Brett Hulsey, a Wisconsin state representative and Democratic candidate for governor, thinks he has a surefire way to shoot past his better-funded and better-known primary opponent. He has announced that he intends to hand out homemade KKK hoods to Republican members of the state legislature.
Hulsey is way, way back in the pack of candidates running for the Democrat nomination for Wisconsin Governor. Few in the Badger State think he has much of a chance to beat the frontrunner, Mary Burke.
This backbencher status has him looking for ways to stand out. On May 1, Hulsey held a press conference where he displayed a white KKK hood he claims he made with his daughter’s sewing machine and $1 in curtain fabric.
— Brett Hulsey (@BrettHulseyWI) May 1, 2014
" layout="responsive" width="600" height="480">Hulsey said he intended to hand out the KKK hoods to highlight the fact that Republicans are racists.
These would be the same Republicans who Hulsey would have to work with if he were to miraculously win election to the Governor’s mansion.
State GOP executive director Joe Fadness said Hulsey’s plan is a “reprehensible, vile stunt” that should outrage everyone in the state.
This is not the first time Hulsey has generated a scandal more odd than shocking. In 2013, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board warned him not to use a 1987 Volkswagen Cabriolet convertible for personal travel, as he had purchased it with campaign funds. He admitted to a local news outlet that his personal vehicle was out of commission when questioned about reports that he traveled to work with the campaign-funded car.
“The easiest thing for me to do is go buy an ignition module and get my car running again, and then it won’t be an issue,” he said.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com