Candidate misses deadline to dispute forgery claims
Assembly candidate Charisse Daniels may have just run one of the shortest campaigns ever.
Daniels, a 29-year-old Watertown resident, missed the deadline for responding in writing to a complaint accusing the first-time candidate of submitting dozens of forged signatures on her nomination papers.
“I have no comment,” said Michael Maistelman, attorney for Daniels.
That should effectively hand the victory in the 37th Assembly District to incumbent Rep. John Jagler, a Watertown Republican. The state Elections Commission is expected to formally decide Daniels’ case at its Monday meeting.
Daniels could appear in person and challenge the complaint, but sources said that is not expected to happen. She has retained a criminal defense attorney.
No one else is running against Jagler. “I don’t know how the challenge could have been defended,” Jagler said. “Going to let the process play out on Monday.”
Daniels is now facing a criminal investigation by the Watertown Police Department into the accusations that she forged signatures in an attempt to get on the ballot this fall.
The Democratic candidate was featured in a CNN story last year on women across the country who decided to run for office in light of the election of President Donald Trump.
She also was a graduate of the 70hour training program by Emerge America for promising Democrats.
State election officials determined June 1 that Daniels submitted 201 signatures on her nomination papers — only one more than the minimum to get on the ballot.
Jagler then noticed multiple problems with the papers that were turned in. Eventually, he collected affidavits from 22 people denying that they had signed Daniels’ documents.
“I stopped at 22,” Jagler said Thursday. “I could have easily gotten more.”
For instance, Patrice Walter, an occupational therapist from Watertown, said earlier this week that she never signed Daniels’ document and had never heard of Daniels until now. Her 18year-old son, she said, is good friends with one of Jagler’s kids.
Walter said she was happy that the
police are looking into the matter.
“If she’s forging my name and a bunch of others, something should be done,” Walter said.
There were problems with other signatures turned in by Daniels, including one that listed an address that was a vacant lot.
Earlier in the week, Maistelman, Daniels’ attorney, said she welcomed the opportunity to respond to the allegations before the Elections Commission and local officials.
“We expect that this issue will be resolved and my client is looking forward to facing the voters on the ballot this fall,” Maistelman said.
But all that had changed by the end of the week. “It’s no surprise she’s conceding after over 20 Wisconsinites signed affidavits saying she forged their information,” said Alec Zimmerman, spokesman for the state Republican Party, which filed the complaint.
That wasn’t Daniels’ only mistake in what should be a short-lived campaign.
Last month, she began raising campaign dollars without setting up a campaign account. She had raised $3,100 online before Republicans filed a formal complaint over this.