By: Riley Vetterkind
May 8, 2018
Two people who considered running in the 42nd AD special election say Republican leaders last month discouraged them from getting in to make way for establishment favorite Jon Plumer.
The revelation comes as Assembly Republicans gear up to defend the seat in next month’s special election against Dem Ann Groves Lloyd, who is unopposed for her party’s nomination and raised three times as much as Plumer last month, according to finance reports released yesterday.
Darren Schroeder, a farmer who entered the race early last month, and Cliff Arthur, a Lodi attorney who considered a run, both told WisPolitics.com Speaker Robin Vos and Republican Assembly Campaign Committee Executive Director Jenny Toftness asked them not to run and to support Plumer’s candidacy.
Schroeder recalls meeting with Vos on April 14, before he had collected enough signatures to get on the ballot. During the meeting, Schroeder said Vos had said the party planned on supporting Plumer, a Lodi karate studio owner, after screening several candidates in the district.
“They just explained to me that they were going to be backing Jon Plumer, and that they were shifting all of their financial support in that direction, and they asked me if I would not run,” Schroeder said.
Pre-primary finance reports released yesterday back up the financial support. The RACC provided Plumer with a $3,109 in-kind contribution. Additionally, GOP committee transfers ranging from $250 to $1,000 came from 24 Assembly Republicans, including Vos’ campaign committee. Those donations amounted to $16,600. No other GOP candidate in the race received such financial assistance.
Neither Vos, Toftness nor Plumer immediately returned a request for comment.
Arthur tells a similar story. He said he first met with Vos in January when he was contemplating a general election run. At that time, he recalls Vos telling him the party would be neutral in the primary. But after Gov. Scott Walker called special elections in late March, Vos’ thinking changed, Arthur said.
Arthur said he received phone calls and a text message from Vos, R-Rochester, on April 1 telling him the Republican Party was backing Plumer.
“Yes, we are going to help [Plumer] both in the primary and the general,” Vos wrote in a text message to Arthur that was shared with WisPolitics.com. “We need to use all 8 weeks to be ready and build up name id to defeat the Democrats. Hope you understand.”
After that correspondence, Arthur said he eventually decided against a run due to his inability to keep up with the state party’s resources.
“I’d basically be fighting against my own party. I don’t have time for a futile mission,” he said.
But Schroeder, who eventually did gather the nomination papers, is still on the ballot for the special election and is moving forward with his campaign.
“Through the weekend I had more than enough signatures. And I just decided that it’s a democracy, and I personally thought I was a more experienced candidate,” Schroeder said.
He told WisPolitics.com he’s also in the process of gathering signatures to get on the November ballot.
Two other 42nd AD Republicans vying for the nomination, attorney Colleen Locke-Murphy and limousine driver Spencer Zimmerman, told WisPolitics.com they did not receive contact from Vos or Toftness trying to dissuade them from a run.
Even so, Locke-Murphy said she’s discouraged by the Republicans’ decision and how it puts her at a disadvantage in the race.
“I’ve spent my entire adult life living as a female attorney, so I have been slighted every which way, so I’m not surprised. If they’re silly enough to think that he’s going to win, that’s wonderful. I don’t agree,” she said.
See the text exchange between Arthur and Vos:
http://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/180508Vostexts.png
Riley Vetterkind 