League of Wisconsin Voters

Posted: May 14, 2012
Updated: January 15, 2014

Oath • Spending

Although its name suggests Wisconsin origins, this is a Tampa, Florida-based political action committee created to make independent expenditures in support of Republican Governor Scott Walker, who faced a June 5 recall election because of his 2011 plan to restrict public employee collective bargaining rights. 

The PAC reported no financial activity of any kind.

This is the second PAC whose treasurer and contact information is connected to a Tampa acccounting firm - Robert Watkins and Company - that specializes in campaign finance law compliance. The other committee, Ending Spending Action Fund Wisconsin, spent $245,000 on broadcast advertising within 11 days after it registered with the state. The League of Wisconsin Voters, however, did not report any spending.

Win Wisconsin

Posted: May 14, 2012
Updated: January 15, 2014

Oath • Spending

This political action committee is based in Whitewater, Wisconsin and was created to make independent expenditures in support of Democratic candidates Tom Barrett and Lori Compas.  Barrett and Compas challenged incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker and GOP Senator Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau, respectively, in two of six recall elections held in June 2012.  Walker and the others faced recalls in response to severe restrictions Walker and his legislative allies put  on public employee collective bargaining rights in 2011.

The PAC only reported spending on behalf of Tom Barrett. Neither Barrett's nor Compas' challenge was successful.

Volunteers for Agriculture

Posted: May 10, 2012
Updated: January 14, 2014

Fall: Oath • Spending
Recall: Oath • Spending

This is the political action committee controlled by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, one of the state's top lobbying and advocacy organizations on agricultural issues and policy. The PAC has been a consistent direct contributor to candidates for statewide office and the legislature for several years. In addition, the PAC spent nearly a million dollars on independent expenditures, generally to support Republican candidates, between 2000 and 2012.

Fall Elections

In the final weeks leading up to the November 6 general election the group reported spending more than $55,000 on radio ads to support three Assembly incumbents - Republicans Travis Tranel of Cuba City and Howard Marklein of Spring Green and Democrat Amy Sue Vruwink of Milladore.

Recall Elections

The group spent $132,120 on outside electioneering activities in several of the 2011 Senate recall races prompted by passage of Republican Governor Scott Walker's plan to restrict public employee collective bargaining rights.

The PAC reported spending nearly $45,000 in radio and newspaper ads to support Walker and GOP Senator Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls in the June 5, 2012 recall elections.  Moulton's seat was one of four GOP Senate seats subjected to recall in 2012.

Last active election: Recall 2011

GOPAC Wisconsin

Posted: May 8, 2012
Updated: January 10, 2014

Oath • Spending

This is the state political action committee of GOPAC, a Washington D.C.-based Republican group created in 1978 to support Republican candidates for state and local offices around the country.  GOPAC also operates a 527 group to raise money from corporate interests.  Before the 2012 recall elections, the PAC's most recent political activity included making about $38,608 in independent expenditures to support Republican state senators targeted for recall in 2011 and doling out $10,000 in direct campaign contributions in 2010 to Republican Governor Scott Walker and GOP legislative candidates.

The group sponsored a radio ad in early May 2012 to support GOP Senator Van Wanggaard of Racine, and direct mailers in mid-May to support Senator Van Wanggaard and Representative Jerry Petrowski, who were GOP candidates for two of four state Senate seats targeted for recall on June 5, 2012 along with Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. 

Senator Wanggaad lost his contest; Petrowski won his.

Last active election: Recall 2011

WI League of Conservation Voters Independent Expenditure Committee

Posted: May 8, 2012
Updated: January 15, 2014

Fall: Oath • Spending
Recall: Oath • Spending

This corporation was created in 2011 by the league, a statewide environmental lobbying and advocacy group, to make independent expenditures on behalf of Democratic candidates in the 2011state senate recall elections, elections prompted by passage of Republican Governor Scott Walker's 2011 bill sharply restricting public employee collective bargaining rights. This corporation and the group's political action committee spent about $98,000 in the 2011 recall elections.

Fall Election

The league made independent expenditures on behalf of Democrats in the 51st Assembly District and Senate Districts 6, 18 and 30.

Recall Election

Two weeks before the June 2012 recall elections that targeted Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and four GOP Senate seats, the corporation reported spending more than $88,000 on television ads against Walker and Republican Senators Van Wanggaard of Racine and Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls. The virtually identical 30-second television ads accused them of supporting generous tax breaks for corporations and wealthy individuals at the expense of state aid to public education. The corporation spent over $136,000 on the 2012 recall elections.

Last active election: Recall 2011

This organization is registered with the Government Accountability Board following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC as a corporation making independent disbursements.

MoveOn.org Political Action WI Committee

Posted: May 8, 2012
Updated: January 15, 2014

Oath • Spending

This political action committee is affiliated with MoveOn.org, a Berkeley, California-based liberal group formed in 1998 to oppose then President Bill Clinton's impeachment. Since then the group has supported numerous Democratic candidates for statewide office around the country. This political action committee was formed in 2012 to make independent expenditures against Republican Governor Scott Walker, who faced a June 5, 2012 recall along with three incumbent Republican senators.  An election was also held for a fourth seat where the incumbent senator resigned after a recall election wa approved. The recall elections were prompted by the response to passage in 2011 of Walker's controversial bill limiting public employee collective bargaining rights.

