Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez suspended her gubernatorial campaign on Friday following her campaign’s mishandling of campaign finance reports.
Rodriguez was viewed as the establishment’s pick to vie for the Democratic nomination next month, but she announced she would no longer move forward with her campaign following major inaccuracies in its financial disclosures.
“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,” she said. “This race is too important to let that happen. I am deeply hurt and betrayed by what happened.”
Earlier this week, Rodriguez announced she would be firing her campaign manager after it was discovered that the staffer had inflated fundraising numbers and inaccurately reported expenditures. After learning of the errors, the Rodriguez campaign learned it only had about $200,000 in cash on hand.
Rodriguez had been viewed as a solid establishment Democrat looking to succeed Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI), who is term-limited. Former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation head Missy Hughes and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley also abandoned their bids earlier this summer and endorsed Rodriguez.
Now, the race is narrowed to progressive former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong. In recent polls, Rodriguez had fallen behind Barnes and Hong by a wide margin.
Hong has been viewed as a unique opportunity for socialists to win a gubernatorial election after candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America secured primary wins in House and mayoral races across the country.
A DSA GOVERNOR? FRANCESCA HONG TESTS WHETHER SOCIALISM CAN WIN STATEWIDE IN WISCONSIN
But Wisconsin presents a different challenge, with close statewide elections often decided by a small number of swing voters. The state has long been one of the country’s premier political battlegrounds, making the race an early test of whether socialism can expand beyond Democratic strongholds and compete statewide.
Whoever comes out on top in the Democratic primary on Aug. 11 will almost certainly face Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) in the general election.