Hartford repuklican Used his Office To Send Anti-Evers Press Release

[Dinger]

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=152673

"State Democratic Party files complaint over Pridemore press release
3/20/2009

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board over Rep. Don Pridemore’s use of his state office to send a campaign-related press release.

The Hartford Republican, who issued the statement to criticize DPI superintendent candidate Tony Evers Thursday, attributed the error to a staff member using a state e-mail account at a personal computer.

“If this was simply a case of a state staffer sending out an email from the wrong account, while that would still be illegal, that doesn’t explain why Rep. Pridemore’s Office used state letterhead and a state toll-free number as the contact,” DPW Executive Director Jason Stephany said in a statement. . . "


DPW Files Complaint (Open Records Request)
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=152904

"DPW: Letter to Rep. Pridemore re: Open records request
3/20/2009

Friday, March 20, 2009


Rep. Don Pridemore (R-Hartford)
Room 318 North, State Capitol
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, WI 53708
Fax: [phone]

Dear Representative Pridemore:

This letter is to inform you that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) has submitted an open records request with the Office of the Assembly Chief Clerk for information related to a press release that was sent from your state office yesterday.

Yesterday you used your state office and taxpayer resources to launch a press release that was a blatant political attack on DPI candidate Tony Evers, calling him, among other things, “a bad choice to lead Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction.”. This was a calculated political attack, done on the taxpayer dime, designed to assist DPI candidate Rose Fernandez.

The release was sent to members of the media at 9:31 a.m. yesterday by your state staffer on state time, with the toll-free number, address, and letterhead for your Capitol office. It was sent from state e-mail account of your taxpayer-funded staff member Bill Savage, and cc’d to the state e-mail account of Jim Bowers, also one of your state staffers.

You told WisPolitics yesterday that the release was sent by a member of your staff on a personal computer who was inadvertently logged into a state e-mail account. If this was the case, it would still be illegal, and doesn’t explain why state letterhead and a state toll-free number were used a as the contact. . . . "