Feingold Says In-State Donor Pledge Has ‘No Relationship To Reality’ Anymore

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold says a 1992 pledge to get the majority of his campaign donations from inside the state just isn’t realistic anymore.

Feingold, who is running to reclaim his old seat against GOP incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson, has taken heat from his opponent’s campaign for not following the decades-old pledge.

“The idea that somebody whose ads are actually being paid for now by the Koch brothers and these hidden groups would be complaining about the fact that I’m not going to have a rule that has no relationship to reality now is a little amusing,” Feingold told reporters on Thursday, referring to billionaire conservative political donors Charles and David Koch.

Feingold said the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen United campaign financing decision has “completely changed the game” by allowing unlimited campaign spending by corporations.

Campaign finance has been a frequent theme in the Senate race, with Feingold criticizing Johnson for failing to sign his proposed “Badger Pledge,” a Feingold campaign proposal that would have disallowed dark money political ads from the race, and the Johnson camp accusing Feingold of going back on his word about in-state donors.

“The fact is, Sen. Feingold broke his promise to reject these massive out-of-state contributions, and now voters cannot trust him to hold his word on anything,” said Pat Garrett, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Feingold also said on Thursday that, despite not following the former pledge, he still has more Wisconsin donors than Johnson.

The Johnson campaign didn’t return a request for comment.