One Person, One Vote, No Voice

Big Contributions from Outside Special Interests Trump Voters in Many Legislative Elections

July 26, 2005

Madison – Half of the Wisconsin legislators elected last November accepted two-thirds or more of their large individual campaign contributions in the 2004 election cycle from wealthy special interests who could not vote for them, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.

The figures mean that many Wisconsin voters are probably marginally or poorly represented by their legislators because state representatives or state senators who receive most of their campaign contributions from outside of their districts are more beholden to the policy wishes of wealthy special interests than they are to the needs of their constituents.

The WDC analysis found that:

• Fifty-six legislators, including 51 from the Assembly and five from the Senate received 66 percent or more of their large individual campaign contributions, which are total donations of $100 or more from the same person in a year, from non-constituents (see table below). This comprises more than half of the 99-member Assembly and one in three of the 15 state senators elected last fall.

• Forty-two legislators, or one in three elected in November, accepted 75 percent or more of their large individual campaign contributions from people who could not vote for them.

• Eighty-two legislators, or 71 percent of the 115 seats up for election, received more than 50 percent of their large campaign contributions from outside of their districts.

Two legislators – Democratic Representatives Frederick Kessler of Milwaukee and Robert Turner of Racine – received all of their large individual campaign contributions from outside their districts. Kessler accepted $5,700 and Turner $2,558.

Sixteen legislators received 90 percent or more of their large individual contributions from wealthy non-constituents, including Republican Assembly Speaker John Gard of Peshtigo who accepted the highest amount of any legislator from wealthy contributors outside his district – $315,011 or 96 percent of his large individual contributions.

Two other legislators also accepted more than $100,000 in contributions from outside their districts. Republican Senator Dan Kapanke of La Crosse accepted $152,845 or 60 percent of his large contributions from outside his district. Kapanke’s 32nd District race drew large amounts of money because he was vying for an open seat after Democratic Senator Mark Meyer decided not to run for reelection. Republican Senator Alberta Darling of River Hills, then co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, raised $117,675 or 44 percent of her large contributions from outside of her district.

Only nine of 115 legislators up for election accepted less than 33 percent of their large individual contributions from outside of their district. This does not include Democratic Representative Peggy Krusick of Milwaukee who did not receive any large individual campaign contributions.

As a whole, Republican legislators raised $3 million in large individual contributions including $2.01 million, or 67 percent, from outside of their districts. Democratic legislators raised $981,758 in large individual contributions, including $633,814, or 65 percent, from outside of their districts.