State Democratic Party Trounces GOP in February Fundraising
Raising 9 times much as Republicans in funding for U.S. House and Senate elections.
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker addresses delegates at the party’s 2025 convention. (Rich Kremer/WPR)
New federal fundraising data shows Wisconsin’s Democratic Party brought in nine times as much as the state’s Republican Party last month. At the same time, Democrats trounced Republicans on spending and ended with twice as much money in the bank ahead of the November midterm elections.
The figures come from the parties’ federal accounts, which are used to support candidates in U.S. Senate and U.S. House elections. The reports show the Democratic Party of Wisconsin raised around $1.5 million in February, while the Republican Party of Wisconsin brought in around $167,000.
The Democratic Party spent around $862,000 during the month and ended the reporting period with around $1.2 million in the bank. The state GOP spent around $168,000 and ended with around $597,000.
When asked whether the federal fundraising figures are an issue for the GOP as state and national Democrats try to oust Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden by backing Eau Claire Democrat Rebecca Cooke, a Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesperson said, “Republicans are prepared to defend his district.”
“Congressman Van Orden not only outraised Rebecca Cooke, he ended 2025 with more cash on hand,” said Anika Rickard.
Rickard also repeated an attack line used by Republicans, noting the Democratic Party’s biggest donor in recent years is LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman who has been “connected to Jeffrey Epstein.”
“When will they return that dirty money?” said Rickard.
In response, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Philip Shulman said Hoffman “was completely exonerated by Trump’s own DOJ while President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk — two of Derrick Van Orden’s biggest supporters — still haven’t been acquitted of being involved in Epstein’s pedophile ring.”
Fundraising reports show ‘where the political energy is flowing’
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political science professor Anthony Chergosky told WPR that fundraising figures don’t determine electoral outcomes, “but these figures can tell us something about where the political energy is flowing.”
“And it does seem that Democrats are more energized going into the high stakes midterm elections, which is precisely what we would expect based on what history tells us about how voters behave in the context of a midterm election cycle,” Chergosky said.
Historically, midterms tend to favor whichever party is not in the White House.
Chergosky said these federal fundraising accounts used by state Democrats and Republicans are “often a signal of digital fundraising strength if one party is consistently outraising the other.”
“That can reflect differences in national small donor networks and online mobilization capacity. And we know that both of those things have been very much built up over the years for Wisconsin Democrats by Ben Wikler,” said Chergosky.
Wikler led the Democratic Party of Wisconsin from 2019 through 2025. He’s been credited as a prolific fundraiser, helping bring in $200 million over those five years by taking advantage of a law passed by Republicans allowing political parties to raise and transfer unlimited funds to candidates. In June, Democrats elected Devin Remiker to succeed Wikler.
“A big question when Wikler stepped aside was if his successor, Devin Remiker, would be able to maintain the rapid fundraising pace of the Wisconsin Democratic Party,” Chergosky said. “And these numbers indicate that under Remiker, the Wisconsin Democrats continue to raise money at a rapid pace.”
State Democratic Party trounces GOP counterpart in February fundraising was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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