Milwaukee election leader ousted 6 months before election in presidential swing state

MADISON, Wis. -- Milwaukee's election person has been ousted by the politician successful a astonishment determination that comes conscionable six months earlier Wisconsin's largest metropolis volition beryllium successful the spotlight successful the statesmanlike plaything state.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced Monday that helium would beryllium replacing Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall with her deputy, Paulina Gutierrez.

Milwaukee has been astatine the halfway of attraction successful Wisconsin, a authorities known for adjacent elections and wherever 4 of the past six statesmanlike contests person been decided by little than a percent point.

In 2020, erstwhile President Donald Trump and others were speedy to outcry fraud aft late-arriving results from Democratic-dominated Milwaukee helped Joe Biden narrowly transportation the authorities by conscionable nether 21,000 votes. Recounts demanded by Trump confirmed Biden’s victory.

The alteration has thing to bash with however Woodall ran elections, but alternatively had to bash with “other issues interior to the predetermination committee bureau and to metropolis authorities that raised concern,” said the mayor's spokesperson Jeff Fleming. He declined to accidental what those issues were.

“People spot 1 broadside connected this broadside of the camera, but determination are different things connected the different broadside of the camera that I besides person to woody with and that’s precisely what I did with my decision,” Johnson told WISN-TV. He declined to elaborate.

Woodall did not instrumentality messages seeking comment. Her replacement, Gutierrez, besides did not instrumentality messages.

Woodall has been outspoken astir the challenges she and different predetermination officials person felt successful caller years.

She has described being harassed and threatened aft the 2020 predetermination via email, telephone calls and letters to her location — threats superior capable that she has an assigned FBI cause to guardant them to.

The alteration came a week aft Woodall’s erstwhile deputy, Kimberly Zapata, was sentenced to probation and fined $3,000 aft being convicted of misconduct successful bureau and fraud for obtaining fake absentee ballots. Zapata argued that she was acting arsenic a whistleblower, exposing vulnerabilities successful the state’s predetermination system.

Johnson and others who enactment successful elections stressed that the alteration would not impact however elections are tally successful Milwaukee.

“Paulina’s integrity and capabilities are ideally suited to this position," Johnson said successful a connection announcing the change. "She volition pb the bureau astatine an important juncture erstwhile nationalist scrutiny of the enactment of the section volition beryllium highly high. I person assurance successful her, and I volition marque definite the section has the resources it needs to fulfill its duties.”

Gutierrez has lone been a unit subordinate astatine the metropolis predetermination committee for a small implicit a year. Neil Albrecht, who led the bureau for 15 years earlier retiring successful May 2020, has offered his assistance arsenic a volunteer, Fleming said. Woodall took implicit for Albrecht successful 2020 and had been starring the bureau until now.

Following his reelection successful April, Johnson had to renominate each of his Cabinet-level positions for metropolis assembly approval. That is wherefore helium decided to marque the alteration astatine this time, Fleming said.

None of the city's 3 predetermination commissioners returned messages seeking comment. But Ann Jacobs, a Democratic subordinate of the Wisconsin Elections Commission from Milwaukee, said she was amazed by the move.

“Changes similar this are ever challenging, but fixed however galore elections Wisconsin has there’s nary ‘good time’ for these benignant of changes to happen," Jacobs said. "I expect the bureau to beryllium nonrecreational and to proceed their enactment and that the predetermination volition beryllium tally smoothly and properly.”

Jacobs stressed that elections are tally by teams of people.

“The medication of elections isn’t thing that is babelike connected 1 person," she said. “It is babelike connected the workflow, the task flows and the operations of an full office.”