A right-wing political advocacy group pulled one of the oldest tricks in the book — pictures of hot people in little clothing — in an attempt to get out the vote for Wisconsin’s special election on Monday.
Look Ahead America, started by former Trump campaign staffer Matthew Braynard, says it texted 250,000 “disaffected patriots” in the Midwest state. Men were apparently sent a photo of actor and model Emily Ratajkowski in a bikini, while women were sent a photo of a shirtless male model holding a dog.
“Now that we have your attention ... a critical special election is happening TOMORROW!” the texts read, followed by information on polling places.
The texts reminded voters that two major items were on the ballot, encouraging them to support the proposal to require a valid photo ID to vote in future elections. The group also sent a link to a chart that portrayed Republican state Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel in a favorable light.
The Democratic candidate, Susan Crawford, ended up winning the race, preserving the Wisconsin high court’s 4-3 liberal balance.
An unprecedented level of national attention was brought to the election as billionaire White House adviser Elon Musk spent at least $8 million of his own money to tip the scales, unsuccessfully, for Schimel.
On its website, Look Ahead America says that its goal is to “register, educate and enfranchise” the “millions of rural and blue-collar patriotic Americans” who feel their fears have been “ignored,” priorities “dismissed” and values “ridiculed.” Whether the group asked permission to use the photographs of the models is not clear — and, certainly, their choice of imagery is puzzling.
Ratajkowski’s image appears to be taken from a 2024 photoshoot where she modeled her own bikini line, Inamorata, on the streets of New York City while holding an iced beverage.
As a public figure, she is known for her commitment to progressive politics, having campaigned for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 presidential election. Ratajkowski has also written extensively about her own body image and the ways it has been taken from her in the past.
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The other photo appears to be copied from a 2015 calendar called “Hunks and Hounds” by photographer Mike Ruiz, created as a fundraiser for a New York City-based animal rescue group called Louie’s Legacy. As HuffPost reported in 2014, Ruiz is also known for his LGBTQ+ advocacy.
HuffPost reached out to Ruiz and a representative for Ratajkowski for their thoughts on their imagery used to promote conservative causes, but did not receive an immediate response.
Braynard, meanwhile, is perhaps best known for the prominent role he took in President Donald Trump’s campaign to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He has been a vocal defendant of the Trump supporters who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Once large numbers of the rioters began to be arrested, Braynard organized rallies to protest their detention, dubbing them “political prisoners.”