I've been part of a coalition of women's organizations that is putting on a candidate forum this Monday in our city to introduce voters to where local candidates for the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly stand on issues important to women. We've been working on the forum for three months, spending time and money on advanced publicity, contacting and communicating with candidates, and drafting questions relevant to our communities in Northwest Wisconsin.
The Republican candidates have done a last minute pull-out.
(more on the flip)
The invited candidates to the forum:
Wisconsin Senate District 23
Pat Kreitlow and Dave Zien
Wisconsin Assembly District 68
Terry Moulton and Mike Turner
Wisconsin Senate District 31
Ron Brown and Kathleen Vinehout
Wisconsin Assembly District 93
Rob Kreibich and Jeff Smith
The reason for the pull-out? One of the committee chairs organizing the event has donated (as an individual) $150 to Kathleen Vinehout and $150 to Pat Kreitlow, both Democrats.
The Republican candidates mailed a letter last week that arrived at the chairs house on Friday. The letter was carbon-copied to all the local media outlets.
We are meeting tomorrow to discuss how to respond to the pull-out. All of the above Republican candidates participated in the local Chamber of Commerce's Candidate Forum in early October. Examining the Chamber's Board of Directors and Board Members donation records reveals a plethora of campaign contributions, the majority of which are to Republicans.
How do Kossacks think we should respond?