MADISON, Wis. — A conservative coverage group filed an open data lawsuit on Tuesday in opposition to Wisconsin Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, accusing her of blocking a request it hopes can make clear the occasions that led to her appointment earlier this yr.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers tapped Godlewski for the position on March 17, the day her predecessor, longtime Secretary of State Doug La Follette, abruptly resigned lower than three months into his eleventh consecutive time period. Republicans who management the state Legislature blasted the transfer as a quid professional quo and referred to as on Evers to as an alternative maintain a particular election to fill the job.
Godlewski, who beforehand served as state treasurer, was coming off an unsuccessful 2022 midterm bid for U.S. Senate. She and two different prime contenders dropped out of the crowded Democratic major in the identical week in July to clear the way in which for former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who in the end misplaced to incumbent Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.
Godlewski has repeatedly denied allegations that Evers handed her the workplace as a reward for dropping out of the Senate race and endorsing Barnes. She advised The Associated Press in her first interview after being appointed that the governor’s determination got here as an entire shock to her.
The Institute for Reforming Government, a conservative, Wisconsin-based coverage group, filed an open data request with Godlewski‘s workplace on the identical day she was appointed. The request requested for copies of all correspondence La Follette had despatched to Evers, Godlewski and deputy secretaries of state within the yr earlier than he resigned.
Godlewski‘s workplace confirmed on May 25, after the IRG despatched a number of emails asking for updates, that it had acquired the request, in accordance with a grievance filed in Waukesha County Court on Tuesday and supplied to the AP prematurely. The grievance alleges that since May 25, Godlewski‘s workplace has not turned over any data, denied the request, or despatched an replace – successfully blocking the request.
Godlewski didn’t instantly return a voicemail left Tuesday morning.
Republicans have gutted the secretary of state’s workplace over the previous 10 years, stripping the position of most of its energy and workers earlier than relegating La Follette to a small workplace within the Capitol basement. The most vital responsibility the workplace nonetheless holds is sitting on the state timber board.
In his resignation letter, La Follette stated he was leaving as a result of he was uninterested in working with such restricted assets.
During the midterm, Republicans had been brazenly discussing transferring election administration duties from a bipartisan fee to the secretary of state’s workplace, following the lead of no less than 38 different states. The GOP candidate for the workplace final yr, former Republican state Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, narrowly misplaced to La Follette by about 7,500 votes.
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