It’s time for Wisconsin Right Now’s annual winners and rising stars of 2024. We looked back at the news stories and people who hit the news, and we asked our readers for ideas.
We’ve selected the WRN winners and rising stars of the year:
1. President Donald Trump
What an iconic year! No 2024 winners’ list would be complete without 47. It’s shocking to think about all of the iconic moments Trump created: Fight, fight, fight. The presence of mind to stand bloodied with possible danger still lurking and pump his fist in the air! Working at McDonald’s. THAT mugshot. Driving a garbage truck. Dance memes. He gets the media like no other politician, and he mastered the podcast, while Harris cowered behind her legacy media protectors and teleprompter.
Brilliant.
No other politician on the face of the planet could have survived all of that. They filed 90-plus bogus felony charges against him! Tried to bankrupt him! Gagged him, tied him up in court so he couldn’t campaign, and lied about him.
He survived two assassination attempts and fought against the headwinds of the biased legacy media, which went all in for the very flawed Kamala Harris. News coverage of Hillary was negative, just less negative than news coverage of Trump. News coverage of Harris was overwhelmingly positive.
Buoyed by Biden’s bad economy and open border, Trump persevered. The public admires a survivor, and he turned the attacks into strength. He perceived a need to expand the base and brought cast-out Democrats (RFK Jr., Tulsi, Elon) to his side. His VP pick was masterful, and he is assembling a unique cabinet that indicates he’s playing for keeps.
Marvelous. And remarkable. There will never be another Trump. Enjoy it while it lasts.
2. Elon Musk
Elon Musk has created a free speech space that is changing the world. He’s shattering the legacy media’s stranglehold on the free flow of information. He went all-in for Trump, especially in Pennsylvania, and won.
When Musk paused for 12 seconds and basically told advertisers to go F themselves, he took a huge gamble, but it paid off. He couldn’t be bought, he couldn’t be threatened, and Democrats must now realize it wasn’t a smart play to put a stick in the eye of the world’s richest man.
Musk is now bringing his genius to the cause of governmental efficiency. The visa debate showed that he’s not perfect (who is), but he’s changing society (and he might just colonize Mars.)
Special mention goes to Health and Human Services Secretary Nominee RFK Jr., once falsely reviled as a conspiracy theorist and trashed by his own family.
3. Brian Schimming and the Good Folks at RPW
Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming and the folks at RPW (like Leslie Hubert and executive director Andrew Iverson) deserve their victory dance.
They helped deliver Wisconsin to Trump, defeated Democrats’ gazillion-dollar efforts to take out Congressmen Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil, and helped keep the Assembly red.
Part of the key: a huge early vote effort. RPW launched the first state GOP early vote campaign in the country. The RPW is sending people in the field for the April election already, expanded comms and research and an election integrity position, and kept open Hispanic and black field offices in Milwaukee.
4. The Podcasters
Joe Rogan. Megyn Kelly. Theo Von. It’s the age of the podcast, and these folks helped dictate the results of the presidential election. Kelly, in particular, has triumphed over legacy media attacks and the mishandling of her talent to create a must-watch podcast. There’s no one like Rogan, who helped deliver the “bro vote” and independents.
Special mention to Barron Trump, who apparently told his dad to embrace this strategy. It turns out that people get a different perspective of a candidate like Trump when he’s not being edited into misleading soundbites by biased media. We’re now in the Age of Authenticity.
5. Robin Vos
The Assembly speaker has been hounded by a small cabal of haters, but he won a lot this year. He defeated not one but two recalls. The recalls didn’t just fail; they went down in spectacular flames.
A primary challenger dropped out before the election. Vos defeated both an independent candidate from the right and a Democrat to win his new district in November. He won with 57% of the vote against TWO challengers.
He was re-elected Assembly speaker, becoming the longest-serving Assembly speaker in state history.
While dealing with all of that, the Assembly speaker engineered a strategy to (narrowly) keep legislative control despite being left with no choice but to embrace Gov. Evers’ egregious tonymander. If the Senate flips in two years, Vos’s majority will be the only thing preventing us from becoming Minnesota. He also helped craft strategically placed referendums to boost conservative turnout and made the right choice to endorse President Donald Trump.
Also, Trump decided to leave him alone this year. On top of it all, Vos managed to get rid of DEI in the UW System almost singlehandedly.
