Greater Wisconsin Committee

Posted: December 29, 2011
Updated: January 21, 2014

Estimated Spending: $400,000*

The Greater Wisconsin Committee is a Madison-based group that has spent an estimated $19.2 million on outside electioneering activities in Wisconsin elections since 2006, including $15.2 million to support Democratic candidates for statewide office and the legislature in the fall partisan and 2011 summer recall contests and another $4 million to support nonpartisan candidates for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Like all phony issue ad groups, Greater Wisconsin refuses to disclose much of its fundraising and spending in detail, but it's support comes from organized labor and Democratic ideological groups supported by wealthy business interests.  Greater Wisconsin operates four entities - a political action committee, a corporate arm that makes independent expenditures, a phony issue ad group and a 527 group called the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund. Greater Wisconsin's executive director is longtime Democratic political operative Michelle McGrorty.

In December 2011, Greater Wisconsin reportedly spent $800,000 to air three versions of a television ad amid a second round of recalls launched against Republican Governor Scott Walker, the lieutenant governor and four state senators. The ads featured interviews with people identified as teachers, parents and grandparents who said Walker slashed state aid to education and hurt the quality of Wisconsin's public schools in order to pay for tax cuts and other breaks for corporations and wealthy special interests.  At least one of the versions of the ad ran in the Green Bay and Wausau areas.

A lot of that spending was paid for by Greater Wisconsin's 527 group which raised nearly $3 million in the last half of 2011 mostly from $1.75 million in contributions from the Washington D.C.-based America Votes, an electioneering group that backs Democrats, and $1 million in contributions from the Wisconsin Education Association Council - the state's largest teachers union and a powerful supporter of Democratic candidates.

In April, the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund announced it would sponsor a series of television ads to run weekly up to Walker's June 5 recall election.  One ad said Wisconsin was last among the 50 states in job creation during Walker's first 15 months in office and also criticized the governor for cutting worker training programs and giving corporations billions of dollars in tax breaks.  The Greater Wisconsin Committee received a $55,000 contribution from a 527 group controlled by a Maryland-based transportation union called United Association Political Issues Fund.

A second ad released in early May by Greater Wisconsin's 527 group cited the John Doe investigation being conducted by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office that has resulted in several felony misconduct and other charges against three members of Walker's staff when he was Milwaukee County executive.

In mid-May, the Greater Wisconsin's 527 group released a batch of television advertisements that criticized Walker and incumbent Republican senators also up for recall.  A 30- and 60-second version of the same ad showed a film clip of GOP Senator Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls struggling to answer a question about the number and nature of job creation bills he sponsored in the last legislative session. 

The Greater Wisconsin Political Fund also sponsored an ad - here - that attacked Walker for repealing a law that guaranteed equal pay for women.

Last active election: Recall 2011

*Total refers to unreported spending. The group credits all its advertising to the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund but some of the spending described in the text was also reported as independent expenditures by the group's Greater Wisconsin Political Independent Expenditure Fund.

MacIver Institute for Public Policy

Posted: December 29, 2011
Updated: January 21, 2014

Estimated Spending: $1.85 million*

The MacIver Institute is a Madison-based organization created in 2009 that promotes smaller government, deregulation, lower taxes and other familiar conservative causes.  The group has ties with numerous funders and backers of right-wing causes, including Milwaukee's Bradley Foundation, billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch who own Koch Industries and the American Majority.

Most of MacIver's past and present staff - like the group's president, Brett Healy, communications director Brian Fraley and former treasurer Mark Block - worked for Republican officeholders or groups like Americans for Prosperity, the American Legislative Exchange Council and School Choice Wisconsin. Several MacIver board members, including Milwaukee businessman Fred Luber, Madison lawyer Jim Troupis and Green Bay businessman Carl Kuehne, are longtime campaign contributors to Republican candidates for state and legislative offices.

MacIver did not engage in outside electioneering activities until late 2011 when a second round of recall efforts was launched against Republican Governor Scott Walker and four state senators.  During the last two months of 2011, the MacIver Institute and Americans for Prosperity, another backer of right-wing causes, spent a reported $1.2 million on three television advertisements - here, here and here  - in the Milwaukee, Green Bay, Wausau and La Crosse TV markets that urged viewers not to sign recall petitions.

