The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has raised nearly $57 million this election, and is showering its candidates with cash. The state Republican Party has raised only about $29 million. Meet the billionaires behind much of that haul.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

Do the number of political ads on your TV and mailbox seem to increase with each last election? It’s not your imagination.

That’s due in part to a loophole in state campaign finance law that allows billionaires to give unlimited amounts of cash to political parties in Wisconsin, who can then turn around and donate unlimited amounts to their candidates.

The result is millions of dollars pouring into traditionally sleepy races for seats in the Wisconsin State Legislature. And ads upon ads.

The super-wealthy in state and out have gotten wise to this loophole and are engaging in an arms race, trying to one up each other each election cycle.

But it hasn’t been an even match. The state Democratic Party has badly beaten its Republican counterparts in recent years, despite two heavy hitters at the top.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has raised nearly $57 million this election cycle compared to only about $29 million for the state GOP, according to campaign finance records filed with the state.

Prominent liberal donor Reid Hoffman, who co-founded LinkedIn and has an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion, has given the state Democratic Party nearly $8 million in the 2024 election cycle. Diane Hendricks, the co-founder of ABC Supply in the Beloit area with an estimated net worth of $22 billion, has given nearly $7 million to the state GOP this election cycle. Elizabeth Uihlein, co-founder of the packing supplies company ULINE, with an estimated net worth of $6 billion, has given the state GOP nearly $5 million. And Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotels fortune with an estimated net worth of $3.7 billion, has given the Democratic Party of Wisconsin more than $2 million this election cycle.

And these figures don’t include money these folks may be donating to independent groups that can run ads attacking or promoting candidates outside of an official campaign.

Before 2015, the total any single person, billionaire or not, could have given in annual political donations in Wisconsin was just $10,000.

But the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision McCutcheon v. FEC ruled that the $10,000 total limit in Wisconsin was an unconstitutional violation of 1st Amendment free speech rights. While Wisconsin campaign finance law had donation limits in place to candidates, it had none on parties, because the $10,000 cap had functioned as one. Once it was removed, the wealthiest political donors, and the political parties they could now give to unlimitedly, were unshackled.

Political parties also have no limits on how much they can give to candidates, so those ultra-wealthy donors can work with the political parties to bypass campaign finance limits and route huge sums of cash to candidates.

Democrats in the Republican-controlled legislature have proposed bills that would put caps on how much political parties can receive and give, but so far, the GOP majority has ignored them. So now Democrats are using the loophole left open by Republicans against them.

TOP DONORS TO WISCONSIN POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE 2024 ELECTION

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