Leader Of Prominent Government Watchdog Group Will Step Down

Mike McCabe, the outspoken leader of the government watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (WDC), says he plans to leave the organization.

McCabe has been the group’s executive director for 15 of the 20 years it has existed. WDC tracks and reports political donations and advocates for campaign finance reform.

McCabe says he’s proud of the work his group has done: “But my efforts obviously haven’t been effective enough, because I think we face threats to democracy that have never been seen before in our living memory,” said McCabe. “I don’t think any of us is old enough to remember conditions like these. I think you have to go all the way back to the 1890s to find comparable conditions and comparable threats to Democracy in America.”

McCabe says he felt like he was growing “stale” in his role. He says he does not have another job lined up, and that he’ll remain at WDC through the end of this year.