Schimel Touts Endorsement From Sheriff Accused of Sexual Harassment
Sheriff Travis Hakes censured by 19-1 vote of Chippewa County Board.
Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel (second from left) stand next to Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes (second from right), who has been at the center of numerous controversies. (Screenshot)
In a television ad and recent endorsements, Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel has touted the support of Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes — a controversial figure whose county board voted 19-1 last year to find it had “no confidence” in him after he was accused of sexually harassing a female job applicant and subordinate.
As the race between Shimel and his opponent, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford, heats up, the two candidates have attempted to claim the other is soft on crime. Schimel, a Waukesha County Circuit Court judge who was previously the state attorney general under Republican Gov. Scott Walker, has in recent days announced endorsements from a number of current and retired sheriffs from across the state.
Hakes is one of the sheriffs who endorsed Schimel and appeared with the judge in a television ad behind a graphic that states Schimel is “tough on crime.”
Last February, the Chippewa County Board voted nearly unanimously that it has “no confidence in Chippewa County Sheriff Travis Hakes’ continued leadership” and that the sheriff has “a long history of not being credible.”
An independent investigation into Hakes initiated by the board found that he had sent inappropriate messages to a female job applicant and a subordinate, including a text that shared a “racist ethnically charged meme.”
“For any leader of a law enforcement agency to make such comments calls into question their professional judgement and ability to enforce the law and treat all persons fairly and lawfully,” a joint statement from County Administrator Randy Scholz and Board Chair Dean Gullickson said. “Moreover, for any leader of a law enforcement agency to suggest that his subordinates engage in such conduct with his implied support and tolerance leaves no doubt as to his inability to effectively manage any law enforcement employee and not expose the County to great risk.”
In the texts, Hakes told a female subordinate that she was the “breast person for the job!” in a conversation about birds and then later sent a meme depicting an Asian man crying with the caption “when the chow mein was on point but you kinda miss your cat.”
Hakes’ term as sheriff runs through 2026 and the board has no ability to remove him from office, which led to the no confidence vote. But in December 2023, the Chippewa County District Attorney put Hakes on the county’s Brady list — a document prosecutors are required to send to defense attorneys naming law enforcement officers “who have had incidents of untruthfulness, criminal convictions, candor issues, or some other type of issue placing their credibility into question.”
Hakes has “misled the public and County Board” multiple times about his work history, according to the board’s statement.
Because of his inclusion on the Brady list, Hakes is unable to be actively involved in investigations or handle physical evidence.
Several other sheriffs who have endorsed Schimel have also sparked controversy during their tenures.
Polk County Sheriff Brent Waak drew attention in 2023 for refusing to enforce a rule from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that banned the use of stabilizing braces on pistols. Waak has previously shared his belief in the constitutional sheriff ideology — which states that county sheriffs have nearly unlimited authority to decide what the law is.
Schimel was also endorsed by Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, who drew the praise of election deniers after he called for the arrest of five members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission and declined to arrest an election denier who had requested absentee ballots on behalf of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason.
In his 2018 campaign for attorney general, Schimel ran an ad touting his law enforcement support that included the endorsement of former Taylor County Sheriff Bruce Daniels — who was investigated by the FBI for hacking into a subordinate’s Dropbox account and by the state Department of Justice for pressuring another agency to destroy a report on a traffic accident that involved his son.
Wisconsin Democratic Party spokesperson Haley McCoy said in a statement that Schimel touting Hakes’ support shows a lack of judgement.
“This isn’t the first time that Brad Schimel has struggled with a photo op, but standing with a man censured 19-1 by local elected officials and accused of sexual harassment, conflicts of interest, poor leadership, and violating his oath is a new low — even for an extreme politician like Schimel,” McCoy said. “Brad Schimel has a long record of failing to keep Wisconsinites safe, from giving light sentences to convicted domestic abusers to failing to test more than 6,000 sexual assault kits over two years. It’s clear as day that Wisconsin voters can’t trust Brad Schimel’s judgment or public safety record on the state Supreme Court since he can’t even get this easy call right.”
Schimel’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Schimel campaign touts endorsement from sheriff accused of sexual harassment was originally published by Wisconsin Examiner.
Another right wing ass-h that must be defeated in the spring elections!
More BS from Frumpers. Sounds like Schimel’s “tough on crime” claim is similar to that of our new Felon-In-Chief. It’s only a crime if you get caught, and only if what you got caught doing broke a law that ReTrumpicans feel applies to them – which are NONE. The brazen attitude of Schimel publicly touting his association with and support from the likes of Waak, Schmaling, Daniels and Hakes is disturbing, at best.
Hakes looks like he will be taking the Pete Hegseth approach to his sexual harassment charges and claim “anonymous sources” and “it was fully investigated and I was completely cleared.”
Like Frump, he will create alternate realities and just keep repeating them until he thinks he has convinced enough people. It’s all about winning in the court of public opinion for these dirtbags.
Please vote for Susan Crawford for Wisconsin State Supreme Court in April, and by doing so, help to put a stop to this right-wing lunacy in our state – at least at the judicial level.
Travis Hakes. So many things wrong here. He was also selling knives, guns and real estate while on duty to the sheriff’s office employees. There was a high speed pursuit of which speeds are to be limited to 100 mph, Hakes was in the passing lane driving by the officers in pursuit. Going along with the Brady notice is the necessity of listing Hakes as exculpable evidence if Hakes has any involvement with investigations and/or evidence, meaning Hakes can not do police work, which is the job he is being paid for by the taxpayers. Money for nothing!! We also seem to have a District Attorney who recused himself from an incident involving raising money for the Robin Vos recall effort, supposedly because he was a republican! Hakes ran in a previous election for sheriff. In this election campaign he admitted on Facebook of transferring monies back and forth between his campaign account and his personal checking account. All of this is public knowledge, how much more is out there?
On a related note. I cannot believe that Shady Schimel is getting away with the fact that he claims his goodness in getting those 5-10 year old (and more) backlogs of the rape kits. From what I know, his spineless actions in NOT having them submitted to the State Crime Lab allowed them to go untested. In one article published by WISDEMS, they wrote “Brad Schimel tested only nine out of over 6,000 untested rape kits during his first two years in office….” and this goes back as far as 2014. Why isn’t the press all over this like flies on honey? Or does he believe that after 11 years we have forgotten about it…as well as how he prevented justice for thousands. How can he get away with it…backed by other Republican that must be sniffing where the sun don’t shine to gain favor with him???
DAGDAG – Like House Speaker Mike Johnson and so many of House and Senate reFrumplicans, they are looking forward, not backward – especially with regards to the convicted criminals from Jan 6 that have been unconditionally pardoned by our new Felon-In-Chief. Awfully convenient, isn’t it?
The trickle down effect of Frump’s outrageous acts is going to be more and more of this type of flagrantly scandalous and likely illegal activity by federal, state and local right-wing officials emboldened by his childish, unchecked, spur of the moment decisions.
Schimel is Scott Walker in a robe. No more Scott Walker look-alikes for Wisconsin. We need to finally purge the state of the stench of Walker.