State Rep. Peter Schmidt, R-Bonduel, will not be supported by the Shawano County Republican Party in a bid for reelection in 2024.
In a statement issued March 20 by the party, GOP leaders said the censure of Schmidt taken at its 2023 caucus remains in effect due to Schmidt’s lack of transparency about his personal life prior to the 2022 primary.
Days after the primary, it was revealed that Schmidt had been the victim of a blackmail attempt by a worker on his family farm, who had a video of Schmidt performing oral sex on another man.
The same week, another story came to light in which Schmidt had been charged with a felony for choking another worker on his farm but had pleaded it down to a misdemeanor.
The Republican Party of Brown County Candidate Committee did not support Schmidt in 2022 following its vetting process. Shawano County did not have a candidate vetting committee in 2022.
However, Schmidt did appear before the Shawano County Executive Committee several times in 2022 but did not reveal information on the blackmail or choking cases.
This lack of transparency resulted in Shawano County supporting a write-in candidate in 2022.
In the 2022 general election, Schmidt defeated Democrat William Switalla and Republican write-in candidate Dean Neubert. Schmidt collected 14,710 (55.6%) votes, compared to 7,694 (29.1%) for Switalla and 4,050 (15.3%) for Neubert.
Party leaders said the censure will remain in effect until it is formally repealed.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
Shawano County GOP’s censure of Schmidt still stands
