FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2026
CONTACT: info@erictoney.com
Toney Calls on Attorney General Kaul to Investigate Lt. Gov. Rodriguez’s Campaign Finance Reports
“You don’t get a free pass just because you dropped out…”
FOND DU LAC, WI – Eric Toney, Republican candidate for Wisconsin Attorney General, is calling on Attorney General Josh Kaul to immediately open an investigation into Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez’s campaign finance reports, which have been unraveling for a week. Despite ending her campaign, voters in Wisconsin need confidence that this can never happen again.
“Wisconsinites have seen enough from Lt. Governor Rodriguez’s campaign this week to know it needs to be investigated for possible campaign finance violations. You don’t get a free pass just because you dropped out, and voters need to know that this will never happen again. Election integrity matters, and the sitting Lt. Governor should be treated the same as everyone else, Republican or Democrat,” said Eric Toney, Republican candidate for attorney general. “As someone who served as a special prosecutor and worked with the Wisconsin DOJ Public Integrity Unit, I know they have the resources and skills to conduct a thorough investigation – they just need the leadership to do it. Attorney General Kaul must for once put party politics aside and immediately open an investigation into Lt. Governor Rodriguez’s campaign finance reporting.”
Under Wisconsin statute § 11.1201, intentionally submitting a false report or statement is a Class I felony pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 11.1401(1)(b), whenever the figure exceeds $100 or doesn’t involve a specific figure.
Campaign committees are also required to report the date, full name, and street address of every contribution received, and every transfer made to another registrant. Intentionally violating any reporting requirement under Chapter 11 – including the itemization requirements of § 11.0204(1)(a)1. – could be a Class I felony under § 11.1401(1)(a). Each falsified or duplicated entry, if intentional, could constitute a separate violation.
Wisconsin voters deserve to know whether Lt. Governor Rodriguez’s reports were the product of criminal activity and who is responsible or if it was incompetence.
On July 12, Rodriguez announced she had fired her campaign manager after discovering her reports had overstated contributions by “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” leaving the campaign with just over $200,000 in the bank weeks before the August primary. Media reviews of her reports found she may have overstated her donations by at least $137,500 in the second half of 2025 alone, and reporters have identified dozens of duplicate donor entries in her January filing – the same donor, the same amount, the same date, reported twice with only minor formatting differences. Rodriguez ended her campaign earlier today, but she is still the sitting Lt. Governor and Wisconsinites deserve accountability on what has become major statewide news this week.
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