5 More Residents File Complaint Over Outside Election Assistance in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis.—Kenneth Brown says Wisconsin voters should expect fair and honest elections. Billionaire-funded, third-party groups involved in administering local elections turn that expectation on its head, he says.

Brown is one of five residents of Racine, Wisconsin, who filed a complaint Thursday alleging that Racine Mayor Cory Mason and City Clerk Tara Coolidge allowed left-leaning activists to take over administration of the presidential election in the city. 

Their complaint, filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, also names the commission’s administrator as a defendant.

New documents obtained by Wisconsin Spotlight show the city of Racine sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for communication efforts targeting “voters with criminal records” and the purchase of a recreational vehicle to serve as a “mobile voting precinct,” among other questionable election initiatives.

The complainants also include Brooke Hesse, a Racine hair stylist who owns The Cutting Edge Salon & Spa. 

“This is something I am really passionate about, bringing this stuff to light,” Hesse said. “For me, exposing the tiniest amount is going to be like a domino effect.” 

Brown, who runs an optometry and eyewear store and is vice chairman of the Republican Party of Racine County, is represented by The Amistad Project, a national voter integrity watchdog. 

“Racine failed to comply with state laws, including obtaining from the [Wisconsin Elections Commission] a prior determination of the legality” of the conditions the third-party groups placed on the city in return for more than $940,000 in grant funding for “safe, inclusive, and secure” elections, the five residents’ complaint states.

In doing so, the city usurped the constitutional responsibilities of the local election official and the state elections regulator, the five complainants allege.

Wisconsin’s Legislature “never gave municipalities the authority to adopt or accept private corporate conditions affecting existing state election laws,” the complaint says. “The [Wisconsin Elections] Commission, as the responsible entity in the administration of election laws, never opined on the legality of private corporate conditions affecting existing election laws.”

Mason, a Democrat, and other Racine city officials did not reply to Wisconsin Spotlight’s request for comment.