Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez drops out of governor’s race

Democratic candidate Lt. Gov Sara Rodriguez has dropped out of the Wisconsin gubernatorial race.

The Rodriguez campaign cited financial issues as part of the reason the candidate pulled back.

“As we have continued to dig into our financial reports, it has become clear that there are issues that will be an ongoing distraction,” Rodriguez said in a social media post.

Rodriguez added she was “deeply hurt and betrayed” after firing her campaign manager on Sunday.

Her campaign announced she had fired her manager after finding “serious mismanagement” in the campaign finance filings she reported.

On Monday, Rodriguez held a press conference and told media that some of her campaign contributions had been counted twice, leaving the campaign with $200,000 on hand ahead of the August primary.

The primary election in Wisconsin will take place on Aug. 11.

The remaining candidates are Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, and Democrats State Rep. Francesca Hong, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, State Sen. Kelda Roys and former Wisconsin Department of Administration secretary Joel Brennan. Incumbent Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is not running for re-election.