WAUPUN — Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop stated he has decided against participating in the Republican primary for this year’s gubernatorial election, but has not ruled out a campaign in the future.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday that Mayor Bishop was considering joining the Republican primary for Wisconsin Governor, following some comments he gave about his opinions on the primary.
These comments included concerns about whether Tom Tiffany, a current sitting Congressman, could be elected to a statewide office due to the historical poor track record for Congressmen running for Wisconsin Governor.
The article also quoted Bishop as saying, “it has to be an election and Wisconsin issues, and Wisconsin’s future. To win, Republicans have to get younger and tackle issues that are affecting Wisconsinites’ day to day lives. Washington has failed us. So why not a small city Mayor, who answers his own emails and texts.”
Bishop previously ran for Wisconsin Secretary of State in 2014, but withdrew before the primary.
Bishop is a long-time conservative proponent, having been involved in Republican politics since 2009. He previously served as Chairman of the Fond du Lac County Republican Party and currently serves as Vice Chair. He has also served as Mayor of Waupun since 2022, and is currently running for his third term unopposed in April.
A statement was provided to Waupun Pioneer News with more thoughts on the governor’s race, which can be found below:
Rohn W. Bishop
3/5/26
I was recently contacted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about my opinions on the Republican primary for the Wisconsin governor’s race. Since then, I have been asked several times if I am going to run for governor this election cycle, and the answer is probably not.
I have been on and off thinking about it since the GOP underperformed in 2022, so I answered honestly. Sometimes that gets me in trouble, but I am frustrated with Republican results in Wisconsin since 2018 and I thought we could do better.
I have heard from nice folks from all over who have been supportive, and from others who were not and even threatening about it. I looked at running an unconventional campaign sprint, appealing to Republican voters—not just the involved, but Republicans who don’t spend their Saturdays at caucus, etc. Being that it’s already March, and the primary is in August, it would’ve been a short sprint.
I also feel the small cities are often overlooked by Madison. Democrats are predominately from large cities, and Republicans from rural areas. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s not a lot of people with experience running a small city in the state government. And, as you know, corrections is important to Waupun. Corrections isn’t a sexy issue, so it’s often overlooked even though it’s the second largest agency in the budget. When WCI was in the news, we had to educate both parties as to why Waupun wanted to save our prison, the difficult work our officers do, and that part of public safety is keeping us safe by keeping bad guys locked up. Too many elected officials view prisons as out of sight, out of mind, and our correctional staff were disrespected for too long. I have been heartwarmed by the support I have heard from correctional employees.
When you’re mayor of a small city, you answer your own emails, calls, texts, etc. And you can’t blame the other party for failure; you have to come up with solutions, or voters will find someone else who will. And Waupun has been a leader on the issue of childcare, we’re consistently one of Wisconsin’s safest cities, and doing things the “Waupun Way” we offer good services while being fiscally responsible with the taxpayer’s money. I still believe the Waupun Way could be the “Wisconsin Way”.
Finally, I have heard from people who are supportive but say wait for a future election cycle. And considering the new mayoral term is now a three-year term, it’s probably really good advice to just wait until a future election cycle.
Rohn W. Bishop
