Kleefisch says She Needs to “Hire Mercenaries” to Win in Wisconsin, say Democrats

MADISON - Rebecca Kleefisch supports making it harder for Wisconsinites to vote — but only after she uses the voting rights protections enshrined by Gov. Tony Evers to win the election.  

At a secret campaign strategy rally over the weekend, Kleefisch told supporters behind closed doors that despite her frequent calls to restrict the right to vote, she’ll need to use the same pro-democracy measures she’s vowing to repeal and limit if she wants a shot at winning the governor’s race. 

However, if elected, Kleefisch promised to strip away those measures and limit Wisconsinites’ access to the ballot box the moment “after swearing in.”

Kleefisch is so disgusted by policies that make voting easier, she said she would have to “shower with steel wool” after helping people maximize their constitutional right to vote.  

If elected, Kleefisch supports limiting ballot drop boxes and restricting who can return absentee ballots for others. The GOP-controlled state legislature recently passed a series of anti-democratic bills with similar restrictions — only to have them shut down by Gov. Tony Evers, whose defense of the right to vote has been a sea wall against the GOP’s voter suppression tactics. 

“‘Voting rights for me — but not for thee’ has always been the GOP’s strategy to winning elections,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Now, Rebecca Kleefisch is simply saying the quiet part out loud. Gov. Evers has successfully protected the right to vote for all Wisconsinites, and if Kleefisch is elected, she’ll undo that progress and strip away access to the ballot box.”