Trevor Jung’s campaign against Jim Croft rests on a story about Betsy DeVos. DeVos says the story is false.
In an October 23 letter, Grand Rapids law firm Varnum LLP, writing for the former U.S. Education Secretary, told Jung to stop.
The letter quotes two ads. In one, a narrator says “Jim Croft was recruited and trained for office by far-right billionaires” while DeVos’s picture fills the screen. In the other, the narrator asks, “So how does a slumlord end up running for State Senate? Well, meet the billionaires who recruited and trained him,” again over her photo.
The letter says that the second ad has run on all four Milwaukee stations: WDJT, WISN, WTMJ and WITI.
Then comes the denial: “Ms. DeVos has never met, communicated with, or donated to, Jim Croft.”
Her lawyers call the ads defamatory and gave Jung until 5 p.m. Monday, October 26, to confirm in writing that he will stop. That is the letter’s allegation; no lawsuit has been filed. I found no public response from Jung as of Friday.
“Recruited and trained” is a claim of fact. A meeting, a call, a class, or a check either happened or it didn’t. Jung offered a photo.
The 15-second “recruited and trained” spot runs as part of a six-figure joint buy by the State Senate Democratic Committee and the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, according to WisPolitics. The letter holds Jung and his campaign responsible for the ads, and WisPolitics-State Affairs says the slumlord spot is his own.
That joint buy matters because of what Jung told the Racine County Eye on October 13: “I will not be beholden to a party.” His party is buying the airtime that carries this attack in his race. DeVos does not appear in that committee’s July or September donor reports. The ad used her face anyway.
Jung is hardly outgunned. He and his allies had reserved $3.3 million in TV time since the August 11 primary, to $1.5 million for Croft’s side, WisPolitics reported.
The slumlord line does point to a real record. Milwaukee city files show a May 2023 complaint citing “bullet holes” at a Richards Street duplex owned by an LLC that uses the address of the dance studio Croft runs with his wife, plus later garbage and litter cases. That complaint is closed. One duplex with a closed case and trash tickets is a thin basis for “slumlord.”
Croft grew up in Columbus, earned a UW-Whitewater degree and a Marquette MBA, and works as a data specialist at a Milwaukee mobile fueling company. He has never held office.
His platform is lower taxes, health care price transparency, and less red tape for small business. Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin endorsed him July 6. The NFIB Wisconsin PAC endorsed him October 12. Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling backs him, the Racine County Eye reported.
Jung’s path has always been on the taxpayer dime. He was elected a Racine alder in 2019 and reelected in 2021, then left the council that August when Mayor Cory Mason named him transit manager.
The 21st is open with Sen. Van Wanggaard retiring. Kamala Harris narrowly carried it in 2024, and Republicans hold the Senate 18-15. Voters in Racine, Caledonia, Franklin, and Greenfield are picking a senator who could decide who controls that chamber. One candidate built his case on a picture of a woman who says she never met his opponent. Her lawyers’ deadline is Monday.
