National Conservative Group Targets Wisconsin School Board Races
1776 Project PAC, backed by Richard Uihlein, spending 250% more on races this year.
Vote here sign outside a Milwaukee polling place. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Voters across Wisconsin will head to the polls April 7 to choose their local school board representatives.
Records show some of those candidates were hand-picked by a national conservative political group that spent more than $160,000 this spring on local public school board races.
Spending by the New York-based 1776 Project PAC is up 240 percent on Wisconsin races this year compared to 2025, according to records from the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.
Last year, the group spent about $47,513 on 26 conservative candidates in 17 districts. This year, spending is about $161,563 on 18 candidates in 12 districts.
The most money is going to Elmbrook, Waukesha, New Berlin and Germantown school districts.
Spending on Wisconsin school board races by the 1776 Project PAC has fluctuated over the years. In 2023, the group spent just over $10,000 but the following year, the group spent almost $61,000, according to state records.
Ryan Girdusky founded the PAC in 2021. He said this year’s spending is up in Wisconsin because it’s the only way to be competitive and reach people who wouldn’t typically vote for school board.
“There’s a lot of energy among college-educated, white voters who lean more progressively,” Girdusky said. “So if you want to turn out conservatives, you really need to emphasize to them why public education really matters, especially to people who don’t have children in the public school system.”
According to campaign finance reports filed by the 1776 Project PAC, the Logan Circle Group, a PR firm based in Washington, D.C., paid for the production and postage of candidates’ mailings.
The Logan Circle Group gained some notoriety in 2021 when it threatened to sue journalists on behalf of then-U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz. Outlets had reported that President Donald Trump was distancing himself from the Florida Republican in the aftermath of the federal probe looking into whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old and paid her for it.
The 1776 Project PAC was launched in 2021, with financial backing from GOP megadonor and Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein, owner of Pleasant Prairie-based Uline, to support school board candidates who said they would overturn the teaching of “critical race theory.”
Girdusky told WPR he started the group because schools were closed during the pandemic.
“Initially I focused on trying to open schools because it was poor for learning,” Girdusky said. “And then I started really working on trying to get a better curriculum in education.”
Wisconsin is one of a handful of states The 1776 Project PAC has focused on. Girdusky says that’s because of the strong parent groups based here who want to improve public education.
“I know the conservatives are all lumped in with the voucher system but I think public education serves an important thing not only for local communities, but for the culture as well,” he said. “I’ve seen members do really interesting, vibrant things, like how to get Singapore math into schools, or cellphone banning.”
But Christina Brey, of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, said that is not at all what the 1776 Project PAC is doing with public schools.
“In cases where we have seen school boards flipped by groups like 1776 or Moms for Liberty, we see book bans or a lot more focus on (national) issues that are not the issues residents or families care about,” Brey said. “It’s more of a platform to push an ideology at the school board level than it is keeping the schools open and running because lord knows that’s a huge issue right now.”
WEAC is the state teacher’s union and it also spends money on local school board races.
In 2025, WEAC and its affiliated PACs spent $66,681, according to state records. This year, the group has spent about $18,200.
Brey says she’s not surprised the 1776 PAC is spending more money this year, but she hopes voters do research before making their decisions.
“And talk to families who have children in the district, and educators who take what the school board policies dictate and are left to implement them day to day in the classrooms,” Brey said.
Wisconsin school board races get big boost in spending from national conservative group was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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