Two leading Wisconsin Democratic, Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong and WI-3 Congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke, candidates are facing fresh scrutiny over their ties to Minocqua Brewing Company owner Kirk Bangstad, who publicly lamented that a gunman failed to kill President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last weekend.
State Rep. Francesca Hong, the frontrunner in the Democratic primary for governor, donated $25 to Bangstad in 2020, Wisconsin campaign finance records show.
Congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke, who is challenging Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, previously worked for Bangstad as a political fundraiser and consultant.
Bangstad’s brewery reacted to Saturday’s shooting by expressing regret that the attack had fallen short of its “free beer day” promise. “We stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens,” the post read.
The post was a reference to Bangstad’s long-standing promise to offer free beer at his brewery the day Trump dies. (RELATED: Van Orden and NRCC Open Grassroots Command Center in La Crosse County)
Rather than condemning his remarks after the shooting, Hong compared the assassination attempt to what she called “political violence” committed by the state.
“The state enacts political violence on its citizens every day,” she wrote. “We see it when ICE agents occupy our cities and put children in cages. We see it in a healthcare system that lets people die because they can’t afford care.”
Cooke, meanwhile, has repeatedly portrayed herself on the campaign trail as a working-class waitress and political outsider. A deleted campaign website recovered by the Wayback Machine tells a different story. (RELATED: BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rodriguez Vows Secret Budget Deals If Elected Governor)
The site described Cooke as the “founding principal of Cooke Strategy, a Democratic fundraising consulting firm” who served as finance director for four nationally targeted congressional races. In the 2016 cycle, she listed Bangstad’s Assembly campaign among her clients.
