Racine transit director Trevor Jung, a Democrat running for the Wisconsin Senate, recorded full days of regular pay on multiple dates while posting campaign videos, hosting fundraisers, and appearing at partisan events, according to employer time records obtained exclusively by the Heartland Post.
Jung, who serves as director of RYDE, the public transportation system serving the City of Racine, is the Democratic nominee for the 21st Senate District in the race against Republican Jim Croft to replace the retiring GOP Sen. Van Wanggaard.
Racine employment records show Jung marked full regular-pay days on dates that coincide with campaign work. On May 28th, he posted to his official campaign Facebook page that he had spent an earlier workday in Greendale for his campaign talking to voters “about the issues that matter most to working families across Wisconsin.” His work records showed that he claimed to be working full days that entire week.
On May 19th, Jung claimed a full regular-pay day and hosted a campaign kickoff. On May 5th, he was paid a full regular day and appeared at a Janesville fundraiser with other Democratic candidates.
This behavior has stretched for the duration of Jung’s Senate campaign. On Thursday, February 12th, he claimed a full day of regular pay but, according to his official campaign Facebook page was in Franklin for a breakfast fundraiser.
Three weeks earlier, on January 21st, he also claimed a full day of work at Racine County but was meeting with the UAW Southeast Wisconsin CAP Council for his Senate campaign.
As recently as July 13th, Jung posted on his official campaign page photos from a tour of a quarry that he had taken the previous week (when his employment records showed he had claimed full days of work).
Wisconsin law treats the use of public work time for partisan campaigning as a potential crime. Under Wis. Stat. § 946.12, doing campaign work on public time or using public resources can constitute misconduct in public office, a Class I felony.
The City of Racine Employee Handbook, which governs city employees including those in transit operations, expressly provides that employees “may not engage in any form of political activity on the job” and may not engage in political activity off the job “to such an extent that it interferes with doing his/her/their job.”
Racine County’s ethics code similarly allows political activity only if it does not interfere with official duties and does not use county equipment or property.
Jung is a full-time salaried official, not an hourly worker whose pay is calculated minute by minute, however that distinction does not authorize campaign work during hours when a full-time public employee is expected to perform government duties. Public employers still require that paid workdays be used for the public’s business.
Wisconsin has treated similar conduct as a serious scandal. In the Milwaukee County John Doe investigation that began while Scott Walker was county executive, aides were charged with doing campaign work on county time. Kelly Rindfleisch, Walker’s deputy chief of staff, pleaded guilty to felony misconduct in public office for extensive campaign fundraising and communications during work hours and was sentenced to jail. Darlene Wink pleaded to related charges involving political activity on county time.
Jung has not yet responded to a request for comment on a yearlong pattern of similar campaigning on public time.
