'Cash is great & we do Venmo': Milwaukee council candidate accused of asking donations over limit

Alison Dirr and Daniel Bice, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·3 min read

A south side Milwaukee alderwoman has filed a complaint accusing her challenger in the April 2 election of soliciting contributions above the campaign finance limit for the race.

Ryan Antczak, a candidate for Milwaukee Common Council, District 8
Ryan Antczak, a candidate for Milwaukee Common Council, District 8

The complaint filed with the state Ethics Commission by Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa also accuses challenger Ryan Antczak of failing to include on campaign literature the name of the campaign committee that had paid for the literature and of illegally having two candidate committee accounts.

"If you want to run for an office that makes the laws, you need to follow the laws. Clearly, our opponent failed to do that," Michael Maistelman, Zamarripa's attorney, said in a statement.

Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa filed a complaint Thursday against her challenger in the April 2 election alleging that Ryan Antczak sought donations in excess of campaign finance limits.
Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa filed a complaint Thursday against her challenger in the April 2 election alleging that Ryan Antczak sought donations in excess of campaign finance limits.

The complaint asks that Antczak be fined $500 per violation and that the Ethics Commission forward the complaint to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.

Reached by the Journal Sentinel Thursday, Antczak said he had not seen the complaint but intended to abide by campaign finance laws.

Milwaukee council candidate accused of soliciting donations in excess of legal limits

The complaint accuses Antczak of soliciting contributions in excess of state-imposed limits for seats he is seeking on the Milwaukee Common Council and, as a write-in, on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

"Upon information and belief, Ryan Antczak is currently running for a Wisconsin Assembly seat yet appears to also be using his Assembly campaign committee to raise money for his Aldermanic race and for his Milwaukee County Board race," the complaint states.

Cited is a Feb. 4 Facebook invitation to a reception in support of electing him to the Common Council and County Board.

He listed the maximum contributions as $1,045 per person or PAC and $2,090 per year.

Checks could be made payable to "Antczak for Assembly," the post states. Antczak, though, told the Journal Sentinel that the account is for "Antczak for Alderman" but that he could not edit the Facebook post.

"If that was mixed up, then all checks — which I haven't barely gotten any — is going out to 'Antczak for Alderman,'" he said.

The post also stated, "Cash is great & we do Venmo."

As for how he came to the maximum contribution limits he posted, he said he "probably copied that from another alderman" and that he would be looking into the figures.

"I definitely do not want to go against campaign rules, that's for sure," he said, adding that he did not think it was likely anyone would give him a $1,045 donation or even the smaller sum allowed in the aldermanic race.

The contribution limit for the District 8 Common Council race is $792, according to the city Election Commission. The amounts vary by district but none is higher than $834.

The contribution limit is $1,055.70 for the District 12 County Board race, according to the county Election Commission. Antczak is running as a write-in after having been removed from the ballot over a paperwork error.

He filed notices with the state and city in January saying he hadn't raised or spent enough money to require him to file a detailed campaign finance report.

Antczak accused of omitting source of political mailing and illegally having two candidate committee accounts

Antczak is also accused in the complaint of using campaign resources to send out campaign materials in recent days urging voters to support him in the council and County Board races without including on the paperwork who was paying for the document.

Antczak said he realized the error after at most 50 flyers had been distributed and attached stickers to the remainder that say, "AAPF by Friends of Ryan Antczak."

He provided a photo of the stickers to the Journal Sentinel.

Antczak said he is currently retired.

After the April election, Common Council members' annual pay will rise to $84,205.58.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com. Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee council candidate accused of seeking donations over limit