PAC money in last month's campaign questioned

Voters have been fed up for some time with political campaign ads. Locally, the race for the 54th Assembly District between last month's winner Gordon Hintz and his opponent Julie Pung Leschke took on a life of its own, with negative spin and special interest and Political Action Committee money that contributed to a campaign that some estimates said had already cost about $250,000. In light of the many complaints following last month's elections, we reported last week that bipartisan agreement seemed to have been reached on significant ethics and elections reform.

On Friday a complaint was filed with the State Elections Board, in which lawyers for two unions and a retired United Auto Workers union official from Racine accused the Milwaukee-based Alliance for Choices in Education and two political arms of the national group All Children Matter of trying to "launder" campaign cash to get around state elections laws. Ironically, All Children Matter was also one of the groups that invested heavily in Pung Leschke's campaign. It should be noted, however, that no one is suggesting her campaign was directly involved in any wrongdoing. You can read more about the complaint by going here.

On a separate, reflective note, like so many others, Pung Leschke was unhappy with the negative tone of the campaign and it ultimately caused the resignation of her campaign treasurer. But it should also be noted that while Pung Leschke complained publicly about her opponent's alleged lies and negativity, she never came out and asked those putting out ads in support of her bid for office to stop with their own negative campaigning. It may have been inaction and inconsistency on her part that cost her some votes at the polls.