Congressional candidate challenges rivals’ ballot papers

MADISON — Jessi Ebben, a Republican running in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, is challenging the nomination papers of several campaign rivals, saying improper wording disqualifies any of the signatures of support.

Ebben’s campaign filed paperwork to have some of the signatures of Democrat Fred Clark invalidated, along with many of the signatures of Republican candidates Michael Alfonso and Kevin Hermening.

According to documents filed with the Wisconsin Elections Campaign by Ebben’s campaign manager, Thomas Schroeder, the documents circulated were not updated to include new language outlining how the circulator needs to be a resident of Wisconsin.

Instead, they say, “I further certify that I am either a qualified elector of Wisconsin, or a U.S. citizen, age 18 or older who, if I were a resident of this state, would not be disqualified from voting.”

The campaign for Hermening, a financial planner from Wausau, and the former Marathon County GOP chair, blasted the move by Ebben, who previously challenged U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden in a previous campaign in the 3rd Congressional District.

“This bullying to remove candidates from the ballot is reminding our Republican voters that she also tried to remove Scott Walker as Governor when she signed the petitions to recall Scott Walker,” said Brian Christianson, spokesperson for Hermening.

“She moved into a new district, she lives in a rented duplex, she’s been outed at a closet Democrat again, and she should drop out as local party leaders have asked of her.”

The campaign for Alfonso, the son-in-law of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Clark, a former Assembly representative and member of the Natural Resources Board, is having three pages of his signatures challenged in the same way, but his campaign was not concerned as he submitted more than the required number of signatures needed.

In an email, Clark said the challenge only affects 24 of 1,973 signatures, and he will not contest the complaint.

“We have and will still have far more signatures submitted than any other candidate in this race,” he said. “And we have way too many other things to be doing, and the voters in Northern Wisconsin have a lot more to be concerned about, than us spending time filing rebuttals to complaints over minor discrepancies in paperwork.”

The challenges will be heard by the WEC on June 10 during a virtual meeting.

The challenge is based on a new law, signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers earlier this year, that requires anyone gathering signatures for candidates attempting to get on the ballot in congressional, state or local races to be a Wisconsin resident.

That law is being challenged by the conservative legal firm Wisconsin Institute of Law & Liberty, on behalf of the conservative Americans for Citizen Voting, contending the law violates the First Amendment.

Republican lawmakers introduced the measure in the wake of a state investigation into organizers of a recall election against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos that revealed more than a dozen people recruited to circulate petitions to force the recall had submitted phony signatures or listed fake addresses. Many of them lived out of state.

Also running in the race are Republican Niina Baum, and Democrats Chris Armstrong and Ginger Murray.

The primary for both parties will be held on Aug. 11, followed by a general election on Nov. 3 between the Republican and Democrat.

The race will determine who succeeds Republican Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor and carried the 7th District by more than 25 points in the 2024 election.