Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's press releases and special reports cover issues central to our mission, including campaign fundraising, political corruption and more.
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September 8, 2004
Madison - Most of the Wisconsin contributions to national groups that can accept and spend unlimited amounts of cash to influence the November elections come from wealthy contributors who also give generously to state candidates, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.
September 2, 2004
September 1, 2004
The state Elections Board today rejected by one vote a proposed truth-in-campaigning rule, once again refusing to close a gaping loophole in Wisconsin’s campaign finance laws allowing special interest campaign ads to escape disclosure requirements and campaign contribution limits.
August 25, 2004
Madison - A Milwaukee brewing heir and a state labor union contributed a quarter of a million dollars between April and June to groups that accept and spend unlimited and unregulated donations to influence federal elections, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.
August 18, 2004
Madison - Top executives of the company the state is paying nearly $80 an hour to maintain a road sign inventory after eliminating the job of a state employee who did the work for a fraction of that amount have made over $140,000 in campaign donations to Wisconsin politicians in the past decade but kicked their giving into high gear three years ago, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has found.
August 2, 2004
Madison - Officeholders hell bent on keeping the Legislature a gated community have amassed more than $2.8 million and an 8-1 cash advantage over their challengers to keep their jobs this November, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.
Posted: July 8, 2004
Updated: July 22, 2004
Madison - Nearly 2.2 million Wisconsin voters will have no choice in who represents them in the state Assembly or Senate because only one candidate so far is seeking a place on the November ballot in 44 of 115 legislative races, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said today. (Uncontested races listed below.)
July 6, 2004
Madison - The groups known as 527s are tax-exempt political nonprofit groups that get their name from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service code under which they are organized. Nationally, 527s - including such groups as the electioneering arm of MoveOn.org, America Coming Together and the Club for Growth - raised $179 million between January 2003 and March 2004 to spend on direct mail campaigns, negative broadcast advertising and voter registration drives.
June 2, 2004
I understand your frustrations and the frustrations of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and I would like to say up front that the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is 100 percent committed to campaign finance reform. This was simply the wrong time for the Elections Board to promulgate an emergency rule.
May 19, 2004
The state Elections Board today delayed action on a rule proposed by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign requiring full disclosure of phony issue ads sponsored by special interest groups and banning the unlimited and anonymous "soft money" donations that pay for them.
May 6, 2004
April 20, 2004
Madison - In his first year as Assembly Speaker, John Gard raised more large individual contributions from powerful special interests outside of his Assembly District than any previous candidate for the Legislature, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.
April 5, 2004
Madison - For the first time, more electioneering by organized special interest groups in 2002 state races escaped detection by Wisconsin’s campaign finance disclosure system than was accounted for publicly, a report released today by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign shows.
March 24, 2004
Madison - A dog track owner and a gasoline station magnate were among four individuals who violated state law in 2003 by contributing more than $10,000 in a year to state political candidates and committees, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.
March 17, 2004
Madison - Two Indian tribes and Washington D.C. lawyers whose firms represent tribes contributed more than $10,000 to Democratic Governor James Doyle in the last half of 2003, according to the latest campaign finance information posted by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
March 8, 2004
Madison - Campaign contributions to legislative candidates through a fundraising tactic that conceals large special interest contributions from the public grew by 89 percent between 1998 and 2002, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.
March 3, 2004
The new version of Senate Bill 12 is no compromise, and it is not reform. The original SB 12 was bipartisan, something any sincere and meaningful effort at reform must be.
Posted: March 2, 2004
Posted: February 27, 2004
(Delivered February 25, 2004)
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign urges the committee to support Senate Bill 337.
February 23, 2004
Madison - Legislators who voted with powerful special interests on key legislative proposals received more than four times more campaign contributions on average from those wealthy contributors than legislators who did not side with them, a new Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis shows.
February 18, 2004
Madison - Campaign fundraising among state office holders in the last half of 2003 was decidedly top-heavy as a few political heavyweights and leadership-controlled campaign committees soaked up most of the campaign cash while rank and file lawmakers raised money at a relatively sluggish pace, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis of the latest campaign finance reports shows.
January 26, 2004
Madison - Over half of campaign contributions to candidates seeking state office come from less than 4 percent of Wisconsin’s more than 900 zip codes, a new Wisconsin Democracy Campaign study shows.
January 12, 2004
Members of the legislature at date of posting and legislative campaign committees. Special interest contributions from business, construction, energy, manufacturing, real estate, road building, banking, oil and gas, papermaking industries, and SBC.
December 16, 2003
December 15, 2003