Megadonors from the right, Diane Hendricks and Richard Uihlein, and left, George Soros and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, have each given their preferred party at least $500k this year. Elon has spent even more.

By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

Wisconsin is in the midst of another major election, and familiar billionaire megadonors are trying to outdo each other.

On Jan. 10, Wall Street legend and bogeyman to the political right George Soros gave the Democratic Party of Wisconsin $1 million, according to records filed with the state.

On Jan. 17, Diane Hendricks, chairwoman of ABC Building Supply, gave the Republican Party of Wisconsin $975,000, and another $100,000 a few weeks later.

On Jan. 28, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose family owns the Hyatt hotel chain, gave the Democratic Party of Wisconsin $500,000.

On Feb. 11, Richard Uihlein, an heir to the Schlitz beer fortune and co-founder of the packing supplies company ULINE, gave $650,000 to the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

And on Feb. 13, the mother-daughter billionaire philanthropists Lynn and Stacy Schustermann, from Oklahoma City, each gave the Wisconsin Democratic Party $500,000.

Those billionaires have given huge sums to their preferred party in each of the last few elections in Wisconsin, translating mostly to more political advertising. The fact they are donating to the political party instead of directly to their preferred candidate is no mistake.

Donations made directly to political candidates in Wisconsin are capped by state law at a certain amount depending on the office. For example, an individual can only give a maximum of $20,000 to a candidate for state Supreme Court, something Hendricks has already done this year.

But a loophole in state law allows donors to give unlimited amounts of cash to political parties, and for those same parties to divert unlimited amounts to candidates.

So the billionaires’ donations made early this year have almost certainly found their way to the two candidates for the state Supreme Court race. The state Democratic Party has already reported giving left-wing candidate and Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford, $2 million, while the state GOP has tried to keep pace, reporting giving right-wing candidate and Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel nearly $1.7 million. And many weeks remain before the April 1 election.

That party loophole was opened by court cases and inaction by the GOP majority in the Wisconsin State Legislature. It could be closed, but so far, Republicans have ignored attempts by Democrats in the minority to do so. Should they ever retake the state Legislature, it remains to be seen if Democrats will want to close a loophole that is now working so well for them.

Elon Musk has also jumped into the race, but using his millions in a different way. He is spending independently of campaigns and parties, through a super PAC to buy millions in political advertising and fund door-knocking operations for Schimel.

The last race for Wisconsin Supreme Court, in 2023, set a court record of more than $50 million raised and spent to try and influence the race, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, an organization that tracks political spending in the state. Experts expect even more in this race.

“If nothing changes, every Supreme Court race we have until now until 2030, it’s going to break a record,” said Nick Ramos, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, of the massive political cash.

The court will have seats opening and thus elections in each of the next four years after this one. Liberals are at somewhat of an advantage, as they only have to defend two justices’ seats in that time, while conservatives must defend three.

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