Let’s hope the Vos hate dissipates now. It’s wasted energy.
Special mention goes here to the legislators who beat back challenges from well-funded Democrats, such as Jessie Rodriguez and Bob Donovan.
6. Newstalk 1130 AM
#Nielsen #PPM #radio #ratings
August 2024 Top 20 National Share Leaders
Milwaukee's WISN @newstalk1130 has the largest share in the nation for the second consecutive month. pic.twitter.com/nXmea2YLlF— Chris Huff (@HUFF) September 8, 2024
Newstalk 1130 WISN is a powerhouse radio station that has stayed loyal to conservative principles as 620 WTMJ sinks ever more into the anti-Trump and liberal abyss. “Milwaukee’s WISN @newstalk1130 has the largest share in the nation for the second consecutive month,” a radio researcher revealed.
The station is the most listened to radio station in Wisconsin, and it’s critically important to the conservative movement.
On behalf of Mark, Jay, Ben, Dan, Vicki, Dave, Jerry, Paul and Greg, thank you. Here's to an incredible 2025. (Holy Moly, we beat Santa Claus) pic.twitter.com/bxKntTtNXU
— Gregory Jon (@gregoryjon) December 31, 2024
The station, under the strong leadership of Jerry Bott, is transitioning icon Mark Belling to a podcast. The strong farm team has paid off, and WISN moved Dan O’Donnell (another winner of the year) to Belling’s live show and Ben Yount (Ditto) to O’Donnell’s. In addition, Vicki McKenna and Jay Weber round out an exceptional team.
Special mention goes to Meg Ellefson, who continues to expand talk radio into the Wausau area by delivering conservative views with common sense.
7. The Grassroots
There are so many people and groups to mention here; there are so many people who played a role in the great Trump victory!
The Wisconsin Young Republicans are absolutely on fire. They are door-knocking machines.
County party and women’s group leaders like Kathy Kiernan, Sue Lynch, Stephanie Soucek and too many others to mention stepped up. Turning Point and Elon Musk’s PAC came into the state in a big way.
Moms for Liberty’s mama bears lit a fire under the education issue. Groups like Americans for Prosperity got the word out.
8. Ron Johnson’s Illegal Immigration Chart
Ron Johnson’s illegal immigration chart saved the Free World. Enough said. Thank you Ron Johnson’s chart. And, of course, thank you Johnson himself, for making the chart and for being such an indefatigable fighter for conservatives (and Trump) in Wisconsin. We lost count how many times we saw him at grassroots events. The guy was everywhere.
Our favorite Ron Johnson moment was watching him jump for joy when Trump won.
9. Daniel Penny
A liberal DA tried to make an example of the subway hero, but a jury acquitted him, and by nightfall, he was watching college football with Donald Trump. The punishment was the process, but he’s become a symbol of Americans’ changing attitudes toward crime.
10. The Dogs and Cats of Ohio
They weren’t eaten. At least there’s no evidence of it. But the memes elevated the immigration issue, may have contributed to the election of Bernie Moreno for Senate, and helped deliver the country to Donald Trump.
11. The Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty
It’s impossible to overstate the importance of these conservative legal eagles. Rick Esenberg, Lucas Vebber, and Dan Lennington deserve special mention.
WILL fought against discriminatory practices in school districts, hospitals, and government; filed a legal motion to defend Act 10; submitted the fairest legislative maps; fought for religious freedom and choice schools; released comprehensive policy reports; fought to protect the rights of student-athletes, fought for taxpayers, and more. Much more.
12. Wisconsin’s GOP Congressional Delegation
Wisconsin’s Republican Congressmen posted some hard-fought and well-earned victories: Derrick Van Orden and Bryan Steil won re-election against aggressive Democratic challengers. Tom Tiffany absolutely crushed his opponent.
Tony Wied won the Mike Gallagher congressional seat with a boost from President Donald Trump.
13. Milwaukee County Republicans
Milwaukee County posted the highest net gain in votes for President Trump in November. An array of folks can claim some responsibility for that, but a shout-out must go to local GOP chairman Hilario Deleon. In addition, Orlando Owens and his Project Move the Needle helped drum up support for Trump in the inner city.
14. Law Enforcement Leaders Who Elevated the Illegal Immigration Issue
The Prairie du Chien police chief highlighted this trend. When he put out a press release that mentioned the immigration status of an accused criminal in his jurisdiction, the media couldn’t ignore the angle. President Trump and a rally soon followed.
