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MADISON – Less than a week after the bombshell revelation that her campaign infrastructure was in disarray, Wisconsin's Democratic Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez has ended her gubernatorial campaign."As we have continued to dig into our financial reports, it has become clear that there are issues that would be an ongoing distraction – not just for this campaign, but for the primary and for Wisconsin. This race is too important to Wisconsin to let that happen," Rodriguez said in a statement on July 17.The collapse of Rodriguez's campaign occurred just as it had appeared to embark on an upswing. In recent weeks, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes had both ended their campaigns and endorsed Rodriguez.The lieutenant governor announced late Sunday, July 12, that she had fired her campaign manager after she said she discovered her account was more than $1 million short of what she believed she had.Rodriguez's January campaign finance report cited more than $100,000 it did not actually raise. The report included more than $100,000 in duplicate contributions, or single donations recorded twice. Rodriguez also told reporters Monday, July 13, that she learned campaign expenses had not been properly documented.The Rodriguez campaign has not answered a slew of additional questions following the lieutenant governor's news conference that day, seeking details about outstanding expenses, campaign procedures and an ad buy placed July 15.Rodriguez on Wednesday, July 15, reported her campaign had a cash balance of $34,991, but also reported $152,276 in outstanding debts including invoices for her state-funded security and a recently hired public relations firm.The discrepancies in Rodriguez's campaign account date back to at least January, when campaigns' first set of finance reports were due. Asked on Monday, July 13, how the issue went unnoticed for six months, Rodriguez said she received regular reports on the campaign's finances and to her, "everything looked right."Confusion over the state of her finances continued into Thursday, July 16, when her campaign filed an amended report showing her cash on hand at $643,207, a massive and unexplained swing from the $34,991 reported the night before. Her campaign said this was an error and the report would be amended again."I got into this race because I wanted what was best for Wisconsin. That hasn't changed. And because I believe that, I cannot in good conscience allow these questions to become a cloud over an election that Democrats need to win. Wisconsin deserves better than that," Rodriguez said.Gov. Tony Evers, meanwhile, is "very seriously considering" backing an effort to get Crowley back into the primary, two senior Democratic sources said Friday, July 17. Evers' decision last year not to seek a third term in office threw the race open for Democrats.Democratic strategists are working behind the scenes to bring Crowley back just a week after he ended his own campaign and backed Rodriguez.Internal and statewide polling had shown in recent weeks that most decided Democratic voters favored former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, state Rep. Francesca Hong or Rodriguez."From everything we've seen, this was Mandela Barnes's race to lose, and he’s been losing it," said one highly placed Democrat.A source close to Crowley confirmed the county executive is considering returning to the race.Hughes posted on X on Friday, July 17, urging Crowley to "get back in this race."A Barnes campaign spokesperson did not have an immediate response.State Sen. Kelda Roys and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan have consistently trailed the top candidates in polls, but both said they've seen renewed interest in their campaigns in the days since Rodriguez announced she had fired her campaign manager.Whoever prevails in the Aug. 11 Democratic primary will move to a general election contest against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany. Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
