Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz at Just Right: Cakes Coffee, and Gifts in Wausau. MWC photo by Mike Leischner
MADISON, WI (WSAU) – Wisconsin Lt. Governor and gubernatorial candidate Sara Rodriguez has announced that she has fired her campaign manager after an internal investigation found campaign funds were being misused and potentially stolen.
According to her campaign’s press release, “The Sara Rodriguez for Wisconsin campaign has terminated its campaign manager, effective today, after discovering serious mismanagement and inaccuracies in campaign finance filings she prepared.”
“An initial review found that the manager filed inaccurate and incomplete campaign finance reports. The campaign will be in contact with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission first thing Monday morning to ensure the inaccuracies are corrected,” the release continued.
Rodriguez held a news conference on Monday afternoon to provide additional details about the incident, describing it as “a bump in the road” and “not disqualifying.” She further stated that the campaign had $200k on hand and that she had been receiving incorrect data for months but discovered the fake figures last Thursday. She also indicated that the previously promised $1 million media ad buy will not take place, and she questioned why the now-fired campaign manager put out a news release announcing the purchase.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany responded to the release by saying on X, “Hopefully, @saraforwi won’t handle this the same way she wants to write Wisconsin’s budget: ‘behind a curtain.” Voters deserve a full explanation of what the the “inaccuracies” were and how they happened.”
According to a May Upswing Research poll, Rodriguez is in third place in the Democratic primary, trailing only former Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes and Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong. However, a straw poll from the Wisconsin Democratic Convention in June showed Rodriguez ahead.
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