Gov. Walker to address local Republicans at annual dinner

A message of optimism from La Crosse County Republican Party chair, Bill Feehan.

He expects to hear from Gov. Scott Walker tonight at the party’s annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Radisson in La Crosse..

Walker will speak to over 100 party members and hopefully generate some enthusiasm.

“Republicans are in control,” Feehan said. “Democrats don’t like it a whole lot. We’ve seen the results of their intensity in early elections. My message to Republicans is, ‘Don’t be complacent.’ We’re going to have to work harder than we’ve ever worked to keep our majorities.”

Feehan sees good reason for Walker to talk up the party.

“I think it’s safe to say the Republican Party is Scott Walker’s party,” he said. “The reforms that Walker and the Republicans put into place have led our state to being very prosperous.”

The Lincoln Day Dinner fundraiser is also an opportunity for members to give their opinion on GOP senate candidates Leah Vukmir and Kevin Nicholson through a straw poll.

It’s an unofficial ballot but it will offer some insight into who local party members like as their choice to run against Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin in the fall.

The two Republican candidates did end a debate Thursday with a heated back and forth (read here).