Walker Says He Fears “Outside Money”
But he’s been a huge beneficiary of donations from outside the state.
Gov. Scott Walker. Photo from the State of Wisconsin.
On Sunday, Gov. Scott Walker bemoaned the prospect of outside money hurting him in his upcoming reelection race.
“The biggest fear that I, and a lot of our supporters have, is not the [Democratic] candidate; it’s the outside money,” Walker said on “UpFront with Mike Gousha.”
In fact, Walker and the GOP-dominated legislature have made it much easier for outside groups to donate to campaigns in Wisconsin, and Walker relied heavily on outside money to defeat the recall effort against him in 2012.
Walker raised $36.1 million January 2011 to June 2012. Nearly $22 million, or 64 percent of the individual contributions, came from people outside of Wisconsin who were in the banking, manufacturing, construction, real estate and other powerful sectors and hailed from Florida, Texas, New York, Missouri, Nevada, Wyoming and New Jersey, among other states. Walker drew massive contributions above the usual $10,000 calendar year limit on individual donations because state law allows recall targets to collect unlimited cash to pay bills that come in before a recall election is approved.
A review of Walker’s contributors from January 2011 to June 2012 found that of his top ten biggest contributors, only two came from Wisconsin.
Top Walker Contributors January 2011 – June 2012
| Name | Location | Employer | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diane Hendricks | Beloit, WI | ABC Supply | $510,000 |
| Bob Perry | Houston, TX | Perry Homes | $500,000 |
| David Humphreys | Joplin, MO | TAMKO Building Products | $260,000 |
| Sheldon Adelson | Las Vegas, NV | Las Vegas Sands | $250,000 |
| Sarah Atkins | Joplin, MO | TAMKO Building Products | $250,000 |
| Richard DeVos | Lantana, FL | Alticor | $250,000 |
| Stanley Herzog | St. Joseph, MO | Herzog Contracting | $250,000 |
| Richard Uihlein | Lake Forest, IL | Uline Shipping Supplies | $132,500 |
| Ted Kellner | Mequon, WI | Fiduciary Management | $121,182 |
| Elizabeth Uihlein | Lake Forest, IL | Uline Shipping Supplies | $102,500 |
In addition to Walker’s reliance on direct contributions from super wealthy people outside of Wisconsin was his reliance on spending from outside groups.
Outside group spending was led by the Republican Governors Association, which doled out $9.4 million to support Walker through its Right Direction Wisconsin Political Action Committee. The Republican Governors Association raises much of its cash from large corporations to support GOP candidates for governor around the country through a 527 group named for the U.S. Internal Revenue Service regulations that govern them. During the first six months of 2012 coinciding with the recall efforts against Walker, the association’s 527 outfit raised $29 million, including $792,725 from 19 Wisconsin trade groups, corporations and individuals led by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce which gave the group $437,725.
Campaign Cash
-
Outside Groups Spent Record $28.8 Million on State Supreme Court Race
May 7th, 2023 by Erik Gunn
-
Top 20 Donors to State Political Parties
Apr 4th, 2023 by Peter Cameron and Hina Suzuki
-
$38 Million Spent on High Court Race
Mar 29th, 2023 by Erik Gunn
“You reap what you sow”.
HAHAHAHA
For a guy who has been propped up by tens of millions in dark money and other out-of-state “assistance” to pull the “put-upon victim” card is amazing. And disgusting.
The ONLY reason Scott Walker is considered a viable candidate is big money from oligarchs. That and a negative campaign is all he’s got now, because he can’t run on his failed, sleazy record. Expect more of Scotty’s pathetic whining in the coming months.
Actually he laying the foundation for accepting massive amounts of “outside” money. The argument, I have to accept outside money to defend myself from the outside money that is mounting against me. Of, course he won’t admit to the fact that he and his allied “outside” money have instigated the whole scenario with the ludicrous and deceptive ads now on the airwaves.
Career politician and big government moocher Scott Walker’s transformation of Wisconsin to Wississippi is complete. In other news
I was happy to hear Gov. Walker signed the bill eliminating the minimum hunting age in Wisconsin! So now toddlers can wander around in the woods with loaded firearms just as long as they are supervised by a “mentor” which we all know usually means a drunk guy with a gun in Wisconsin. Sounds like the drinking age is about to be lowered too. Hey why not put two and two together and allow drunk kids with guns!
Only a true genius, uniter and leader like Scott Walker could be more afraid of industrial hemp, used for such terrifying things like rope and textiles, than he is of drunks and toddlers with guns staggering around in the forest together. Good Lord help us all!
Very canny early move to remind the party faithful now is not the time to slow down. Essential for ads to let outstate Wisconsin know the “Walker/Wisconsin” success story too, not just those in the major media markets.
Scotty : The ” union bosses” are coming for you again. ( ” Paranoia strikes deep” )
Fire Walker. Legalize marijuana.
@WashCoRepub, The Northland doesn’t need to be reminded of anything. We know what we need to know already. We got seriously FOXCONNED by Walker’s corporate welfare handout to a FOREIGN company! Where’s our jobs? Where’s the investment in our communites? We know all we need to know about career politician Scott Walker. Never again! We are going to fire Walker and legalize marijuana!
@WashCoRepug, There is no “Walker/Wisconsin success story” only a legacy of total failure. Been in Northern WI lately? All Walker left us with is unemployment, poverty, hopelessness and alcoholism while shipping what remaining tax dollars we had left to a Taiwanese company.