Attorney Jodi Habush Sinykin, the lone Democrat running in the April 4 special election for Wisconsin's 8th Senate District, dominated all of her Republican opponents on the money front in newly filed reports that cover all fundraising activity during the first five weeks of the year as well as large donations received more recently.
Habush Sinykin raised $253,000 and spent $225,000 from Jan. 1 through Feb. 6, leaving her with $59,000 on-hand, though that only tells part of the story. Candidates must also submit reports for any contributions of $1,000 or more that they receive in the two weeks between the end of the reporting period and the Feb. 21 primary, so thanks to those filings, we know Habush Sinykin has brought in at least another $82,000.
Those sums exceed the hauls of her three Republican opponents combined. State Rep. Dan Knodl led the GOP pack with $63,000 raised plus another $4,000 in large donations that came in after Feb. 6. Oddly, he hung on to most of his money, spending just $5,000 and banking $107,000, though it's possible that he's focusing his outlays on the final two weeks before the primary.
The other two Republicans are spending more freely. State Rep. Janel Brandtjen took in just $21,000 (along with a single late $1,000 donation), but she spent almost the same amount, $22,000, and had a similar $24,000 left over for the stretch run. Finally, there's Thiensville Village President Van Mobley, who raised just $7,000 from donors but also loaned his campaign $100,000, allowing him to spend $77,000 and still have $29,000 in his coffers.
Habush Sinykin has made extensive use of her financial advantage: According to The New York Times' Reid Epstein, she's spent $166,000 on TV ads so far, many of them seeking to promote Brandtjen, who Democrats and Republicans both believe would be the weaker option for the GOP. Neither Brandtjen nor Knodl, the two better-known Republicans, have responded with ads of their own, either TV or digital, though outside groups have been boosting Knodl with online spots.
Mobley, the third wheel in this race, actually has run a pair of TV ads, both of them focused on the state income tax, which he wants to abolish. However, he faces a serious name recognition deficit as Brandtjen and Knodl each represent a third of the Senate district they're seeking while the town Mobley serves is home to just 3,000 people.
If Habush Sinykin can flip this Republican-held district, she’d roll back the new supermajority the GOP acquired in November thanks to gerrymandered maps. Despite Wisconsin’s perennial swing state status, Republicans currently hold the Senate by a wide 21-11 margin with this seat vacant.
