‘You don’t belong in elected office’: Republican ripped for encouraging violence against elections officials

Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch received harsh criticism on Tuesday for her rhetoric against the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission that her administration helped create.

In Wisconsin, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on a shared ticket. After Republican Scott Walker chose Kleefisch as his running mate on his successful 2010 ticket, she served two terms before the two lost their campaign for a third term in 2018.

Kleefisch is now running for governor herself and campaigning to abolish the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission that her administration signed into law in 2015.

"They have been a lawless agency and they have completely disregarded statutes and the constitution. I think they have turned our elections into a circus," Kleefisch told WTAQ-AM host Joe Giganti, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday.

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"And so whether we choose to put it under the Legislature or the secretary of state’s office, elections in Wisconsin must have more authority for the voters so that they have essentially one throat to choke," she said. "They need to be able to bounce someone from office, whether it's the secretary of state or their legislator if elections go wrong."

The rhetoric of "one throat to choke" worried Ann Jacobs, the chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

"Violent rhetoric ('one throat to choke') doesn't belong in discussions of election mgmt. It encourages attacks and violence against elections officials. If you want to 'choke' elections officials for doing their job, you don't belong in elected office," Jacobs posted to Twitter.

Kleefisch is facing Kevin Nicholson in the GOP primary for governor. He also supports abolishing the commission that Republicans created only seven years ago.