In this update:
- Wisconsin Elections Hub
- Gubernatorial Election
- Lieutenant Governor Election
- U.S. Senate Election
- Post-Session Updates
Wisconsin Elections Hub
The Michael Best Strategies team is proud to announce the launch of our
Wisconsin Elections Hub
This Wisconsin Elections Hub is a website which serves as an Encyclopedia for all things Wisconsin elections. It includes candidate information, historical data about races, and any update Michael Best Strategies has provided about the race.
When you enter the website you will see tabs for every statewide race, the legislative races, redistricting, and an archive of our past Capitol Insights newsletters. If you click on a button for a race it will direct you to a home page which includes information on each candidate, historical data about the race, and candidate information. Below the candidate information is an archive of posts Michael Best Strategies has created regarding the race.
We hope this tool will be regularly utilized as we head into election season. As always, if you have any question about anything you find on the Elections Hub, please do not hesitate to contact your Michael Best Strategies Contact.
Visit the Wisconsin Election Hub here: Wisconsin Elections Hub 2022 – Michael Best Strategies
Gubernatorial Election
Candidates for governor file nomination signatures
Candidates for governor were required to submit their nomination signatures no later than June 1st. Democratic incumbent Tony Evers announced via press release that he submitted over 7,200. Among the GOP candidates, Rebecca Kleefisch submitted the most signatures with 6,700, followed by Kevin Nicholson with just over 4,000. Rounding out the GOP field was Tim Michels with over 3,800 signatures submitted and Timothy Ramthun with just over 3,700.
Evers releases five new ads
As part of a $3.5 million statewide buy, Governor Tony Evers’ campaign launched five new ads this week. According to a press release from the Evers’ campaign, the ads highlight “small businesses across the state that received vital help from the governor’s business relief programs.”
The ads will run on a combination of TV, cable and digital platforms. One of the ads features Jen, the owner of a bakery in La Crosse. In the ad, Jen says “The small business grant from Governor Evers was vital” to keeping her business thriving and that “Tony Evers is doing the right thing for small businesses like my bakery.” Another add features Tom, a restaurant owner in Milwaukee, who says his business “wouldn’t have opened back up if not for the help from Governor Tony Evers.” Two of the ads also feature business owners who say while politics can be divisive, Evers is “doing the right thing for small businesses.” Evers is also featured in two of the ads where he says “small businesses are the heart of our economy” and takes credit for directing “over $1 billion to thousands of small businesses[.]”
Evers is unopposed in the August primary and will face the Republican nominee during the November general election.
Trump endorses Michels for Governor
Former President Donald Trump endorsed businessman Tim Michels for governor on Thursday, calling him “the best candidate to deliver meaningful solutions” to inflation, election fraud, and immigration.” He also noted that Michels served on his infrastructure task force, which was responsible for helping plan the Keystone oil pipeline. Michels called the endorsement “a tremendous boost to our efforts and a continuation of our astounding surge since I entered the race.”
In response, former Lt. Governor and primary candidate Rebecca Kleefisch said that Trump “likes winners,” noting that she is the only candidate in the primary race who has won a statewide race. She had traveled to Florida to meet with Trump earlier this year to court Trump’s endorsement.
Michels also altered his existing ad on immigration to tout the endorsement, saying that he built Trump a “prototype” wall on the southern border.
New Kleefisch ad features Racine County Sheriff
Rebecca Kleefisch’s campaign for governor launched a new ad this week featuring Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling. In the spot, Sheriff Schmaling says “Crime has never been worse in Wisconsin” and that “law enforcement cannot do their jobs when they are being undermined by politicians like Joe Biden and Tony Evers.” Schmaling then says more than 40 sheriffs, the Fraternal Order of Police and the Milwaukee Police Association have endorsed Kleefisch. Throughout the GOP primary, Kleefisch has placed significant blame on Evers for rising violent crime and a lack of funding for law enforcement in Wisconsin. Her new ad is the latest in a line of attacks on the Evers administration for their perceived failure to keep Wisconsinites safe.
