Candidate once cited for public urination
Republican lobbyist Bill McCoshen put out a 5 1⁄2-minute video this week to introduce himself to Wisconsin voters as he prepares for his likely run for governor in 2022.
In the video, McCoshen talks about his family, his work for former Gov. Tommy Thompson and his lifelong passion for hockey.
“Looking back at the arc of my life, I hope people will say, ‘That guy made a difference,’” McCoshen said. “That’s what I’m all about, getting positive things done.”
But it’s not always been sunshine and roses for the 56-year-old politico.
Back in 2008, McCoshen, then 43, was cited for disorderly conduct in Stillwater, Minnesota, for urinating publicly inside a local tavern and then going outside to finish relieving himself in a planter in front of the establishment.
“McCoshen appeared to be extremely intoxicated based on the smell of an alcoholic beverage coming from him, his slurred speech, glassy eyes and the fact that he was having trouble maintaining his balance,” wrote officer Jeff Stender, now a sergeant with the Stillwater Police Department, in a onepage incident report.
McCoshen was soon arrested and had to spend a couple of hours behind bars in the county jail. He was ultimately ordered to pay $700 by a local judge. The misdemeanor charge was then dismissed.
In a statement on Wednesday night, McCoshen said he regrets his actions that evening and called the 2008 incident the “most embarrassing night of my life.”
“But it was also a life-changing moment for me,” McCoshen wrote in an email. “Everyone who knows me knows I have not had a drink of alcohol in 13 years, and now they know why.”
He added, “I am more concerned about how my current and future actions impact others in my life than about how a single, regrettable, embarrassing event in the past could impact any potential political considerations.”
If he gets in the governor’s race, he is expected to square off against former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, state Rep. John Macco and possibly businessman Kevin Nicholson for the Republican nomination. The winner will face off against Gov. Tony Evers,a first-term Democrat.
Officials with Kleefisch and the state Democratic Party declined comment on McCoshen’s disorderly conduct citation, which has not previously been reported. Macco, a Green Bay lawmaker, said he was unaware of the matter but had nothing to say.
“We’re focusing on Governor Evers,”
Macco said.
As he prepares to run for public office, McCoshen is looking to sell his long-running lobbying business, Capitol Consultants, to Michael Best Strategies. He and officials with Michael Best have been in talks for months about the deal.
In addition, McCoshen, who has never held public office, serves as the head of the policy board for Common Sense Wisconsin, a recently formed nonprofit that provides him with a platform to promote his political ideas. The group recently called for amending the state constitution to require elections to be run the same way across Wisconsin.
While in his 20s, McCoshen served as chief of staff and commerce secretary to Thompson before becoming a lobbyist for AT&T Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance and a dozen and a half others.
One of the most powerful influence-peddlers in Madison, McCoshen has preferred to work behind the scenes over the last two decades. Only now that he is seriously considering a gubernatorial bid is he receiving much scrutiny.
Police records indicate that McCoshen was at Brine’s Restaurant and Bar — now Brian’s Bar and Grill — in the small Minnesota city of Stillwater, just over the Wisconsin state line, in the early morning hours on Sept. 3, 2008.
Brine’s manager, Kelvin Cran, called the Stillwater police at 1:14 a.m. to complain about a customer, who turned out to be McCoshen, who had just urinated publicly inside the tavern.
“Cran showed me a puddle of urine, which stunk horribly, on the bar closest to the west entry door to the business,” Stender’s report said.
“Cran said as he was walking over towards McCoshen after he had been told that the male party was urinating on the bar by bartender Jessica Schultz,” the report continued, “the male party left the bar and then urinated on a planter directly outside of the bar on Main St. in full view of patrons and passing motor vehicles.”
McCoshen had since gone to another bar a block away, but the police located him. Cran said he wanted McCoshen arrested and completed a citizen’s arrest form to make sure that was done.
Officer David Wulfing issued McCoshen a citation for disorderly conduct — disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor — and then took him to the Washington County Jail because McCoshen was an out-of-state resident, the report said. Before leaving, another police officer “took photographs of the urine puddle on the bar and bar rail.”
McCoshen was released from the jail at 3:17 a.m. after posting $500 cash bail.
Former Washington County Judge Susan Miles charged McCoshen $200 in fees for court and prosecution costs and $500 in restitution, bringing his total bill to $700. Miles dismissed the citation in December 2009 after McCoshen had paid his fine, according to court records.