‘Politicized

a tragedy’

Feingold’s campaign hit back hard on the Freedom Partners ad Monday, saying “Johnson knows for a fact that this attack is false.”

“That’s why he’s shamefully hiding behind the Koch brothers while they lob up smears on his behalf,” Tyler said. “Senator Johnson failed to protect our veterans, so instead of accepting responsibility, he and his allies have blamed his own staff and actively politicized a tragedy to the tune of over $2 million in dark money attack ads.”

A progressive group has charged Johnson with fumbling his opportunity to act on signs of trouble at Tomah, citing reports that his office failed to relay a complaint to the Democratic chairwoman of a Senate panel that could’ve acted on them.

Polls consistently have shown Feingold leading Johnson in the U.S. Senate race. The Marquette Law School Poll has shown Feingold leading, at various points in the past year, by margins between 3 and 16 percentage points.