Big donors show up in last push

November 3, 2020

The Brillion News

The major state parties and four legislative fundraising committees raised $3.3 million from contributions of $1,000 or more in the past two weeks with Democrats raising more than twice as much as Republicans.

That's according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Reports filed with the State Ethics Commission showed the state Democratic Party, Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, and the State Senate Democratic Committee raised more than $2.2 million from large contributors between Oct. 21 and Nov. 2.

The state Republican Party, Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate raised nearly $1.1 million from such contributors between Oct. 23 and Nov. 1, according to the reports.

Here’s a look at how much each entity raised and the top contributors to each in the homestretch to Election Day:

Democratic Party of Wisconsin – $1,239,046. Its top contributors were:

State Senate Democratic Committee, $418,850; Stacy Herzing, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., a former Herzing University executive, $125,000; Robert Rubin, New York City, a former U.S. Treasury secretary, and his wife, Judith, $100,000.

Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee – $705,938. Its top contributors were:

Democratic Party of Wisconsin, $450,000; Hulsen Media Services, LLC, Austin, Texas, $30,000.

State Senate Democratic Committee – $283,740. Its top contributors were:

Plotkin for Senate, $110,240; Piotrowski for State Senate, $101,000.

Republican Party of Wisconsin – $864,602. Its top contributors were:

Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $410,000; Robert Greenheck, Weston, Wis., owner of Greenheck Fan Corp., $25,000.

Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, $121,600. Its top contributors were:

Born for Assembly, $14,500; Keith Gilkes, Waunakee, Wis., campaign manager for former GOP Gov. Scott Walker, $12,500.

Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, $79,281. Its top contributors were:

Citizens for Tiffany, $15,000; Friends of Mary (Felzkowski), $15,000.

Previously, total fundraising by the state parties and four legislative campaign committees from Jan. 1 through the last reporting period on Oct. 19 showed Democrats had raised about $21.7 million and Republicans had raised about $10.6 million.