Last week, the Racine County Eye (RCE) published an article centered on an email Alderman Sandy Weidner sent to the Racine City Clerk. In that email, Weidner alleged that the Clerk was sending me—Chair of the Racine County Democratic Party—a daily list of names and addresses of absentee ballots mailed out by her office. According to Weidner, this list was supposedly being used by Democrats to “collect” ballots, a practice often referred to as ballot harvesting. She further claimed she “knew” this to be true because the person who allegedly carried out this harvesting for us told her so.
Weidner provided no evidence to RCE that such a person exists. They do not.
Her email also raised several other questions and insinuations that were difficult to follow and reflected either a fundamental misunderstanding of how elections work, or a deliberate attempt to cast doubt on the integrity of our city’s voting process.
When I was contacted by RCE reporter Heather Asiyanbi, I stated plainly that Weidner’s accusation was false. The Clerk’s office has never sent us any lists, we have never asked for one, and none has ever been offered. I also explained that Democrats do not collect absentee ballots. Under Wisconsin law, voters are required to return their own postage-paid ballots.
More importantly, I noted that the Democratic Party uses the state’s Voter Access Network (VAN), a comprehensive and lawful database. We do not need—nor would we use—any list from the Clerk’s office to know who votes absentee.
Notably, Weidner’s suspicions focused exclusively on absentee ballots in District 2, which currently has a February 17 primary election. Three candidates are challenging the incumbent, Tyler Townsend, who was appointed to the seat last April with the full backing of Weidner and her caucus.
After RCE published the article, I reposted it on the Democratic Party’s Facebook page and reiterated these facts. I also stated my belief—clearly labeled as opinion—that Weidner raised this issue because Townsend is facing a serious and credible challenge from Alyson Weiss, the Democratic Party of Racine County’s endorsed candidate. Alyson has also been endorsed by John Lehman and Greta Neubauer, a meaningful and powerful show of support.
Alyson is an accomplished professional, serves on two city commissions, and is running a strong campaign. If I were in Weidner’s position, I might be worried too.
You can agree or disagree with my assessment of Weidner’s motivations. That is fair. What followed, however, went well beyond disagreement.
One of Townsend’s surrogates and friends, Paul Woodward, responded angrily. Woodward works with Townsend at SWIM Racine, alongside former Alderman Cory Sebastian, an organization formed after two teens tragically drowned in Townsend’s district last year. Woodward also served as campaign manager for a Racine-based congressional candidate in 2024 and was briefly a member of the Democratic Party.
Politics can be heated, and I understand advocating passionately for a candidate. But on Thursday night, Woodward went on a personal attack—calling me corrupt, labeling the Racine County Democratic Party corrupt, and describing me as “slimy” and without scruples.
I can take insults. What stood out were two specific falsehoods.
First, Woodward claimed that Townsend was offered assistance from both political parties and declined it. I cannot speak for County Republicans, but I can say unequivocally that Democrats never offered Townsend anything—no support, no resources, not even a conversation. We never met him, never emailed him, and never considered supporting him.
Second, in an apparent attempt to “prove” my corruption, Woodward posted a screenshot from a 2023 RCE article noting that I lost a defamation case against Mt. Pleasant Village President Dave DeGroot.
What Woodward either does not know—or chose to ignore—is the widely known context.
In 2017, DeGroot and Fire Chief Bob Stedman created an anonymous website for the sole purpose of sexually harassing and verbally abusing me, often daily. The site was investigated by the Sheriff’s Department. Its authorship was not confirmed until years later, after I appeared on the national podcastReply All. A listener with technical expertise uncovered an error code on the site that repeatedly displayed Bob Stedman’s email address.
Stedman later admitted to others, with permission for it to be shared with me, that he built the site and that DeGroot wrote the content.
The prolonged harassment took a serious toll on my health and well-being, including panic attacks and severe weight loss, all while playing out publicly in the press.
Later, the Mt. Pleasant Village Attorney sued me for defamation. I hired a First Amendment law firm in Washington, D.C., and won decisively. I then chose to run against DeGroot for Village President.
During that campaign, DeGroot mailed a flyer to the entire community falsely claiming I owed $70,000 in back taxes. I have never been delinquent on my taxes. After he refused to retract the lie, I filed a defamation suit against him.
I knew I was unlikely to win. We were both public figures. I filed the case to hold him accountable. It was worth every penny to force him to answer under oath. I would do it again.
Not holding him accountable would have been an implicit acceptance of the lie. That is what my scruples look like.
It says far more about Woodward that he would weaponize this history to attack me online.
Woodward claims that I—and the Racine County Democratic Party—are corrupt. What he also knows is that when his candidate was being pushed aside and asked to step down, I refused to go along. When that same candidate later ran in a primary—against a “middle-of-the-road” alternative some Dems supported—he was working out of the Democratic office with our public support.
I don’t care who your friends are. My responsibility is to elect Democrats.
I typically don’t respond to Facebook flame-outs. But Woodward is someone known to many people in my orbit, and I want the record to be clear about what happened and where I stand.
I shared opinions I earned through experience. Woodward shared vitriol and falsehoods. There is a difference. He owes me—and the party—an apology. I’m not holding my breath.