Hijacking Campaign 2022

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin Political Fund

Posted: September 14, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

This independent expenditure committee created by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin in 2010 makes independent expenditures on behalf of Democratic candidates for statewide office and the legislature in Wisconsin. As of 2021, the committee hadspent over $1.6 million in Wisconsin state elections.

The committee reported spending in support of Democratic incumbents Gov. Tony Evers, Attorney General Josh Kaul, Rep. Tip McGuire, and Sen. Jeff Smith as well as Democrats running in open seats in the 54th, 73rd and 84th assembly districts and a Democratic challenger in the 1st State Senate.

It spent over $1.3 million on canvassing, texts, phone calls, radio and online advertising.

Last active election: 2021

This organization is registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission as an independent expenditure committee following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on New Prosperity Foundation (Independent Expenditure Committee)

Posted: September 22, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

Oath • Spending

This Chicago based independent expenditure committee was first and last active in Wisconsin elections in 2010 when it supported the successful reelection camapign of Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. New Prosperity Foundation appeared to have resurrected it to oppose the reelection of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in 2022.

The groups first reported spending $45,000 in the 2022 election for online advertisements opposing Evers. It subsequently spent another $40,500 for online advertising against Evers.

Before it started politicking against Evers, New Prosperity Foundation had already reported spending nearly $112,000 in the Republican primary for governor to support the eventual nominee Tim Michels over former Republican Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. That spending was done as an unregistered committee which is only legally obligated to report its election spending but not its sources of income or any other financial activity to the Wisconsin State Ethics Commission. The committee described here, as a registered committee, is legally required to report its sources of income.

Last active election: 2010

This organization is registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission as an independent expenditure committee following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on Jobs First Coalition Political Fund

Posted: October 10, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

Oath • Spending

This is a Brookfield-based group that supports Republican candidates in Wisconsin legislative and statewide elections. Between 2010, when it first surfaced, and 2020 the organization spent nearly an estimated $2.6 million on issue ads and independent expenditures in Wisconsin state elections. Former GOP Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, who was disgraced in the caucus scandal, helped create the group.

About four weeks before the November 8 election, Jobs First reported its first independent expenditures with nearly $32,500 going towards mailers and online advertising to support Wisconsin State Assembly incumbents Jessie Rodriguez in the 21st and Todd Novak in the 51st.

In mid-October, Jobs First reported that it had expanded its spending to include three more state assembly districts - the 33rd, 84th and 94th - with more than $159,000 going to mailers, radio and online advertising in those and the two previously reported districts.

In the remaining weeks, the group spent over $400,000 for mailers, phone calls, as well as radio and online advertising to support Republicans in several assembly races and the 31st State Senate District.

Last active election: 2020

This organization is registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission as an independent expenditure committee following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on Project Democracy

Posted: October 17, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

Oath • Spending

Project Democracy is a Washington, DC based independent committee expenditure committee that first registered with the Wisconsin State Ethics Commission in October 2022. The committee's registered treasurer, Allison Murray, is a partner with CFO Compliance, a firm in Providence, RI that manages financial reports for political committees. The organization is also registered with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) having been organized in March of this year. The federal committee's initial, and to date, largest contributor, is hedge fund manager Jerome Simon.

In mid-October, the committee reported spending nearly $82,000 for online advertising to support Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers.

It later spent another $212,000 for online advertising to support Evers.

This organization is registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission as an independent expenditure committee following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on ACC Wisconsin 2022 PAC

Posted: October 22, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

Oath • Spending

ACC Wisconsin 2022 PAC is a committee that first registered with the state at the end of September to make independent expenditures in Wisconsin. According to documents on file with the Wisconsin State Ethics Commission, it shares office space and staff with the Republican Governor's Association. Its treasurer, Mason Brown, is the RGA's office manager and another listed contact, JP Twist, is the RGA's political director. The final listed contact, Staci Goede, is the former chief financial officer for the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC). Both the RGA and RSLC are currently involved in Wisconsin's elections, the former through its Right Direction Wisconsin PAC and the latter through its independent expenditure committee.

Less than three weeks before the November 8 election, the committee reported spending over $3.3 million for television ads opposing Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers. One of the ads claimed hundreds of violent offenders have been released by the state parole commission since Evers was elected in 2018.

