Two Parties Got $1.3 Million Corporate Cash in 2021

100 Dollar Bill. Photo by Dave Reid.

The state Republican and Democratic parties and four legislative campaign committees accepted nearly $1.3 million in corporate contributions in 2021, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.

The state GOP, Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, and Committee to Elect a Republican Senate accepted corporate contributions totaling $1.03 million. That was four times more than the $254,317 in corporate contributions raised by the state Democratic Party, Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, and State Senate Democratic Committee.

Total corporate contributions raised by each of the committees and parties in 2021 was:

Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $526,083;

Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, $469,551;

State Democratic Party, $125,750;

Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, $91,192;

State Senate Democratic Committee, $37,375;

State Republican Party, $36,800.

The corporate contributions came from about 150 sources. They were mostly business and other trade associations representing health care, tourism, manufacturing, natural resources, insurance, energy, and other powerful special interests.

The top corporate contributors to the parties and committees in 2021 were:

Charter Communications, St. Louis, MO, $56,000, including $12,000 to each of the state parties, Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, and the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, and $4,000 each to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee and the State Senate Democratic Committee;

Molson Coors, Milwaukee, WI, $36,000, including $12,000 to the Democratic Party, $11,500 to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $10,000 to the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, and $2,500 to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee;

WEC Energy Group, Milwaukee, WI, $36,000, including $12,000 each to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate and $6,000 each to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee and the State Senate Democratic Committee;

Forest County Potawatomi Community, Crandon, WI, $36,000, including $12,000 each to the Democratic Party, Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate;

Oneida Tribe of Indians, Oneida, WI, $35,000, including $8,750 each to the Democratic Party, Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, and $4,375 each to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee and the State Senate Democratic Committee;

Fincantieri Marinette Marine, De Pere, WI, $34,000, including $12,000 each to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, and $5,000 each to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee and the State Senate Democratic Committee;

JUUL Labs, San Francisco, CA, an electronic cigarette maker, $34,000, including $12,000 to each to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, and $5,000 each to the state GOP and the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee;

Michael Best & Friedrich, a Milwaukee law firm, $30,500, including $10,000 to the Democratic Party, $9,000 each to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, and $2,500 to Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee;

Wisconsin Realtors Association, Madison, WI, $30,000, including $12,000 each to the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, and $6,000 to the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee.

Here’s how the $1.29 million in corporate contributions to the state parties and four committees in 2021 compared to previous years:

$1.61 million in 2020,

$1.13 million in 2019,

$1.68 million in 2018,

$1.03 million in 2017,

$1.31 million in 2016.

Corporate contributions have been legal since 2016 due to sweeping changes to state campaign finance laws by the GOP-controlled legislature and former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. For more than 100 years prior to this, corporate contributions were illegal.

State campaign finance laws now allow corporate contributions of up to $12,000 a year to each party and legislative campaign committee with segregated funds for the money. The law prohibits the parties and committees from using corporate contributions for direct contributions to candidates or for express advocacy in a political campaign.