January 14, 2019

Renewed efforts to criminalize first-offense drunk driving in Wisconsin face tough prospects despite support from a bipartisan group of state legislators and a new Democratic governor.

January 9, 2019

Matt Rothschild’s testimony for today’s hearing on “Marsy’s Law,” a victims’ rights resolution that the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign opposes, as it would violate the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The resolution passed in the last session of the legislature, and if it passes in this session, it would then go to statewide referendum to amend Wisconsin’s constitution. The Wisconsin resolution is part of a nationwide effort spearheaded by the billionaire Henry Nicholas, who has spent $72 million in six other states so far to amend their constitutions, according to Forbes. In the last legislative session in Wisconsin, a lobbying group calling itself Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin, LLC, spent a whopping $864,710 on the resolution here.

January 9, 2019

One Wisconsinite made it into the top 100 donors in federal races in the last election cycle, and that’s Diane Hendricks of ABC Supply in Beloit.

January 8, 2019

Senior executives of the two companies building a controversial powerline in southwestern Wisconsin have been greasing the skids in Madison.

January 3, 2018

Two state appeals court judges are on the April 2 ballot to replace retiring Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson.

Posted: January 2, 2019

(Updated version of a 2015 profile.)

In Wisconsin, the National Rifle Association spent just over $1 million in 2018 on electioneering activities in legislative and statewide elections. It was one of only a handful of powerful special interests to surpass the seven-figure mark for election spending last year.

December 18, 2018

One lame duck bill that got little notice helps Ashley Furniture, whose executives are big contributors to Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

December 14, 2018

Republican Gov. Scott Walker received more than $5,000 in campaign contributions from Kimberly-Clark employees over the last eight years. Walker just announced a gift of $28 million in taxpayer dollars to Kimberly-Clark, which planned to close plants in the Fox Valley unless it received state aid.

December 11, 2018

About 1 in 5 appointees by outgoing Republican Gov. Scott Walker to state councils and boards who were approved by the state Senate last week contributed more than $16,000 to the governor’s campaign.

December 5, 2018

Business interests led by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) are backing a lame-duck session bill that would give the GOP-controlled legislature more control over state rules and laws.

December 4, 2018

A bill that would let the state avoid complying with federal wage laws for some highway projects was among a package of controversial lame-duck measures the GOP-controlled Senate and Assembly was set to consider Tuesday.

December 3, 2018

(An updated version of this profile was posted in November, 2021.)

This Washington, D.C.-based group spent nearly $2.2 million in the homestretch of the Nov. 6 elections to help elect Democrat Josh Kaul as Wisconsin’s new attorney general.

November 30, 2018

A state consumer protection board appointed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker has sided with the restaurant industry to prohibit local governments from using grading systems to tell the public about restaurant food safety.

Posted: November 29, 2018
Updated: March 5, 2019 due to amended reports filed by the groups

About four dozen wealthy special interest groups doled out more than $60 million to mostly smear candidates during the 2018 fall legislative and statewide elections, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign preliminary review found.

November 12, 2018

A former Department of Natural Resources employee says the agency was pressured to approve permits for a high-end golf course along Lake Michigan by the Kohler Co., whose owner is a major contributor to Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

November 8, 2018

On Nov. 6, voters in Wisconsin and around the country demonstrated that they want more democracy.

November 7, 2018

About four dozen special interest groups reported a record $36.5 million in independent expenditures in Wisconsin’s statewide and legislative fall elections, according to a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign preliminary review.

November 5, 2018

Scott Walker has benefited from almost a 3-to-1 advantage in the money chase.

November 5, 2018

On Election Day tomorrow, voters in a dozen communities in Wisconsin will be asked to weigh in on referendums dealing with banning gerrymandering or overturning the Citizens United decision.

Posted: November 1, 2018
Updated: November 20, 2018

This is a list of the record-breaking spending by independent expenditure groups in Wisconsin in this election, as of Nov. 1. Most of the spending has been for the governor’s race and the race for attorney general. Almost all of the rest has been for state senate and state assembly seats.

November 1, 2018

Outside electioneering groups have already spent a record amount on the 2018 state attorney general’s race.

Posted: November 1, 2018
Updated: November 15, 2018

(An updated version of this profile was published in December 2021.)

This Washington, D.C.-based group, which raises unlimited amounts from special interests to help elect state GOP attorneys general throughout the country, has been the biggest spender in the 2018 Wisconsin attorney general’s race.

October 31, 2018

Reported spending by express advocacy groups is likely to top $1 million in at least two state Senate races. And in the Assembly, reported outside spending has exceeded $100,000 in four races. Here’s a rundown on the most expensive Senate and Assembly races for reported spending by outside electioneering groups as of Wednesday morning:

October 30, 2018

The two major party candidates for governor accepted a combined $15.5 million in September and most of October – an average of about $266,500 a day, according to their state campaign finance reports.

October 31, 2018

The two major party candidates for attorney general accepted a combined $1.5 million in September and most of October, their latest campaign finance reports show.