WI DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN: Governor continues to rake in money from elite class of donors

Madison – Seventy-eight individuals and couples mostly from outside Wisconsin contributed nearly $1 million to legislative and statewide officeholders and candidates during the first six months of 2013, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.

This elite class of donors who contributed $10,000 or more is similar to “whales” – a gambling industry reference to an exclusive cache of wealthy high rollers who make big wagers and generally receive lavish comps from casinos to lure them back in the future.

These high rolling campaign donors, who contributed a total of $978,037, represent a wide range of influential special interests including business, manufacturing, banking and finance, insurance, health care, construction, energy, mining, school voucher and transportation (Table). And the comps these special interests get for their large contributions – state grants and contracts, low-interest loans, tax breaks, and looser environmental, consumer protection and other regulations – often come at the expense of what’s good for the pocketbooks or general well-being of the public.

The top recipient of this elite donor cash was Republican Governor Scott Walker who received $831,573 or 85 percent of their contributions. Walker has been on a mega-fundraising drive since 2011 when it became apparent there would be an attempt to recall him, which failed in 2012, and more recently on speculation he is a potential 2016 presidential candidate.

The governor’s haul from these high-rollers is staggering because state law limits individual contributions to the governor to $10,000 each. During the recall drive against him, the Democracy Campaign found Walker received $4.7 million from nearly three dozen mostly out-of-state donors who gave him between $50,000 and $510,000 each because state law also allows incumbents targeted for recall to accept unlimited contributions from individuals and political action committees before a recall election is scheduled.

Behind Walker was Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack who received $80,415, or 8 percent of the contributions made by these donors in the first six months of 2013. Roggensack, who won a second 10-year term on the court in the spring elections, is technically a nonpartisan candidate but widely regarded as a member of the high court’s conservative bloc which holds a 4-3 majority.

Rounding out the top three recipients was GOP Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch – also the target of an unsuccessfully recall attempt in 2012 – who accepted $45,200 or 5 percent of the contributions made by these mega donors.

The Democracy Campaign review of these donors also found:

• Fourteen contributors have already exceeded the $10,000 annual limit on contributions they can make to all candidates. Campaign finance reports filed by the candidates show these contributors each made total contributions ranging from $10,100 to $18,250 during the first six months of 2013. The Democracy Campaign has asked the state Government Accountability Board, which enforces the state’s lobbying, elections and campaign finance laws, to investigate these contributions (see attached letter);

• Fifty-two of the 78 individuals or couples were from outside Wisconsin and their contributions to Walker and the others totaled $650,322 or 66 percent of the high-roller contributions;

• The most out-of-state contributions came from Texas at $195,073 followed by Illinois at $106,000, Missouri at $60,000; Florida at $50,000; and New York at $40,000.

Table
Top* Contributors To Candidates For Statewide Office And The Legislature
January – June 2013

*Table shows individuals and couples who contributed $10,000 or more during the period.

Letter to GAB