Campaign financial reports were due in by midnight last night for those targeted by the Wisconsin recall. With the start of the recall process, they were able to raise unlimited funds in accordance with recall rules
Scott Walker was able to start raising unlimited funds since the beginning of November when a supporter filed a fake recall that triggered the start of unlimited fundraising. The actual recall was filed November 15 with 1 million signatures filed January 17. Walker has been mostly out of state since the recalls began ferociously raising funds.
The 4 State Senators recalled have also been out there raising funds for their own upcoming elections and their fundraising amounts have also been reported.
Normally, a candidate can accept no more than $10,000 from a single donor, but the recall rules in Wisconsin lift that cap due to the special circumstances of a recall election.
The numbers are now in for the period beginning December 11 through January 17. Walker raised $4.5 million in that period alone which mostly came from out of state. Of the entire $4.5 million, $1 million came from only 4 donors.
Giving $250,000 each were Bob Perry, owner of Houston-based Perry Homes and a chief backer of the Swift Boat Veterans ads against Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 race for president; David Humphreys, president of Missouri-based Tamko Roofing Products; Sarah Atkins, a quality consultant for the same company; and Stanley Herzog, chairman and CEO of Missouri-based Herzog.
Perry had given Walker $250,000 in an earlier contribution, bringing his total donation to $500,000.
A host of others gave tens of thousands of dollars each, allowing Walker to raise sums unheard of in state history.
Compare that amount to the meager $27,000 that declared gubanatorial candidate Kathleen Falk has on hand.
Walker campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said that Walker is seeking to counter the influence of national unions that will be spending their own out-of-state money in support of a recall effort. She said the out-of-state donations reflect the national appeal of the governor's policies in Wisconsin.
Typical Republican projection. Try to avoid questions about your own out of state money (megal millions) by blaming your opponents for doing the same. It's not even close. The of the recalls were done on a shoestring budget with people power as opposed to the Republican recalls of Democratic State Senators using an out of state firm and paid signature gatherers.
The state Democratic Party raised more than $394,000 from Dec. 11 to Jan. 17, its reports showed. The biggest donation to the party was for $40,000 and came from Grant Abert, a retiree from Hillpoint, Wis.
United Wisconsin, the group spearheading the recall effort along with the Democratic Party, raised $86,379 over that period.
No comparison.
Walker isn't done yet. His fundraising is just getting started and he is still able to raise unlimited funds. And 61% of Walkers funds were from out of state donors.
Look at the other mega donors to Walker in the last 5 weeks:
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, $175,000
Wisconsin Republican Party, $125,000
The founders of Milk Source, a mega dairy operation with headquarters in Kaukauna, Wi and their families, $101,000
Trevor Rees-Jones, the president and CEO of Chief Oil & Gas in Dallas, Texas, $100,000
Bruce Kovner, chairman of Caxton Alternative Management in New York, $100,000
Mary Sue Shannon, who listed herself as a Milwaukee homemaker, $100,000
Marcus Hiles, who is in the real estate business in Texas, $51,000
Jere Fabick, president of Fabco Equipment of Milwaukee, $50,000
Rex Sinquefield, a Missouri retiree, $50,000
Robert Kerbell, president of Lorman Education Services in Eau Claire, Wi $50,000
He received $30,000 from John Templeton Jr. of Pennsylvania, a physician who heads the John Templeton Foundation established by his investor father. Templeton and Humphreys, one of the $250,000 donors, also gave large amounts to Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser for his recount effort after his close re-election to the court last year. Humphreys' company, Tamko, has been named in a number of asbestos lawsuits, according to the Kansas City Star. He spent heavily in 2009 to allow Missouri judges to be elected instead of appointed.
Others who donated lesser, but still vastly over the normal campaign donation limits are listed int he article.
These were only the funds raised in the reporting period starting December 11. He has been raising funds for several months and has amassed $12 million already in his campaign war chest, more than he spent in the 2010 election itself.
These are funds for Walkers campaign and do not include the tens of millions expected to fund friendly sounding astroturf groups that will air the many attack ads that Wisconsinites will be subjected to as the election nears and a candidate emerges.
In addition to Walker, the 4 recalled Republican State Senators also filed financial reports yesterday:
Fitzgerald had the most of the four senators, with $370,000 in cash on hand. He was followed by Sen. Pam Galloway (R-Wausau) with $134,000 in cash, and Sen. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) with $118,000 in cash. Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) raised more than $64,000 and had a cash balance of $112,759.
Again, these are funds for their campaigns only. Expect megal millions to funnel through anonymous donors to fund attack ads.
If you would like to donate to defeat them, please visit the Act Blue Donations Page of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
Update: A quickie addition to the title. He should be scared. Not us.