MoveOn.org operated a political action committee and a corporation which made independent expenditures of $135,000 in the 2011 Senate recall elections targeting Democratic and Republican incumbents, prompted, as were the recalls in 2012, by 2011 passage of Walker's anti-union legislation.

This PAC did not report making any independent expenditures in the 2012 recall elections.

Wisconsin Sierra Club Education Committee

Posted: May 7, 2011
Updated: January 16, 2014

Oath • Spending

This is a political action committee controlled by the state chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental lobbying and advocacy organization.  The group has made independent expenditures since the 1996 elections to support Democratic candidates and helped pioneer the use of “issue ads”  in Wisconsin elections.  Between 2002 and 2011 the PAC spent nearly $87,000 on outside electioneering activities in legislative races.  The bulk of that spending occurred in the 2011 Senate recall elections.

The group registered to support Democratic candidate Kathleen Falk in the 2012 recall elections. During the May Democratic primary the PAC sponsored a mail campaign to members touting Falk as the best pro-conservation candidate to face Walker. Following Falk's loss in the primary, the PAC switched its support to the winner, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. The PAC also indicated it would support the four Democratic challengers in the Senate recall elections.

The PAC initially reported spending slightly more than $15,000 on a mailing campaign supporting Barrett and the Democratic senate candidate but rescinded that spending on a later report. It's unclear why the group rescinded the recall spending unless it was for mailings or other communications to Sierra Club members which is exempt from independent expenditure reporting requirements.

Last active election: Recall 2011

PCCC Recall Committee

Posted: May 7, 2012
Updated: January 15, 2014

Oath • Spending

This is a political action committee for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The committee makes independent expenditures to support progressive candidates for elected office with broadcast television ads and other outside electioneering activities. The committee teamed with another group - Democracy for America - in the 2011 Senate recall elections to spend an estimated $1.3 million on independent expenditures and phony issue ads.  PCCC's PAC and its independent expenditure group alone reported spending $271,271 to back Democrats in the 2011 recall races. 

In the second round of recalls in 2012, PCCC Recall spent $60,000 on a 60-second television ad that shows footage of 2011's union-led protests at the Capitol and urges the recall of Republican Governor Scott Walker on June 5. Most of the nearly $115,000 in expenditures were reported as online advertisements.

Recall elections were prompted in 2011 and 2012 by passage in 2011 of Governor Scott Walker's bill strictly limiting public employee collective bargaining rights. In 2011 nine state senators, six Republicans and three Democrats faced recalls. In 2012 the governor, lieutenant governor and four Republican senate seats were subjected to recalls.

PCCC's corporate entity was also active in the 2012 recalls.

Last active election: Recall 2011

National Rifle Association of America

Posted: May 2, 2012
Updated: January 15, 2014

Oath • Spending

The Virginia-based National Rifle Association is the nation's largest pro-gun advocacy and lobbying group and its political action committee - the NRA Victory Fund - spent $1.1 million on outside electioneering in Wisconsin between 2000 and 2011.

The NRA first registered this corporation with Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board in April 2012 in order to make independent expenditures supporting Republican Governor Scott Walker in a June 5 recall election.  Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and four GOP Senate seats faced recalls because of the governor's successful effort last year to restrict public employee collective bargaining rights.

Among the group's outside electioneering activities was a 30-second television ad and a 60-second radio ad that said hunters and other gun enthusiasts could not trust Walker's recall opponent, Democratic candidate Tom Barrett, on gun issues because Barrett voted to restrict the sale and availability of numerous kinds of firearms as a former congressman and as the current mayor of Milwaukee.

Its PAC, NRA Victory Fund, was also involved in the recall elections.

This organization is registered with the Government Accountability Board following the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC as a corporation making independent disbursements.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce

Posted: April 30, 2012
Updated: January 17, 2014

Estimated Spending: $4 million

This is the state's largest business group and one of the state's most influential special interests groups on public policy and elections for statewide office and the legislature.  WMC spent about $12.8 million on phony issue ads in spring and fall elections from 2006 to 2011 - mostly to support Republican candidates.  The group doled out an estimated $700,000 in the 2011 recall elections that targeted the six Republican and three Democratic state senators for their support or opposition to a successful plan by GOP Governor Scott Walker to restrict public employee collective bargaining.

Walker, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and four GOP Senate seats were targeted in a second round of recalls in 2012, and a WMC executive said shortly before the May 8, 2012 primary that the group planned to spend $2 million on television ads around the state to support the governor.  Two of the ads said Walker balanced the state budget, and Wisconsin's economy and employment picture have begun to improve.

Another ad in mid-May lauded the governor's economic policies based on job figures released by the Walker administration that showed the state actually added more than 30,000 jobs in 2011, rather than losing jobs according to earlier federal figures.  The group also sponsored a television ad as well as radio ads that attacked Walker's Democratic opponent Tom Barrett saying unemployment, taxes and spending all increased in Milwaukee while he was mayor.  Another ad featured testimonials from people who claimed Walker balanced the state budget and that his policies were improving the state economy.

WMC also sponsored radio ads in support of GOP Senators Van Wanggaard of Racine and Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and Republican Representative Jerry Petrowski of Marathon, a candidate for one of the Senate seats, that commended them for supporting legislative policies that created jobs and attacked their Democratic opponents, who were current or past legislators, for supporting higher state spending and taxes. 

Last active election: Recall 2011