Attorney General Brad Schimel this week suggested Donald Trump won Wisconsin in 2016 because the state had its voter ID law in place.
His comments drew a rebuke from liberals, who said they saw it as an admission by the Republican attorney general that the voter ID law suppresses Democratic turnout.
Voter ID is expected to play a prominent role in Schimel’s re-election bid. He has fought in court to keep the law in place and his opponent, Josh Kaul, is the lead attorney challenging it and a host of other election laws.
“We battled to get voter ID on the ballot for the November ’16 election,” Schimel told conservative host Vicki McKenna on WISN (1130 AM) on Thursday.
“How many of your listeners really honestly are sure that Senator (Ron) Johnson was going to win re-election or President Trump was going to win Wisconsin if we didn’t have voter ID to keep Wisconsin’s elections clean and honest and have integrity?”
Kaul represents two liberal groups in the lawsuit, One Wisconsin Institute and Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund. One Wisconsin’s Scot Ross called Schimel’s comments a “shocking admission.”