This is a new strategy. Law enforcement can ignite coverage of an angle the media often censor or overlook by highlighting it themselves. Fond du Lac County DA Eric Toney has done the same in criminal complaints in his jurisdiction.
We also would be remiss not to mention the Cochise County Sheriff in Arizona. We had the privilege of going to a briefing and on a ride-along with this Sheriff’s Department at the U.S./Mexico border this fall, and they are one of the most aggressively forward-thinking agencies when it comes to immigration enforcement, a template for others to follow.
15. PreserveMKE
In the wake of the absolute arrogance of Milwaukee Public Museum officials who are determined to destroy a national treasure to build a $240 million modern monstrosity many people don’t want came Preserve Milwaukee, an organic citizens’ group working to save the museum and its legacy. Their mission?
“To build a large and impactful community organization whose goal is the preservation of our Milwaukee Museum as well as our cherished exhibits, which are historical art. To get the actual truth out to the public about the potential destruction/loss of our Milwaukee PUBLIC Museum if nothing changes with MPM, Inc’s leadership and plans. They let everyone know that the loss of our current museum and exhibits is far from a done deal. To force MPM, Inc’s leadership to acknowledge that Milwaukee and Wisconsin citizens have a voice in how our $85 million tax dollars are potentially spent.”
They add: “If (museum CEO) Ellen Censky and her leadership team do not want to run the Milwaukee Public Museum as a History Museum, then Preserve Milwaukee will.”
Kudos to this citizen movement.
Note: The museum officials are on our list of losers of the year. They have currently stopped providing the public with fundraising totals even as they continue to build the new museum.
16. UNC Students
Who can forget the iconic moment when a group of UNC students decided to surround an American flag as pro-Palestinian protests erupted on college campuses?
Heroes.
17. Jay Rothman
It can’t be easy being the UW System President (sorry, but we’re still going to call it the UW System). But Jay Rothman has made progress, most notably by showing concern over political balance in the UW.
Specifically, he developed policies on “expressive activity and institutional neutrality” that seem designed to prevent another debacle like the pro-Palestinian encampments and UW-Milwaukee’s outrageous call for a ceasefire. The Daily Cardinal wrote that Rothman “voiced his hope that these policies will allow students with differing viewpoints to share their opinion” and “focused on boosting primarily conservative speech through past and current UW System initiatives” in a talk to campus conservatives who feel campus hasn’t always been hospitable to their viewpoints.
Rothman also reached a deal with legislative leaders to restructure DEI.
Rothman worked on new initiatives like a direct admit program to increase enrollment, and he is scrutinizing low enrollment programs. Rothman has just made a huge budget ask that may run into Republican opposition in the Legislature, but he’s taken some refreshing stances this year, so he makes our winner’s list.
18. Amy Scott & Bailey Walker
These rising star powerhouses have created a new Moms for Liberty chapter in Waukesha County. We look forward to seeing what this new generation of female leadership can do to get some of those WOW county women back into the conservative fold. Yes, Bailey is Scott Walker’s daughter-in-law!
19. New Conservative District Attorneys
Consider them the opposite of Fani Willis.
In Washington County, a smart, aggressive Republican, Barry Braatz, was elected District Attorney. In Waukesha County, conservative Lesli Boese beat back a challenge from a better-funded John Chisholm donor. In Kenosha, Xavier Solis defeated a candidate affiliated with the old guard who signed the flawed Rittenhouse complaint.
Solis is the first Republican DA in the history of Kenosha County, according to Kenosha County Eye, which quoted him as saying, “Under my leadership, violent criminals, child predators, and corrupt public officials will be held accountable for their actions to the fullest extent of the law. The days of sending serious cases to neighboring DAs for political purposes are over.”
20. The Helpers
Our winners list also includes some people we just believe stepped up to the plate to help their communities and don’t often get the accolades they deserve.
On this list, we honor Brittany Hassler, who runs the Waukesha County Crime And Community Information page, which has proven to be a key source of information for the community. We also honor the intrepid reporter Kevin Mathewson, who runs an independent news source in Kenosha County called Kenosha County Eye. He works hard to hold officials accountable, files open records requests, and recently broke a story on a local school district that went national.
We also would cite the great work done by the non-profit group Brecken’s Blessings, which provides toys to sick children.
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