Tipsheet

The Sara Rodriguez Campaign Just Imploded

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  July 14, 2026 11:00 AM

Yesterday, Townhall reported that Wisconsin's Democratic Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez, who is running in a crowded primary to replace outgoing Democratic Governor Tony Evers, fired her campaign manager after 'internal reviews' found major issues with the campaign's finance reports. But it seems the story is much worse than an inept or corrupt campaign manager and the Rodriguez campaign appears to be imploding in real time.

Rodriguez held a press conference yesterday to discuss the problems, and it did not go well for her.

First, a local reporter found dozens of repeat entries in Rodriguez's January campaign finance filings, each claiming the same person made the same donation on the same day.

And it turns out the Rodriguez campaign is, in a word, broke. She has only $200,000 cash on hand.

Despite that, Rodriguez said she is not exiting the race.

It's extremely hard to see how she can, when there'd be no money for the general election, especially when you look at the other financial troubles.

The Rodriguez campaign also has unpaid invoices with multiple vendors, and that she was unaware of this problem until last Thursday.

"She's in deep trouble," said Matt Henkel of Americans for Prosperity, who also noted the Rodriguez campaign is still bad at comms.

And she is. In a text to her supporters, the campaign put the wrong handle.

But, then again, what did we expect from a candidate who said she would craft the state's biennial budget in secret?

"I would say that most people are not going to stand in front of this many cameras and microphones to talk about fixing an error," Rodriguez said. "That's what I am here doing. And that's what you want to see in leadership, and what you want to see in the next governor."

And during her press conference, a train horn interrupted Rodriguez, which one social media user said is 'very fitting for this train wreck of a campaign.'

This user also said Rodriguez should fire the staffer who arranged the press conference.

It was painful to watch, even sans train horn.

Rodriguez insists she took 'swift action' to address these issues.

"Part of being a leader is about being as honest as possible, taking swift action, and doing the right thing," the image read. "This race is moving forward because the stakes are too high to sit it out. I am committed to full transparency about what happened, and I will continue working every day to ensure our positive message reaches voters across Wisconsin so we can beat Tom Tiffany in the fall. Onward!"

Tiffany, the Republican nominee, quoted this statement and blasted Rodriguez for her multiple failures.