Waupaca County Republican Party Corruption - Chronology
Friday June 14th, 2024
I had submitted an application to join the Waupaca County Republican Party. Several people who ran for Sheriff before me have done this and never had any issues.
Thursday June 20th, 2024
I began receiving emails from the Republican Party and started signing up for volunteer events for the party. I assumed this meant I was accepted into the party, although I did not formally receive anything stating I was accepted as a member.
Thursday, July 4th, 2024
My fiancé and I marched in the parade for the Waupaca Republican Party and handed out popsicles to the kiddos . This was signed up and approved through the Waupaca County Republican Party online sign-up. We had a really good time and met a lot of really nice people within the party.
After we were finished with the parade, I made a nice Facebook post with photos of the great time we had today. I tagged the Waupaca County Republican Party page in my post. Within several hours, the party removed the tag from my post. They then made the following post:
Since the offer (pictured above) was out there, my wife Abby and I decided to walk again with the Waupaca County Republican Party float for the City of Waupaca 4th of July parade. Abby was worried (rightfully so) that they would cause a scene so she asked that I audio record the interaction. Once we walked up to the float, I introduced myself to Joel and informed him that we were going to walk with them. We were immediately told no by Joel and a Christine Barnett-Seidl (Co-Chair) and then treated like this. Watch below:
We decided to walk by ourselves in the parade - in which it was a great success. I gave high fives to a LOT of kiddos, shook hands with a lot of veterans, and met a lot of great community members.
Later on in the day after the parade had concluded, I received a random text message from an unknown number. I quickly learned that this number belonged to Joel Bartel. In his text, he stated, “Justin, Thanks for swinging by today, lets sit down over a cup of coffee, I think I can help you. I live in Fremont I can meet you wherever. Happy 4th” After attempted to text him back, he became very distant and wouldn’t answer me anymore. See below for attached text correspondence:
As of 8/7/2025, I haven’t received a response from Joel. I am still blocked from the Waupaca County Republican Party Facebook page and haven’t heard anything in regards to my application and $5.00 application fee.
July 5th, 2025:
I had made a post on my Officer Justin Facebook page that got a LOT of attention. I posted the audio from our interaction with the Republican Party at the parade the day prior. I also wrote this with the post:
FULL AUDIO: Yesterday, Abby and I attempted to walk in the Waupaca 4th of July parade with the Waupaca County Republican Party. This is the raw audio of our interaction with them.
Background: As some of you may have seen, I have been trying for the past year or so to join the Waupaca County GOP. Shortly after I applied, Abby and I walked in the 2024 Waupaca 4th of July parade. Shortly after July 4th, my application was denied and I was removed and blocked from their email list, volunteer list, and Facebook page. I sent several emails to Chairperson Joel Bartel and received zero response. I then filed a complaint thru the Wisconsin GOP and it was then.. Joel finally responded (several months later) asking me to re-apply. This was several months ago and I still have not received any response. I am also still blocked from viewing their Facebook page.
Well, just the other day.. they posted on their page inviting the public to come and march with them in this years parade. Since this was a public invite, Abby and I decided to join them yesterday. Joel (Chairperson) and Christine Seidl-Burnett (Vice-Chair & a Nurse Practitioner) posted February 8th on the GOP Facebook page, that people were free to attend meetings to air out disagreements and welcome debate. Obviously, if you don't agree 100% with their views, this is proven to be not true and you are not welcome to join them.
We, and especially my wife Abby, didn't deserve to be treated like this in front of several other people and parade goers.. just because we wanted to volunteer our time by walking in the parade. We don't have to agree on everything.. we don't have to like each other.. but you should ALWAYS be respectful of other people's views and politics. Anyone who is on the fence of voting Republican in Waupaca County, this should be a concern to you. Hell, it should be a concern to fellow Republicans as well.
Finally, yes, I want everyone to know that I am going to be running as a Republican. I tend to be an independent on many issues within politics, however, my viewpoints and beliefs align more with the Conservative side of things. I PROMISE... no matter what political affiliation you are or what political views you have, I will always do right by you. EVERYONE will be treated with love and respect. I personally feel that it is unfortunate that the sheriff position is political and party affiliated. Quite frankly, politics have no place in law-enforcement!
Thanks again so much for your support. We still ended up walking in the parade by ourselves. We met so many nice people, high-fived tons of kiddos, thanked dozens of Veterans, had hundreds of people yelling "Hi Officer Justin", and had just an all around great time!
July 25th, 2025:
I spoke with Stephen Mueller with the Republican Party of Wisconsin on the phone. I explained this entire situation with him and asked what type of remedy can be provided here. He explained that each party has their own set of rules, called a Constitution. Each county party’s constitution cannot violate rules of the state Constitution. He encouraged me to send me a formal email that includes all of the details regarding this situation. He said he would then forward said email to the State Republican Party Constitution committee for review. They would then make a decision on whether or not they are able to assist with getting involved with my situation and the Waupaca Republican Party.
August 9th, 2025:
I put together a complete chronology of all information regarding my complaint and sent it via email to Stephen Mueller with the Wisconsin Republican Party.
Friday August 9th, 2024
I received an email from Joel Bartel, Chairman of the Waupaca County Republican Party, stating that the executive committee had reviewed my membership application and had declined it. He then thanked me for my interest in joining the party. I sent a total of three emails back asking for an explanation on why I was denied access to joining the party now all of a sudden.
Email correspondence reference membership denial
I also had been deleted off of their facebook page and blocked, so I was unable to see anything that they post or talk about. I was unable to “re-add” them either. I had also been signed up for a volunteer event at the Waupaca County Fair and they deleted me off of the online sign-up and filled my spot with someone else. They did not notify me of any of this. I found this out on my own by keeping a close eye on the online sign-up.
Online Volunteer Signup Confirmation
I found out later that the Chairman of the Waupaca Republican Party had made a facebook post directed toward me. It was a comment talking about how the party will “soley support” Constitutional Sheriff Tim Wilz.
To this day, I am unable to gain an answer from the party. I do know that Tim Wilz and the Chairperson, Joel Bartel, are very close with each other and Joel and Tim’s wife, Sandy Wilz, assist with running the party.
Sunday September 1st, 2024
I had attended the Shawano County Fair. I went to the Shawano County Republican Party booth and struck up a conversation with their party Chairperson. I video/audio recorded this conversation, one party consent. He explained to me how easy it is to join the party and the cost to join. I asked him if anyone ever gets denied and he said no. He said they don’t even vet people to see if they are Republican or Democrat. He provided me his info so I could register to join, since Waupaca has denied me.
Wednesday September 11th, 2024
I filed an ethics complaint through the Wisconsin Ethics Commission (see attached). I received a response shortly after stating that the Republican Party Chairperson isn’t required to abide by Ethic Commission rules, therefore my complaint was denied.
April 15th, 2025
I learned that the Republican Party of Wisconsin had just passed two new bylaws referencing fairness within the party. I decided to send Joel Bartel another email, this time CCing other ranking members of the State Republican Party. Joel responded back asking me to complete another application. I submitted another application and the $5.00 fee. Please reference the following email correspondence:
Email Correspondence Reference Bylaw Change
July 4th, 2025
As of today, I still had not received a response back from the Waupaca County Republican Party referencing my new application that Joel encouraged me to complete & submit. I also did not receive my $5.00 back, if I was indeed denied again.