« Stroebel Rolls Out “Double Dipping” Bill | Home | WERC Issues Revised Union Election Rules »
Contributi?ons Total $44 Million for Recall Campaigns
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | September 21, 2011
Nearly $44 million.
That’s how much the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign estimates special interests, candidates and political committees spent on this year’s nine Senate recall elections.
That’s twice the record amount spent on legislation races in an election year and topped the most expensive race in state history — the $37.4 million spent in the 2010 guv’s race.
In 2008, all sides spent $20.25 million on all 99 Assembly and 16 Senate seats up for election that fall, according to WDC.
The WDC said Dems, seeking to take over the state Senate, outspent Republicans $23.4 million to $20.5 million.
Also, outside groups accounted for $34.5 million of the money spent overall, while candidates dropped just short of $8 million, the WDC estimated. That includes $4.04 million by Republican candidates and $3.95 million by Dems.
Six of the nine recall elections topped the previous record for a legislative campaign of $3 million in the 2000 race for western Wisconsin’s 10th Senate District. What’s more, three candidates topped the most spent by a legislative candidate previously, $722,333 by Dem Sheldon Wasserman in 2008 as he tried unsuccessfully to beat GOP Sen. Alberta Darling of River Hills.
This year, Darling spent a record $1.23 million in the 8th SD. That was followed by Republican Dan Kapanke of LaCrosse, who spent $1.05 million in losing the 32nd SD, and Dem Rep. Sandy Pasch, who spent $800,744 in losing to Darling.
The Milwaukee-area’s 8th SD was the most expensive race with nearly $10 million spent by all sides, followed by: the 14th at $7.2 million; the 10th at $6.2 million; the 12th at nearly $6 million; the 18th SD at nearly $4.2 million; the 32nd SD at $3.7 million; the 22nd SD at $2.9 million; the 30th SD at more than $1.3 million; and the 2nd at more than $1.1 million.
Among outside groups, the pro-Dem We Are Wisconsin was the biggest spender at $10.75 million, while the pro-Republican Club for Growth spent $9 million.
Topics: SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Comments are closed.