Madison - Gov. Scott McCallum's campaign fund accepted special interest campaign contributions faster than the record-setting snow fell in December, according to a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis released today.

The new governor's most recent six-month campaign finance report through Dec. 31, 2000 showed he received a total of $215,744 in individual contributions. The bulk of those were a record $201,506 in large individual contributions. McCallum also received a record $28,448 in political action committee contributions. Most of these contributions came in mid- to late December when it became evident that former Gov. Tommy Thompson would leave Wisconsin for a job in the Bush Administration.

"The new governor made a lot of friends in December," WDC executive director Mike McCabe said, noting that many of the contributors had never given to McCallum before. "It goes to show that money flows to power. Big donors don't give out of a sense of civic duty, and they don't just give out of personal loyalty or political kinship. They give to those who are in a position to do them some good. They are making an investment."

The WDC's analysis of McCallum's campaign contributions found that:

• McCallum's total large individual and PAC contributions in December - $143,363 - were five times higher than any of the previous five months during the reporting period (see chart below).

• The McCallum campaign collected three times more in large individual contributions from July through December 2000 than any previous year-end six-month period. During comparable periods from 1991-99, his large individual contributions ranged from $11,617 to $65,114.Most of his large individual contributions came in December - $120,963. This was nearly four times that of any previous December, and most of it came in after the results of the presidential election had been determined. Previously, his campaign fundraising in Decembers between 1991 and 1999 ranged from $0 to $31,774.

• McCallum received 56 individual contributions of $1,000 or more in December, compared to 120 contributions of $1,000 or more during the entire 1995-98 election period. Much of this money - more than $28,000 - came from contributors who had not previously made large individual contributions to the former lieutenant governor's campaign. (Table 1).

• McCallum accepted $28,448 in PAC contributions during the six-month period, including $22,400 in December. This exceeds the $19,050 in PAC contributions he received during the entire 1995-98 election period. In several cases, PACs that had given McCallum little or nothing made substantial contributions to him in mid- to late December (Table 2).

The sudden blizzard of cash to McCallum's campaign strongly indicates that powerful special interests are playing catch-up to capture the attention of the new governor, whose previous fund raising paled in comparison to Thompson.

For special interests, the short-term benefits include influence on the taxing and spending decisions that McCallum will make in the 2001-2003 state budget. In the long term, courting the state's chief executive with cash now is a wise investment if he runs for his own four-year term as governor in 2002.

McCabe added the sudden infusion of cash into McCallum's campaign coffers sheds new light on the decision of other likely Republican candidates to withdraw from the 2002 gubernatorial race.

"This is a classic example of the wealth primary. Big money has cast its vote, and for all intents and purposes the Republican nomination is sewn up before a single Wisconsin voter has been given a chance to state a preference," McCabe said. "Enormous damage is done to the quality of our democracy when money is allowed to play such a dominant role in deciding who will govern us. The voters are denied real choices and competitive races."