Two weeks before the election, it reported spending over another $660,000 for television ads against Evers. One of the ads accused Evers of trying to raise taxes and that Wisconsin was less safe because of an increase in violent crime under his watch.

Eight days before the election, ir reported about another $15,200 that went towards the production cost for the televison ads.

The day of the election, the committee reported spending over another $36,000 for televison ads against Evers.

The RGA had a similary named independent expenditure committee active in the 2018 election.

This organization is registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission as an independent expenditure committee following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on Progress North

Posted: October 29, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

Oath • Spending

Progress North is a liberal organization based in the Wisconsin northwoods sponsored by TakeAction Minnesota. First active in 2020, the group has, to date, restricted its reported activity to supporting Democratic legislative candidates in the Lake Superior region.

Eleven days before the Nov. 8 election, the group reported spending over $28,400 for campaign staff, online advertising and literature to support Democratic candidates in the 25th state senate and the 73rd and 74th assembly districts. All three seats were open, as their Democratic incumbents did not seek reelection.

Progress North spent about another $20,700 in the days leading up to the election but all the candidates it backed lost.

Last active election: 2020

This organization is registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission as an independent expenditure committee following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on Patriots for Wisconsin

Posted: October 29, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

Oath • Spending

Patriots for Wisconsin is a short lived independent expenditure committee that first registered with the state in May 2022 and terminated with the filing of its first independent expenditure report on October 28, 2022. Despite the group's name, the committee is based in Washington, D.C. and all its funding came from a single source, a corporation called Liberty Group Inc., also based in D.C. A corporation of the same name, but at a different reported Washington, D.C. address, was the recipient of all independent expenditures made by another committee, Wisconsin RINO Hunters.

In late October, the committee reported that it had been involved in the August GOP primary in the 33rd Assembly District, spending nearly $50,000 to support the eventual nominee and winner, Scott Johnson. Johnson faced Democratic Rep. Don Vruwink who then represented the 43rd. Vruwink was moved into a new district when legislative maps were last redrawn.

This organization is registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission as an independent expenditure committee following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on Wisconsin RINO Hunters

Posted: October 29, 2022
Updated: March 25, 2024

Oath • Spending

Based, in Washington, D.C. Wisconsin RINO Hunters first registered with the state to make independent expenditures in late September 2022 and does not appear to have lasted as an organization much beyond the Nov. 8 election. The group's now nonexistent website, a single web page, said the group would do anything it takes to defend the country from "liberal extremists" and "RINO traitors." RINO" is a derisive term used to describe Republicans seen as too liberal. Since the group has not yet had to file a campaign finance report, little is known about the group's support. The group's address, however, is identical to that of D.C.-based political consulting firm Total Spectrum.

Eleven days before the election, the group filed its first spending report indicating that it had spent nearly $620,000 for mailers and online advertising to oppose GOP candidate for governor Tim Michels.

The online ads - here and here - accused Michels of being a Republican in Name Only (RINO) and claimed that Independent candidate Joan Ellis Beglinger was the only true conservative running for Wisconsin governor.

In addition, Wisconsin RINO Hunters ran a now defunct website called Joan for Wisconsin that touted Beglinger and featured a page attacking Michels.

After filing its initial report, the organization spent about another $62,700 for phone calls and online ads opposing Michels.

All this activity was on behalf of a candidate who had suspended her campaign in September and backed Michels in the general election.

According to reports filed by the committee, all independent expenditures were paid to Liberty Group, Inc., a corporation with a listed address in the reports identical to that of Total Spectrum and RINO Hunters itself. A corporation of the same name, also in Washington, D.C., but with a different reported address, funded another independent expenditure committee active in a Republican primary in August, Patriots for Wisconsin.

This organization is registered with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission as an independent expenditure committee following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on New Prosperity Foundation

Posted: June 17, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

Oath • Spending

The New Prosperity Foundation, based in Chicago, was organized in March 2021 as a SuperPAC to make independent expenditures on behalf of candidates, but is not registered with the Wisconsin State Ethics Commission and is not, therefore, legally obligated to report any financial activity in Wisconsin beyond independent expenditures.

