Spending Tops $1.2 Million on Two Special Elections

American Cash by Psychonaught. Photo of money

Candidates and outside special interest groups have spent more than $1.2 million in two legislative special elections the voters will decide June 12.

In northeastern Wisconsin’s 1st Senate District, spending by the final ballot candidates and seven special interest groups has topped $700,000 with the groups outspending the candidates by more than 2-to-1.

The candidates, Democrat Caleb Frostman, of Sturgeon Bay, and GOP Rep. Andre Jacque, of De Pere, spent about $197,800 combined through late May. Meanwhile, outside electioneering groups have more than $510,000, including about $343,700 to support Frostman and an estimated $170,000 to support Jacque. Three groups have spent more than $100,000 on the race, including:

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters political action committee which is spending about $172,880 on staff, television and radio ads, and other campaign material to support Frostman;

Wisconsin Alliance for Reform, which is a phony issue ad group that secretly raises and spends money on elections to support conservative and Republican candidates, has spent an estimated $160,000 to produce and air television stations to support Jacque;

Greater Wisconsin Political Independent Expenditure Fund, has spent about $108,500 on television ads to support Frostman.

For more information about the groups that are spending in this race, go here.

In southern Wisconsin’s 42nd Assembly District, spending by the final ballot candidates and five special interest groups has topped $500,000 with the candidates outspending the groups by more than 3-to-1.

The candidates on Tuesday’s ballot, Democrat Ann Groves Lloyd and Republican Jon Plumer, both of Lodi, spent about $397,400 combined through late May. Meanwhile, outside special interest groups have spent more than $110,000, including about $80,000 to support Plumer and about $31,700 to back Lloyd. The top spending groups in the race are:

Jobs First Coalition, which is a phony issue ad group that secretly raises and spends money on elections to support conservative and Republican candidates, has spent an estimated $70,000 to produce and air radio ads to support Plumer;

For Our Future, which was formed in 2016 by billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer and national labor groups to support Democrats for state and federal offices, is spending about $16,685 to support Lloyd;

National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which was created in 2016 by former Democratic U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, is spending $15,000 on online advertising to support Lloyd.

For more information about the groups that are spending in this race, go here.

In addition to the candidates and groups, four legislative campaign committees have contributed to the candidates’ campaigns or spent on the candidates behalf with television ads, digital advertising, and other electioneering activities. A large portion of the committees’ spending was in-kind campaign contributions to the candidates that is reflected in the candidates’ spending totals.