MADISON – A Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission under fire from members of his own party for refusing to entertain former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud stunned his colleagues Wednesday by resigning from the oversight board and blasting the GOP's continued focus on 2020 election distortions.
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.
"Unfortunately, his close advisers didn't have the courage to...
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