Wisconsin Democrats were in for a shock this week after their Democratic Party chair, Ben Wikler, finally stepped down.

The known figure in the local party has been under the spotlight's harsh clow since he was credited with tampering with the scale for Wisconsin's swing to the right in November, as The Hill reported.

According to recent reports, Wikler will remain in the position long enough to complete the remainder of his term before resigning when the state party announces his replacement in June.

The announcement comes following a tumultuous few months for the state when it comes to politics.

The Local DNC

Wikler recently lost the bid for chair of the National Democratic Committee as the party faces diminishing power in Washington, D.C., and an adversarial president in the Oval Office.

During his campaign for the position, Wikler argued that the agenda of President Donald Trump has put the country in a "moment of crisis" and that the state leadership has the opportunity to explore other options.

“I want to think through how I can contribute to communicating, to organizing, to building the kinds of coalitions that can make the difference here,” he said.

“I don’t exactly know what form that will take yet, but I know that there’s more than enough work to go around to build a movement that can get us out of this moment of crisis.”

The Future and the Past

When asked about his intentions to run for office on a national or even state level, he declined.

“Right now, I want to spend some time with my family and think about how we communicate and organize to contain the damage of this administration and how we lay the groundwork for something better, once the folks who are creating this crisis are out of power,” he said.

Since becoming state party chair in 2019, Wikler has led a party reform after the 2016 election which saw the collapse of the Midwestern “blue wall” and the loss of stalwart Democratic states like Wisconsin to Trump.

Wikler transformed the state party into a fundraising powerhouse in three terms. In five years, he raised $200 million by utilizing a Republican-authored statute allowing state parties to accept unlimited political donations. The funds contributed to former President Joe Biden's 2020 Wisconsin victory and Gov. Tony Evers' 2022 reelection.

Major Recognition

Wikler was praised by national party leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called him “Big Ben.”

One of the biggest shocks to Wisconsin politics in years occurred during his term: the removal of legislative districts that provided Democrats their best chance at winning the Assembly and Senate.

Democrats were humbled in November when Republicans won the national election, seizing majorities in the House and Senate and restoring Trump to power. They successfully won over major Democratic voter blocs, including Black and Latino voters, and working class votes.

Current polls show that the Democratic Party is unpopular, with substantial dissatisfaction among even Democratic voters.