Voting in Wisconsin’s governor’s race is a year away, but the ads are starting

MADISON Wis AP Wisconsin s race for governor is hitting the airwaves more than a year before voting begins Republican candidate Bill Berrien publicized the purchase of about in cable TV radio and online ads Monday The buy comes months before the Aug primary Berrien is the first candidate to purchase ads of any kind in the race Berrien and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann have stated bids as Republicans It is the first campaign for each of them Several other Republicans including U S Rep Tom Tiffany two-time losing U S Senate candidate Eric Hovde and state Senate President Mary Felzkowski are all considering running Schoemann has been traveling the state and meeting with voters since he launched his campaign in May but he has yet to spend any money on ads like Berrien is doing Money buys ads but as we ve seen far too often in Wisconsin it can t buy wins Schoemann adviser Ben Voelkel reported It takes hard work and authenticity to earn voters aid not just slick ads Democratic Gov Tony Evers hasn t explained whether he will seek a third term He has suggested that he will announce his decision within weeks A spokesperson for Evers had no immediate comment on the Berrien ads Berrien s ads are slated to begin airing Tuesday less than a week after he launched his campaign The ads lean into Berrien s backing for President Donald Trump which has been questioned by influential conservative talk radio hosts Berrien criticized Trump s handling of the COVD- pandemic and announced during an August interview with Fox Business that he hadn t decided whether to advocacy Trump for president that year In Berrien supported former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley s run for president in the GOP primary and donated more than to her campaign Berrien was also a member of the bipartisan group Democracy Detected which advocates for using ranked-choice voting and making primaries nonpartisan But Berrien notified the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week that he no longer supports those ideas Berrien is positioning himself as a staunch Trump backer in his first ads of the race They are airing statewide but with an emphasis on Milwaukee and Green Bay his campaign declared The largest number of Republican voters in the state are in the Milwaukee media region and Green Bay is a critical GOP area especially in primaries In the ads Berrien calls himself an outsider and a businessman just like President Trump Berrien says he s running for governor to advance the Trump agenda shake up Madison and put Wisconsin citizens first Berrien served nine years as a Navy SEAL and has been owner and CEO of Pindel Global Precision and Liberty Precision manufacturers of precision-machined components in New Berlin a Milwaukee suburb for the past years Source