Posted: December 12, 2023
Updated: December 15, 2023
The lead advocacy organization on bills that would use ranked-choice voting in federal elections for Congress in Wisconsin has contributed nearly $70,000 to a dozen sponsors of the measures.
On the other side of the proposals, Senate Bill 528 and Assembly Bill 563, is Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), the state’s largest business group and a heavy spender on outside electioneering activities that favor Republican candidates.
SB528 is scheduled for a public hearing Tuesday by a Senate committee.
Under current law, a candidate in a primary election who receives the most votes moves on to the general election. Independent and minor party candidates who do not qualify for a separate party ballot, column, or row do not appear on the primary ballot. The general election candidate who receives the most votes for a given office wins.
The bills, which were introduced in October, would allow Wisconsin voters in a primary for U.S. senator and representative to vote for any candidate regardless of party, including independent and minor party candidates. The five candidates who receive the greatest number of votes in the primary for a given office then appear on the general election ballot.
In the general election, the bills require instant runoff voting where voters use a ranked-choice ballot and indicate their first, second, third, fourth, and fifth choice of candidates for each office.
When the votes are counted, the candidate with the fewest “first choice” preferences is eliminated. A voter who has chosen the eliminated candidate has his or her vote transferred to the voter’s “second choice” of candidates. The votes are tallied again, and the elimination process continues until two candidates remain. The candidate with the most first-choice and reallocated votes wins.
Between January 2022 and June 2023, about three dozen founders, advisers, and supporters of Democracy Found, which supports the bills, contributed $204,270 to 42 mostly Republican legislators and legislative fundraising committees. Republicans control the state Assembly and Senate by large margins.
The top recipients of their contributions were:
Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $20,250;
Democratic Sen. Jeff Smith, of Brunswick, $15,970;
GOP Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, of Oostburg, $14,900;
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, of Rochester, $11,400;
GOP Sen. Jesse James, of Altoona, $10,650.
Smith and James were among a dozen sponsors of the ranked-choice voting bills who received a total of $69,970 from Democracy Found founders, advisers, and supporters.
WMC, which opposes the bills, spent $4.52 million on outside electioneering activities in the 2022 state elections. The vast majority of its spending was on behalf of the Republican candidate in the governor’s race.
In addition, between January 2022 and June 2023, political action committee, conduit, and corporate contributions from WMC totaled $122,390 to about three dozen current legislators and legislative fundraising committees – all Republicans.
The top recipients of WMC contributions were:
Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $24,000;
Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, $17,000;
GOP Rep. Scott Johnson, of Jefferson, $10,880;
Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, of Oostburg, $9,500;
GOP Rep. Chanz Green, of Grand View, $8,480.
Johnson was one of four sponsors of the ranked-choice voting bills, who received a total of $15,280 in WMC contributions.