Bice: Wisconsin Republicans help Kanye West in his attempt to get on state presidential ballot

Who knew Wisconsin Republicans were such big fans of Kanye West?

The rapper's campaign turned in a number of signatures on Tuesday in a bid to get on the November presidential ballot in Wisconsin. He is making similar attempts in Ohio, Arkansas and West Virginia. 

Reid Magney, spokesman for the state Elections Commission, said it could be several days before officials confirm that West has enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot as an independent candidate representing the Birthday Party. 

It was a pretty impressive feat that West's campaign was able to submit as many signatures as it did by Tuesday's 5 p.m. deadline. His campaign filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission only 2 1/2 weeks ago.

But it certainly helped that the billionaire rapper got support from a handful of Republicans in Wisconsin.

Many believe a West candidacy would siphon away votes from former Vice President Joe Biden, who has clinched the Democratic presidential nomination and will face President Donald Trump in November. One Republican source says the goal is for West to get 107,000 votes, the same as Libertarian Gary Johnson did in 2016. 

First, West's nominating petitions were dropped off with state regulators by Lane Ruhland, former general counsel for the state GOP. More importantly, she is currently representing Trump's re-election campaign in a federal lawsuit against a Rhinelander TV station. 

Ruhland did not return calls on Tuesday evening. But Cameron Joseph, a reporter with Vice News, did reach her and tweeted about it: "Ruhland didn't deny it when I called her: 'I'm going to leave any comment about the petitions, the papers and what is going on the campaign itself.'" 

A state Republican Party official noted Ruhland's involvement with West's campaign. 

"It appears that Kanye West made a smart decision by hiring an experienced election attorney," said state GOP spokeswoman Alesha Guenther. "We welcome Kanye West and all other candidates who qualified for ballot access to the race." 

Ruhland's ties to West's campaign elicited sharp criticism from Melissa Baldauff, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' former spokeswoman. In a tweet, Baldauff noted state Republicans ran several fake GOP candidates during the recall elections nearly a decade ago.

"Honestly it’s the least surprising thing in the world that WI Republicans want to screw around with our elections," Baldauff wrote. 

Then there are the 10 electors that West's campaign had to round up to make it on the ballot here.

The electors have to pledge to vote for West in the Electoral College if he were to win the state. Independent candidates have to submit an elector for each of the state's eight congressional districts as well as two at-large electors. 

According to their social media accounts, several of the electors are very big Trump supporters or second- or third-tier Republican activists. 

J.M. McCoy of Wauwatosa is West's elector for the state's 5th Congressional District. McCoy could not be reached late Tuesday. But there is a J.M. McCoy from Wauwatosa who is a national committeeman for the Wisconsin Young Republicans.

West's elector for the 3rd Congressional District is James Smith of Stoddard. That Smith has the same phone number and a previous address as James D. Smith, a 34-year-old former member of the La Crosse Republican Party who ran as a fake Democrat against now-Sen. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, during the 2011 recall elections.

In that election, state Republicans put up fake Democrats to force primaries against Democratic candidates who were trying to unseat incumbent GOP senators. All the fake candidates, including Smith, lost.  

On his Facebook page, which has since been taken down, Smith has a picture of his house with a Trump sign in front of it. Contacted by the Journal Sentinel, Smith was tight-lipped about his support for West: "I have no comment at this time." 

Other West electors are also strong supporters of Republicans. 

Virginia Pratt of Milwaukee once considered running for the state Senate as a Republican. Fred Krumberger of Suamico has donated nearly $3,000 to the Republican Party, its affiliates and GOP candidates in the past decade, according to state records. He also volunteered for the Republican Party's 8th Congressional District's caucus in 2018.

Tanner Hiller of Mercer is an Iron County supervisor who tweets regularly in support of Trump and Republicans.

Reached at his home on Tuesday night, Hiller, 25, described himself as a political conservative. He said someone with West's campaign called and asked if he would serve as an elector if West wins, though Hiller couldn't remember the name of the person who contacted him.   

"I like a lot of his ideas," Hiller said of West. "He'd be good for the country."

Asked whether he plans to vote for West or Trump, Hiller said he hadn't made up his mind. "I guess it depends," he said, adding that he would be watching both candidates to see which one has the best ideas for helping America. 

The Trump campaign and state Republicans came under fire on social media for their roles in helping West's bid to get on the Wisconsin ballot.

"This is shameful, pitiful, and not surprising," tweeted Milwaukee Common Council President Cavalier "Chevy" Johnson. "This ruse will only galvanize African Americans and allies in Milwaukee and across the state to vote for @JoeBiden and end Donald Trump’s executive time plotting at the White House. Ugh!"

State Rep. Mark Pocan, a Madison Democrat, was equally harsh.

"Yup. @realDonaldTrump knows his chances suck in WI so he’s down to cheating," Pocan wrote. "MAGA folks will somehow justify this, everyone else will see this as loser-like and pathetic."

Not surprisingly, Wisconsin isn't the only place where West is getting help from Republicans. The New York Times reported Tuesday that at least four people who have been active in GOP politics are linked to Kanye West’s efforts to run for president. 

One of them, Mark Jacoby, is an executive at a company called Let the Voters Decide, which sent 45 people to Wisconsin to get signatures for West. 

The New York Times reported that Jacoby was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2008 while working for the California Republican Party. He had been charged with voter fraud, the newspaper reported. 

Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.