Yes Another Earth-Shaking Republican Scandal In Wisconsin

You probably read yesterday that Tom Petri (R-WI) will be formally announcing on Monday that he will be retiring from Congress at the end of this year. He just doesn't have it in him to fight off right-wing extremist Glenn Grothman, the union-hating kook who wants to abolish weekends. Grothman doesn't live in Petri's district, but part of his own state senatorial district is part of WI-06, Petri's district. Another state Senate seat that makes up part of WI-06 is the 19th district, currently held by another Republican extremist, Senate President Michael Ellis. He represents parts of Outagamie and Winnebago counties and most of Appleton and Menasha.

Ellis is, to keep it short, an authoritarian anti-democracy fanatic. He was just caught in a serious campaign finance fraud and announced yesterday that he's dropping out of his reelection race. He feels sorry for himself… very, very sorry… for himself.

State Senate President Mike Ellis dropped out of his re-election race Friday, two days after a secret recording was released revealing him discussing setting up an illegal political action committee to attack his challenger.

The decision by the Neenah Republican ends a political career spanning four decades and leaves Democratic state Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber of Appleton as the only candidate in the race. Gov. Scott Walker was just three years old when Ellis won election to the Legislature nearly 44 years ago and his departure will accelerate a trend in the Senate toward sharper party clashes, observers agreed.

"I don't fit in anymore," he said in an interview. "There isn't room for independent thinking and compromise...There's no room on the street anymore for people to walk down the middle of the road."

He leaves undone by the very qualities that helped him endure: his willingness to jostle his own party, brag and spout bull as he aired private views that were not always in line with his public stances. Following the release of the recording, Ellis found himself forced to tell a skeptical public that he didn't understand the limits of campaign laws that he had long championed.

Ellis, 73, was elected to the Assembly in 1970 and made the jump to the Senate in 1982, facing little opposition at the ballot box in recent years. In Schaber, Ellis faced his first opponent in 16 years and he did so as conservatives hinted at challenges to him in the GOP primary.

Surveying the bitter end career, Ellis said he had no regrets and likened himself to a quarterback who wanted to keep playing after he could no longer ably do so.

He made the decision to get out of the race Wednesday night, after the recording was released. He said he suspected people were recording him on other occasions, including when he was out for dinner with his wife Sandy.

"My wife doesn't deserve this," he said. "Nobody's wife deserves this.

"I grew up like Tommy Thompson in the '80s and '90s," he said, referring to his political ascent with the longtime Republican governor. "Our entire political makeup does not recognize that approach to politics. We didn't grow up in it."

…Ellis talked in the recording about establishing a separate political operation with $400,000 to $500,000 to help him. Campaign law precludes candidates from working with groups that are set up to independently run ads aimed at helping them.

"I am putting together my own super PAC," Ellis said in the recording.

He said he proposed the operation because he wanted "somebody else to attack" Schaber.

Should Schaber win in the 19th, it will make it more likely that the Democrats will take back the Wisconsin state Senate and be in a position to stop the Republican war against working people dead in its tracks. Were that to happen the likely next Senate Majority Leader would be current Minority Leader Chris Larson, who wasn't exactly leaving the Republicans to repair the damage the Ellis revelations have caused. "The people of Wisconsin," he told us, "are sick of the culture of corruption in Madison. We need to end the days of pay-to-play governing and do-anything-to-stay-in-power politics utilized by current Republican leaders. Mike Ellis not running for re-election is a good start, but he needs to be held accountable by those in his Party who elected him head of the Senate. They should join us in calling for his removal as President of the Wisconsin State Senate. Footage released earlier this week about Ellis’ illegal plans to attack his opponent, Penny Bernard Schaber, with illegal campaign money marks a new chapter in the continued culture of corruption within the Senate Republican caucus. Voters will not stand for this kind of unethical behavior any longer. It's time that we restore balance to our state government by electing a proven reformer like Penny to a Democratic-led Senate."

This is a letter Larson, who Blue America has endorsed, sent out on behalf of Penny Schaber's campaign:

Now that the Republican's Culture of Corruption has been exposed, we can elect Penny Bernard Schaber to the State Senate and she can usher in a new era for Wisconsin politics.

The Republicans knew that Penny was going to defeat Mike Ellis in the 19th Senate District so they did what they do best, attack and personally vilify Mike Ellis in order to drive him out of the race-- And they succeeded.

Will you join us in helping Penny Bernard Schaber, and her positive campaign, bring a new era to Wisconsin politics. Your recurring donation of $19 or whatever you can afford today will ensure that Penny has the ability to fight back against the culture of corruption.

While Mike Ellis is the one who got caught this time, we know that this culture of corruption is business as usual for the Republicans who have been plagued by scandal after scandal.

For years, Wisconsin Republicans have used their wealthy and powerful supporters to create Super PACs to do their dirty work, but with Ellis dropping out of the race, we have a real chance at electing Penny Bernard Schaber, winning back the majority for Democrats, and putting an end to the corruption.

Penny wins elections the old fashioned way, by knocking on doors, working with volunteers and respecting the people who live in her community.

  Can you help Penny Bernard Schaber break the cycle of Republican corruption with a recurring contribution of $19 or whatever you can afford today? This a great opportunity to stand up and send a strong message to the Republicans in Madison that their the Culture of Corruption will be stopped.

We want honest Senators that we can trust, who campaign on the issues, and don’t rely on negative attacks funded by big corporations and the super rich.

We want Penny Bernard Schaber-- but we can't do this without your help!