Scott Walker is no longer governor, but he's fresh in the minds of Wisconsin Democrats who celebrated his defeat at their party's annual gathering Saturday as a signal that a Republican would not be president after 2020 and fewer would occupy offices in the state Capitol or represent the state in Washington.

"I hear rumors all the time about Scott Walker running again or what office (GOP U.S. Sen.) Ron Johnson is running for, and I’ll tell you something — if we can do these things we just talked about, I don’t care which office they’re running for, we’re going to work hard and we're going to send them packing once and for all," Democratic Gov. Tony Evers told a crowd at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin's annual state convention at the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino in Milwaukee.

Evers said his campaign focus on blocking an effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act, support for increasing funding for public schools and focus on improving road conditions should be a road map for future elections.

"Even when the Republicans want to get in the mud and when they disparage people who they believe are different, when they want to wage war of ideology, we can't let them bait us," Evers said. "Republicans — their words and actions speak for themselves. So, quite frankly, they don’t need any help from us on that issue. That’s why we have to focus our time, and our energy, and our message and stay on message and keep it about our values."

Evers and state Democrats sought to rally the party faithful Saturday following a Supreme Court loss in April and amid bitter state budget negotiations between Republican legislative leaders and the Democratic governor.

Republican lawmakers have rejected all of Evers' major state budget proposals, including accepting federal dollars to expand Medicaid and a $1.4 billion increase in funding for schools in part because of the $1.3 billion in tax increases proposed to pay for the new spending and other measures.

“If liberals are looking to come back from their loss in April, talking to the far left in the big city isn’t the way to do it," said Brian Reisinger, former aide to both Johnson and Walker, referring to a recent loss by a liberal-backed Supreme Court candidate.

The divisions are over more than just policy. In recent weeks, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos falsely accused Evers of forcing Wisconsin troops returning from Afghanistan to wait "hours" at an airport before greeting them. In another episode, Evers' spokeswoman, Melissa Baldauff, said the GOP legislative leaders were sexist and refused to meet with Evers' top aides because they are women.

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Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes criticized Republican lawmakers for blocking Evers' policy proposals, including Evers' proposal to legalize marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

"Think about how much more enjoyable your Thanksgiving dinner would be," Barnes quipped, saying the proposal could bring families together.

Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said Barnes owed families an apology for his remark.

"This is ridiculous for anyone to say, let alone an elected official," Steineke tweeted. "Pathetic that anyone (would) push drug use as a way to spend time together as a family."

Just one of 10 elected officials who spoke Saturday mentioned the idea of impeachment of President Donald Trump following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's review of whether Trump conspired with Russian officials to influence the 2016 presidential election.

But nearly all said the 2018 election of Evers means another win in Wisconsin by Trump isn't assured and criticized his policies, especially one that resulted in children being separated from parents who crossed the U.S. southern border illegally.

"Wisconsin is going to play a key — no, a pivotal role — in the U.S. presidential elections. This is a state where, as you know, we've seen the toughest of campaigns fought out and we've seen races come down to the slimmest of margins," U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said. "We will, a few blocks from here, nominate the next president of the United States."

Saturday's convention was the first statewide gathering of Wisconsin Democrats since sweeping victories in 2018 that ousted Walker but two months after the Democrats' favored Supreme Court candidate lost to a conservative candidate.

The candidates competing in the 2020 nonpartisan race for a seat on the state's highest court showed partisan stripes Saturday as they signaled to the Democratic crowd they would seek to preserve access to abortions, protect the environment and improve the lives of immigrants.

"I am truly, truly astonished that our fundamental rights as women are still under assault," Dane County Circuit judge Jill Karofsky said. "Why are we still having these arguments? Because a radical minority thinks the Constitution should bend to their will despite the law and despite legal precedent."

Marquette University Law School professor Ed Fallone, a first-generation Mexican-American, said the state's highest court would benefit from his background and experience working with immigrants and students at Marquette University who were born in Central American countries and moved to the United States as children.

"Our Constitution was put in place to protect all of us, rich and poor, citizen or refugee, regardless of race, regardless of religion and gender identity or those who we love," Fallone said.

"We must never lose sight of that principle and we must never lose sight of the truth that women's rights are human rights," he added.

Karofsky also said to a cheering crowd the court should uphold laws that protect "our beautiful environment."

Candidates for Supreme Court don't run as candidates of a political party but have in recent years embraced increasingly partisan strategies as millions of dollars pour into the races from outside groups aligned with ideology.

Fallone and Karofsky, who are backed by liberals, are seeking to unseat incumbent Supreme Court justice Daniel Kelly, who is backed by conservatives and worked as an attorney for prominent Republicans.

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Ben Wikler, who was elected by Democrats as the party's new chairman, said he would seek to capitalize off strategies that Democrats credit for Evers' and Attorney General Josh Kaul's elections and abandon those that contributed to state appeals court Judge Lisa Neubauer's April loss to colleague Brian Hagedorn.

Wikler, senior adviser to national liberal advocacy group MoveOn, defeated state Rep. David Bowen of Milwaukee. He said his strategy is rooted in "fighting on issues between elections."

Democratic candidates for president did not attend Saturday's convention, but a handful of campaigns were on hand with campaign staff to talk to Wisconsin Democrats.

Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.