Wisconsin lieutenant governor suspends gubernatorial bid amid financial woes

Campaign Wisconsin lieutenant governor suspends gubernatorial bid amid financial woes Comments: by Finya Swai - 07/17/26 3:43 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Finya Swai - 07/17/26 3:43 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez (D) dropped out of the Democratic gubernatorial primary on Friday after her campaign disclosed major errors in its financial reporting.

Rodriguez, who had been considered one of the leading Democratic contenders to succeed retiring Gov. Tony Evers (D), said the mishandling of her campaign’s financial reports would have been an ongoing distraction throughout the race.

She confirmed her campaign’s suspension in a video on the social platform X, days after firing her campaign manager, Kara Spencer, due to “serious mismanagement and inaccuracies” in her finance filings.

Rodriguez said she “cannot in good conscience allow these questions to become a cloud over an election that Democrats need to win.”

“I am deeply hurt and betrayed by what happened,” she said.

“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,” Rodriguez continued. “This race is too important to let that happen.”

Her exit from the gubernatorial race narrows the Democratic field to four candidates. Two progressives are poised to be the leading candidates — former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and state Rep. Francesca Hong. Also in the running is state Sen. Kelda Roys and former Department of Administration head Joel Brennan.

The winner of the primary will likely take on Trump-backed Republican frontrunner Rep. Tom Tiffany in the November general election.

Tiffany seized on Friday’s news to argue the Democratic Party is not fit to lead the state.

“The Sara Rodriguez dropout, followed by the latest developments involving @GovEvers, says it all,” he wrote on X. “Even Tony Evers is acknowledging that Mandela Barnes and Francesca Hong are too radical for Wisconsin.”

Rodriguez’s financial scandal emerged when she revealed her campaign had overstated its fundraising by doubling contributions received and failing to properly report certain expenses.

She told reporters earlier this week that she had discovered her campaign had hundreds of thousands of dollars less than what she expected and what was reported in campaign finance filings.