Hijacking Campaign 2023 | Independent Expenditures | Issue Ads | Candidates | Campaign 2023
Posted: March 25, 2023
Updated: March 25, 2024
An organization devoted to liberal causes, MoveOn was started in opposition to the impeachment of Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1998. MoveOn's political action committee is based in Washington, D.C. and registered with the Federal Elections Commission, although it operated as unregistered committee in the 2023 Wisconsin State Supreme Court election. This is the third such committee MoveOn has used to make independent expenditures in Wisconsin state politics. It last operated as an unregistered committee in the 2018 gubernatorial election and was first active in the 2011 recall elections, when it was obligated to register with the state under then existing state election law.
At the time of the April 4 Wisconsin State Supreme Court election, conservatives held a 4-3 majority on the court. As the winner of the election would be filling the 10-year seat vacated by retiring conservative Justice Patience Roggensack, the winner of the election would determine the future ideological direction of the court.
Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal, defeated former Wisconsin State Supreme Court Judge Daniel Kelly, a previous appointee to the high court by former GOP Gov. Scott Walker, in the election.
Less than two weeks before the election, MoveOn reported spending over $3,600 for online advertising and text message opposing Kelly and support Protasiewicz.*
Three days before the election, the group reported spending over another $8,600 for online advertising opposing Kelly and text messages supporting Protasiewicz.
Last active election: 2018
_________________________________________
*MoveOn filed each of its reports with the Wisconsin State Ethics Commission twice under a different identification number each time. The reports are almost, but not quite, identical. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has treated the reports filed under the higher identfication number as the correct, official version and only entered information from those reports in our database.
This organization is an unregistered independent expenditure committee that is required to report any such spending done within 60 days of a primary or an election to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission per Chapter 11, Subchapter X of Wisconsin Statutes.