The swing further to the right continues in Wisconsin.

GOP senator who has clashed with party faces a challenger

State Rep. Howard Marklein has announced he will run for the state Senate next year, setting up a possible primary with a fellow Republican who has at times thwarted the GOP agenda in recent years.

Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) has been in the Legislature since 1983 but at times has been at odds with GOP leaders. He voted against mining legislation this year and last year and was the only Republican senator to vote against limiting collective bargaining for most public workers in 2011.

Those votes have prompted conservatives to seek a Republican to run for Schultz’s seat.

Over the weekend, Marklein, of Spring Green, announced he would take up that challenge. That immediately prompted an attempt by Democrats to woo Schultz into their caucus - an idea Schultz immediately rejected Monday.

They don’t even tolerate the slightest dissent in their own party and people are being fooled into believing that they will “reach across the aisle”.