“How is this not disqualifying?” – Joel Brennan
The other Democrat candidates for governor slammed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez after she held a chaotic press conference Monday and admitted that her campaign finance reports are a sham, that an announced $1 million ad buy wasn’t true, and that she does know how much money her campaign actually has – but it’s probably about $200,000.
“It’s never been more clear that Sara Rodriguez isn’t ready to serve Wisconsin as our top executive,” Mandela Barnes’ campaign said in a statement. “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…she has repeatedly lied about raising millions to try to display false strength despite consistently polling in third – even in her own internals.”
“The gaps that they’re talking about here are enormous…the idea that this has gone on for now almost seven months without being discovered is obviously very troubling,” Kelda Roys told podcaster Dan Shafer. In a statement, she called Rodriguez unprepared and siad she has a pattern of telling falsehoods.
“The public is getting far too familiar with hearing Sara Rodriguez apologize.”
Rodriguez, a Democrat who was perceived as the establishment choice, blamed her ousted campaign manager Kara Spencer (who didn’t respond to a request for comment), but her opponents in the Democratic primary blamed 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…” candidate Joel Brennan wrote.
Republican Tom Tiffany did not return a request for comment. However, he weighed in on X.
“‘Swift action’ = taking 6 months to discover your campaign was cooking the books.
‘Doing the right thing’ = finding out only after an ad buy you signed off on fell through.
If @saraforwi couldn’t keep track of her own campaign finances, she shouldn’t manage Wisconsin’s budget,” he wrote.
What Sara Rodriguez Said
In a press conference, Rodriguez admitted to “serious inaccuracies” in her campaign finance reports, saying that Spencer allegedly “filed inaccurate and incomplete finance reports.”
“I am hurt, angry and deeply disappointed,” she said, accusing Spencer, who could not be reached for comment, of breaching her trust. “If I were trying to hide something I wouldn’t be here today telling you about it,” she said.
According to Rodriguez, her ads were supposed to start airing on television last Tuesday, but she saw that it hadn’t happened and “asked questions.” On Wednesday, her team said a media invoice had not been paid, and Thursday afternoon, she saw that the total cash she had was far lower than expected, “hundreds of dollars less than I thought.” By Friday, she assembled a team of legal and compliance experts, which took all day Saturday. “We still do not know everything yet. The analysis is ongoing.”
She admitted the reports included “double counting of contributions” and a “significant failure to report certain expenses that had been paid.” She fired Spencer on Sunday.
However, on Thursday, Rodriguez appeared with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley as he dropped out of the race and tossed his support to her. Asked whether she had anything to say to him or would apologize to him, since he endorsed her based on her perceived strength as a candidate that was based on a false number, she dodged the question.
“This race is moving forward because the stakes are too high,” she added.
Asked why her campaign manager was filling out the reports, as it’s rare to have one person occupy both roles, she said she was trying to have a lean campaign and Spencer’s career “was in compliance.” She said she was given reports on a regular basis and “everything looked right.”
She wouldn’t answer whether she regrets not having more oversight. She said the motive was not clear, and wouldn’t detail what Spencer said to her. “We will be going up on TV,” she said, but she admitted to having just $200,000 cash on hand, not $1 million for an ad buy that was previously announced by her campaign.
Joel Brennan’s List of Questions for Sara Rodriguez
Joel Brennan posted a list of questions before Rodriguez’s press conference. They include:
“When were you first aware of the malfeasance and misreporting that appears to have taken place for months? Your January report was filed hours after the deadline, amended twice, and already showed duplicate donor listings. Did anyone flag these problems back then, and if so, why did it take six months to act?”
“Who in your organization had a role in approving the use of campaign dollars that could be associated with this, and what checks and balances did you have in place?”
“Your campaign publicly reported a $1 million media buy. Did your campaign not have the funds to pay for that at the time of the announcement? Do you now?”
“What do you say to supporters who you asked to invest in and help your campaign, asking them for resources that have now been squandered? Will you be able to refund donors who ask for their money back?”
Brennan also responded to our text asking him a string of questions:
Joel Brennan just texted me back this response to my questions. Printing his response here in full. I appreciate it when I have a direct line to candidates and don’t get blocked by their public relations apparatus or blocked from practically getting a word in edgewise like Sara…
— Wisconsin Right Now (@wisconsin_now) July 14, 2026
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