RNC's former Hispanic outreach center in Milwaukee soon to become an ice cream shop

If the Republican National Committee wants to reopen its Hispanic outreach center in Milwaukee this cycle, it’s going to need to find a new space.

The center’s former location will soon be an ice cream shop.

New tenants took over the building in Milwaukee’s south side Lincoln Village neighborhood last June after the RNC declined to renew its lease, a real estate representative for the building’s owner told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this week. And the new occupants have plans to open an ice cream shop at the location sometime this spring.

The developments add to the uncertainty surrounding whether the Hispanic Community Center that the RNC unveiled with much fanfare ahead of the 2022 midterms will in fact reopen. And the committee in recent weeks has sent mixed signals about the status of its community outreach centers nationwide.

More: Republicans trying to cut deep into the heart of the Democratic base of the Latino community

The RNC in January told the Journal Sentinel it planned to reopen the Milwaukee center after quietly closing it and others across the country following the midterms. In recent weeks, however, several media outlets reported former President Donald Trump’s campaign threw out the plans to open new minority outreach centers and revive previous locations. At least one RNC official said the committee will keep seven currently operational centers — excluding Milwaukee — open and will not open more.

An RNC spokeswoman declined to answer questions about the status of its plans for the Milwaukee Hispanic center. She did not respond this week when asked if the committee was searching for another Milwaukee location now that a new tenant leased its former space.

The uncertainty follows a dramatic leadership shakeup within the RNC as Trump clinched the Republican presidential nomination. Former GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel formally stepped down from her post earlier this month, and Trump ally Michael Whatley assumed the top role. Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was made co-chair.

In the week after the changes, the committee started to remake its team, firing more than 60 people across its political, data and communications departments. It also reportedly plans to move some staff closer to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, as the party aligns with the former president.

Part of those changes could involve the community centers. As reports circulated that the RNC was shutting down its outreach centers, Whatley said the committee was “currently evaluating every aspect of political and community engagement in order to align our operations with President Trump’s Campaign.”

“We have seen very positive impacts from our community engagement centers and intend to continue to utilize them to build support for President Trump and Republican Candidates across the country,” he said.

The RNC also faces lagging fundraising numbers. The committee had just about $8.7 million in cash on hand as of the end of January, according to Federal Election Commission reports. The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, had about $24 million in cash in its account.

Whatley in a memo to RNC members this month said the organization needs “to make sure that every penny of every dollar is spent towards one thing: winning. Winning House seats, winning Senate seats, and winning the Presidency.”

He said the committee will “be focused on organizing in communities that are not traditionally Republican” and claimed the Trump campaign was “leading with Hispanics” and “winning over Black Americans at historic rates.”

Asked about discussions between the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the RNC about the Hispanic center, Wisconsin GOP spokesman Matt Fisher said only: “We are determined to compete and win votes on Milwaukee’s south side, regardless of whether or not an office is part of the plan.

Wisconsin Republicans maintain their own outreach center on the north side of the city. And Wisconsin Democrats have said they plan to continue to work "shoulder-to-shoulder" with Latino communities in Milwaukee and across the state in 2024.

Latino voters remain largely a Democratic group, though Republicans have made inroads in recent years as the two parties compete for their votes. Hispanic voters make up about 3% to 4% of Wisconsin voters.

Still, the prospects of the RNC reopening its Lincoln Village center are hazy.

Daniel Walsh, the Transwestern real estate representative overseeing the location, told the Journal Sentinel the RNC in November 2022 extended its lease of the space for two months — from Nov. 30 to Jan. 31, 2023 — but has since made no effort to extend it further.

The committee left tables and chairs in the building, which the building owner removed, Walsh said.

For now, however, the space on West Lincoln Avenue appears destined to become an ice cream shop.

Mateo Grajales, the new tenant, told the Journal Sentinel he plans to open Michoacán A Pedir De Boca around May 1.

The shop, he said, will serve ice cream, street corn, nachos and other Hispanic snacks.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Former RNC Hispanic outreach center in Milwaukee remains vacant