A backlash built against attacks on Hagedorn for his involvement in founding a Christian school. Critics charged that the school, the K–8 Augustine Academy in Waukesha County, banned LGBT students and staff, because its code of conduct banned “immoral sexual activity.” The code defined that as “any form of touching or nudity for the purpose of evoking sexual arousal apart from the context of marriage between one man and one woman.” Hagedorn was also criticized for speaking with social conservative groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, and for suggesting that he agreed with the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent in a Texas case overturning anti-sodomy laws. In a blog post, Hagedorn wrote, “The idea that homosexual behavior is different than bestiality as a constitutional matter is unjustifiable.” He also wrote in a 2005 blog post that “Christianity is the correct religion, and that insofar as others contradict it, they are wrong.”
The controversy is what led the state realtors to rescind their endorsement of Hagedorn. But Hagedorn pushed back, insisting that he was being attacked for his religious faith, and social conservatives rallied around him. “Some of the arguments made against me are a blatant attempt not just against me but against people of faith more generally,” Hagedorn said at a campaign event.
“The backlash was overwhelming,” one Republican activist told me. “The left made this about bigotry, but Christians saw this as an attack on their faith.” Others saw a replay of attacks on Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which helped turn out Republican voters last fall.
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