Republican Party of Wisconsin
Press Release

RPW Files Campaign Finance Violation Complaint Against Brad Pfaff and Mandela Barnes

Attorneys for the Republican Party of Wisconsin have filed ethics complaints with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission

By - Sep 6th, 2022 02:46 pm

Attorneys for the Republican Party of Wisconsin have filed ethics complaints with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, against 3rd Congressional District Candidate Brad Pfaff and U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes.

The complaint details how in 2021 and 2022, both candidates accepted illegal campaign donations from lobbyists in violation of Wisconsin law. Together, Pfaff and Barnes have accepted thousands of dollars in illegal contributions from lobbyists.

State law universally prohibits members of the Legislature and partisan elected officials from accepting contributions from registered lobbyists while the Legislature is in session and conducting legislative business.

Barnes accepted illegal contributions from multiple lobbyists and both accepted illegal contributions multiple times, and throughout the course of Legislature’s 2021-2022 Session.

“Despite mandatory ethics training for elected officials, both Mandela Barnes and Brad Pfaff chose to ignore the law, in order to boost their chances against stronger and more qualified candidates in Ron Johnson and Derrick Van Orden” said RPW Executive Director Mark Jefferson. “While Mandela Barnes claims to want to ‘Stop big corporations and special interests from buying political influence,’ his actions again prove his words are just lip service and not only will he accept special interest money, he’ll also accept illegal contributions.”

RPW is calling on the Wisconsin Ethics Commission to launch an immediate investigation into the violations and make recommendations for civil or criminal violations to the proper court system.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

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