Claims of 'harassment,' other concerning behavior surround Ponto campaign in Brookfield mayor's race
Supporters and others express concern over behavior from the online presence of Mayor Steve Ponto's adult daughter, who has also been listed as the campaign manager.
The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time 21-TIME! Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.
Among the many contrasts in the mayoral race in the City of Brookfield, between incumbent Mayor Steve Ponto and challenger Mike Hallquist, a second-term alderman, has been each of their approaches to social media in the campaign.
For Hallquist, 40, it’s much of what you might expect to see in a modern campaign — lots of direct-to-camera video, links to news stories about the race, photos taken while out knocking on doors or at campaign events, etc. — all happening across multiple platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter).
For Ponto, 78, there’s been some of a similar type of approach, but much of the campaign’s social media activity has been dominated by the mayor’s adult daughter, Stephanie Ponto, largely in posts on Facebook. Ponto has listed herself as the campaign manager1, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story on the Brookfield mayor’s race, which features an interview with Mayor Ponto, also said she is the campaign manager. There have been frequent posts from Stephanie Ponto’s personal account tagged with or shared to posts on the mayor’s official campaign page.
Some of her online activity pertaining to this race has been cause for concern for Hallquist and some of his supporters. While reporting and researching the campaign for a feature story on Waukesha County mayoral races we published last week, her online presence became unavoidable.
The Recombobulation Area has sent numerous inquiries to the officially listed Ponto campaign contacts regarding Stephanie Ponto’s role in the campaign, her social media activity, and various claims from Hallquist and his supporters, but have received no response from any formal campaign channels.
However, Stephanie Ponto did send a series of direct messages on Facebook to my personal account, late at night on March 18 and into the early hours of March 19, where said she is not the campaign manager for Ponto’s re-election campaign.
“To clarify, I am not a paid campaign manager. I am the Mayor’s daughter and, like many family members in local campaigns, I have been helping support his efforts,” she said, also denying any allegations of harassment.
Additionally, in that string of messages, she said of the Hallquist campaign, “We have already begun to see behavior that crosses a line — including my family’s longtime residence being altered in a vehicle GPS system to display a derogatory name.”
With this, she also shared a photo of what appears to be a vehicle’s dashboard display with a GPS map showing a location that reads, “Crookedfield Ct.”
It is unclear what this is supposed to suggest. Here is a screenshot of that message.
As we reported earlier this month, Hallquist emailed the mayor directly multiple times in January regarding Stephanie Ponto’s social media presence. In the first email, he said he had “legitimate concerns based on the content, volume and posting behaviors” he’d seen, sharing several attachments with examples. The mayor replied in a separate message saying, “I asked Stephanie not to contact you and she agreed.” Weeks later, Hallquist sent another email, saying the “harassing behavior never stopped” and became “more extreme,” writing, “her harassment is now making me and my family feel physically unsafe.” Here are those emails:
Several other sources, including a number of Hallquist supporters, have shared similar concerns about Stephanie Ponto’s social media presence.
One of those supporters is Sara Monty, Brookfield Alder in District 1, who is serving in her first four-year term on the Council, elected in 2024.
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