March 31, 2023
Candidates and groups in a special election to fill the vacant 8th Senate District seat representing part of suburban Milwaukee have dropped about $2.1 million in the race.
The most recent campaign finance reports show the four candidates – three Republicans and a Democrat – spent a combined $1.53 million through March 20, the most recent spending figures available.
Two of the Republican candidates were eliminated in the Feb. 21 primary. The two remaining candidates on the April 4 ballot are Democrat Jodi Habush Sinykin and Republican Rep. Dan Knodl, of Germantown. Sinykin has spent $1.03 million and Knodl has spent $323,538.
Nine outside spending groups have dropped $566,967 in the race.
Three of the groups have spent $124,521 to support Sinykin. They were:
Wisconsin Conservation Voters, $99,693, on printing, campaign literature, and mailings;
Power to the Polls Action Fund, $19,911, on canvassing;
A Better Wisconsin Together, $4,917, on online advertising.
Three of the groups have spent $377,960 to support Knodl. They were:
Republican State Leadership Committee, $203,552, on television ads, mailings, and text messages;
Jobs First Coalition, $174,003, on television and online advertising;
American Majority Action, $405, on campaign literature and staff.
Three groups also spent $64,486 on outside electioneering activities to support or oppose one of the GOP candidates who lost in the primary.
The special election for the 8th Senate District was scheduled to coincide with the regular spring elections after longtime GOP Sen. Alberta Darling, of River Hills, retired in December.
To learn more about the outside spending groups and their activities, check out their profiles on the Democracy Campaign’s Hijacking Campaign 2023 feature. To find out more about candidate fundraising, spending, and their contributors, go here.