Wisconsin Elections Board members contribute to campaigns they regulate

"You didn't give up your First Amendment rights when you joined the board. You didn't give up your freedom of association."

Kevin Kennedy
Wis. Elections Board executive director



Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. - State Elections Board members donate to political campaigns, even though the board is responsible for overseeing the elections process in a nonpartisan manner.

Records obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel show four of the board's nine members have made campaign donations while serving on the board.

Chairman John P. Savage, the state Republican Party designee, gave $6,800 to campaigns, including $1,000 to Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green on May 4. Just weeks later, he voted against the panel's order that Green return $468,000 in donations from out-of-state political action committees. Green has appealed that order.

Savage, a Milwaukee lawyer and parliamentarian for state Republican Party conventions, said he doesn't take contributions into account during board votes and doesn't see a conflict.

But state Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, said allowing board members to donate to the candidates they regulate is a "charade."

Read more@Mercury News.