MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sara Rodriguez announced Monday that her campaign is holding far less money than she had believed, a discovery triggered when a planned television ad campaign failed to launch due to unpaid invoices.
Rodriguez, who currently serves as lieutenant governor, made the announcement late Sunday night that she had terminated her campaign manager, Kara Spencer, roughly one month before the August 11 primary election. The firing came after an internal review revealed that campaign contributions had been counted twice while expenses were underreported, leaving the campaign in a much weaker financial position than previously understood.
Standing alongside supporters at her campaign headquarters during a news conference Monday, Rodriguez made clear she has no intention of stepping aside.
“This campaign is going to move forward,” she declared at the event.
Rodriguez is locked in a competitive Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s open governor’s seat. Her opponents include democratic socialist Francesca Hong, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, and three other candidates. The primary winner will face Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in the general election. Tiffany has only minimal opposition in his own primary.
The financial problems came to light after Rodriguez announced a $1 million television advertising buy last week. When those ads failed to appear on air as scheduled, she began asking questions — and that’s when the accounting discrepancies surfaced.
Rodriguez expressed deep frustration over the situation, directing her remarks at her now-former campaign manager. “I am hurt, angry and deeply disappointed by someone I trusted to run my campaign,” she said. “I was continually getting inaccurate reports from my campaign manager.” Spencer did not respond to a request for comment.
Rodriguez said her campaign immediately contacted the Wisconsin Ethics Commission on Monday and is cooperating with the agency to correct a financial report filed in January covering last year’s donations and expenditures. Her next campaign finance report, covering the first six months of this year, is due Wednesday.
The $650,000 Rodriguez reported raising in 2025 was the second-highest total among Democratic candidates in the race, trailing only Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who raised approximately $800,000. Crowley exited the race last week and endorsed Rodriguez — notably after she announced her $1 million ad buy. Former Democratic candidate and ex-state economic development director Missy Hughes also endorsed Rodriguez after ending her own campaign last month.
Rodriguez said the television ads that were supposed to begin running last week will now start airing next week. She declined to give a precise figure for how far off the campaign’s financial reports were, saying the reconciliation process is still underway. However, she disclosed that her campaign has raised approximately $1 million overall and currently has about $200,000 cash on hand.
Democratic rival Joel Brennan, a former top aide to Gov. Tony Evers, called the campaign’s financial errors “disqualifying.” Gov. Evers has not backed any candidate in the primary.
Rodriguez pushed back against any suggestion she was trying to conceal the problems. “If I were trying to hide something I would not be here today telling you about it,” she said. “Most people are not going to stand in front of this many cameras and microphones to talk about fixing an error.”
