Wisconsin lieutenant governor withdraws from Democratic governor primary
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez ended her campaign for governor after her team identified significant errors in its financial filings, citing the need to avoid distractions in the race.
Democratic lieutenant governor Sara Rodriguez announced Friday that she is exiting the Wisconsin governor’s race after her campaign uncovered major inaccuracies in its finance reports. In a video posted to X, Rodriguez said the issues would be a continual distraction for the campaign and the primary, adding that she could not let “these questions become a cloud over an election that Democrats need to win.”
Rodriguez’s campaign disclosed on Sunday that it had found “serious mismanagement and inaccuracies” in its finance filings, including duplicated contributions that overstated the amount of money raised and on hand. The audit revealed the campaign held only about $200,000 in cash, prompting the dismissal of campaign manager Kara Spencer.
The withdrawal reshapes a competitive Democratic primary in the swing state. Rodriguez had previously led in an informal straw poll at the state party convention and received endorsements from former Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, both of whom had recently left the race.
Remaining candidates include state Rep. Francesca Hong, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan, and state Sen. Kelda Roys. Barnes posted on X that he has “immense respect” for Rodriguez and invited her supporters to join his campaign. Roys called for party unity, while Brennan emphasized his focus on delivering results.
A March poll by Marquette University Law School showed Hong at 14% and Barnes at 11% among voters, with most respondents undecided. The winner of the Aug. 11 Democratic primary is expected to face Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has the backing of President Donald Trump, in the November general election.