They are Republicans in a Democratic city. Meet these conservative Milwaukeeans

When the Republican National Convention starts in Milwaukee today, the party will be bringing conservative messages and politicians to a city that is undoubtedly a Democratic stronghold in the battleground state of Wisconsin.

But there's something RNC watchers may not realize: While outnumbered by Democrats, Republicans in the state's largest city form the largest group of GOP voters, compared to any other community in Wisconsin. About one in seven Milwaukee voters consider themselves Republican.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel set out to talk to some of them about what it's like to be conservative in a deep blue city. We also talked to Republicans who resided in Milwaukee in the last few decades but recently moved away, with many pointing to crime as the reason.

Here's what they had to say about their Republican views, the difficulties they face in voting for candidates who align with their values, and what they think the party needs to do in the future.

Sam Hagedorn

Being the chair of the Republican Party of Milwaukee County was "interesting," said Sam Hagedorn, who held that position between 2017 and 2019.

Hagedorn recalled when more than 55,000 people voted for Republican candidate Tim Rogers in 2022 when he ran against Milwaukee's Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore. Rogers took even more votes in 2020.

"I looked at our membership, and it was nowhere near 55,000," he said. "And I wondered what it is that we aren't doing to bring those thousands of people into the party, and the only thing I could come up with was that our messaging is just really poor."

Hagedorn now considers himself a classical liberal, but still tends to vote for Republican candidates and doesn't agree with the stances of local Democratic officials. He thinks Trump did "a great job" on the issues when he was president but isn't sure whether he'll vote for Trump in 2024.

Hagedorn lives near the Timmerman Airport and has a neighbor who's a Democrat, "but we still talk, every day." They don't agree on politics, but still care about the same issues, like the garbage being picked up and the street being maintained.

"I think if people actually sat down and talked, they'd realize that everybody is much closer in beliefs than they think they are, and that the other side is not demonic," Hagedorn said.

Glenn Frankovis

Glenn Frankovis wasn't always "a straight-line Republican" — he voted for Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Proxmire, who took aim at government waste. But Frankovis, who worked for the Milwaukee Police Department for nearly three decades, has drifted more conservative over the last 20 or so years.

"The police were actually held to a high esteem, by both parties," he said. "(Police) need support, and the people that depend on the police, and we're just not getting it from the Democrats."

Frankovis moved to more Republican-leaning Jefferson County about seven years ago when he married, but he doesn't often talk politics with neighbors.

He grew up on Milwaukee's east side, then resided on the city's southwest side, where a lot of police officers and firefighters lived. There wasn't a lot of crime there, which they "had to deal with every day at work," Frankovis said.

Frankovis said he's a "big supporter" of Trump, both financially and with his vote. He sees the RNC as an opportunity for people to hear what the party has to say and forming their own opinion that isn't influenced by the media.

"When I first heard that the RNC was going to have their program in Milwaukee, I thought, 'What are you, nuts? You're coming to Milwaukee?'" Frankovis said. He also has doubts that the U.S. Secret Service and MPD will be able to maintain order among protest groups coming to the convention.

"If they don't have a strong show of police force — with the Secret Service, the police department, any of the National Guard — they're not going to be able to handle that. I've seen it before, it's happened before," he said.

(Gov. Tony Evers issued an emergency declaration order for the event that enabled law enforcement to assemble resources for potential emergencies. The National Guard has not been activated but the Evers order allows for that to happen.)

More: How Milwaukee police will handle protests at the RNC and what some say is missing from their plan

Tina Kurth

When she was a resident of Milwaukee, Tina Kurth often found that no Republican candidates were running for races on her ballot. Sometimes she resorted to writing in a fictional name like SpongeBob or Mickey Mouse.

"You never have people that are Republicans really running in Milwaukee. We don't really have a choice on making changes in that city. It needs new ideas, new thoughts, to make it a great city again," Kurth said.

Kurth did support Bob Donovan, a former Milwaukee alderman and current state representative, when he ran against former Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett.

"I ended up going out and about in the community talking to residents, and a lot of things that they told me kind of confirmed how they've been kind of used (by Democrats) over the years," Kurth said. "One lady said she votes only for people with the 'D' behind their name, but she did not know what the 'D' stood for."

Kurth herself was "very liberal" when she moved to Milwaukee in 1986. She bought a house in 1991 on the corner of 25th and Walnut. After experiencing crimes, like break-ins to her house and stolen cars driven into her fence, she became a police officer in 1993. She lived there until 2019, and now lives near Green Bay.

"It's the lack of accountability on the left that has driven" issues like reckless driving and stolen vehicles, Kurth said.

More: A look at Milwaukee's mid-year crime stats.

