election in his bid to unseat State Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester), the Assembly Speaker. His campaign slogan is “Toss Vos.” He shows Vos campaign literature which he said spread lies about him. Vos, who normally cruises to victory in elections, beat Trump-endorsed Steen who lost by only 260 votes in the August 9 primary. Vos appointed former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman last year to investigate the 2020 election, but said it could not legally be de-certified. Trump then turned on Vos for not doing more to contest the election. Steen entered the race saying Vos is not conservative enough. Vos has consistently endorsed Gableman’s election probe but fired him after the primary election after Gableman endorsed Steen’s candidacy. / Photo © Mark Hertzberg. Not for reuse.

Former President Donald Trump is again attempting to oust Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) from his seat in the Legislature.

In the days before the Nov. 8 midterm election, Trump recorded a robocall on behalf of Adam Steen in which Trump calls Vos a “horrendous RINO,” (the acronym stands for Republican In Name Only). Steen, who lost to Vos in a tightly contested primary race in August, is mounting a write-in campaign against the speaker.

In the robocall, Trump calls Vos “an absolute disaster” before going on to say that “Vos has really let you down on voter integrity and just about everything else.”

Steen’s campaign has largely focused on disproven claims of election fraud and calls to restore “election integrity.” Steen’s acceptance of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election in the face of Vos’ refusal to give in to Republican demands to decertify Wisconsin’s 2020 results, led Trump to attempt to tip the scales in the primary race by endorsing Steen.

Multiple recounts, lawsuits, audits and investigations have affirmed that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

Vos, the longest serving speaker in state history, has been leading the Assembly since 2013. His historically tight grip on the reins of the Republican caucus has loosened in recent years as the farthest right-wing members of the body have advocated for more extreme responses to their election conspiracies.

Ahead of the August primary, Trump, Steen and former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman (who had been leading a widely criticized review of the 2020 election) appeared at a rally together to push for Vos’ defeat.

After Vos won by less than 300 votes, Steen continued campaigning. In an electoral oddity, Burlington Alder Joel Jacobsen, a Democrat, also launched his own write-in campaign after Democrats failed to run anyone against Vos. Jacobsen challenged Vos in the previous two elections but failed to come close to unseating him.

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Henry Redman

Henry Redman is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner who focuses on covering Wisconsin's towns and rural areas. He previously covered crime and courts at the Daily Jefferson County Union. A lifelong Midwesterner, he was born in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in journalism in May 2019.