RACINE, Wis. — Racine County District Attorney Tricia Hanson (D) is facing an ethics complaint accusing her campaign committee of repeatedly failing to file legally required campaign finance reports, including a report covering a period when her committee gave $1,000 to Racine County sheriff candidate Cary Madrigal.
Kelly Gallaher, chair of the Democratic Party of Racine County, filed the complaint with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission against Friends to Elect Tricia Hanson, Hanson’s registered campaign committee. Gallaher is asking state officials to investigate the committee, require delinquent reports to be filed and impose any penalties warranted under Wisconsin law.
According to the complaint, Hanson’s committee failed to file four campaign finance reports:
- A 2024 Fall Pre-Primary Report covering July 1 through July 29, 2024
- A January 2025 Continuing Report covering July 1 through December 31, 2024
- A January 2026 Continuing Report covering July 1 through December 31, 2025
- A July 2026 Continuing Report covering January 1 through June 30, 2026
Wisconsin Ethics Commission records reproduced in the complaint specifically list Friends to Elect Tricia Hanson as delinquent for the 2024 Fall Pre-Primary and January 2025 Continuing reports.
The complaint acknowledges that Hanson’s committee had a reporting exemption during 2025. However, Gallaher alleges the committee was not exempt during the other relevant reporting periods and remained obligated to file the applicable reports.
Perhaps the most significant allegation concerns the first half of 2026.
The complaint says Hanson’s committee gave $1,000 to Friends to Elect Cary Madrigal on March 7, 2026, during the reporting period covered by the allegedly missing July 2026 report.
The complaint includes Madrigal’s own campaign finance paperwork as evidence. The report identifies a $1,000 transfer from Friends to Elect Tricia Hanson to Madrigal’s committee.
Madrigal, a former Racine County Sheriff’s Office investigator who is running for sheriff, has previously been the subject of controversy over his handling of a child-sex-abuse investigation. KCE previously reported allegations that Madrigal protected a pedophile. That allegation is separate from the campaign finance complaint against Hanson and is not contained in the Ethics Commission complaint reviewed for this story.
The Democratic Party’s press release also says Hanson has publicly described herself as a co-manager of Madrigal’s campaign. According to the release, Madrigal’s campaign is the subject of a separate campaign finance complaint alleging multiple violations.
“This is no longer one candidate making one paperwork mistake,” Gallaher said. “The county’s top prosecutor is helping manage a sheriff candidate’s campaign while both campaigns now face complaints over their campaign finance practices. That should deeply concern Racine County voters.”
Under Wisconsin campaign finance law, candidate committees are generally required to maintain records of their receipts, contributions, expenditures, obligations and other financial activity and file reports according to statutory deadlines. Gallaher’s complaint cites several provisions of Chapter 11 and alleges Hanson’s missing reports prevented the public from seeing financial information the law requires campaigns to disclose.
Gallaher argues the alleged failures should not be treated as an isolated paperwork mistake because they span multiple reporting periods. The complaint asks investigators to determine whether they constitute an ongoing pattern of campaign finance noncompliance.
The complaint asks the Wisconsin Ethics Commission to formally investigate Friends to Elect Tricia Hanson, determine whether Wisconsin campaign finance laws were violated, order any delinquent reports filed, examine whether additional violations occurred and assess any appropriate forfeitures, civil penalties or late-filing fees.
The filing is an allegation, not a finding of wrongdoing. The documents reviewed by KCE do not show that the Wisconsin Ethics Commission has yet determined that Hanson or her committee violated state law.
