The first candidate to announce a bid against Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch in a potential recall race came forward Tuesday with promises to restore ethics to Wisconsin government.
Seventy-year-old Ira Robins, a private investigator from Milwaukee, filed papers with the Government Accountability Board to run against Kleefisch Tuesday morning. He said if elected, his focus as lieutenant governor would include restoring accountability, honesty and integrity to Wisconsin’s government.
“I want people in our government to be held accountable; I want to return honesty and integrity to our government, and it’s quite a challenge, but it can be done,” Robins said.
Robins said he made his decision to run against Kleefisch because no one else has “stepped up to the plate.” To date, no other candidates have shown serious intention to join the race.
“Nobody else was doing it,” Robins said. “It’s a dirty job, and I’ll take a beating in the media. … But it’s got to be done, and I’ve got the experience, the knowledge and the guts to do it.”
Robins said his 49 years as a police officer, private investigator and investigative consultant will provide ample experience to take the position as Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor.
He added he plans to surround himself with non-partisan experts “with no political motives” to aid him with decisions.
“I’m not a politician, which makes me ideal for the position,” Robins said of his experience.
Still, University of Wisconsin political science professor Kenneth Mayer said Robins’ lack of political experience could prove to be a downfall in his potential campaign against Kleefisch.
Mayer added a potential recall election for the lieutenant governor position would be much less popular than the gubernatorial election and Senate recall elections slated to likely take place.
“It’s pretty difficult for political amateurs to win elections, unless they are well-known and unless they are able to dedicate a lot of money to their campaign,” Mayer said. “And the lieutenant governor race is going to be a real side-show to [the other recall elections]. What happens to the lieutenant governor is not going to make much difference one way or the other.”
Robins said he will not accept campaign donations and plans to fund his race entirely on his own, citing special interest money as a major source of corruption within politics.
Robins also said as lieutenant governor, he would work to restrict legislators from passing legislation that would benefit the special interests that contributed to their campaigns.
“You can’t stop people from donating to legislators, but you can stop the Legislature from working to benefit those people,” Robins said. “That special interest money would be much better served to take care of veterans and their families, or cancer, or anything that would be more beneficial than supporting these crooked politicians.”
Robins also addressed the issue of collective bargaining rights of unions and said Gov. Scott Walker and Kleefisch handled the situation improperly. He added he would work to restore collective bargaining rights if elected.
Walker, Kleefisch and four Republican senators have been targeted for recall. If the state elections board determines enough signatures have been collected, a recall election for all six politicians will likely be held in early summer.
Neither Walker nor Kleefisch’s staff returned calls for comment as of press time.
