A Virginia-based political group that is not required to disclose its funders has reported spending nearly $13 million in Wisconsin races, including $9.3 million opposing Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley’s campaign for governor. Its filing also reports millions in spending across legislative contests that could help determine control of the state Assembly and Senate.
First Amendment LLC registered with the state on Friday and then filed its first campaign finance report with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, according to WisPolitics. The Virginia-based express advocacy group reported spending on campaign literature, direct mail, phone calls and digital ads; Urban Milwaukee also reported on the spending. Crowley, a Democrat, is running for governor against Republican U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany of Minocqua.
About $3.7 million of the group’s reported spending went to state Assembly and Senate races. It reported six-figure spending in 15 legislative contests, including its largest Assembly expenditures targeting Democrats in the 21st, 30th and 92nd districts, WisPolitics reported.
Targeting Open Senate Seats
Among the group’s largest reported Senate expenditures, $534,687 opposed state Representative Robyn Vining, a Democrat from Wauwatosa running for the open 5th Senate District. It also reported spending $494,140 opposing Democratic state Representative Jenna Jacobson, who represents Oregon and is running against Republican Senator Howard Marklein of Spring Green in the 17th Senate District.
The group reported another $572,227 opposing Democrat Trevor Jung, who is running for the open 21st Senate District, according to WisPolitics’ account of the filing. The spending makes First Amendment LLC a major outside spender in several legislative contests.
No Requirement to Disclose Funders
First Amendment LLC is an express advocacy group that does not have to report where its money came from. An email reference has linked the group to Make Liberty Win PAC, which has previously supported Republicans running for Congress. Representatives for both First Amendment LLC and Make Liberty Win PAC did not respond to a request for comment, the reporting states.
Tech investor Scott Banister, known for early investments in PayPal, Uber and SpaceX, vowed this month to donate $40 million to Make Liberty Win PAC. Nick Ramos, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said out-of-state groups are spending millions to influence elections in states where they do not live. “Wisconsin voters should be able to see who is funding outside spending,” Ramos said, according to the reporting, adding that independent expenditure groups spend millions to sway elections while claiming they do not coordinate with campaigns or candidates.
A Record-Breaking Season of Outside Money
Outside spending has taken different forms and reached different totals across Wisconsin election cycles. In a narrower measure of the 2022 cycle, Republican-aligned independent expenditure groups spent $29 million on express advocacy ads, compared with $7.7 million from Democratic-aligned groups, according to News From The States.
During the 2022 cycle, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign identified more than 40 organizations making independent expenditures in the state's fall elections, and nine groups each spent more than $1 million on races spanning governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, secretary of state and the Legislature. Ramos said the closing weeks of the midterm will likely bring even more rampant outside spending.
Other big spenders illustrate the scale of the money flowing into Wisconsin during the 2022 cycle. Right Direction Wisconsin PAC, operated by the Republican Governors Association, spent $8.28 million on ads attacking Democratic Gov. Tony Evers over taxes and crime, while Americans for Prosperity, founded by David and Charles Koch, put $5 million toward ads, canvassing and mailings backing Republican candidates, per newsfromthestates.com's reporting.
How outside spending compares across cycles
According to News From The States, outside spending on Wisconsin state races totaled $36.63 million in 2014 and $61.86 million in 2018. The outlet, citing the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, reported that outside groups spent $93 million on state-office elections in 2022. The 2022 figure includes both express-advocacy spending and issue ads, making it a broader measure than the spending reported by First Amendment LLC in the current cycle.
The Legal Backdrop
The ability of groups like First Amendment LLC to spend freely without disclosing donors traces back to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling, which struck down restrictions on political donations by corporations and labor unions. Wisconsin lawmakers have also not repealed a 2015 state law that allows political parties to transfer unlimited amounts of money to candidates, a provision that continues to shape how money moves through the state's elections.
