Waukesha Dems Retract Tweet Calling for Sen. Al Franken To Resign

WAUKESHA COUNTY, WI — The sexual misconduct allegations facing Minnesota senator Al Franken have come to roost in Wisconsin as fellow Democrats in the state grapple with how to handle their relationships with the now-troubled U.S. Senator.

According to one report out of Washington, the Waukesha County Democratic party published a tweet calling for Franken to resign, and then sent that tweet to former conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes — only to delete the tweet from their account. Area Republicans were credited with taking a screen shot of the tweet before it was pulled down.

Waukesha Patch reached out to the Waukesha County Democratic Party on Friday. Matt Lowe, Party Chair in Waukesha County said he has access to the party's twitter account, and made the tweet of his own accord, and wasn't under party direction to make the statement on social media.

"Today is about being human, and making human mistakes," he told Patch.com. "I was speaking as a person who was frustrated by the number of sexual assaults that have been reported recently. I spoke in a moment of personal frustration."

When asked whether the Waukesha Democratic Party would be issuing a statement regarding Franken's sexual assault scandal, Lowe said that they are concentrating on meeting the needs of constituents in Waukesha County.

Earlier, Patch.com reported that Leeann Tweeden, a news anchor on 790 KABC talk radio, published a story accusing Franken of kissing and groping her without her consent while on a USO tour in 2006. Shortly after the allegations were made public, multiple lawmakers called for an investigation into Franken's actions, which the senator said he will support.

Campaign Donations Sent To Charities

According to a RightWisconsin article, Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin has been a major recipient of Franken’s campaign donations, receiving $10,000 in the current election cycle and another $5,000 in the 2012 election cycle.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has called on Baldwin to return the money she received from Franken and his PAC.

"After today’s shocking revelations regarding Senator Al Franken’s behavior towards women, Tammy Baldwin must denounce her Democrat colleague and return campaign donations she received from him."

On Nov. 16, Baldwin, said she was donating her Franken money to an initiative for women veterans.

According to the same publication, First District Congressional candidate Randy Bryce published two tweets in favor of Franken, the politician, on the same day the scandal broke.

Although Bryce had yet to issue a statement regarding the approximately $1,500 in funds from a political action committee supported by Franken, the Democratic Congressional Committee issued a statement, saying,

"All of the House Democratic Challengers who received donations from Senator Franken are already donating the money to local charities."

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images