Updates on Bangstad's Ended Gubernatorial Run and Seized Beer
Updates on Bangstad's Gubernatorial Run and Seized Beer
- Thu, Jun 18 2026 at 8:45 AM
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Hi Folks,
Kirk Bangstad here from the Minocqua Brewing Company.
On the Up North Podcast yesterday, I talked primarily about the state of my campaign for Governor and what the Minocqua Brewing Company was doing to get our beer back that was seized by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue last week.
I encourage you to watch the whole 45 minute episode, but if you’ don’t have the time, here’s are the most important clips:
First, after catching the audience up on how the Wisconsin Elections Commission voted me off of the ballot last week because too many of my signatures were invalidated during their appeals process, I talked about the two major screw ups in the affidavit process that caused us to fall short.
So yes, folks, I’m letting go of what I call my “fever dream” of thinking I could run for governor after getting visited and traumatized by the FBI and the Secret Service for posting a satirical anti-Trump screed on Facebook. The effort was simply thrown together too fast, but the underlying reasons I ran are still the same. Wisconsin’s gubernatorial candidates are simply not focussed Trump’s slow-burning coup which is surely going to affect our elections in November.
Next up, I wanted update everyone on the state of our lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Revenue to get the beer back that they seized from us last week.
After explaining to the audience the real thicket of legal issues surrounding my beer that was imported from Illinois, and why we’re extremely confident that we’ll prove to a judge that the WDOR acted illegally in seizing it, I explained that the Dane County circuit court judge has made us wait for over a week and a half to get a hearing. To me, this emergency required more immediate action because no one has told us where our beer is being stored and if it’s being stored in adequate conditions to keep it fresh.
Because I’ve been told by both my liquor lawyer in Wisconsin and my two other liquor lawyers in California that they’ve never seen beer being seized as as punishment for breaking liquor laws, and that they think these actions by the WDOR were extraordinarily heavy-handed, I explored reasons why my company might have been singled out. First, I talked about the Tavern League of Wisconsin, who is basically a lobbying group for the Republican Party, and who exist primarily to enrich a few families that control alcohol distribution throughout our state.
Lastly, I explored the possibility that someone within the Department of Revenue, which is part of the Department of Administration within the executive branch of government lead by Democratic Governor Tony Evers, was told to be extra heavy-handed with my business because I’ve been highly critical of Evers and the Democratic Party for not fighting hard enough to protect our Democracy.
Now that I’m no longer running for Governor, the Minocqua Brewing Company Times will be returning back to normal with many of the journalists and writers who had to ethically bow out so as not to show favoritism to my campaign.
While I’m frustrated that I won’t have a larger campaign platform to warn Wisconsinites about Trump’s ongoing coup, I’m happy to have my team back together again.
Thanks for watching and reading.
Kirk Bangstad
Owner, Minocqua Brewing Company/Minocqua Marketplace
Publisher, Minocqua Brewing Company Times
No Longer a Candidate for Wisconsin Governor
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