'The world is a mess': Kevin Nicholson appears in $1.5 million ad buy and waits for his political opening
Bill GlauberComing to a television screen near you: a $1.5 million ad buy from the nonprofit overseen by businessman Kevin Nicholson.
The 60-second spot that drops during the Packers-Lions game tonight opens with Nicholson declaring: "The world is a mess." But it doesn't answer the ultimate question that he faces: What office is he running for?
Nicholson, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for the party's 2018 U.S. Senate nomination, is admittedly in a delicate political position.
Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch has gotten an early jump in the race for governor, scooping up $1.2 million in fundraising cash in her campaign's first week and watching a potential rival, lobbyist Bill McCoshen, decline to enter the contest.
Meanwhile, by dragging out his decision on whether to run for a third term, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has effectively frozen other potential Republican runners.
Some have criticized Nicholson, 43, for openly declaring that he wants to run for either office next year.
"I think it's a problem within a Republican primary circuit. I think the perennial candidates that don't hone in on the exact specific reason of why they're running that can be a problem," Reince Priebus, the former head of the state GOP who went on to serve as chief of staff to ex-President Donald Trump, recently told WISN-AM's Jay Weber.
"Nicholson is not an outsider anymore — he's been running for now four, five, six years by the time we get to 2022," Priebus said.
Nicholson is sticking with his wait-and-see approach.
"I understand that from some people in the Republican establishment there's criticism saying, 'Oh, you can't say you want to run for either office," he said. "My answer is, I feel a distinct sense of urgency over the fact that society is falling apart. That's happening everywhere. That's foreign policy all the way to schools and everything in between."
He said the GOP establishment backed his opponent in the primary, Leah Vukmir, to maintain the status quo. Vukmir lost by double digits to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in the general election.
"I know some of them are still there," Nicholson said of establishment figures within the party. "They are willing to lose every statewide election in perpetuity if it means that they get to protect their place in the world because that's more important to them than solving the problems that Wisconsinites and Americans are worried about."
Two years ago, he started the nonprofit No Better Friend Corp. to come up with policy solutions and to "bring new voices into the conservative movement."
The group has sponsored around 150 events across the state, gaining traction in recent months with presentations on critical race theory and backing the police.
Billionaire Richard Uihlein, a key Nicholson backer from 2018, sits on the foundation's board.
"He's a friend and he also believes that the world is in a bad spot," Nicholson said.
Like someone weighing a run for two different offices, Nicholson toggled between issues, digging into critical race theory, coming out strongly for school choice, reflecting on the long war in Afghanistan that ended with U.S. troops pulling out.
"What is our strategic objective? Full stop. That should have been the most important thing," the Marine veteran and management consultant said of U.S. efforts over two decades in Afghanistan. "And congressional leaders should have demanded it. The White Houses should have demanded it."
Nicholson is engaged by the issues. And as he cultivates the conservative grassroots he waits for his moment.
"When the situation is clear, it will be clear," he said. "You know there are variables in play. I don't feel the campaign has to start today. I do think this has to get going pretty soon."