Kirk Bangstad, the owner of Minocqua Brewing Company, failed to qualify for the Democratic Primary for the Gubernatorial Ballot.
Bangstad, made comments in regret that a gunman failed to kill President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. In the election, Bangstad said that he plans to sue in an attempt to force his way on to the ballot. The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) found that Bangstad had 1,504 valid signatures, short of the 2,000 needed to qualify for the Gubernatorial ballot. The rejected signatures from his submission included problems such as: missing dates, incomplete address information, and circulator errors.
Bangstad argues that his campaign submitted more than 2,000 signatures and worked to correct the mistakes, calling the rejection unfair and suggesting the process is too subjective. “If there’s a path forward, we’re going to fight it,” Bangstad said. “We worked hard to get 2,200 signatures.” (RELATED:Trump Rallies Wisconsin Farmers Around GOP Cost-Cutting Message)
Minocqua Brewing Company drew scrutiny earlier this year when they posted that they almost had “#freebeerday.” Minocqua Brewing Company expressed regret that the attack had fallen short of its “free beer day” promise. The comments later got Bangstad involved with the Secret Service and FBI, when they interviewed him after the same post suggested either that “someone in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship” or that the alleged assassination attempt against Trump was “faked.”
Socialist Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong and U.S. Representative candidate Rebecca Cooke has shown to have previous ties to Bangstad. One of the Democratic front runners, Hong, previously donated to Bangstad’s 2020 Gubernatorial Campaign. Rebecca Cooke, who is running against incumbent Derrick Van Orden for Wisconsin’s Third District, previously worked for Bangstad’s campaign as a political fundraiser and consultant. (RELATED:Francesca Hong Faces Criticism Over Police and Prison Comments)
The WEC also rejected signatures for ballot access from Democrat secretary of state candidate Eileen Newcomer and GOP 21st AD contender Veronica Diaz, whose signatures were challenged and stricken from the list.