In mid-June 2022, the foundation filed paperwork with the state of Wisconsin showing it spent $95,000 on online advertising to support GOP candidate for governor Tim Michels. Michels was among five Republican candidates in the Aug. 9 primary. Michels won the primary and faced incumbent Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in the November general election.

A week before the primary, the committee reported spending about $17,000 more on digital ads to oppose former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch in the Republican primary.

The foundation’s website says it supports spending and tax reform, the controversial 2018 Republican tax cuts, and including fossil fuels as part of the nation’s energy program.

The organization was active in 2010 as a 527 group, which are organizations loosely regulated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service that can raise and spend unlimited amounts from any source to spend on elections. At the time, the group spent $17,000 as a state-registered independent expenditure committee to support then-GOP Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen for reelection. Until 2016, committees were not legally permitted to make independent expenditures in Wisconsin elections without first registering with the state.

In late September New Prosperity Foundation also reported spending in the fall election through that same state-registered committee.

Last active election (as a registered committee): 2010

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.

Hijacking Campaign 2022 - Information on Americans for Prosperity

Posted: July 5, 2022
Updated: March 22, 2024

Oath • Spending

This is a group created in 2003 by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire owners of Koch Industries and Wisconsin-based papermaker Georgia-Pacific. Americans for Prosperity first got involved in Wisconsin politics through the medium of "issue ads" in 2006 and first reporting independent expenditures in 2018. Between 2010 and 2021 the group spent over $14 million on issue ads and independent expenditures combined to influence Wisconsin state elections.

At the beginning of July the group first reported spending to support Republicans in four races: Rep. Adam Jarchow in the three-way Republican primary for attorney general, two-term incumbent Howard Marklein in the 17th State Senate, Rep. Rachael Cabral-Guevara for the open 19th Senate, and former Rep. Romaine Robert Quinn in the open 25th Senate district. Of the three candidates for the senate, only Cabral-Guevara faces primary opposition.

Three weeks before the August 9 primaries, in addition to further spending on the aforementioned candidates, the group also reported support for Ty Bodden in the Republican primary for the open 59th Assembly seat. Bodden faced only one other candidate in the primary no opposition in November. The seat was left vacant when the incumbent, Timothy Ramthun, surrendered the seat to seek the Republican nomination for governor.

Americans for Prosperity reported spending a total of nearly $646,000 on canvassing, mailers, digital and radio advertising to support candidates in eight Republican primaries - for attorney general and in four assembly and three senate districts.

After the primaries, it resumed spending in mid-August with about $2,500 on canvassing in the 73rd assembly and the 17th, 19th and 25th senate districts.

In late August the committee reported spending another $18,800 for digital ads to support Cabral-Guevara in the 19th senate.

Over the Labor Day weekend Americans for Prosperity reported spending nearly another $22,000 to support Republicans in the three senate districts cited above plus the 73rd and the 55th assembly districts. This is the first time it has reported spending in the last mentioned district.

Two days past Labor Day, the committee reported its first foray into the fall gubernatorial election with just a little over $1 million for digital ads to support Republican Tim Michels. The digital ads - here and here - were scheduled to run through September and touted Americans for Prosperity's endorsement of Michels.

A week after Labor Day it reported spending over an additional $21,000 for online ads in the 25th senate and 55th assembly districts. A week after that, it reported spending $270,000 plus for canvassing, mailers, door hangers and digital ads to support Tim Michels for governor and Republican candidates in four state senate and 13 assembly districts. This was the first time Americans for Prosperity reported any spending in eleven of those legislative districts. A few days later it reported spending nearly another $190,000.

Towards the end of September, Americans for Prosperity reported spending nearly another $378,000 in the governor's race and the in the 5th senate and 74th assembly districts.

At the end of September it reported yet another $13,000 plus for digital ads and door hangers in the governor's race and several legislative races.

Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, the group spent another nearly another $3.8 million for mailers, canvassing and online advertising to support GOP candidates for governor and the legislature.

The day before the election, Americans for Prosperity first reported spending $1,000 to support Republican challenger Ryan Huebsch in the 94th State Assembly District in La Crosse.

Last active election: 2021

Page 3 of 8