Democrats Raise 5 Times More Than GOP

The state Democratic Party raised more than $4.4 million in the first half of 2021 – five times more than the state GOP, according to state campaign finance reports.

The reports showed the state Democratic Party continued to receive numerous six-figure contributions from individual contributors – a trend that began last year. More than a dozen donors each contributed between $25,000 and about $500,000 to the party in the first six months of 2021.

The Republican Party’s state and corporate accounts took in about $835,000 in the first half of 2021. The money came from individual, committee, and corporate contributions and other income, led by eight individuals and political committees which each gave the party between $20,000 and 125,000.

As of June 30, the Democratic Party’s state and corporate accounts had just under $2.1 million in the bank combined – 12 times more than the state Republican Party, which had about $170,460 in the bank.

These were the state Democratic Party’s top contributors between January and June:

Elise Lawson, a Madison surgeon, $960,000,

Tony for Wisconsin, which is Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’s campaign committee, $508,237,

George Soros, a New York City investor and philanthropist, $500,000,

Karla Jurvetson, a Los Altos, Calif. physician, $491,000,

Reid Hoffman, of Mountain View, Calif., co-founder of LinkedIn, $490,000,

Edward Snowdon, a New York City theatrical producer, $200,000,

Lynde Uihlein, a Milwaukee philanthropist, $150,000,

Robert Price, of La Jolla, Calif., chairman of PriceSmart Inc., $140,000,

William Reeves, of Honolulu, HI., a hedge fund manager, $140,000,

Stephen Silberstein, of Belvedere, Calif., retired co-founder of Innovative Interfaces, $90,000,

Deborah Kern, of Fox Point, president of the Garden Room and Anaba Tea Room, $80,000.

These were the state Republican Party’s top contributors between January and June:

Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, $125,000,

Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $80,000,

Louis P. Gentine, of Elkhart Lake, retired owner of Sargento Foods, $50,000,

Kim Hendricks, of Janesville, a retired ABC Supply vice president, $30,000,

Diane Hendricks, of Beloit, owner of ABC Supply, $25,000. Hendricks, a billionaire and one of the richest woman in the U.S., has been a long-time contributor to Republican and conservative candidates and causes in Wisconsin and throughout the country,

Richard Uihlein, of Lake Forest, Ill., $25,000. Richard and his wife, Elizabeth, are the billionaire founders of Uline Corp., which makes packaging and moving materials. Like Hendricks, the Uihleins are long-time backers of Republican and conservative candidates and causes.

Party and candidate fundraising has skyrocketed since 2014 due to sweeping changes to campaign finance laws enacted in 2015 by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP-controlled legislature.

Those changes included increased individual and political action committee contribution limits, unlimited individual contributions to political parties (the old limit was $10,000 a year) and allowing political parties to accept contributions from corporations for the first time in more than 100 years.