Exclusive: Langlade County GOP May Have Violated Wisconsin Campaign Finance Laws in Lead-Up to Next Week's Election for Antigo School Board
The political party may have violated Wisconsin campaign finance laws in the five weeks after being referred to the Langlade County District Attorney to face criminal charges in a separate matter.
On February 20, 2024, the Wisconsin Ethics Commission—after determining there was probable cause that the Republican Party of Langlade County intentionally violated Wisconsin campaign finance laws—formally recommended that the Langlade County District Attorney bring criminal charges against the Langlade County GOP.
However, last week, the Associated Press reported that Langlade County District Attorney Kelly Hays had informed the Wisconsin Ethics Commission that she was declining to bring criminal charges against the Republican Party of Langlade County, citing an unspecified conflict of interest.
Notwithstanding the recent uptick of public scrutiny into its electoral conduct, an investigation conducted by Wisconsin Jurisprudence raises substantial questions about whether the Republican Party of Langlade County may have violated Wisconsin campaign laws in the lead-up to next week’s election of candidates running for the Unified School District of Antigo School Board.
Wisconsin Jurisprudence’s investigation—which consisted of speaking with several individuals who reside in Langlade County, speaking with two individuals employed by the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, reviewing Wisconsin campaign finance law guidance materials posted on the Wisconsin Ethics Commission’s website, reviewing publicly available campaign finance reports filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, reviewing publicly available social media posts made by two Antigo School Board candidates, and reviewing photographs of various yard signs paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County that are posted around Langlade County and within the City of Antigo—also raises substantial questions about whether two Antigo School Board candidates—one of whom is an incumbent—may have violated Wisconsin campaign finance laws in the lead-up to next week’s election.
After Being Referred to the Langlade County District Attorney to Face Criminal Charges for Alleged Violations of Wisconsin Campaign Finance Laws, the Republican Party of Langlade County Purchases Some Yard Signs
On February 24, 2024—just days after the Wisconsin Ethics Commission formally recommended that the Langlade County District Attorney bring criminal charges against the Republican Party of Langlade County for alleged violations of Wisconsin campaign finance laws—the Langlade County GOP spent more than $1,300 on yard signs, according to its 2024 spring pre-election campaign finance report.
Over the ensuing five weeks, yard signs paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County proliferated around Langlade County and within the City of Antigo, according to several individuals who reside in Langlade County whom Wisconsin Jurisprudence spoke with for this article.
While one resident of the City of Antigo remembers the yard signs beginning to appear in the City of Antigo near the end of February, all of the residents of Langlade County whom Wisconsin Jurisprudence spoke with for this article about the yard signs remember seeing the signs starting to appear around Langlade County and within the City of Antigo by sometime in March.
According to one person who resides in Langlade County and spoke with Wisconsin Jurisprudence, the yard signs are currently “all over town.”
While the yard signs paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County that have appeared around Langlade County and within the City of Antigo are not uniform, they share one thing in common: they contain one or more names of three specific Antigo School Board candidates—two of whom are incumbents running for reelection to the Unified School District of Antigo School Board.
Less Than Two Weeks After the Republican Party of Langlade County Purchased Yard Signs, Two Antigo School Board Candidates Began Offering to Give Away Campaign Yard Signs to Their Supporters—Which Were Paid for by the Langlade County GOP
On March 7, 2024—less than two weeks after the Republican Party of Langlade County had spent more than $1,300 on yard signs—Jennifer “Jenny” Kressin, a non-incumbent candidate who is running for election to the Unified School District of Antigo School Board, offered to give away yard signs paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County and which contained her name, according to a publicly available post on her personal Facebook page. The signs that Kressin offered to give away to supporters of her campaign said, “Vote April 2nd” and explicitly stated, “Paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County.”
One day later—on March 8, 2024—Danny Pyeatt, who serves as president of the Unified School District of Antigo School Board and is an incumbent running for reelection, also offered to give away yard signs paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County, according to a publicly available post on his personal Facebook page.
One of the signs that Pyeatt offered to give away to supporters of his campaign contained his name, along with the names of two other specific Antigo School Board candidates—Jill Mattek Nelson, another incumbent who is running for reelection to the Unified School District of Antigo School Board, and Kressin. Along with the three candidates’ names, the sign also said, “Vote April 2nd” and “Paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County.”
Under Wisconsin campaign finance laws, these signs “seem” to constitute “express advocacy,” according to an individual employed by the Wisconsin Ethics Commission who responded to a question from Wisconsin Jurisprudence involving a hypothetical situation similar to the above scenarios.
Wisconsin campaign finance laws require a political party to disclose all contributions—including transfers of tangible property, such as yard signs containing “express advocacy”—that it makes to a candidate, in the political party’s campaign finance reports, unless the political party claims a valid statutory exemption to the reporting requirement.
A review of the Republican Party of Langlade County’s campaign finance reports that it filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission in 2024 show that it did not disclose making any contributions to either Pyeatt’s or Kressin’s respective campaigns for the Unified School District of Antigo School Board.
Wisconsin campaign finance laws also require candidates to disclose all contributions—including transfers of tangible property, such as yard signs containing “express advocacy”—that they agree to receive (and then actually receive) from other people and entities, in their campaign finance reports, unless the candidates claim a valid statutory exemption to the reporting requirement.
