Competition between leading candidates in the May 8 Gov. Scott Walker recall primary Tom Barrett and Kathleen Falk is heating up after an online video distorting a statement Barrett made about public unions last fall surfaced last week.
Former Dane County Executive Falk received several key endorsements from influential state public employee unions after she promised to completely reverse Walker’s controversial Act 10, which included massive cuts to public funding and eliminated collective bargaining rights for public employees.
Milwaukee Mayor Barrett has refused to make such a commitment. However, in an interview last spring, he said would repeal the collective bargaining element of the bill, but not necessarily some of the other fiscal elements.
But an online video included in an email sent last week from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, who support Falk, falsely implies Barrett supports every aspect of Act 10.
The claim prompted Barrett to propose a “clean campaign pledge” to the other candidates in the race. The pledge is designed to eliminate the “corrosive” influence of outside and unaccountable spending in politics.
“The smear video released yesterday is just plain false, a deliberate distortion of the truth with one purpose – deceive voters about my record,” said Barrett in a statement Wednesday. “This attack is precisely why I asked all candidates in the Democratic primary to sign a clean campaign pledge.”
Falk, whose campaign is not directly connected to the video, has not agreed to sign the pledge.
