Wisconsin Elections Commission rejects Democrats' effort to keep Republican Tim Michels off the ballot for governor

Molly Beck Lawrence Andrea
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels speaks Saturday, May 21, 2022, during the state Republican Party convention in Middleton, Wis.

MADISON – The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Friday unanimously rejected a bid by Democrats to block Republican Tim Michels from the ballot for governor.

Michels prevailed through a bipartisan 6-0 vote by the very commissioners he has said should be fired or removed from public office for using their discretion in applying election laws to help voters navigate the pandemic — criticism fueled by false claims of election fraud deployed by former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Michels. 

Before the vote, Democratic commissioner Mark Thomsen referenced the criticism, which is shared by other Republicans, and said if the commission had not used their discretion in this situation, too, Michels wouldn't be on the ballot.  

A Madison voter, financially supported by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, filed the challenge last week, claiming Michels did not include the municipality of his mailing address on the vast majority of his nomination papers, which were due by June 1. 

Elections Commission staff at the time already validated 3,861 signatures of the 4,000 submitted by Michels, according to the Michels campaign. Democrats challenged all but 345 of those signatures. A minimum of 2,000 signatures is needed to run for governor.

State law requires candidates to include their mailing address on their nomination papers, but Michels used just the municipality of his residence, which is different, on the vast majority of his paperwork. Michels, a construction executive, lives in the Village of Chenequa, but the U.S. Postal Service lists Hartland as his mailing address.

It's common for the post office to list people who live in small communities as living in larger ones nearby. The Democrats contend state law required Michels to use Hartland in addition to Chenequa on his paperwork.

In response to the complaint, Michels said a nomination form with the wrong information was "inadvertently" uploaded to his campaign website for volunteers and staff to use to gather, in addition to a form with the correct information. 

Jeff Mandell, an attorney representing the voter and Wisconsin Democrats, said the papers should be rejected because the address listed did not include a state or ZIP code. 

"It defies, to me, common sense that anybody looking at these papers would think that Mr. Michels wasn't living in this state and running for governor," Thomsen said before voting to reject the challenge. 

Democratic chairwoman Ann Jacobs said it's up to the voters, and not the commission, to decide whether Michels should be governor or not. 

Michels, in a statement, said the challenge "won't be the last obstacle Madison insiders throw in my way."

"Let’s be clear, in each step of the process, from the day we turned in our papers, to the staff recommendation earlier this week, and now the unanimous vote of the Commission, our signatures were recognized as valid and sufficient, despite all the howling from the usual suspects," he said. "My campaign has not lost a beat throughout this frivolous process."

Contact Molly Beck and Lawrence Andrea at molly.beck@jrn.com and landrea@jrn.com