The seeds of concern may date back to John Chisholm’s John Doe probe into Gov. Scott Walker and his associates.
Prominent conservative donor Dick Uihlein’s group, Fair Courts America, is spending more than $55,300 on television advertising in an attempt to defeat Mike Thurston in the Waukesha County DA’s race, according to campaign finance reports obtained through the state.
The group usually spends its money to elect conservative or oppose liberal judges (for example, it supported conservative Dan Kelly over leftist Justice Janet Protasiewicz), but it has now waded into the Waukesha County District Attorney’s primary race.
Thurston, who has labeled himself a “moderate Republican,” is facing conservative Lesli Boese in the Aug. 13 primary. Both are prosecutors in the office. Indeed, the group’s other expenditures this summer are for judicial races, the reports say. A review of campaign finance reports for the relatively new group do not show any other expenditures in Wisconsin DA races.
According to the Wisconsin Democracy campaign, Uihlein and his wife are “among the leading backers of Republican and conservative state and federal candidates and causes in the country.”
The Fair Courts America website says, “At Fair Courts America, we’re tracking the woke mob’s activity and are ready to fight for free and fair courts at every level of our government.”
The seeds for the expenditure in the largely low-profile race may trace back to Thurston’s five donations to Democratic Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm between 2014-2020, who enraged many top conservatives with his aggressive and later discredited John Doe prosecution into Republican Gov. Scott Walker and his associates. Thurston originally said he did not recall making four of the donations, then admitted making all of them but said he had hopes for Chisholm but is now disappointed in him. Thurston previously worked in Chisholm’s office, although most of the donations were made after he had already left it.
“The disgusting partisan witch hunt is over, but its victims’ pain lingers,” National Review wrote of that John Doe probe. Thurston also gave money to Democrats in other states; for example, he donated to an Ohio Democrat who ran for governor against a Republican and later worked for the Biden administration. He later switched to donating to Republicans.
One of Thurston’s explanations for the Chisholm donations was that he supported Chisholm because the other candidate was worse. However, that candidate, Verona Swanigan, was financially backed by Uihlein, conservative Eric O’Keefe, and other conservatives who were upset about Chisholm’s Doe, which had crumbled the year before when a judge ruled the alleged conduct was never a crime.
Also of concern to many conservatives: Chisholm’s sky-high non-prosecution rate (data obtained through an open records request shows that Thurston has a much higher non-prosecution rate than Boese does.)
Wisconsin Right Now asked Thurston for his opinion of Chisholm’s John Doe probe in light of the donations, and he never responded. For his part, Thurston has been running radio ads, including one hotly criticized by Boese because she argues he falsely made it sound like she supports the electronic monitoring of drug dealers when she was really criticizing it in a debate.
Thurston’s most recent campaign finance report shows he raised $22,750 and spent $37,701. He has also loaned his campaign $50,000.
Boese’s most recent campaign finance report shows she raised $40,189 and spent $8,975.
Former Gov. Walker, the subject of Chisholm’s Doe, previously endorsed Boese in the DA’s race. “Lesli Boese has served Waukesha County with distinction as a prosecutor for nearly 30 years. She has the experience and courage to serve as our next District Attorney,” said Walker. “Deputy DA Boese will be tough on crime and she has my full endorsement. I will be voting for Lesli Boese on August 13!”
Boese also received the endorsement of Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow.
Her other endorsements include Aaron and Sheri Sparks, the parents of Jackson Sparks, the youth baseball player murdered by Darrell Brooks at the Waukesha Christmas parade (a case Boese co-prosecuted) and the Waukesha County Police Chiefs Association (dual endorsement).
Thurston’s endorsements include Waukesha Co. Sheriff Eric Severson, former Milwaukee Co. Sheriff David Clarke, the Milwaukee Police Association, the Waukesha County Police Chiefs Association (dual endorsement), and others.
