Thursday, September 2, 2010
10:28 AM
Wall subject of write-in campaign for U.S. Senate; Wall says he's not involved
A write-in campaign has been launched pushing Terrence Wall for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
But the Madison-area developer says he's not involved.
Wall dropped out of the Republican U.S. Senate primary shortly after Ron Johnson received the party endorsement in May. He said this morning he was just made aware of the effort.
"It's some kind of independent effort I'm not involved in," he said.
A Web site, http://thepeoplespeak.us/, has been registered, and an e-mail plea was sent out today slamming Johnson and the GOP for picking the Oshkosh plastics manufacturer.
"Many of us are watching the current campaign for U.S. Senate with an increasing sense of dismay," the e-mail begins. "The Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) has imposed an unqualified and underwhelming candidate, the consequence of which may very well be defeat in November. As loyal Republicans determined to beat Russ Feingold, some of us have grown so concerned about the way things are headed that we've decided to take a stand against the RPW's self-defeating choice before it's too late."
An e-mail sent to the Web site met with no immediate response, and the site does not identify who is behind the effort. The domain name for the Web site was registered to Handmade Interactive. On its Web site, the company lists Wall's Senate campaign as a client.
When contacted by WisPolitics, a Handmade Interactive employee referred questions to the e-mail listed as the contact on the site. The site was registered on June 17.
The Web site makes the claim that if Wall receives 150,000 write-in votes, he will win the GOP nomination. Along with Johnson, David Westlake and Stephen Finn are on the GOP primary ballot Sept. 14.
"Your write-in vote will make you part of American history and send a clear message to the Republican Party in Wisconsin and Washington that the people run this country," reads the Web site.
Wall was recruited by Republicans to run against Feingold, but was pushed aside in favor of Johnson, who has vowed to spend "as much as it takes" from his own pocket to defeat the three-term incumbent Dem. Polls released publicly show Johnson running neck-and-neck with Feingold.
After leaving the race, Wall made allegations that Johnson bribed GOP members into supporting him at the convention, charges the Johnson campaign vehemently denied.
The Web site includes this message: "This campaign is a grass-roots effort and is not affiliated with any organization. All information which you may submit on this web site will remain private and never be shared with anyone, ever. We only ask for your write-in vote – not your money."
--By Greg Bump
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