Steil is dominating fundraising with big support from big business in the race to retain his U.S. House seat.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

Two-term Republican Congressman Bryan Steil, who represents the 1st Congressional District in the southeastern corner of Wisconsin, has outraised his Democratic opponent Ann Roe by millions.

Steil has raised about $3.5 million compared to Roe’s $800,000 haul, according to mandatory filings with the Federal Elections Commission. Those figures are accurate up to Oct. 19, the last campaign finance reporting deadline before the election.

Heading into the last couple weeks of the election, Steil had about $1.5 million on hand compared to about $75,000 for Roe.

It’s quite common for the incumbent to outraise challengers by a lot, said Eleanor Neff Powell, a political science professor at UW-Madison.

Industry groups and big business want access to the legislative process, so they donate to incumbents because those candidates are most likely to win, Neff Powell added.

Political groups unaffiliated with the political campaigns can also buy advertising attacking or promoting candidates in the district, but that sort of independent spending has been minimal in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. The National Association of Realtors has spent about $13,000 and the National Rifle Association has spent about $1,400, both on advertising promoting Steil, according to mandatory filings with the FEC.

Notable direct donors to Steil’s campaign who gave the legal maximum include billionaire Republican donor Diane Hendricks of ABC Supply Co. in the Beloit-Janesville area and Judith Faulkner, the CEO of Dane County-based Epic healthcare software, who donates to candidates from both parties.

Steil also received the maximum donation from the Political Action Committees of Allstate Insurance, Deloitte, Northwestern Mutual, Comcast, Morgan Stanley, Prudential, Amazon, Charter Communications, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo and State Farm.

Federal campaign limits allow an individual to give a candidate for federal office a maximum of $2,900 per election. Since candidates face a primary and a general, one person can give a total of $5,800 to one candidate per election cycle. A political action committee can give $5,000 per election to a candidate for a total of $10,000 per election cycle.

The Federal Election Campaign Act bans corporations and labor organizations from donating directly to candidates, but they may pay to set up, administer and solicit contributions for their own political action committee. The funds in corporate PACs are usually raised from executives and employees, while those of labor unions are usually raised from members.

The table below lists all donors who have given the maximum to Steil — $10,000 from PACs and $5,800 from individuals — this election cycle, through Oct. 19.

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.