The two groups reportedly spent an additional $1.4 million during the first two months of 2012 to rebroadcast one of its earlier ads - here - that defended Walker's economic policies without naming him, including his successful effort to slash public employee collective bargaining rights.  Americans for Prosperity and MacIver also sponsored a new 60-second ad and a shorter 30-second version of it in mid-February that featured a series of brief interviews with people identified as a small business owner, state employee and police officers among others who claimed Wisconsin's last state budget cut the deficit without raising taxes and laying off workers.

The Democracy Campaign filed a complaint with the U.S. Internal Revenue Services in March asking the agency to investigate the MacIver Institute, Americans for Prosperity and Heartland Institute to determine if their political activities and support of the Walker campaign violated their tax-exempt status as a charitable organization.

*All advertising by this group was credited jointly to Americans for Prosperity and the MacIver Institute for Public Policy. The total shown here represents half of the combined spending estimate for these two groups.

Americans for Prosperity

Posted: December 29, 2011
Updated: January 21, 2014

Estimated Spending: $1.85 million*

Americans for Prosperity was created in 2003 to back conservative issue like small government and lower taxes. The group refuses to disclose how much it spends on outside electioneering activities in Wisconsin and elsewhere, but the Democracy Campaign estimates Americans for Prosperity has doled out $825,000 on negative ads, mailings and other activities in past Wisconsin elections, including an estimated $800,000 during the first round of recall elections involving nine state senators in the summer of 2011.

The group was founded by billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, owners of Koch Industries and Wisconsin corporations like Georgia-Pacific. The Kochs put up much of the $40 million Americans for Prosperity and its foundation of the same name spent nationwide in the 2010 general elections.  Other donors cited in a March 2012 investigative report by the Center for Responsive Politics include $1.6 million from the John William Pope Foundation in North Carolina, $520,000 from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee, and $150,000 from the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation which is also controlled by the Koch family. All the foundations are backers of conservative causes.

Luke Hilgemann is the current director of the Wisconsin chapter of Americans for Prosperity. Hilgemann was chief of staff to Republican Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder of Abbottsford. The group's first state director, Mark Block, is a longtime Wisconsin political operative and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's campaign manager. Block was campaign manager in the late 1990s for former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Jon Wilcox and ended up paying a $15,000 fine, the largest fine in state history for violating state election laws, and was banned for three years from working on Wisconsin political campaigns.

Americans for Prosperity resumed its negative electioneering activities in Wisconsin in late 2011 amid a second round of recall efforts that targeted Republican Governor Scott Walker, the lieutenant governor and four GOP Senate seats. During the last several weeks of 2011, Americans for Prosperity and the Madison-based MacIver Institute, another organization that backs conservative issues, spent a reported $1.2 million on three television ads - here, here and here -in the Milwaukee, Green Bay, Wausau and La Crosse TV markets urging viewers not to sign recall petitions during the 60-day period they were being circulated.

During the first three months of 2012, Americans for Prosperity spent an additional $1.54 million in the Eau Claire/ La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Wausau and Green Bay television markets, according to Gannett Wisconsin Media. During that time it rebroadcast one of its earlier ads - here - that defended Walker's economic policies without naming him, including his successful effort to slash public employee collective bargaining rights. Americans for Prosperity and MacIver also sponsored a new 60-second ad and a shorter 30-second version of it in mid-February that featured a series of brief interviews with people identified as a small business owner, state employee and police officers among others who claimed Wisconsin's last state budget cut the deficit without raising taxes and laying off workers.

The Democracy Campaign filed a complaint with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in March asking the agency to investigate Americans for Prosperity, MacIver Institute and the Heartland Institute to determine if their political activities and support of the Walker campaign violated their tax-exempt status as a charitable organization.

Shortly before the June 5 recall, the group reportedly recruited out-of-state volunteers to help with a statewide bus tour, rallies, phone bank operations and a door-to-door canvassing effort from late May and to early June designed to promote Walker's actions during his 17 months in office.

