Joel Winnig and 2 other candidates receive public funding for Wisconsin Supreme Court primary election
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week on the race for Wisconsin Supreme Court as “One of Kind” stating “This springs state Supreme Court race will be the first – and perhaps the last – of its kind.” Marijuana activists saw this as a one of a kind during the campaign kick off as reported by Madison NORML examiner.
Winnig introduced many voters to his campaign, support for ending the war on drugs and his public funding idea at the 40th Annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival, held in Madison.
I was slightly disappointed to see that he may not qualify for the public funding. It seems is campaign collected more cash donations that allowed. Winnig filed a statement with election officials saying he believed that requirement is unconstitutional and asked them to provide him with the money anyway. The Government Accountability Board considered his request and surprisingly enough, Winnig will receive the public funds.
A report on WFRV Channel 5 in Green Bay gave insight into the GAB decision and memo, indicated Winnig was not the only campaign to make a honest mistake.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Government Accountability Board’s staff says three state Supreme Court candidates should receive public campaign money.
In a memo to the board ahead of its Thursday meeting, board staff said incumbent Justice David Prosser and challengers JoAnne Kloppenburg and Joel Winning should receive funding.
Prosser, though, must return money from about 20 out-of-state donors. Kloppenburg must return about $4,000 in contributions because she outraised the $20,000 contribution limit to qualify for public financing.
Winnig, meanwhile, exceeded the $500 cash contribution limit by thousands of dollars. But staff said he pointed it out and he shouldn’t be disqualified since the other candidates will be allowed to fix their mistakes.
Hopefully this is just the first in a series of victories during the race for Winning. The next big test will be the primary election on February 15th.
