Republican Scott Mayer walks back claims about hiring staff for Senate run. Here’s his explanation.

WASHINGTON – A day after claiming he's hired about 20 campaign staff, including top management, as he prepares for a potential U.S. Senate run in Wisconsin, Scott Mayer backpedaled. 

Mayer, a Franklin Republican, walked back his claims to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he was “finishing putting a team together” and he was "halfway" to his goal of hiring 40 people. Rather, he suggested, he has people ready to join a campaign. 

Mayer's comments came as the Republican field to take on Democrat U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November is yet to take shape. Banker Eric Hovde is expected to announce his run soon.

“To clarify, nobody’s on my payroll because I don’t have a formal program yet,” Mayer said Wednesday morning, claiming he didn’t mean to mislead anyone with comments saying he hired staff. “I have not announced, I’m not going to start paying people until I announce.”

“But I have people lined up,” he added. “If I’m not actually doing anything, I don’t need to pay them. They are lined up and ready to go if we run.”

Mayer’s comments Wednesday are a reversal from those he made just a day prior, when he said he had most of his top campaign positions filled. “We’ve got most of those hired,” Mayer said Tuesday, when asked if he had a campaign manager and other top staff.

He had said he hired a campaign manager and consultants, but the man he said was his campaign manager, Chaz Nichols, formerly of Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch’s gubernatorial campaign, told the Journal Sentinel Wednesday that was not the case. Nichols had done consulting for Mayer last year, Nichols said, but had no intention of becoming his campaign manager. 

Asked why he said he hired staff when he did not, Mayer responded: “We have people ready to go. That is absolutely 100% accurate. But ‘hire’ is technically a different term.” 

Mayer maintained it is “correct” that he is staffing up. Still, he hasn’t hired staff.

“We have people ready to go,” he said.