Wall Joins Leinenkugel in Debate Dodge
MADISON — Multimillionaire real estate magnate Terrence Wall followed in the footsteps of former Democratic Commerce Secretary Dick Leinenkugel Wednesday, backing out of Republican primary debate this Saturday.
The event organizers, Republican Women of the North, posted on their Facebook page Wednesday, “We now received word that Wall will not be attending,” after Wall had previously committed to attending the debate.
Wall’s debate dodge comes on the heels of Secretary Leinenkugel’s decision to skip the debate for a chance to meet with Republican Party insiders in Washington D.C. Both candidates’ absence means that only David Westlake will be participating in Saturday’s event.
Secretary Leinenkugel has given conflicting stories for skipping Saturday’s debate. On April 23, Leinenkugel told Wispolitics.com: “Will be going out to DC to meet with Republican Senatorial Campaign Staffers the first week of May.”
Last Saturday, in a terse post to the Facebook page of the hosts of the debate, Leinenkugel wrote that he would be unable to take part in the debate because he is “Currently scheduled to be in WDC on May 8th.”
But this week, Leinenkugel backtracked and deleted his Facebook comment from the Wisconsin Women of the North page and told Wispolitics.com that he “was invited to take part [in the debate] but he has plans for Mother’s Day weekend.”
“Terrence Wall and Dick Leinenkugel are running away from offering any solutions to the challenges’ people face and the concerns they have,” said Mike Tate, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “Instead of talking to the people of Wisconsin, Wall and Leinenkugel are offering nothing more than political slogans. Voters deserve more, but it’s clear Wall and Leinenkugel are more concerned with trying to court insiders with a big checkbook and a famous name.”
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