Souls to the Polls Wisconsin ramps up calls for GOP official’s resignation

A Milwaukee-based voting rights group is ramping up calls for the resignation of the Wisconsin Republican Party’s director over comments he made during the 2020 election.

Souls to the Polls, which provides Election Day transportation primarily to low-income people and people of color, called for Andrew Iverson to step down from his role in state politics because of suggestions he made over text message that Republicans use the group’s services in an attempt to “wreak havoc.”

At a press conference Monday, Rev. Greg Lewis, the group’s director, called on Iverson to “have some integrity, admit what you’ve done and remove yourself from leadership.”

The state party has maintained that Iverson’s comments were taken out of context and that they’ve been conflated with comments by Carlton Huffman, an embattled former GOP operative who was recently fired from a job at the North Carolina statehouse after white supremacist media appearances came to light.

Matt Fisher, a spokesperson for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, questioned the voting group’s actions.

“It is disgusting that Souls to the Polls continues to smear Andrew Iverson with debunked claims from a known white supremacist with a history of making violent threats,” Fisher said in a statement to WPR. “Furthermore, the fact that Souls to the Polls is so outraged at the very concept of helping Republicans get to the polls calls into question their supposedly non-partisan status.”

Fisher said Iverson has needed increased home security as a result of the accusations, and that suggestions by Huffman to misuse Souls to the Polls resources have been wrongfully attributed to Iverson.

According to texts messages first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Iverson asked Huffman if they could get supporters of Trump to use Souls to the Polls’ services. Huffman later suggested that Trump supporters flood the group’s phone lines with phony requests.

Souls to the Polls does not ask voters about their party affiliation, although Milwaukee is a Democratic stronghold in the state.

The group attempted to deliver a letter detailing their concerns to the state party, but brought it to the nonpartisan Milwaukee Host Committee for the upcoming Republican National Convention. In a statement, that group said it “doesn’t weigh in on politics.”

“It is our goal to ensure Milwaukee can successfully host the RNC and show what we can do as a city on the national stage,” said Alison Prange, the host committee’s chief operating officer.

Last week, progressive law firm Law Forward called on the U.S. Attorney’s office to investigate Iverson and Huffman for their text messages.