Empower Wisconsin  | May 2, 2022

In the face of a parent revolution, the left is growing desperate. Look no further than the nasty politics in Holmen, Wisconsin — in a school board race for God’s sake.

Last week, School Board President Cheryl Hancock admitted she used a phony Facebook profile to go after candidates and others who opposed her views on stringent mask mandates, left-leaning curriculum and other district policies.

Hancock, writing under the pseudonym “Annie Allmaras,” also popped up on the Facebook pages of key La Crosse County Republicans and supporters of conservative school board candidates Josh Neumann and Chad Updike. She told the La Crosse Tribune that her phantom Facebook account was an “alter ego.”

It was an invasive one at that.

Neumann, who lost in the election for school board earlier this month, wrote on his campaign Facebook page that he had 87 messages from Hancock’s fake account. He said he asked her to stop engaging with him on social media.

“She doubled down on the deception over and over and made deceiving statements to the very public she’s sworn to represent. She felt invincible and above the rules,” Neumann wrote.

Hancock issued a statement saying she “can do better and be better.”

She insisted she just wanted to use the fake account to “correct misinformation.” She’s got a bright future at the Biden administration’s new “Disinformation Governance Board.”

Hancock was not up for re-election, but her teachers union-backed allies were. Candidates Rebecca Rieber and Barbara Wuensch defeated Neumann and Updike, local businessmen who got into the school board race after feeling fed up with the district’s overreaching mask mandates.

“Although we’re all entitled to our thoughts and opinions, I know that I can do better,” Hancock said, asserting that her opinions from her phony Facebook account were her own, and don’t reflect the opinions of the school board, district, staff or students.

But they also don’t reflect Hancock. They represent “Annie Allmaras,” a fictitious character created under false pretenses.

Perhaps it was a sign of desperation. Conservatives elsewhere in the state did very well in local elections, riding a wave of discontent from parents and other community members sick and tired of Nanny Staters and woke brokers like Hancock. Liberals can never admit they’re wrong, but some at least see the writing on the wall. So we have seen some scorched-earth tactics in board and council races.

Holmen has become ground zero for nasty politics.

In late February, the Holmen Police Department was investigating a political ad filled with racist messages. The flyer, first appearing on social media, made it appear that Neumann and Updike or their supporters are white supremacists.

“Keep Holmen Schools White and Christian,” the political message declared. “Don’t push Negro curriculum on our White Children. Vote Josh Neumann and Chad Updike” for Holmen School Board in the April 5 election.

“Today we are victims of a disgusting and vile fake political ad which was posted on social media platforms, our campaign pages, and circulated throughout the community, Neumann and Updike wrote in a joint statement condemning the “racial hit piece.” “This is a blatant attack trying to discredit both of us in an attempt to gain political advantage.”

Even more disgusting is that no one ever seems to be held accountable. The School board re-elected Hancock president (4-2), even after her phantom Facebook page was made public, according to WIZM in La Crosse.

Beyond politics, there’s a message to Holmen’s kids: If you get caught lying and cheating, just tell your teachers and your classmates that you can “do better and be better,” that you were trying to correct “misinformation.” No consequences.

Cheryl Hancock uses the tools of a desperate left because she is a tool of the desperate left.

She is Empower Wisconsin’s Tool of the Week.