Kleefisch is running against Tim Michels, Kevin Nicholson, and Timothy Ramthun in the August 9 Republican primary for the opportunity to face off against Tony Evers in the November general election.
Nicholson issues debate challenge
After filing 4,000 nomination signatures with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Kevin Nicholson challenged his fellow GOP gubernatorial candidates to a series of debates over the next two months, according to a press release from his campaign. The press releases quotes Nicholson as saying that beating Tony Evers will “require a nominee who is up to the challenge” and that “it’s time to publicly allow voters the chance to hear from each of the Republican candidates for Governor.” Nicholson then proposes that a series of debates be held in June, July, and August so “voters can decide who will best govern our state and can defeat Tony Evers this fall.”
The proposal from Nicholson’s campaign identified seven Wisconsin cities in which to hold the debates: Eau Claire, Green Bay, Hudson, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, and Wausau. The campaign also recommended a series of criteria that candidates must meet to be eligible to participate in the debates including:
- Attaining official ballot status for the August 9th primary;
- At least 5% support in the most recent Marquette University Law School polling, or other publicly available non-candidate or non-candidate-affiliated statewide surveys meeting a C or better reliability rating from the polling website fivethirtyeight.com through June 30th;
- OR at least a 5% average in the previous two Marquette University Law School polls in 2022;
- OR total individual contributors of at least 5000 people through June 30th.
No public comment in response to the challenge by Nicholson has been made by Rebecca Kleefisch, Tim Michels, or Timothy Ramthun.
Lieutenant Governor Election
Bowen drops out of race
David Bowen announced in a press release Thursday that he had ended his campaign for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. Bowen, whose mother passed away in March, said he is dropping out of the race because he is “still in the process of grieving” and as a result is “not at my full potential to serve the great State of Wisconsin at my highest capability.” Bowen’s departure from the race means the Democratic primary is left with a field of two candidates, Peng Her and Sarah Rodriguez. The two remaining Democratic candidates will face off during the August 9th partisan primary.
U.S. Senate Election
Candidates for U.S. Senate file nomination signatures
With the June 1st deadline for U.S. Senate candidates to file their nomination signatures having passed, the campaigns are now touting their success at obtaining signatures. Republican Ron Johnson’s campaign announced he filed a record-breaking 30,000 nomination signatures, the most ever recorded in Wisconsin state history. Democrat Mandela Barnes announced his campaign filed nearly 5,000 signatures while fellow Democrat Alex Lasry filed just under 3,100. Rounding out the Democratic field, Sarah Godlewski filed over 4,000 nomination signatures and Tom Nelson filed just over 2,400.
One Nation ad urges Johnson to fight inflation
A newly released ad from the advocacy organization One Nation touts Senator Ron Johnson’s efforts to hold government spending in check while slamming Democrats for rising prices at gas pumps and grocery stores. The 30-second spot — which is the second ad of the series and part of a $6 million TV, cable, radio, and digital buy — claims “DC liberal spending has triggered historic inflation” and that “[Senator] Johnson voted against the reckless spending and [is] fighting to cut the waste in Washington.” The ad then asks viewers to contact Senator Johnson and urge him to continue to fight to stop the spending that is resulting in an “inflation tax” for Wisconsinites.
Lasry releases new ad and internal poll
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alex Lasry released a new TV spot this week emphasizing pocketbook issues and the threat to abortion rights. In the spot, Lasry says he has “a track record of getting things done” and that he’ll help Wisconsinites by “lowering prescription drug prices, putting more money into people’s pockets, and protecting every woman’s right to choose — no matter what.” According to Lasry’s campaign, the ad will run statewide on TV, cable and digital as part of a previously announced seven-figure buy.
Additionally, Lasry released a new internal poll that found that 31% of likely Democratic voters support him in the Democratic primary. That compares to 34% for Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, 18% for State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, and 5% for Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson. 12% of voters were undecided. The margin of error for the poll, which was conducted between May 18 and 22, was +/- 3.7 percentage points.
