MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sara Rodriguez of Wisconsin said July 13 that she discovered her campaign had hundreds of thousands of dollars less money than she thought after planned campaign ads didn’t air because of unpaid bills.
Rodriguez, the current lieutenant governor, announced late on the evening of July 12 that she had fired her campaign manager just a month before the Aug. 11 primary after discovering that donations had been double-counted and expenses had been undercounted, leaving her campaign with far less money than she thought.
At a news conference surrounded by supporters, Rodriguez vowed to stay in the race but called the issue a “glitch in the road.”
“This campaign will move forward,” she said during her appearance at her campaign headquarters.
Rodriguez is participating in a competitive primary for the open gubernatorial race in Wisconsin against Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong; former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes; State Sen. Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan, a former top aide to Gov. Tony Evers. Evers did not endorse anyone in the primary.
The winner of the primary advances to the general election against Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who faces only symbolic opposition in the primary.
Darby O’Connor, Barnes’ campaign manager, said a mistake like this was “unheard of in professional politics” and said, “A campaign this poorly managed has no chance against Tom Tiffany this fall.”
Hong said in a statement that she is focused on her campaign, but “it is important that anyone running for this position establish a standard of trust, honesty and accountability.”
Brennan called Rodriguez’s campaign mistakes “disqualifying.”
Roys spokesman Jalen Knuteson said the problem contributes to a pattern that shows “Rodriguez is unprepared for the rigors of a general election or a term in government.”
In early July, Rodriguez announced the purchase of a $1 million television advertising campaign. But when the ads didn’t perform as expected, she began asking questions and discovered the problems in the campaign reports.
“I am hurt, angry and deeply disappointed in someone I trusted to run my campaign,” Rodriguez said of her fired campaign manager, Kara Spencer. “I kept getting inaccurate reports from my campaign manager.”
Spencer did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Rodriguez’s next report on money raised and spent in the first six months of the year is due July 15.
Rodriguez said her campaign immediately notified the Wisconsin Ethics Commission on July 13 and worked with it to correct the report filed in January covering donations and spending made in 2025.
The $618,000 she raised in 2025 was the second-most of any Democratic candidate, behind only Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who raised about $800,000. Crowley dropped out of the race in early July and endorsed Rodriguez after she announced the purchase of a $1 million TV ad campaign.
Another former Democratic candidate, former state economic development director Missy Hughes, endorsed Rodriguez after she ended her campaign in June.
Rodriguez said the ads, which were scheduled to debut, would air the week of July 20. She didn’t want to say exactly how much her file was off because the work to reconcile the books was still ongoing. But she said her campaign had raised about $1 million and had about $200,000 in cash on hand.
Rodriguez said she is open about what happened.
“If I was trying to hide something, I wouldn’t be here today telling you,” she said at the news conference. “Most people aren’t going to stand in front of that many cameras and microphones to talk about fixing a bug.”
https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/rodriguez-says-her-2026-campaign-for-governor-has-less-money-than-she-thought/
