A recent posting on TheDailyPage.com Forum claims that Sargent approached Her last winter and promised him funding for a Hmong cultural center in Dane County - if he stayed out of the race.
"That is true," confirmed Her when first contacted. "It happened." Later, after speaking with Sargent, he declined to comment further. In a written statement, Her said, "I am committed to running a clean campaign with transparency, integrity and honesty. I want to focus my campaign on the needs of the people of the 81st District."
Sargent denies the story. "Never did I say anything like do or don't run," he says heatedly. "If [Her] thinks otherwise, he misunderstood."
Sargent says he greeted Her at a party at the Governor's Mansion last winter. He praised Her's work on raising money for the cultural center and promised to support it if he was elected.
"If you can't be nice and say things like that, then we're in trouble politically," he says, adding that he doubts he could have helped Her with the center anyway. "I don't know what a freshman legislator could do to help move things along."
