Wisconsin Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Hulsey Plans to Hand Out Ku Klux Klan Hoods

Democratic candidate for governor Brett Hulsey plans to hand out white Ku Klux Klan-style hoods to Wisconsin Republicans as they gather for their annual convention Friday to highlight what he says are their racist policies.

Hulsey, a state representative from Madison who is white, came into the state Capitol press room on Thursday to show off a hood he says he made with his daughter’s sewing machine using curtain material he purchased for $1.

“It’s a Wisconsin Republican Party hat,” Hulsey said. “And people can interpret it any way they want.”

When asked whether he was serious, trying to be funny or provocative, Hulsey answered: “All of the above.”

Hulsey, a two-term state representative, is running a long-shot campaign for the Democratic nomination against the better-funded and more broadly supported candidate Mary Burke. {snip}

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Democrats and Republicans alike were quick to distance themselves from Hulsey’s latest antics.

“We take serious issue with the policies pursued by Republicans that disproportionately affect communities of color, but this type of behavior has no place in the public dialogue,” said state Democratic Party chairman Mike Tate.

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Hulsey said he was trying to highlight what he called racist Republican policies to require photo identification at the polls, a law struck down in federal court on Tuesday as unconstitutional because of how it would affect minorities, passage of a law making it more difficult to force schools to remove American Indian mascots and cuts to public school funding.

“They need to own up to their racism, which is what I am trying to highlight,” Hulsey said.