Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez fires campaign manager; "serious mismanagement"

MADISON, Wis. - Candidate for Wisconsin Governor Sara Rodriguez admitted her campaign finance report had inflated numbers. So, she fired her campaign manager.

Donations double counted

What we know:

It comes at a crucial time in the race, with the primary less than a month away. Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez has been consolidating some support. Two of her former Democratic competitors have endorsed her: Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes.

But, now, Rodriguez said her campaign finance reports double-counted some donations. And she said some expenses were not included. That meant it showed she had more money than she really did.

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She said right now they have a little more than $200,000 in the bank. The next filing is due Wednesday, July 15. 

FOX6 reviewed her campaign filing from January, which was filed hours after the January 15 deadline – and were amended twice hours later.

The review found many dozens of donors appear to have repeat donations, meaning the person gave the same amount of money twice on the same day. But in nearly all of the cases, the entries had minor differences: either the formatting of the name might have had an extra space or a middle initial, while the second entry didn’t; or, a ZIP code would have five digits and the second entry would have the longer nine-digit ZIP code.

Rodriguez said it came to light last Tuesday, when a media invoice wasn’t paid. Earlier, her campaign said they would place a $1 million TV ad buy, which never happened.

Rodriguez said the total cash was hundreds of thousands of dollars less than she expected. Over the weekend, she said a team audited the books and found discrepancies, and today alerted the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

FOX6 asked if the buck stops with her, what did she make of her competitor Joel Brennan, who asked how this is not disqualifying.

"I would say that most people are not going to stand in front of this many cameras and microphones to talk about fixing an error," Rodriguez said. "That's what I am here doing. And that's what you want to see in leadership and what you want to see in your next governor."

FOX6 attempted to get the fired campaign manager’s side of the story. A call and text to Kara Spencer went unanswered and messages were unreturned. She had worked with the lieutenant governor for several years. The finance director told FOX6 that all questions would have to go through the campaign. FOX6 News is still waiting to hear back from the two Democrats who recently endorsed Rodriguez, David Crowley and Missy Hughes.

Other candidates are criticizing Rodriguez.

"Sara Rodriguez failed to answer many serious and mounting questions about her campaign's mismanagement and, more importantly, failed to take responsibility for what unfolded on her campaign. Wisconsinites deserve competence and transparency, as well as a strong Democrat who can win in November. Otherwise, we will lose to Tom Tiffany, risk Democratic majorities in the legislature and give up any shot at lowering costs, expanding health care and standing up to Trump. If Sara Rodriguez can’t answer basic questions about her campaign, what answers does she have for people who are hurting in Wisconsin?" Joel Brennan said.

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"The public is getting far too familiar with hearing Sara Rodriguez apologize. One year ago, Rodriguez launched her campaign claiming Governor Evers gave her a special heads-up that he was not running for re-election. We soon learned from Governor Evers that her claim was false. In the past year, we have repeatedly seen Rodriguez make unforced errors and then ask to be celebrated for apologizing," said Jalen Knuteson, spokesperson for Kelda Roys.

"It’s never been more clear that Sara Rodriguez isn’t ready to serve Wisconsin as our top executive," stated Mandela Barnes Campaign Manager Darby O’Connor. "Sara Rodriguez only noticed hundreds of thousands of dollars missing when she didn’t see her face on TV. This level of gross mismanagement of finances and staff is unheard of in professional politics."

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Jason Calvi and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.