By Scott Bauer
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — In an election year awash with billionaires’ money, there are few places where their influence has been as stark as the hotly contested race for Wisconsin governor.
Tom Tiffany, the Republican congressman backed by President Donald Trump, has raised more than $26 million during the past two months, with $24 million-plus coming from just three people.
It has given Tiffany a big cash advantage, according to fundraising reports filed Wednesday. He pulled in twice as much money as Democrat David Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, heading into the Nov. 3 election.
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“We’re watching several billionaires here decide they want to play kingmaker in this race and the voters are the ones getting screwed out of this election,” said Nick Ramos, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which tracks donations and spending in state races.
The bulk of Tiffany’s money came from Diane Hendricks, Richard Uihlein and Liz Uihlein, who are longtime power players in Republican politics. Hendricks owns ABC Supply in Beloit, which sells roofing and building supplies. The Uihleins own Wisconsin-based Uline Corp., which sells boxes and other shipping supplies, and they live in Illinois.
Crowley, speaking to supporters on Wednesday night in Madison, said “Tiffany is willing to sell the state of Wisconsin, our precious state, to the highest bidder.”
Tiffany’s campaign, when asked to respond, pointed to Crowley’s fundraising in California this week with former Vice President Kamala Harris and the money that Crowley has accepted from the Wisconsin Democratic Party. The state party has taken in about $15.5 million in donations from billionaire Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, since 2019.
Crowley has raised about $12 million to date and benefited from nearly $3 million in transfers from the state party. Records show the party received $1 million each from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Democratic megadonor Lynde Uihlein, who is Richard Uihlein’s cousin, over the past two months.
Tiffany’s campaign said Crowley is “fully embracing an agenda of higher taxes, soft-on-crime policies, and massive data centers all over Wisconsin.”
It’s been a sensitive topic for Tiffany. Last week, after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on billionaire donations to his campaign, Tiffany barred reporters from the newspaper from attending one of his events in Milwaukee.
The infusion of support from megadonors is possible under a 2015 state law that allows unlimited contributions to state political parties. Individuals cannot give more than $20,000 to a candidate, but parties can transfer as much as they want. Democrats have also utilized the law, but Tiffany’s heavy reliance on three megadonors for the majority of his fundraising is unlike anything ever seen before in Wisconsin.
A Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday showed the race to be about even. The poll of 692 likely voters was conducted between Sept. 16 and Sept. 23.
Wisconsin is accustomed to extremely tight statewide elections. Five of the past seven presidential elections were decided by less than a percentage point. The past two races for governor, won by Democrat Tony Evers, were decided by 1.1 percentage point and 3.4 percentage points, respectively.
Evers is not seeking a third term, creating the first open race for governor in 16 years. Democrats are hoping to hang onto the office and flip control of the Legislature, which has been majority Republican since 2011.
Tiffany has been able to use the funding advantage to outspend Crowley on campaign advertising $40 million to $26 million, according to data compiled by AdImpact, which tracks media spending and ad buys.
Of the $43 million Tiffany has raised for the race to date, about $34 million has come from Wisconsin Republican Party transfers after the party received about $38 million from Hendricks and the Uihleins.
The Uihlein family is helping another way. Restoration of America PAC, which is funded by Richard Uihlein, has reported spending about $12.5 million to help Tiffany. It is one of several conservative groups spending on the race.
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