Elections Commission rejects challenge to Tony Wied's nomination papers in House race

WASHINGTON – Wisconsin’s elections board on Monday rejected a challenge to a Donald Trump-backed congressional candidate’s nomination papers to qualify for the ballot for a northeast Wisconsin House seat after the campaign was accused of misrepresenting the documents as a petition to help the homeless.

A former Green Bay alderman challenged Republican Tony Wied’s signatures last week, alleging at least one petitioner for Wied at a Green Bay farmer’s market on May 25 asked shoppers to sign Wied’s papers by presenting them as a petition for “housing for the homeless.”

But the Wisconsin Elections Commission unanimously rejected the complaint after attorneys for Wied argued the challenge was “based on hearsay” and did not “establish that anyone who actually signed the nomination paper was misled.”

WEC staff said the petition circulator in question denied the allegations, and the commission noted the documents were properly marked as Wied’s nomination papers for the 8th Congressional District.

“Without being able to connect a specific allegation that a singer (sic) was misled to a signature before the Commission, the Commission is unable to strike any signatures,” WEC staff wrote in its recommendation, which was accepted by the bipartisan commission.

The initial complaint was filed last week by Tony Theisen, the former alderman who has also volunteered to collect signatures for one of Wied’s primary opponents, state Sen. Andre Jacque. Theisen challenged just 425 signatures, not enough to drop Wied below the threshold to qualify for the ballot, and asked the commission to investigate all collected signatures — a request WEC rejected.

Wied on Monday called the rejected challenge a confirmation of “what we knew all along: career politicians will do whatever they can to try and hold power.”

“The WEC’s dismissal of the complaint proves this was nothing more than a desperate attempt by my opponents to keep the Trump-Endorsed Conservative off the ballot,” Wied said in a statement.

While WEC noted the complaint contained “no evidence” that anyone who signed the nomination papers was misled, one woman who signed the documents on May 25 told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday she signed after being asked if she’d like to help the homeless.

Sam Rowe, a Democrat from Green Bay, said she “only realized after I gave my information” that the documents were Wied’s nomination papers. She confirmed her signature to the Journal Sentinel after being shown a copy of the documents.

“I didn’t read the top of the paper until after I had already signed and gave my info,” Rowe said, noting she did not report the incident to WEC. “I didn’t feel like there was any turning back at that point and I wanted to get on with my day. But I was kicking myself for falling for it as I was walking away.”

Maureen Hughson, a De Pere resident who was at the market with her husband the same day, previously told the Journal Sentinel she was asked to sign the documents “to help get funding for homelessness on the ballot.”

A spokesman for Jacque on Monday did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But WEC’s action this week means four candidates are in the running to replace retired Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher in the 8th Congressional District.

Wied, Jacque and former state Sen. Roger Roth are competing in the Republican primary for the 8th Congressional District, set for Aug. 13. De Pere OB-GYN Kristin Lyerly is the only Democrat in the race.

Candidates in the district needed to submit two sets of nomination papers after Gov. Tony Evers last month called for a special election to fill the vacancy after Gallagher retired before the end of his term.

Evers set the 8th Congressional District special election for the same dates as the regularly scheduled partisan primary and general elections, meaning candidates for the seat will appear twice on the same ballot.

The winner of the special election in November will serve until Jan. 3, 2025 — just over two months. After that, the winner of the regularly scheduled election will serve out a normal two-year House term.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Elections Commission rejects challenge to Wied's nomination papers