MADISON – Democratic candidate for governor Sara Rodriguez may have reported raising at least $100,000 more than she actually collected, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel review of the lieutenant governor’s first campaign finance report that is now under scrutiny after Rodriguez fired her campaign manager for financial errors.
The Journal Sentinel reviewed Rodriguez’s campaign filings after the campaign announced late Sunday the termination of campaign manager Kara Spencer over “serious mismanagement and inaccuracies” in campaign finance reports.
The review showed more than $100,000 worth of what appears to be duplicate contributions, or single donations recorded twice. The campaign did not answer questions from the Journal Sentinel about the finding.
The revelation comes as Rodriguez canceled two events this weekend with little explanation. Rodriguez was scheduled to participate in candidate forums held by the local Democratic parties in Ashland and Lake Tomahawk on Saturday.
Rodriguez planned to hold a press conference Monday afternoon to address questions about the events surrounding the termination of her campaign manager less than a month before the Aug. 11 primary election. The campaign has so far answered few questions seeking details and has not confirmed the departure is related to the duplicate contributions found by the Journal Sentinel.
The leaders of the Democratic Party of Vilas County and the Chequamegon Democrats told the Journal Sentinel that Rodriguez pulled out of their forums on Friday.
Vilas County Democrats chairwoman Amy Fassler told the Journal Sentinel the party received no explanation for Rodriguez’s absence in a message sent the night before the forum; Chequamegon Democrats chairwoman Kathleen Adee said Rodriguez’s campaign cited a “family conflict.”
The Rodriguez campaign did not answer questions Monday seeking confirmation of the amount of duplicate contributions logged in her report or additional information about her absences from the candidate forums.
Rodriguez made the announcement about terminating campaign manager Kara Spencer through a news release sent to reporters about 9:30 p.m. on July 12. According to the campaign, staff discovered the errors and financial management issues late last week and brought concerns to Rodriguez.
Rodriguez then moved to acquire access to the campaign accounts and fired Spencer, according to the campaign.
“An initial review found that the manager filed inaccurate and incomplete campaign finance reports,” a spokeswoman for the campaign said in the release.
In her January report, Rodriguez reported having raised more than $618,000.
Records show the January report was filed at 2:13 a.m. Jan. 16 − hours after the Jan. 15 deadline had passed. The report was amended twice after it was first filed, at 3:23 a.m. and again at 5:01 a.m.
A review of the final version of Rodriguez’s January report shows more than 900 instances of what appear to be duplicate listings of contributions, where an individual is documented as donating the same amount of money twice in one day.
The size of the apparent duplicate contributions ranged from $5 to $5,000, adding up to more than $100,000.
The high-profile firing comes three days before new campaign finance reports are due to the state ethics commission and less than four weeks before the primary election when Rodriguez will face four other Democratic candidates for governor.
Campaign officials plan to contact the Wisconsin Ethics Commission on Monday to correct the inaccuracies, according to the campaign.
Rival campaigns criticized Rodriguez for the episode. Former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan called the revelation “disqualifying.”
Jessie Opoien and Molly Beck can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com and molly.beck@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rodriguez campaign may have overstated fundraising by at least $100K
Reporting by Jessie Opoien and Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jessie Opoien and Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