When it comes to Trump, Kurth said the "economy was certainly doing better" under his presidency. She also doesn't think President Joe Biden "has the ability to even run this country at this point."

"I often think of the poor community I moved from and how (inflation) affected people in the inner city, having to pay so much more for everything. As the left talks about, they care about Black people, they obviously don't. Because this is affecting the working poor the most."

Travis Clark

Travis Clark typically voted for Democrats until he started researching and learning more about the political system while he was incarcerated. After turning 18, he had "started hanging out with the wrong crowd and didn't have a father figure."

"I learned, and I see that everything is controlled by politics," Clark said. After his appeal and release, he met former Gov. Scott Walker a few years later, and around 2011 started encouraging Republicans to improve outreach with Black voters in Milwaukee. He's also ran for Congress as a Republican and recently moved to Brown Deer.

He advised top state Republicans that instead of focusing on Black, college-educated voters, they "need to go into the community where you have those individuals that may be convicted felons, may be individuals who may be on government assistance, those are individuals that have challenging lives."

And the party shouldn't be hiring a Black person from out of state to do that, he said. When Clark talks to voters, he doesn't focus as much on what Republicans are doing — more about what Democrats are not doing, despite Black voters tending to vote for them.

More: Ron Johnson takes stage with Milwaukee radio host Tory Lowe as Republicans seek Black vote

Clark said Republican officials in Wisconsin "feel that Milwaukee is a sinkhole, they're not using the money correctly. But then you have something like MPS happen, and it proves their point of being true," he said, referring to the financial crisis unfolding in Milwaukee's school district.

Clark isn't sure whether he'll vote for Trump and is waiting to hear more substance about "what he's going to do for African Americans and Black people."

"He has said that he has done more for Blacks than any other president. If I go talk to other individuals within my community, I can't truly say that that is factual."

Veronica Diaz

48-year-old Veronica Diaz was born and raised south side of Milwaukee as the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants. Her family moved to the United States for work opportunities and settled in Texas before moving to Wisconsin.

From a young age, Diaz considered herself a Republican. Her conservative perspective was heavily influenced her parents' commitment to hard work and "lifting themselves up." But, her path to active political engagement in the city came later in life

"They never forced anything on us," she said. "They always said that when, when life starts to affect us, that we'll get involved."

In 2020, Diaz's friends pushed her to run for the Wisconsin State Assembly District 9 seat against Marisabel Cabrera. Though she lost the race, she remained committed to demanding change for her community.

Over the past few decades, Diaz said she has noticed a shift in the south side community, with more crime and economic hardship affecting her neighbors.

Diaz feels optimistic and positive about the Republican Party's chances this fall. She will cast her third ballot for Trump in November.

For the past three years, she has cohosted the iHeartRadio show "Valor Latino" on Sunday mornings with the goal of bringing a female, conservative, and Latina perspective to the Milwaukee area.

"I'm very much a Trump supporter, always have been. I think he's our best option."

Elliot Sgrignuoli

As the president of Marquette University's College Republicans chapter, 20-year-old Elliot Sgrignuoli said he often fields the question, "Is it hard to be a Republican at Marquette?"

His answer is no. For Sgrignuoli, the negatives of being a Republican in Milwaukee are in many ways "overhyped," he told the Journal Sentinel.

"As long as you find a group of people who understand why you are the way you are and you can defend your opinions, you can kind of be a Republican anywhere," he said.

As the son of two police officers, Sgrignuoli developed conservative political views at an early age, often getting home from school in the fourth grade to watch local news or speak about politics with his parents. The stories he heard from mother and father, former Milwaukee Police Capt. Johnny Sgrignuoli, shaped his understanding of major events and crises in the city.

When he arrived at Marquette University to study political science and criminology, he looked forward to advancing his political engagement to the next level as a member of College Republicans.

This fall, Sgrignuoli looks forward to planning a debate with the campus' College Democrats chapter and working with students at other Milwaukee campuses to rally support for the Republican Party in November.

Though Sgrignuoli plans to "ride for Trump" in November, he wishes the party would have identified an option that offered more longevity for the party in office.

"When we do this, four years Republican, four years Democrat, four years Republican, it's just going back and forth, and everything's just starting back over when the next guy gets into office.

In 2023, he found himself drawn to candidates like Vivek Ramaswamy who brought a fresh perspective and new energy to the party. Though he and his peers plan to organize in support of the party, including at some of Milwaukee's upcoming events during the Republican National Convention, Sgrignuoli said having 70 and 80 year old candidates does not help the party relate to its younger base.

"I'm gonna support the Republicans. I'm gonna vote for Republicans. I'm gonna tell everyone to vote. I truly have no idea what's gonna happen. It'll be very interesting to say the least."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Meet Milwaukee Republicans from a Democratic city