The Left's Hypocrisy On 'Fake Candidates' In Wisconsin

In the wake of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “expose” that Wisconsin Republicans were actively recruiting “fake candidates” to run against Democrat challengers in summer primaries to the advantage of incumbent Republicans, the hysteria of those in the media and on Left shows a glaring hypocrisy.

Last summer, a candidate named Andrew Wisniewski ran as a Republican in Assembly District 25 against conservative Independent Bob Ziegelbaur. Ziegelbaur, a Democrat assemblyman since 1992, defected from the party in the summer of 2010 because he felt “they became more enthusiastic about big government and big tax increases and farther away from pro-life issues.”

But instead of running an honest campaign against Ziegelbauer, AFSCME union organizer Jason Sidener recruited Andrew Wisniewski to run as a Republican in an attempt to siphon votes away from Ziegelbauer in the conservative district. Wisniewski initially did not receive enough valid signatures to get on the ballot, but a GAB error revealed he had enough signatures to be placed on the ballot despite objections by the Republican Party.

On Wisniewski’s recruitment and candidacy, Ziegelbauer said:

“It’s pretty obvious to everyone that the Madison Democratic machinery put up a fake candidate to put a name on the ballot because they think it will screw up our election in the 25th Assembly District. From my perspective it points out how bad things have gotten in Wisconsin.”

Don Zimmer, chairman of the the Manitowoc County Republican Party wrote a letter to the editor of the Manitowoc Daily Herald saying:

“The candidacy of Andrew Wisniewski for the 25th Assembly District seat is a fraud and a joke. Wisniewski is not a Republican. He was put forth as a candidate by members of a public service union and other liberals solely for the purpose of taking votes away from Bob Ziegelbauer.”

Bob Ziegelbauer defeated both Republican candidate Andrew Wisniewski and Democrat Kerry Trask in November 10 by earning 50% of the vote. Wisniewski was only able to siphon 17% of the vote.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “expose” on the Republican “plot” makes no mention of last summer’s candidacy of Andrew Wisniewski. The truth of the matter is both parties have attempted to run fake candidates in “trojan horse” plots to disrupt their opposition.

Once again, the “righteous indignation” of the Left rings a bit hollow.