Alder candidate Bobby Gronert apologizes for ‘overbearing and unintentionally creepy’ messages to women

District 8 Common Council candidate and University of Wisconsin-Madison student Bobby Gronert addressed past inappropriate messages to women in a statement and in Discord messages obtained by The Daily Cardinal on the eve of the April 7 election.

Gronert wrote that an anonymous person submitted a complaint about his inappropriate messages roughly two months ago to a committee at the Madison chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. He said the committee reviewed the complaint and ultimately decided it  “did not warrant any action,” but encouraged him to continue reflecting on his behavior. A few weeks ago Snapchat messages detailing an advance Gronert made surfaced on YikYak and Snapchat. 

“The unanimous decision, however, by YDSA and MADSA leadership, was not to publicize the proceedings of the investigation,” Gronert wrote in an internal Discord message. “I’m sorry for the lack of transparency that happened as a result.”

In a statement, a YDSA spokesperson said the DSA committee “encouraged Bobby to continue to do all the things he’s done in the first place to do better, like receive mentorship from women in our chapter” and said the anonymous complaint was the only direct report on Gronert’s conduct. 

“Everything else is just stuff people put online, as far as I know none of it is from any woman themselves,” they said.

Gronert acknowledged what he described as “harmful” and “overbearing” behavior toward women during high school and his freshman year at UW-Madison. 

“While I can say I am proud of my political history, I can not say the same of my personal history, particularly when it comes to attempts at dating,” Gronert wrote in the Discord message. “I had told some people at the beginning of the campaign that I had messaged girls embarrassing things in the past, but did not have any screenshots to show them at the time, leading to different views about the severity of the comments.”

In an image circulated on YikYak and the WiscoChicks Instagram, Gronert wrote “Just saw you on tinder, I’m just going to be honest. You’re hot as fuck and I’ve been on a dry streak for a while, whatever you’re down for I am down for. Ik I’m not the hottest, but I assure you I more than make up for it with enthusiasm and technique.”

One anonymous UW student who went to high school with Gronert told the Cardinal he made advances toward several female students. The student said these advances never crossed the line into harassment to their knowledge. 

“He's a flirt… he's horned up as shit,” they said.

Gronert issued a separate public statement on Instagram Monday night saying he had “grown and changed as an organizer and as a person” and attributed that growth in part to his political organizing work.

“Like a lot of young men, I absorbed messaging that gave me entirely wrong ideas about how to talk to women online,” the statement said. “I recognize now that I was ignorant, selfish and misogynistic.”

Gronert also addressed the Snapchat screenshot, calling the message “extremely embarrassing” and said he deleted it shortly after sending. 

YDSA said they were proud of "who Bobby is today" and the work the chapter did on the campaign. 

“We firmly believe that no one is defined by the most embarrassing stuff they’ve done,” they said. “Women deserve to be free from unwanted attention, and the women of our chapter feel confident that Bobby is not the same person he was when he sent that message.”

He also denied separate anonymous claims that he had stalked women, writing that those allegations were “completely false” and describing them as part of what he called a “bad faith and coordinated smear campaign” tied to the District 8 race.

Gronert also addressed what he described as the tone of the local political climate surrounding the race.

“This has been a crash course for me in the ways even small, local elections can bring out the worst in people,” the Instagram statement said.

He also alleged that one of his campaign volunteers had received a death threat.

The controversy comes as District 8 voters prepare to head to the polls Tuesday in one of Madison’s closely watched council races, which includes much of the UW-Madison campus area.

Gronert launched his campaign last fall as a YDSA candidate focused on housing affordability and campus issues. He will face Ellen Zhang.

Madison DSA did not respond to immediate requests for comment. 

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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