Wisconsin U.S. Senate race: Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir trade verbal jabs on talk radio

The increasingly acrimonious Republican Party primary for U.S. Senate has spilled over to the airwaves this week with Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir trading verbal jabs on talk radio.

One day after Nicholson appeared to dismiss the endorsements Vukmir has received from top Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan and U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Vukmir went on air Wednesday to defend the party's senior leaders.

"What the grassroots in Wisconsin can't understand ... why is Kevin not complimentary of our conservative accomplishments, what we've achieved here in Wisconsin," Vukmir said.

Vukmir and Nicholson are vying for the nomination in the Aug. 4 primary, with the winner to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

The interviews were conducted by Dan O'Donnell of WISN-AM (1130).

Vukmir is the endorsed GOP candidate, winning the backing of 73% of the delegates at the state party convention. She has also been endorsed by many of the state's elected Republican officials, including four House members: Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Sean Duffy and Glenn Grothman.

During his Tuesday interview with Nicholson, O'Donnell pointed out the endorsements Vukmir received from the GOP leaders as well as backing from Gov. Scott Walker's family. The governor hasn't endorsed in the race and has promised to support the winner of the primary.

"Look, I'm the outside candidate, Dan," Nicholson said. "If you needed any verification, you got it. I could not be more comfortable with the way this race is breaking down. Look, I am not of the political class. And boy, does the political class know it and does the political class fear it."

"And rightfully so. I'm going to call them to account for all their many failings for the things they have not gotten done in Washington, which is pretty much any kind of solution to our spending problems," he said.

Later in the interview, Nicholson said: "If you want an establishment politician who is part of the inside class who is obviously trying to protect themselves as best they can from the citizenry, boy, don't vote for me."

He said he wasn't going to Washington to become part of the political class, adding, "The other members of the delegation, they can be nervous about this all they want but I'm not going there to be their friend."

On Wednesday, Vukmir said that Nicholson "can't have it both ways." She claimed Nicholson condemned Walker, her and her colleagues as insiders while also touting endorsements he has received from U.S. Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah.

Nicholson did not mention the governor in the Tuesday interview.

Vukmir was asked by O'Donnell if Nicholson had made a point that politicians who know each other simply endorse their friends.

"What that shows is he clearly doesn't understand Wisconsin, Wisconsin politics and let's face it, he hasn't lived here his whole life as I have," she said.

Nicholson, born in Milwaukee, attended the University of Minnesota and was in the U.S. Marine Corps and attended graduate school before returning to Wisconsin.

"My opponent can continue to dismiss my record, the governor's record," she said. "But it's not sticking."

Tuesday's launch of an ad by a pro-Vukmir group called Wisconsin Next PAC continues to reverberate in the campaign. The ad focused on Nicholson's past support for abortion rights at the 2000 Democratic National Convention, where he spoke as president of the College Democrats of America.

"President Trump needs an ally he can trust in the U.S. Senate. That's not Kevin Nicholson," a narrator said in the ad.

On Wednesday, an arm of the national Club for Growth, which has endorsed Nicholson, launched an ad touting him as a Marine veteran, outsider and conservative.

"President Trump needs fighters in the Senate," the ad said. "Fighters like Kevin Nicholson."