GOP State Lawmakers Outstrip Democrats At Fundraising

Republicans in the legislature raised two-and-a-half times the amount of campaign dollars that Democrats have in the first half of the year.

That number comes from a new report by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Executive Director Mike McCabe says he’s not surprised by the numbers, noting that when Democrats controlled the legislature they raised twice as much as Republicans.

McCabe says the money was raised while the state budget was being crafted. He says the only talk of reforming the system in this session was to make it easier to raise more money.

“What you see is both sides occasionally paying some lip service to the need for reform, but then when they’re in power they side with the donors instead of the voters,” says McCabe.

Incumbent Republicans in the legislature and two GOP fundraising committees collectively raised $1 million through the end of June compared with $411,000 by Democrats and their two fundraising committees.