Hijacking Campaign 2025 | Independent Expenditures | Issue Ads | Candidates | Campaign 2025
March 31, 2025
Restoration PAC first registered with the state to make independent expenditures in Wisconsin elections in mid-March 2025, two days after the latest campaign finance reporting period ended. As a state-registered committee, Restoration PAC is legally obligated to supply contributor information to the state, but, because of its registration date, it does not need to provide that information until mid-July, more than three months after the spring elections have concluded. Restoration PAC’s registered address and treasurer are identical with those of Fair Courts America, another committee active in the 2025 election and one solely funded by Richard Uihlein, the founder of shipping supply business Uline and, along with his wife Elizabeth, a major financial player in Wisconsin politics. Restoration PAC previously operated as an unregistered committee in earlier Wisconsin elections.
Restoration PAC is also a name of a super PAC registered with the Federal Elections Commission by the Foundation for the Restoration of America to make independent expenditures to support socially and economically conservative candidates. According to the foundation's own website, the organization considers "elite, Marxist neo-liberals" and "Communist China" to be the two greatest threats to the country. The principal funder of the organization has been the aforementioned Richard Uihlein. The federal PAC also shares the same treasurer as the state committee.
Two days before the April 1 st election, Restoration PAC reported spending $12,500 for video ads to oppose Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford for the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Crawford is running against Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel for an open seat on the court. The court is officially nonpartisan, but the state Democratic party supports Crawford and the state GOP Schimel. Schimel held state partisan office as a Republican before his 2018 appointment to the bench by Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Both Schimel’s supporters and opponents among independent spending groups have portrayed him as an ally of President Donald Trump and the Republican agenda. Schimel, himself, has boasted of Trump’s endorsement. Liberals gained a 4-3 majority on the court in the 2023 election, and a Schimel victory gives control back to conservatives.
Last active election: 2024
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.