Abele uses ads and website to attack foe

Accused of funding dark money groups to attack foes, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele is leaving no doubts about who is behind the ads and website aimed at undermining Board Chairman Theo Lipscomb. Abele is writing the checks. Abele’s campaign has set up a website called www.sendtheoamessage.com that accuses Lipscomb of blocking efforts to fund a local juvenile detention center, picking a fight over the zoo and suing to slash pay for some of Abele’s top appointees.

“Tell County Board Chair Theo Lipscomb: ‘Stop playing politics and do what’s right for Milwaukee County,’ “the website says.

On top of that, Abele’s campaign, largely self-funded by the millionaire Democrat, is paying for a five-digit digital ad campaign criticizing Lipscomb along the same lines. The ads appear on Facebook, Instagram and various websites, including the ones for the Journal Sentinel and WTMJTV (Channel 4).

Lipscomb said the two-pronged attack runs contrary to Abele’s repeated calls for greater civility in political discourse.

“Abele’s words simply don’t match his nasty political actions,” Lipscomb said via text. “There is a growing history of Chris using his father’s money for political influence to personally target those who don’t agree with him.”

But Andy Suchorski, political director for Abele, suggested the county exec has gone this route because of Lipscomb’s obstructionist tactics, which prevent Abele from pursuing the agenda for which he was elected.

Suchorski declined to say how much Abele’s campaign is spending on this effort but noted that “this is just the start of a significant digital program.” He said there will be additional media in the future.

What’s not clear is why Abele has gone on the offensive now. Lipscomb, like all supervisors, isn’t up for election until 2018.

The anti-Lipscomb campaign comes on the heels of a state lawmaker accusing Abele of secretly funding Milwaukee Works, a nonprofit that sends out postcards and publishes ads critical of opponents of the county exec.

Milwaukee Works, headed by local attorney Dan Adams, does not have to disclose its sources of income. Adams has refused to volunteer that information.

Last month, the group went after state Sen. Chris Larson, a Milwaukee Democrat who ran unsuccessfully against Abele last year, for his vote on an education bill.

“Eight other Democratic State Senators voted to increase accountability in voucher schools — but private school graduate Chris Larson voted against the reform bill,” said the widely distributed flyer. “Call Chris Larson and tell him to put children before politics.”

In response, state Rep. Jonathan Brostoff, a Larson ally, posted a Facebook diatribe in which he called Abele a “millionaire bully” who “instead of trying to work with others, sends out political, dark money ads going after them.”

Abele said last year he did donate to Milwaukee Works “a long time” ago but has had no involvement with Milwaukee Works recently. Suchorski repeated that assertion last week, saying Abele had no hand in the Larson mailer or any other recent ones.

“We see the pieces when everyone sees them,” Suchorski said.

In an interview, Brostoff took a much more measured approach regarding Abele. He said he appreciated his philanthropy but wishes the county exec would try to be more collaborative when dealing with other politicians.

But Brostoff continued to call Abele a bully and dismissed his statements that he wasn’t currently funding Milwaukee Works.

He said Abele might be giving through another entity or exploiting some other loophole. Some County Board members have speculated that Abele gave the nonprofit a large donation several years ago that it is still using.

Asked if he believes Abele is misleading voters by saying he’s not currently involved with Milwaukee Works, Brostoff said, “I only want the bullying to stop.”

One of Milwaukee Works’ other flyers this year targeted Supervisor Sequanna Taylor for missing 11 of her first 15 County Board meetings this year. Adams declined to say how many of these his group mailed. “That’s a secret,” Adams said.

Taylor, a parent engagement specialist with Milwaukee Public Schools, did not return calls but responded to the mailer with an epic Facebook post, which appears to have been taken down.

In the post, Taylor said she offered no apologies for doing her MPS job while also representing her district.

“My constituents tell me how grateful they are,” Taylor wrote on May 20. “County Sup is supposed to be a part-time position it’s not and I didn’t treat it as such ... I’m asked all the time when I sleep ... This when you know you’re doing right ... They try to find something.

“Thanks for giving me free advertisement.”