Tipsheet

The Sara Rodriguez Campaign Is Basically Rearranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic at This Point

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  July 16, 2026 1:00 PM

We have to admire the naive optimism of Sara Rodriguez. Her campaign imploded earlier this week, after an internal review showed her campaign manager had created 'major issues' with campaign finance reports. It turns out the Rodriguez campaign only has about $200,000 cash on hand, missed a promised $1 million ad buy, and owes vendors a lot of money.

Her disastrous press conference didn't help things, either.

Despite all that, Rodriguez has not—as of this morning—pulled the plug on her campaign. Instead, she's basically rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, trying to frame the race as a plucky, underfunded underdog going up against big, rich Republicans.

What's really funny here is that the money went to Rodriguez's Democratic Socialist opponent, Francesca Hong.

"The Republican Governor's Association just dropped $2.2 million in Wisconsin to help pick our Democratic nominee. Let that sink in. Out-of-state MAGA donors, the same people who want to gut your healthcare and take away your rights, are spending millions of dollars trying to decide who Democrats nominate for governor. Why? Because they're scared of me," Rodriguez said.

This writer confesses she laughed at that last line.

No, Republicans are not scared of Sara Rodriguez. As we said, she has $200,000 in her campaign coffers. Perhaps she had a slightly better chance at beating Tom Tiffany than Hong. But there's no money for a general election. If the Democratic Party thought Rodriguez had a chance, they'd be putting money into her race. They're not.

She will maybe limp to the August primary, where she will lose to Hong anyway.

Rodriguez continued, "They've done the math. They know I'm the strongest candidate to beat them in November. They're trying to do something about that right now, before it's too late. I'm not gonna let that happen and neither should you. This primary belongs to Wisconsin voters. It belongs to Democrats who've been knocking doors, and making calls, and fighting for this state. It does not belong to MAGA operatives in Washington writing big checks to manipulate our election. Don't let them pick our candidate. That's our job."

The Republicans have made the political decision that they can beat Hong in November.

That's called political strategy, and it's no surprise Rodriguez's campaign sucks at that, too.

Yes, she has.

"Now send me money, please."

It really is funny.

In fairness, the Republicans didn't hire Rodriguez's campaign manager, so this math is probably accurate.

Probably not.

No. No, she cannot.

We hope so, too.

She will never pay any of these debts.

Might as well at this point. The campaign manager is gone. 

Francesca Hong and Mandela Barnes are leading in every single poll. Rodriguez only comes in third on a handful of them. Her campaign is over, and she's the only one who doesn't know it yet.