Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, a Democrat running for governor, terminated her campaign manager over “serious mismanagement and inaccuracies,” according to a statement released Sunday.
The lieutenant governor said during a press conference Monday that she initially became concerned when she noticed that TV ads for her campaign, which were supposed to start airing last Tuesday, were not running.
“I was given excuses from my campaign manager that did not make sense,” Rodriguez said when addressing her decision to confront the manager over an unpaid media invoice and the ads.
“There was clearly a double counting of contributions that inflated how much money we had raised,” Rodriguez said. “There was also a significant failure to report certain expenses that had been paid.”
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Rodriguez told reporters she discovered that the campaign had a total cash amount that was “far lower than I expected.” She did not give an exact amount, but said it was hundreds of thousands of dollars less than what she anticipated. Rodriguez said her campaign currently has $200,000 cash on hand.
When asked about a reported $1 million ad buy for her campaign, Rodriguez said her campaign manager erroneously made that announcement.
“I cannot get inside her head as to why she made that announcement,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said her campaign lawyer has contacted the Wisconsin Ethics Commission to report the discrepancies. The Commission did not immediately confirm that contact between the two parties had been established.
The lieutenant governor is facing a crowded field of other Democrats in the primary election on Aug. 11. Her challengers include state Rep. Francesca Hong, state Sen. Kelda Roys and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. The candidate who wins the Democratic nomination is likely to face Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is the leading Republican candidate.
Recent polling from Wedgewood Polls shows Hong and Barnes in a close race for the lead among likely Democratic primary voters, with Rodriguez trailing about 10 points behind the front-runners and almost a quarter of voters undecided. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the Wisconsin gubernatorial race a “toss up.”
The candidates are running to replace Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is not seeking a third term — though Wisconsin does not have term limits for its governors.
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