The power grab isn’t going unnoticed among key players in Wisconsin. Sheldon Lubar, a top Republican businessman and a Walker supporter, called on the governor and other GOP lawmakers to stop what he called the “conniving” move to kneecap Democrats next year.

“What they are planning for the Republican Party of Wisconsin will malign its integrity and lead to its downfall,” Lubar wrote in an email to Walker. “Worse, it will damage Wisconsin as it ignores the will of the majority of Wisconsin voters.”

This story has been updated to include details from Paul Ryan’s eulogy for President George H.W. Bush.