Brett Hulsey, Dane County Supervisor and Democratic 77th Assembly District candidate, retracted claims he made Wednesday that he received the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.
At a debate of District 77 candidates, Hulsey said he received Baldwin's endorsement.
""I am honored to have the support of Representative Tammy Baldwin. Spencer Black is supporting me along with Senator Risser, County Executive Falk, Mayor Dave,"" Hulsey said during the debate.
Hulsey said Thursday he had received a call from Baldwin following the Sept. 14 primary, but misunderstood their communication.
""She called me the day after the campaign, the primary, to congratulate me and I thought we talked about it, but I guess it is just a misunderstanding,"" he said.
Baldwin has not endorsed anyone in the District 77 race.
""I will be sending e-mail verifications out just to make sure in the future,"" Hulsey said. ""This was clearly a misunderstanding and the next time I'll put it in writing.""
Ben Manski, Green Party candidate for District 77, said Hulsey has claimed a ""long line of endorsements,"" including one from the Capital Times. The Capital Times released their endorsement for Manski on their website Thursday.
""He had been making it appear as though [The Capital Times] had been supporting him,"" Manski said.
Manski said Hulsey is worried he has not received as many Democratic endorsements as he would have hoped.
""You would think that if you were the Democratic nominee you would have all of those endorsements, but he doesn't,"" Manski said. ""In fact, many leading Democrats are supporting me and I think that has caused so much concern for my opponent that he has misrepresented who is backing him.""
State Senate Fred Risser, D-Madison, said he supports Hulsey because Risser is ""endorsing the Democratic candidates for assembly and he is one of them.""
