Wisconsin GOP Senate candidates bicker over debates as campaign turns nasty

Patrick Marley
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - In a sign of increasing tensions in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate, top aides to the candidates exchanged bitter emails over their debate schedule. 

The public argument showed the race could get nasty between now and the Aug. 14 primary.

It started with Kevin Nicholson adviser Brandon Moody sending reporters an email criticizing state Sen. Leah Vukmir of Brookfield for planning to provide a video message for a March 28 forum instead of attending in person because of a scheduling conflict.

"Thanks, Leah! We are so excited that you will send a 2 minute canned video response rather than stand on a stage with your opponent to talk about the issues," Moody wrote in his email. "A real profile in courage."

He added: "I think it’s fair to ask what, in all honesty, is happening in Leah’s world that she can’t handle a debate? She wants to be in the United States Senate — the world’s most deliberative body — where a lot of debating occurs last time I checked."

Vukmir aide Jessica Ward fired back with an email that said Nicholson wasn't committing to other proposed debates and emphasized Nicholson's Democratic past. 

"He can’t keep his facts straight — about when he became a Democrat or how often he voted Democrat," Ward wrote. "It’s really quite bizarre. He burns through explanations almost as fast as he blows through campaign cash on direct mail fundraising."

She ended by calling Moody a "kid."

"Anyways, Brandon is a good kid," she wrote. "We wish him the best of luck at the Wisconsin GOP convention when Kevin finally gets acquainted with the Wisconsin grass-roots activists."

The winner of the primary will face Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin in November.