DANIEL BICE

Bice: Trailing badly in polls, Dem guv candidate Kelda Roys tapped $235,000 home equity loan

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Former state Rep. Kelda Roys apparently is betting her house — or at least some of the equity in it — on winning the Democratic gubernatorial contest.

Records show Roys, one of eight Democrats vying to take on GOP Gov. Scott Walker, took out a $235,000 home equity loan on her Madison house on June 25. Roys reported donating a total of $255,000 to her campaign five days later, helping to boost her fundraising totals.

But Roys declined to say whether the money from the home equity line of credit went into her campaign fund.

"The campaign isn't going to discuss personal finances beyond what's available in public record and the statement of economic interests," Roys said in an email.

Roys had about $668,000 on hand as of June 30 — or about $264,000 more than her closest rival, according to campaign finance reports filed Monday.

This huge infusion of cash from a home equity loan is extremely risky given her poor showing in the Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday. She tied for sixth, gaining the support of only 3% of those planning to vote in the Democratic primary.

Alec Zimmerman, spokesman for the state GOP, accused Roys of tapping the home equity loan to "artificially inflate" her fundraising numbers.

"Roys is misleading voters and clinging to anything she can find to remain relevant in this race," Zimmerman said. "This is nothing more than smoke and mirrors."

Roys said EMILY's List, a national group that supports Democratic female candidates who favor abortion rights, did not urge her to kick the personal money into the campaign.

The group has played a major role in state Democratic primaries over the past 20 years.

"Absolutely not," Roys said. "EMILY's List has never asked me to make a personal financial commitment in this or any race. Their strong support for our campaign is evidenced by their max out PAC contribution and their many communications on our behalf."

She earlier lent $96,200 to her campaign, bringing her total commitment to more than $350,000.

According to city records, Roys and her husband, Daniel Reed, bought their Madison home in July 2013 for for $423,000. They took out a mortgage for $401,850 from Summit Credit Union, meaning they presumably made a downpayment of about $21,000, or 5% of the total.

The couple refinanced the loan for $392,525 in late 2015.

Since they bought the 2,372-square-foot house, its assessed value has risen dramatically. In 2018, the Madison assessor placed the value of the two-story Tudor home at $587,800.

Roys and Reed, managing director of American Family Ventures, the direct venture capital arm of American Family Insurance, took out a "revolving credit mortgage" for $235,000 from Summit late last month.

In her statement, Roys emphasized her business and government experience.

Roys, 39, is the CEO and founder of OpenHomes, a real estate tech company. She served in the state Assembly for four years beginning in 2008. In 2012, she ran unsuccessfully for the House, losing in the Democratic primary to Mark Pocan.

Roys is also an attorney and the former executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.

"I'm a successful entrepreneur and business owner, and a former legislator with a track record of getting things done for Wisconsin families — that's why thousands of Wisconsinites are investing in our campaign for change, and we are too," she wrote.

The records check also showed that she had a $597 tax warrant issued against her from the state of New York in 2005. She paid off the sum a year later while living in Madison.

Roys said the warrant was issued because of a calculating error made by a New York real estate firm for whom she worked as an independent contractor while in college. When she learned of the mistake, she said she paid the amount promptly.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.