Deceptive Ads Try to Block Beglinger Support for Michels in Wis. (Newsmax)
By John Gizzi Sunday, 06 November 2022 07:20 PM EST Current | Bio | Archive
In the last few days, Wisconsin voters are being told through online ads and a video to vote for independent Joan Beglinger for governor because she’s “the true conservative choice.”
In contrast, another ad focuses on Republican nominee Tim Michels as a “RINO” (Republican in name only, one of Donald Trump’s favorite expressions for Republicans who aren’t fully conservative).
There are two major problems with this advertising: Beglinger dropped out of the race in September and has strongly endorsed Michels, whom she says shares her conservative philosophy and, she insists, “I want very much to defeat [liberal Democratic Gov]. Tony Evers on Tuesday.”
In an exclusive interview with Newsmax on Sunday, Beglinger noted that she “has no idea where these ads are coming from — although I suspect Evers and the Democrats are behind them.” The former independent candidate for governor said she withdrew from the race “to make sure Tim Michels was elected and I’m 100% for Tim.”
A just-completed Marquette University Law School poll showed that among likely voters, Michels and Evers are tied at 48% each and Beglinger at 2% — even though the former nurse and healthcare company executive has not been a candidate since she got out and endorsed Michels after Labor Day. Under Badger State law, however, Beglinger’s name must remain on the ballot.
A fear about loss of freedom and that no candidate was qualified to handle her state’s $40 billion budget prompted Beglinger to become an independent candidate for governor.
In her words, "I administered a $200 million annual budget, I knew Evers was incapable, and I had a lot of doubts about [former Lt. Gov.] Rebecca Kleefisch. She’s a former TV newscaster, and there seemed to be more of just image to her and not ability.”
Beglinger managed to qualify for the ballot through a strictly volunteer effort. But she discovered that “the media would not cover me, pollsters would not include me in their surveys and the Wisconsin Association of Broadcasters said they would not include me in televised debates with the two major-party candidates. This is all part of the corruption in politics we face.”
Beglinger was certified for the ballot in July, one month before the Republican primary. To her delight, businessman and fellow Trump Republican Michels defeated Kleefisch.
According to the Waukesa County Freeman, both the ad and website were “paid for by Wisconsin Rino Hunters and not authorized by any candidate, candidate’s agent or committee.” Wisconsin Rino Hunters, says Transparency USA, which reports on money involved in state politics, “is a Wisconsin political action committee with nearly $620,000 in expenditures, all to a group called Liberty Group, Inc. in late October.”
Liberty Group, Inc, reports the Freeman, has paid to “another group called Patriots for Wisconsin [which] paid to a group called Path to Victory LLC, which has paid $463,737 to Tony Evers campaign.”
In short, Wisconsin will have to wait until the election is over to see how direct is any tie between the Democratic governor and Wisconsin Rino Hunters, which is urging votes for a candidate who is out of the race and doesn’t want them.