Godlewski poll says she is leading Dem field
State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski released an internal poll conducted by her campaign that shows she commands a solid lead in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. The poll used an “informed vote methodology,” meaning that the pollster reads respondents information about each candidate. According to a press release from Godlewski’s campaign, each respondent was read a “comprehensive paragraph of each of the candidate’s positive messaging.”
Godlewski received 35% of support from respondents, ahead of both Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes (25%) and Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry (17%). Notably, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson was not included as a response choice. 3% of voters said they supported another candidate, while 20% said they were unsure. Public Policy Polling, a left-leaning pollster group, surveyed 566 likely Democratic primary voters in Wisconsin between May 23-24. The margin of error for the poll was +/- 4.1 percentage points.
Nelson buys billboard ad criticizing Johnson
Tom Nelson’s campaign announced it purchased a billboard ad this week calling out Senator Ron Johnson for accepting $1.2 million in campaign donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and “ [refusing] to take any action to address shooting massacres in the U.S.” According to a press release issued by the Nelson campaign, the billboard can be seen in Oshkosh on Highway 41 near Johnson’s home. Nelson’s campaign manager, Irene Lin, is quoted in the press release as saying, “We desperately need Tom, a Senator not bought and paid for by the NRA.”
Nelson will face off against Mandela Barnes, Alex Lasry, and Sarah Godlewski in the Democratic senate primary on August 9th.
Post-Session Updates
Evers prohibits infant formula price gouging
In a press release issued by the Office of the Governor, Tony Evers announced he signed Emergency Order #164 which prohibits infant formula price gouging. Blaming the shortage on national supply chain issues and a recall of powdered formulas, Evers said “this order makes it clear that retailers looking to take advantage of vulnerable families during this formula shortage will not be tolerated.”
The order declares that a period of abnormal economic disruption exists and prohibits price gouging of infant formula for the next 90 days. Under the order, sellers cannot label baby formula at prices more than 15% above the highest price they sold the product for in the 60 days before the order was signed. A fine of up to $10,000 can be levied against any seller found guilty of violating the order.
JFC approves nine DOJ settlements
The state legislature’s Joint Finance Committee (JFC) unanimously approved nine settlements that the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) reached concerning various environmental violations. In total, the cases involved $378,000 in fines for violations such as failure to meet safe drinking water standards.
However, the committee expects Attorney General Josh Kaul to deposit attorneys fees from the settlements into the state’s general fund should Republican legislators be successful in their lawsuit against Kaul. Republicans are seeking to compel Kaul to adhere to their interpretation of a law that was passed during the 2018 lame duck session that would give them oversight of DOJ settlements. The motion that was approved by the JFC stated that Kaul must “deposit all settlement funds, including attorneys’ fees from settlements, into the general fund for general revenue purposes.”
- $5 million to the DOJ for grants to buy body-worn cameras, purchase houses in residential areas that are staffed by police, and help schools upload mapping data of their buildings;
- $8.4 million to cover overtime costs in four facilities under the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS);
- a $5 million increase to the cap for reinsurance payments under the Wisconsin Healthcare Stability Plan; and
- a $4.3 million requested release to the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs (DMA).
Vos wants someone with legal background on WEC
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said that he is leaning toward appointing someone with a legal background as a commissioner on the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) after former Commissioner Dean Knudson abruptly resigned last Wednesday night. Knudson has said that he was under the impression that Republican leadership did not want him to serve on the commission.
Vos also said that he wants his appointee to concentrate on “a fair election in 2022” and not “focus on 2020 and backward.” He said that he expects to have an appointment in place before the WEC meets next on June 10th to select a chair. The next chair is required to be a Republican appointee.
State Sen. Kathy Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls), who is not seeking re-election, said that she reached out to Vos about being appointed to the commission. However, she said it was a “longshot” that Vos would consider her. Bernier has been vocal in criticizing both Republicans who claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and Democrats who alleged that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election helped former President Donald Trump win the election.
Fundraising Opportunities
A list of all upcoming fundraiser opportunities can be found by clicking the button below. For any questions or more information, please do not hesitate to contact your Michael Best Strategies contact.
Wisconsin Campaign Fundraisers