The group also sponsored a mailing that accused former Democratic Senator John Lehman of Racine of supporting a bill when he was in office that would have increased the state gas tax by $270 million.  Lehman challenged and defeated GOP Senator Van Wanggaard of Racine - one of the four senators facing a June 5 recall election. Wanggaard had defeated Lehman in the 2010 general elections.

Last active election: Recall 2011

*All advertising by this group was credited jointly to Americans for Prosperity and the MacIver Institute for Public Policy. The total shown here represents half of the combined spending estimate for these two groups.

Offices

Posted: December 29, 2011
Updated: June 6, 2012

Listed below are the offices currently the subject of recall petitions. Recall primaries were on May 8, 2012 and the elections on June 5, 2012.

Click on the offices for all reported independent expenditures for that office.

Independent Expenditures - Candidates

Posted: December 29, 2012
Updated: June 6, 2012

Officeholders currently subject to recall efforts. Recall primaries were on May 8, 2012 and the elections on June 5, 2012.

Click on a candidate's name to see independent expenditures for or against a particular candidate. Click on the office link to see all independent expenditures for that office.  Candidates are listed alphabetically.

Note: Pam Galloway, the incumbent in Senate District 29, resigned in March 2012 so she is no longer listed below.

Independent Expenditures Fall and Recall

Posted: July 29, 2012
Updated: May 6, 2013

PACs and corporations that declared their intent to make independent expenditures supporting or opposing candidates in the 2012 recall, fall and special state elections.

PACs and corporations involved in the fall elections are listed on the left, those in the recall elections on the right. A PAC involved in both is listed in both columns.

Click on a PAC or corporation's name for more information.

Issue Ads

Posted: July 29, 2012
Updated: November 25, 2013

Groups involved in the 2012 recall and fall legislative elections with  “issue ads.”

Those involved in the fall elections are listed on the left, those in the recall elections on the right.

Click on the group’s name for a description of the group and examples of its activities.

Cops for Justice Fund

December 29, 2011

Oath • Spending

This committee was formed by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association to make independent expenditures to support the recall effort against Republican Governor Scott Walker which was started in late 2011 after Walker successfully slashed public employee collective bargaining rights.

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 Recall Movement

Posted: December 29, 2011
Updated: January 15, 2014

Oath • Spending

This is a Milwaukee-based group created in 2011 that supported the recall of Republican Governor Scott Walker. It began raising funds and helping in the petition drive in late 2011. Passage in 2011 of Governor Walker's bill severely restricting public employee collective bargaining rights, prompted opponents to seek recall elections for the governor and his legislative allies. Petitions resulted in a June 5 recall election for the governor, Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican held seats in the state Senate.

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 Recall Action Fund

Posted: December 29, 2011
Updated: May 24, 2017

Fall: Oath • Spending
Recall: Oath • Spending

This right-wing group was created in 2011 to oppose the recall of Republican Governor Scott Walker.  The Milwaukee-based organization supported conservative causes and opposed labor-led efforts to recall the governor because of his economic policies, which included a plan that slashed public employee collective bargaining rights.

Fall Elections

Wisconsin Recall Action Fund reported it intended to make independent expenditures against Democratic incumbents in the 18th and 32nd Senate Districts but only reported spending in the latter.

Recall Elections

Wisconsin Recall sponsored a 30-second television ad in mid-May 2012 that urged viewers to support Walker in the June 5 recall election because he balanced the state budget.  The ad criticized Walker's Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, for increases in unemployment, poverty and property taxes in Milwaukee during his stint as mayor.

The group also sponsored a 30-second television ad that accused former Democratic Senator John Lehman of Racine of supporting the early release of dangerous felons and cuts to programs that track sex offenders.  The provisions were part of the 2009-11 state budget that Lehman supported.  Lehman successfully challenged Republican Senator Van Wanggaard of Racine who faced a recall election for his support of Walker's plan to restrict public employee collective bargaining rights.

Wisconsin Recall Action Fund does not appear to have reported independent expenditures until two years after the recall when it reported spending a little more than $300,000 on television advertising and mailing services, considerably below the Democracy Campaign's initial estimate of $1.4 million. Considering that the group reported spending more than $1.9 million during the election and that it was formed for the sole purpose of making independent expenditures, it may have under reported its independent expenditure activity in the recall.

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.