Kirk Bangstad, the Minocqua Brewing Co. owner and liberal provocateur, took to Facebook with a lengthy screed after the Wisconsin Elections Commission unanimously denied him ballot access for the 2026 gubernatorial primary due to insufficient valid signatures.
The commission voted Tuesday to reject Bangstad and 67 other candidates after staff found he submitted only 1,504 valid signatures, below the 2,000 required. Errors included incorrect election dates on forms, missing municipal details, and improper dating by circulators.
In his post, Bangstad acknowledged submitting affidavits from circulators to correct claimed errors before the deadline but maintained that staff still counted only 1,504 signatures. He demanded to see how many affidavits were rejected and why, insisting he submitted over 2,000 valid ones overall. Bangstad argued the case was close enough that commissioners should have personally scrutinized the affidavits rather than relying solely on staff recommendations.
He also claimed at least three of the six commission members should have recused themselves, which would have left the board without a quorum to vote. Bangstad singled out Democratic members Ann Jacobs and Mark Thomsen, accusing Jacobs of bias for publicly labeling him an antisemite after he criticized federal Judge Lynn Adelman over rulings involving immigration enforcement and Israel policy. He described Adelman’s actions as allowing another judge to be “railroaded” and claimed Jacobs brands Israel critics as antisemites, which he said costs Democrats young voters who view Israel’s actions as “genocide against Palestinians.”
Bangstad further alleged that Thomsen could not be impartial because he texted in support of another Milwaukee Democrat, David Crowley, in the governor’s race. He also targeted Republican member Bob Spindell, calling him a “fake elector for Trump in 2020” who “purposefully attempted to steal Biden’s victory” and should not serve on the board at all.
Bangstad said he plans to review the data and seek legal advice before deciding whether to sue the commission or staff. “I’m not sure it will be worth the effort, but I’m sure as hell not going to give up before I’ve seen the data and before I have a legal opinion on my theory on why these board members should recuse themselves,” he wrote. He closed by describing potential further efforts as “quixotic windmill tilting in the name of protecting elections and saving American democracy.”
The post continues Bangstad’s pattern of deflecting responsibility for campaign shortcomings that we here at the Heartland Post called out over a month ago onto institutional bias while invoking partisan grievances and conspiracy-tinged claims about election integrity. The rejection comes from unforced errors traceable to Bangstad’s own submissions rather than external sabotage.
