Republicans Grab Corporate Cash

Cash. (CC0 Creative Commons).

The state GOP and two Republican legislative campaign committees collected three times more in corporate contributions than their Democratic counterparts during the first half of 2020.

The state Republican Party, Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, and Committee to Elect a Republican Senate accepted a total of $303,635 in corporate contributions between January and June, according to recently filed campaign finance reports.

Meanwhile, the state Democratic Party, Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, and State Senate Democratic Committee accepted a total of $100,000 in corporate contributions.

Here is the breakdown:

Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $158,500

Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, $139,000

Democratic Party of Wisconsin, $54,000

Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, $26,750

State Senate Democratic Committee, $19,250

Republican Party of Wisconsin, $6,135

The corporate contributions came from businesses, unions, and trade associations representing a wide array of special interests, including agriculture, insurance, business, manufacturing, tourism, energy, and real estate.

The top corporate contributors to the parties and committees between January and June of 2020 were:

Alliance of Health Insurers, $35,500, including $12,000 each to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, $6,000 to the State Senate Democratic Committee, $3,000 to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, and $2,500 to the state Republican Party;

Wisconsin Insurance Alliance, $27,000, including $12,000 to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $10,000 to the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, $3,000 to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, and $2,000 to the State Senate Democratic Committee;

Wysocki Produce Farm, $25,000, including $12,000 each to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, and $1,000 to the State Senate Democratic Committee;

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, $24,500, including $12,500 to the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate and $12,000 to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee;

International Union of Operating Engineers, $24,000, including $12,000 each to the state Democratic Party and the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee.

The total amount of corporate contributions, $403,635, is about 35 percent higher than the $297,850 accepted by the parties and committees between January and June 2016 – the last comparable election year when the fall races featured the presidential and legislative elections.

State campaign finance laws approved in late 2015 by the GOP-controlled legislature and former Republican Gov. Scott Walker allow corporate contributions of up to $12,000 a year to each party and legislative campaign committee if they create a segregated fund for the money.

For more than 100 years prior to this, such corporate contributions were illegal. The 2015 law prohibits corporate contributions from being used by those groups for direct contributions to candidates or for express advocacy electioneering activities in political campaigns, but the money can be used for salaries of those who say which candidates should be supported.