Missed Ad Buy Exposes Big Money Problem For Sara Rodriguez

Sara Rodriguez. Photo from the candidate.

An October surprise has arrived in July, and it might be worse than it initially seemed.

Lieutenant governor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sara Rodriguez sent shockwaves through the highly competitive Democratic primary race when she announced Sunday night that she had fired her longtime campaign manager, Kara Spencer.

During a press conference Monday, Rodriguez indicated the problems might be even greater than initially revealed. She declined to say how big the financial discrepancy was but said the campaign’s financial position was “hundreds of thousands of dollars” worse than she had been led to believe.

The candidate said she became aware of the issues when her previously announced $1 million advertising campaign didn’t start as planned Tuesday. Her media team then told her Wednesday that an advertising invoice had not been paid. “I was given excuses from my campaign manager that did not make sense,” she said.

On Thursday morning, she stood side by side with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley as he dropped out of the race and endorsed her. Then Thursday afternoon, she said she learned of the financial problems. By Friday, she said she had assembled “a small team of political, legal, communications and compliance experts” to analyze the issue. “That initial analysis took all day Saturday,” she said.

On Monday, Rodriguez said her gubernatorial campaign has only slightly more than $200,000 in the bank after discovering that campaign finance reports double-counted donations and failed to account for certain “significant” expenses.

“I understand that there was a press release indicating that we were going to do a $1 million ad buy,” Rodriguez said at a press conference in Madison. “That decision was made by my campaign manager, and I cannot get inside her head as to why she made that announcement.”

Rodriguez said the campaign has raised nearly $1 million during the race, but she declined to provide an exact total while accountants and campaign finance experts continue reconciling its records. It previously reported raising more than $600,000 in 2025.

The review remains underway, and Rodriguez said she could not yet say whether additional discrepancies would be found or whether any money was missing.

“We still do not know everything yet,” Rodriguez said. “But we did learn a few key things. There was clearly a double counting of contributions that inflated how much money we had raised. There was also a significant failure to report certain expenses that had been paid.”

Rodriguez said the errors were serious enough to warrant Spencer’s firing Sunday. A campaign attorney contacted the Wisconsin Ethics Commission Monday morning, and the campaign plans to amend inaccurate reports. It last reported its finances in January and must make another filing by July 15.

Spencer had worked for Rodriguez since her 2021 campaign for lieutenant governor and had responsibility for campaign finance compliance. Rodriguez said Spencer’s background in compliance was one reason she trusted her to prepare the reports.

Rodriguez said the campaign would also review every campaign finance report Spencer had previously prepared for her, though the immediate focus would be correcting reports associated with the gubernatorial campaign.

The revelations come during a pivotal stretch in the race when it appeared Rodriguez was gaining momentum. In June, Missy Hughes dropped out and endorsed Rodriguez, then Crowley joined the chorus. Rodriguez won the straw poll at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention, though Francesca Hong was leading in Marquette Law School polls.

Asked whether she owed Crowley an apology because his decision may have been influenced by an overstated perception of her campaign’s strength, Rodriguez did not directly answer. She said she had spoken with supporters across Wisconsin and remained grateful for their backing.

“There are people that get knocked down and don’t get back up, I am not one of them,” said the lieutenant governor.

Rodriguez also repeatedly defended her leadership, arguing that she acted quickly once she learned the reports and internal financial information were inaccurate.

“I am hurt, angry and deeply disappointed by someone I trusted to run my campaign,” Rodriguez said. “This was not just a breach of my trust, but the trust of our volunteers, our supporters and the voters who deserve better.”

Reporters pressed Rodriguez on whether she should have exercised greater oversight over the campaign’s finances and whether the episode undermined her argument that voters could trust her to oversee the state budget.

Rodriguez said she met regularly with Spencer and relied on financial information she was provided. She said her response demonstrated that she would disclose problems and act when errors were uncovered.

She did not say whether she believed Spencer intentionally inflated the campaign’s numbers or simply made mistakes. “I cannot tell you what was in her mind about why she did what she did,” Rodriguez said. “It was an enormous shock that this happened.”

Rodriguez said the campaign would continue, including with television advertising, though she did not say how much it would spend.

“This is a bump in the road for the campaign,” she said. “But we are going to be as honest and transparent as we can be.”

But her opponents were quick to question her campaign.

“How is this not disqualifying?” asked Joel Brennan in a press release.

“The public is getting far too familiar with hearing Sara Rodriguez apologize,” said a spokesperson for Kelda Roys.

Hong and Mandela Barnes‘ campagins have not publicly commented on the matter yet.

Rodriguez is one of five Democrats running to succeed Gov. Tony Evers, who is not seeking a third term. The Democratic nominee is expected to face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November.