In response to an open records request by Wisconsin Jurisprudence, an employee with the Unified School District of Antigo said the school district did not have any campaign finance reports in its custody that were filed by Pyeatt or Kressin in 2024.
Wisconsin Jurisprudence was unable to independently verify whether Pyeatt or Kressin had claimed a statutory exemption to the reporting requirement in their respective campaign registration statements, as the Unified School District of Antigo had not provided those records to Wisconsin Jurisprudence in response to its open records request in time for publication of this article.
According to a page on the Wisconsin Ethics Commission’s website, Wisconsin campaign finance laws nonetheless require candidates who claim an exemption to the reporting requirement to “maintain records” documenting “all contributions and expenditures” involving their campaign committees “during exemption,” and must do so “for at least three years from the date of the election in which” their campaign committee “participates.”
However, Pyeatt and Kressin did not respond to Wisconsin Jurisprudence’s request for a copy of their respective campaigns’ records from 2024 documenting the contributions and expenditures which involved their respective campaigns for the Unified School District of Antigo School Board.
It is unclear who provided the yard signs—which were paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County—to Pyeatt and Kressin.
Antigo School Board Candidates Answer Questions About Yard Signs Paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County From Members of the Langlade County Retired Educators Association at its March 14th Meeting
On March 14, 2024, members of the Langlade County Retired Educators Association held a meeting at Northstar Lanes, a bowling alley located in the City of Antigo, where the six candidates running for the Unified School District of Antigo School Board—including Pyeatt, Kressin, and Mattek Nelson—answered questions from members of the educators association, according to Mary Griffin, a member of the Langlade County Retired Educators Association.
When the candidates were asked about whether the Republican Party of Langlade County had paid for their campaign signs, both Pyeatt and Kressin told members of the educators association that they had each accepted an offer from the Langlade County GOP to pay for their respective campaigns’ signage, according to Griffin.
Under Wisconsin campaign finance laws, a candidate who accepts an offer from another—including a political party—to pay for the costs of the candidate’s yard signs containing “express advocacy,” has received an “in-kind contribution” from the person or entity making the offer, as long as the person or entity making the offer follows through with paying for the costs of the signs, according to an individual employed by the Wisconsin Ethics Commission who responded to a question from Wisconsin Jurisprudence involving a hypothetical situation similar to the above scenario.
Wisconsin campaign finance laws require a political party to disclose all contributions—including “in-kind contributions”—that it makes to a candidate, in the political party’s campaign finance reports, unless the political party claims a valid statutory exemption to the reporting requirement.
Again, a review of the Republican Party of Langlade County’s campaign finance reports that it filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission in 2024 show that it did not report making any contributions to either Pyeatt’s or Kressin’s respective campaigns for the Unified School District of Antigo School Board.
Wisconsin campaign finance laws also require candidates to disclose all contributions—including “in-kind contributions”—that they agree to receive (and then actually receive) from other people and entities, in their campaign finance reports, unless the candidates claim a valid statutory exemption to the reporting requirement.
Again, in response to an open records request by Wisconsin Jurisprudence, an employee with the Unified School District of Antigo said the school district did not have any campaign finance reports in its custody that were filed by Pyeatt or Kressin in 2024.
And Wisconsin Jurisprudence was unable to independently verify whether Pyeatt or Kressin had claimed a statutory exemption to the reporting requirement in their respective campaign registration statements, as the Unified School District of Antigo had not provided those records to Wisconsin Jurisprudence in response to its open records request in time for publication of this article.
Although Wisconsin campaign finance laws nonetheless require candidates who claim an exemption to the reporting requirement to “maintain records” documenting “all contributions and expenditures” involving their campaign committees “during exemption,” and must do so “for at least three years from the date of the election in which” their campaign committee “participates,” Pyeatt and Kressin did not respond to Wisconsin Jurisprudence’s request for a copy of their respective campaigns’ records from 2024 documenting the contributions and expenditures which involved their respective campaigns for the Unified School District of Antigo School Board.
However, Jennifer Welch, a non-incumbent candidate who is running for election to the Unified School District of Antigo School Board and also attended the March 14th meeting, gave a different account of what transpired at the meeting.
In her account, while Pyeatt and Kressin both admitted to being members of the Republican Party of Langlade County, neither candidate directly addressed whether the Langlade County GOP had actually paid for their respective campaigns’ signage.
In addition, although Mattek Nelson did admit that the Republican Party of Langlade County had asked her whether it could make yard signs for her campaign, she also never directly addressed whether the Langlade County GOP had actually paid for any of her campaign’s signage, according to Welch.
The Republican Party of Langlade County, Pyeatt, and Kressin Did Not Respond to Wisconsin Jurisprudence’s Questions About the Two Candidates’ Respective Campaigns’ Signage
The Republican Party of Langlade County did not respond to Wisconsin Jurisprudence’s request to answer several questions for this article.
The Republican Party of Langlade County also did not respond to Wisconsin Jurisprudence’s request for comment about the signs that it paid for containing the names of candidates running for the Unified School District of Antigo School Board in next week’s election.
Additionally, Pyeatt and Kressin did not respond to Wisconsin Jurisprudence’s request to answer several questions for this article.
Pyeatt and Kressin also did not respond to Wisconsin Jurisprudence’s request for comment about the signs paid for by the Republican Party of Langlade County containing their respective names as candidates running for the Unified School District of Antigo School Board in next week’s election.