A Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission under fire from members of his own party for refusing to entertain 2020 election distortions stunned his colleagues Wednesday by announcing his resignation from the oversight board and blasting the GOP’s continued focus on former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.
Dean Knudson, a former state lawmaker who helped design the commission in 2015, said he was leaving the commission because it has become clear “I cannot be effective in my role representing Republicans on the commission.”
His announced departure pushed the commissioners to delay the election of their next chair.
“I’ll put my conservative record up against anyone in the state of Wisconsin, and yet, now I’ve been branded a RINO,” Knudson said at a meeting Wednesday, referring to an acronym that represents “Republicans In Name Only” — a nickname applied by 2020 election deniers to Republicans who acknowledge Trump lost to President Joe Biden.
“Two of my core values are to practice service above self and to display personal integrity. And to me, that integrity demands acknowledging the truth even when the truth is painful. In this case, the painful truth is that President Trump lost the election in 2020 — lost the election in Wisconsin in 2020. And the loss was not due to election fraud.”
Knudson said instances of voter fraud occur in every election but not at a large scale.
Knudson said he would leave the commission as soon as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who appointed Knudson in 2017, named his replacement. A spokeswoman for Vos did not answer questions about the process.
Vos has called for the resignation of the Wisconsin Elections Commission director and has claimed widespread voter fraud manipulated the outcome of the 2020 election.
In 2021, he hired former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to begin a $676,000 taxpayer-funded review of the 2020 election that has focused heavily on WEC practices and suggesting foul play without evidence.
Now, as the commission has become a symbol of baseless claims of fraud to Republicans who deny Trump’s legitimate election loss, all four Republican candidates for governor want to abolish the commission altogether and most want to put its duties in a partisan office.
“My message to Republicans today is simple. If you’re a candidate focus on the issues that affect Wisconsin families and their pocketbooks. It’s time to pivot away from conspiracy theories to kitchen table issues,” Knudson said.