Kleefisch says "If you are recording, I don't want you to put this part online to share with Democrats, OK? It is about election strategy” according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report.

Madison, Wis. -- Radical Rebecca Kleefisch is so desperate to be governor - she’s willing to say or do anything. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported today on Kleefisch’s suggested strategy for the upcoming election, including a plan to “hire mercenaries” and doing “laundry bags full of ballots.”

Kleefisch is apparently so disgusted with her own plan, that she said she will need to “take a shower with steel wool” following the election. And then after that, she vowed once again to sign the Wisconsin GOP’s voter suppression bills into law.

Earlier this month, Kleefisch refused to rule out overturning the results of a democratic election if she were governor in 2024. Kleefisch also supports the Republican-led sham “investigation” despite multiple reports showing Wisconsin’s 2020 election was fair and secure.

Wisconsinites can’t trust Radical Rebecca Kleefisch to have the courage to do the right thing when it matters.

Read more about Kleefisch’s radical plan below.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rebecca Kleefisch says Republicans need to 'hire mercenaries' to win 2022 race for Wisconsin governor

Rebecca Kleefisch over the weekend told Republicans they needed to "hire mercenaries" and engage in "ballot harvesting" to help her win next year's race for governor — a practice she has said she wants to ban.

In a Saturday speech to Republicans in Door County, Kleefisch said the methods she needs to use to win bother her so much she will need to wash herself with steel wool. If her campaign strategy works, she said she would quickly sign legislation overhauling how elections are conducted.

"We execute with excellence, we will beat them at their own game. And the next morning, we all wake up, take a shower with steel wool, and then, after swearing in in January ... (the Legislature) is going to pass all these bills again, and then I'm going to sign them all. And we will never do elections like that again, but this is how we win," Kleefisch said, according to audio of her speech obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Kleefisch, who served as lieutenant governor for eight years, made her comments as she gears up her campaign to take on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers next year and as Republicans call for tighter voting laws.

After a 20-minute speech, Kleefisch told the crowd she would run down her campaign strategy but asked those present not to share it publicly.

"If you are recording, I don't want you to put this part online to share with Democrats, OK? It is about election strategy," she said.

"What I'm about to say may feel ugly to you guys," she added.

Then, she talked about "ballot harvesting" — a phrase disparagingly used by Republicans to describe groups gathering absentee ballots from voters and returning them to municipal clerks on their behalf.

"Ballot harvesting in Wisconsin is not technically illegal," Kleefisch said. "Democrats do it non-stop and they go hard. Republicans must go harder."

There were few reports of groups affiliated with either party gathering absentee ballots from voters in the last year's presidential election.

Republicans have taken a hard stance against the practice and Kleefisch has called for banning it. Democrats have said people should be allowed to deliver ballots to city hall for family members and neighbors, particularly if they have difficulty getting there themselves.

Next, Kleefisch said, Republicans need mercenaries — by which she appeared to mean paid workers.

"Democrats hire mercenaries," Kleefisch said. "Republicans rely on sweet little volunteers to do the exact same things. We must hire mercenaries."

Kleefisch said she wanted Republicans to adopt programs similar to one held last fall in Madison known as "Democracy in the Park.” At those events, voters were able to return absentee ballots they had received in the mail to clerks who were stationed in more than 200 parks.

"(The Wisconsin Elections Commission) has ruled that you're allowed to do the laundry bags full of ballots in the parks," Kleefisch said. "If Democrats are going to do laundry bags full of ballots in parks, then we need to do the laundry bags full of ballots in all the places."

[...]

Kleefisch's comments in Door County came two weeks after she declined to tell WKOW-TV in Madison whether she would sign legislation that would allow the Legislature to overrule election officials in deciding how to cast the state's Electoral College votes for president.

Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said Kleefisch's weekend comments showed she was planning to defy her own plans by engaging in election tactics she says she opposes.

"Rebecca Kleefisch is so radical she can't commit to not overturning election results or even to her own campaign platform," Cudaback tweeted. "Wisconsinites just can't trust Rebecca Kleefisch will have the courage to do the right thing when it matters."

Kleefisch faces political newcomer Jonathan Wichmann in the August 2022 primary for the Republican nomination. State Rep. John Macco of Ledgeview and Marine veteran Kevin Nicholson are also considering runs.

Adam Jarchow, a former state representative running for the Republican nomination for attorney general, on Twitter declared that Kleefisch's comments showed she was "a real conservative fighter."

"We have someone who is willing and able to use the same tactics as the Dems," he tweeted. "No more fighting with one hand tied behind our backs. Let’s roll!!!!"