Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez withdrew from the Democratic gubernatorial primary on Friday after major financial issues surfaced within her campaign. The trouble came to light in mid-July when a series of campaign ads failed to air because of unpaid invoices.
Rodriguez’s campaign had rather less cash than previously thought due to shoddy bookkeeping by her campaign manager; somewhere to the tune of hundreds of thousands less, in fact. Contributions, it would seem, had been double-counted and expenses severely underreported.
Rodriguez’s withdrawal has done an admirable job stirring the hornet’s nest for the Democratic field with less than a month before voters cast ballots. Perhaps the largest consequence is that Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley jumped back into the race Saturday, after having suspended his campaign only a week prior to endorse Rodriguez.
Crowley rejoined with the endorsement of current Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. “He’s not just a candidate who can win in November, but he’s the kind of person who cares about doing the job right,” said Evers. Evers had previously declined to endorse a primary candidate.
But really, electability in November is the crux of Wisconsin Democrats’ concerns for the race. Wisconsin has, for decades, been one of the most tightly contested ‘purple’ states, often with razor-thin margins of victory in presidential and midterm elections. The current frontrunner for the nomination — to the chagrin of many Wisconsin Democrats — is democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong.
Party Democrats fear that Hong may well be able to ride the momentum of fellow democratic socialist victories this cycle to the nomination. In Wisconsin, where seemingly every race is decided by paper-thin margins, the fear is that Hong’s leftism could turn away moderate voters and cough up the governorship to Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany.
The rest of the field does not exactly have its act together, either. Three other candidates outside of Crowley and Hong remain in the field: state Sen. Kelda Roys, Joel Brennan, and, most notably, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Hong and Barnes are the only candidates polling well in the race as of the latest July 6 poll done before Rodriguez’s withdrawal. Hong held a narrow edge with 30 percent support ahead of Barnes at 28 percent. Rodriguez trailed in third at 19 percent, while 23 percent were undecided or in support of Roys or Brennan.
Rodriguez said she withdrew to avoid “[becoming] a cloud over an election that Democrats need to win.” Instead, her exit has intensified the party’s anxiety over the primary. Whether Crowley, with Evers’ backing, consolidates the vote enough to surpass Hong or merely adds another competing faction may determine whether Wisconsin Democrats nominate their most progressive candidate for governor.
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