Democratic leader accuses Dale Kooyenga of being inebriated during state budget debate

Molly Beck , Patrick Marley | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - A top state Democrat is accusing GOP Rep. Dale Kooyenga of being inebriated during a state budget debate three years ago as Kooyenga campaigns to join the state Senate in a district Democrats are trying to flip.

Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) made the accusation during a Tuesday forum with Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) to clarify why she expects Democrats to take control of the state Senate.

She said she expects Democrats to pick up seats, in part, because they are "law-abiding."

"None of our candidates paid a $30,000 (settlement) for looking at a sign and taking it from the Capitol," Shilling said. "None of our candidates have appeared on the floor after having too much to drink."

Fitzgerald, surprised, said: "Ooof. I don't know where to go from there."

RELATED: Rep. Dale Kooyenga pays back Wisconsin taxpayers $30,000 three months after he said he would

RELATED: Wisconsin lawmaker who took protest sign says military training taught him it was a safety risk

Kooyenga, of Brookfield, did not respond to an email or phone call. He faces Julie Henszey of Wauwatosa for the seat state Sen. Leah Vukmir (R-Brookfield) is giving up to run for U.S. Senate.

Shilling's comments coincide with campaign literature being mailed to voters in Kooyenga's suburban Milwaukee district by a Democratic group that highlights a $30,000 settlement Kooyenga paid after taking a protester's sign in the Capitol.

The mailer also accuses Kooyenga of being "drunk at work," referring to floor speeches Kooyenga made in July 2015 after a bomb threat at the Capitol prompted some lawmakers to have beers across the street before the threat was cleared.

The Wisconsin Leadership Committee is behind the postcard.

The group recently reported to Wisconsin election officials it was spending $84,000 in online ads against Kooyenga and three other Republicans running for the state Senate. For contact information, the group listed an address and phone number belonging to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C.

After Shilling made the comments Tuesday, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin tweeted three clips of Kooyenga giving speeches on the Assembly floor on July 8, 2015, when he spoke in a slow and slightly slurred cadence.

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker," he said when given a minute and a half to speak.

"I always appreciate these odd balance of the time with 90 seconds or 30 seconds, but I’m wasting my time right now,” he said before launching into a talk about the earned income tax credit.

Shilling said Tuesday the matter is fair game because "character matters and how you act when no one is looking and what you do."

Fitzgerald pushed back, saying Kooyenga owned up to stealing the protester's sign by paying the settlement, and a mailer accusing him of being inebriated on the Assembly floor is "about the dirtiest kind of politics."

"I don't know where it came from or how you would verify that or who made that type of accusation but you know, be careful, there are a lot of legislators who go out for lunch and come back (to the Capitol)," Fitzgerald said. "I don't think anybody wants to go down that road."

Shilling responded by pointing to footage on WisconsinEye: "That's a fact."

Fitzgerald later said Shilling's comments were "outrageous and ridiculous."

"I don't know how Senator Shilling can be as bold as to make that statement today," Fitzgerald said. "She has no proof of anything."