‘No’ campaign far outspent proponents of failed Wisconsin-wide referenda

Opponents of two failed proposals to amend Wisconsin’s Constitution far outspent proponents of the Republican-backed ballot measures, recently filed campaign finance reports show.

During the state’s Aug. 13 primary, 57 percent of of Wisconsin voters rejected the pair of proposals which would have stopped a governor from spending federal funds without the approval of state lawmakers.

Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled state Legislature brought those measures to the ballot, despite objections from Gov. Tony Evers and other Democrats.

Supporters said the changes would have added a necessary check on executive power, while opponents argued they would have hampered a governor’s ability to act quickly during an emergency.

Opponents spent millions to defeat ballot measures

Since the start of this year, campaign committees spent about $4.5 million dollars, urging Wisconsinites to vote “no” on the amendments.

Those expenditures poured out of a trio of committees known as Wisconsin Votes No, Preserve Wisconsin’s Constitution and Protect Wisconsin’s Constitution — Vote No, according to disclosure forms due this week. Some of the largest donors to those groups included the League of Conservation Voters and the Wisconsin Opportunity Coalition.

Meanwhile, a single campaign committee affiliated with the conservative Badger Insitute registered to support the amendments. That committee reported spending just over $15,000 on the proposals between the start of 2024 and late September.

Ahead of the election, the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and IRG Action Fund announced an advertising campaign in support of the amendments.

WILL did not file a campaign finance committee report with Wisconsin Ethics Commission, because it was not required to do so, WILL spokesperson Pat Garrett said. Nonetheless, Garrett told WPR that WILL and IRG Action spent over $250,000 total on the referenda.

It’s rare for Wisconsin voters to reject constitutional amendments

Democrats celebrated the amendments’ defeat as a major victory, with Evers calling the results a “referendum” on the work of his administration.

It’s relatively rare for Wisconsinites to reject proposed constitutional amendments. 

Since 2020, Wisconsin voters have faced seven constitutional amendments, and approved all but the latest two proposals. Over the state’s entire history, nearly three-quarters of such amendments have passed.

Seth Hoffmeister of Wisconsin Conservation Voters helped manage the “no” campaign. He accused Republicans of trying to sneak the amendments through during what was expected to be a low-turnout August election.

“The results were very clear that voters are tired of these underhanded tactics,” he said Tuesday. “We were fortunate to be able to run the program that we did, talking to folks at their doors, sending mail, doing digital ads to just really clearly communicate the impact of these intentionally confusing amendments.”