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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January 7, 2014
Madison – Wisconsin’s voting patterns may be purple, but its money is distinctly red, according to a Democracy Campaign review of 10 years worth of campaign contributions by zip code.
December 18, 2013
(Wisconsin Democracy Campaign testimony before the Senate Committee on Elections and Urban Affairs on Assembly Bill 255, proposal to double the legal size of political contributions in Wisconsin.)
November 12, 2013
Madison – Women have long been on the short end of a gender pay gap with men – they now earn about 77 cents for every dollar paid to a guy – but the breach is even greater among high-end campaign contributors where women donate only about 25 cents for every $1 doled out by men.
November 7, 2013
Madison - In a letter to state Government Accountability Board director Kevin Kennedy, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign urged the agency to enforce a three-year-old campaign finance disclosure rule in the case of campaign advertising being aired by a group fronting for the Wisconsin Realtors Association in a special election contest in a Milwaukee-area state Assembly district.
October 30, 2013
(Testimony against an anti-disclosure bill delivered by WDC Executive Director Mike McCabe at a hearing held on October 29, 2013.)
Posted: October 8, 2013
Updated: October 10, 2013
Madison - With the U.S. Supreme Court hearing oral arguments today in a case, McCutcheon v. FEC, that could result in the invalidation of a key federal law limiting campaign contributions, the Money Out, Voters In coalition called for actions to rein in big money in political campaigns at a noon rally at the State Capitol.
October 3, 2013
(Testimony against Senate Bill 282 requiring disclosure of only the occupation of donors giving over $500.)
Posted: September 19, 2013
Updated: November 13, 2013
Madison – Seventy-eight individuals and couples mostly from outside Wisconsin contributed nearly $1 million to legislative and statewide officeholders and candidates during the first six months of 2013, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
September 10, 2013
Madison – Large individual contributions funneled to legislators through check-bundling outfits that hide the real clout of special interest campaign contributions from the public hit a record $3.7 million in 2011 and 2012, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
September 5, 2013
A statewide coalition of 15 citizen and public interest organizations including the Democracy Campaign is calling on the state Senate to reject Assembly Bill 225, a measure that would double campaign contributions limits in Wisconsin and allow big money to further drown out the voices of state voters.
August 7, 2013
Madison –Republicans who control the legislature raised $1 million and stockpiled $2.54 million in their campaign accounts during the first six months of 2013 while they were loading the 2013-15 state budget with dozens of policy and spending items that benefit special interest contributors, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
July 25, 2013
Madison – This year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court and state school superintendent races cost nearly $3.3 million and more than half of it was spent by wealthy smear groups on negative advertising and mailings to hijack the elections, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
Posted: July 24, 2013
Updated: October 1, 2013
Legislation introduced today in the form of an Assembly Joint Resolution would put a referendum question on the November 2014 ballot statewide giving Wisconsin voters an opportunity to have their voices heard on whether the controversial 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC should be overturned.
June 13, 2013
Madison – The proposed 2013-15 state budget the legislature considers this month benefits special interests by making it easier for them to get millions of dollars more in state grants, tax breaks and contracts, threaten water supplies, send people more junk mail, cut off your cable television faster and let bounty hunters work in the state, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
June 4, 2013
(Wisconsin Democracy Campaign June 4, 2013 testimony before the Assembly Committee on Campaign and Elections in opposition to Assembly Bill 225 - Govern Without Public Support Act.)
May 21, 2013
Madison – Campaign contributions from the frack sand mining and natural gas industries ballooned 2,100 percent in six years and mirror the spike in mines and processing operations that now pepper northern Wisconsin, a Democracy Campaign review found.
Posted: May 7, 2013
Updated: May 13, 2013
Madison - In the aftermath of revelations that a free-spending interest group pushing expansion of Wisconsin’s private school voucher program told its members that it spent over $2 million more to influence state elections in 2012 than it reported to election authorities, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign filed a complaint today with the state Government Accountability Board alleging the group violated campaign finance disclosure rules.
April 15, 2013
Madison –Wealthy campaign contributors and shadowy electioneering groups that back school voucher programs have spent nearly $10 million in 10 years in Wisconsin – much of it to help twice elect a governor who is trying to sharply expand the program, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
March 28, 2013
More than 18,000 Wisconsinites have signed a petition calling for a statewide vote to put Wisconsin on record against Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to special interest money in elections. The petition requests a statewide referendum, which must be approved by legislators and the governor. If the proposed ballot initiative passes, Wisconsin would join 11 states that have already voted in favor of overturning Citizens United and allowing laws to limit election spending.
March 13, 2013
Madison – Candidate and interest group spending in contests for state and federal offices totaled $391.9 million in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles – more than triple the $123.7 million spent in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
February 19, 2013
Madison – About 300 legislative candidates and fundraising committees and about two dozen special interest groups that spend most of their money on negative broadcast ads to smear candidates doled out $16.53 million on the 2012 fall legislative races, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review shows.
February 14, 2013
If voting records are any indication, the Legislature is exceedingly unlikely to tackle the scourge of money in politics, plug holes in porous campaign finance disclosure laws, update obsolete ethics protections or reform partisan redistricting – despite public opinion showing strong tripartisan objections to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and widespread support for changes to the political system.
January 28, 2013
Madison – Special interests that back loosening mining regulations for a Florida company that wants to dig an open pit iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin have contributed $15.6 million to the Republican-controlled legislature and GOP Governor Scott Walker who are likely to approve mining permit changes in the coming months.
January 23, 2013
Madison – Powerful special interests that back a proposed constitutional amendment to prevent state policymakers from raiding the transportation fund contributed $5.2 million to past and current legislators between 2010 and mid-2012, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
December 11, 2012
Madison – Two-thirds of the nearly $101 million candidates and special interest smear groups reported spending for campaign services in the 2011 and 2012 recall elections was paid to vendors outside Wisconsin, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review shows.