Sara Rodriguez’s campaign owes just over $45,000 to a public relations firm widely known for its crisis communications work.
But Kimberly Kane, the president and CEO of Kane Communications Group, said that’s not why her company was hired by Rodriguez about two months ago.
“We were retained by the Rodriguez campaign in May to provide media training, candidate forum preparation, social media and media relations,” Kane said in an email to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We were not retained as crisis communications counsel and we have not been retained as crisis communications counsel.”
Rodriguez, who is lieutenant governor, dropped out of the governor’s race on July 17, less than a week after revelations that her campaign infrastructure was in disarray. She announced late Sunday that she had fired campaign manager Kara Spencer after discovering her campaign was in a financial crisis, and held a news conference on July 13 about the situation.
Rodriguez’s latest finance report, which was filed July 15, shows Kane Communications billed the campaign for $3,060 on May 31, then billed for $42,098.98 on June 30.
Rodriguez also reported her campaign had a cash balance of $34,991, but also reported $152,276 in outstanding debts that include invoices for her state-funded security and Kane Communications.
Kane said that she had stopped working with Rodriguez’s campaign on July 14.
The campaign’s outstanding balance to the firm is $45,158.98, Kane confirmed.
Kane Communications counts among its clients the Wisconsin Center District, the tax-supported agency that operates the Baird Center, UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena and Miller High Life Theatre.
The district’s board fired the agency’s president and CEO Marty Brooks in June after he reportedly spent more than $50,000 in public funds on personal expenses, including campaign contributions and expensive shoes. Brooks is appealing his firing.
Kane also worked for the City of Kenosha after Jacob Blake was shot seven times by a Kenosha police officer. The incident led to days of protests.
And the firm was hired by a former Racine mayor after he got in a fist fight in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot.
But Kane said the firm is “known for much more than crisis communications.”
Asked if the firm had worked for other political candidates and campaigns in the past, Kane said, “As a matter of practice, we don’t discuss the details of client engagements beyond information that has already been made public by those organizations.”
Rodriguez was of five Democrats competing in the gubernatorial primary, and the revelations have rocked the Democratic race just weeks before the August 11 primary election.
Kane, who previously worked as a broadcast journalist at WTMJ-TV (Channel 4), said working with Rodriguez in recent weeks had “strengthened my respect for her as a leader.”
“As a working mom myself, I know the sacrifices that come with serving others while raising a family. I’ve seen firsthand how hard Sara works and how seriously she takes that responsibility,” Kane said. “She’s thoughtful and deeply committed to public service and improving the lives of Wisconsin families.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sara Rodriguez campaign owes $45,000 to PR firm Kane Communications
Reporting by Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mary Spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
