New GOP-Aligned Group Drops Millions Against Crowley, Democrats

The Wisconsin State Capitol on Monday, July 14, 2025, in Madison, Wis. Angela Major/WPR

A brand new group called First Amendment LLC filed its first campaign finance report with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission on Friday. And it was a big one.

The Virginia-based express advocacy organization reported spending nearly $13 million on campaign literature, direct mail, phone calls and digital ads aimed at stopping Wisconsin Democrats from winning the governorship and control of the state Assembly and Senate.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin and other GOP advocacy groups have already led this year’s political spending according to the ethics commission, but First Amendment LLC’s first report shows it’s now the biggest spender in 2026 politics.

The LLC reported spending a whopping $9.3 million aimed at attacking Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Democrat, as he runs for governor against U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican from Minocqua.

The group reported spending around $3.7 million more on state Assembly and Senate races seen as key to which party will control the Legislature. That includes around $572,000 in spending against Democratic candidate Trevor Jung, who is running for the open 21st Senate District , around $535,000 against state Rep. Robyn Vining, D-Wauwatosa, who is running for the open 5th Senate District, and about $494,000 against Rep. Jenna Jacobson, D-Oregon, who is running against Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, in the 5th Senate District.

In the Assembly, the biggest buys from First Amendment LLC went against Democrats running for the 21st, 30th and 88th districts.

Because it’s an express advocacy group, the group doesn’t have to report where the money came from. An email listed with the ethics commission references another group called Make Liberty WIN PAC, which has supported Republicans running for Congress in the past. Representatives with First Amendment LLC and Make Liberty WIN PAC did not respond to a request for comment.

During a Wednesday appearance on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today,” Nick Ramos, the executive director for the campaign finance watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said the closing weeks of the midterm will bring “rampant outside spending.” Ramos said Wisconsin voters should be able to see who is funding it.

“I think it’d be really important because if you knew that these folks from out of state were spending millions of dollars trying to influence election (in a state) that they don’t even live in, wouldn’t you care?” said Ramos. “I mean, there’s so much that goes on, and it’s hard to track.”

According to Fox News and other media outlets, Libertarian Scott Banister, who invested in PayPal, Uber and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, vowed in September to donate $40 million to Make Liberty Win PAC.

“We talk about independent expenditures, and they get to fly super close to the sun, because they get to say, ‘Hey, we’re not coordinating with campaigns or candidates.’ But they are doing everything in their power to spend millions of dollars to influence our elections,” said Ramos.

Ramos said the outside spending deluge dates back to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in 2010, which struck down restrictions on political donations by corporations and labor unions. The Democracy Campaign and Democrats have long criticized the ruling’s impact on campaign spending.

Ramos also criticized Wisconsin legislators for not repealing a 2015 law allowing unlimited donations to political parties, which can transfer unlimited amounts to candidates.

New dark money GOP group dominates Wisconsin political spending was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.