In a campaign drawing record-smashing cash, out-of-state donations flow into Supreme Court race
This story was republished Jan. 15, 2024, to make it free for all readers.
MADISON - Out-of-state campaign contributions exploded in this year's race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, with more than half of donors contributing to liberal Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz's campaign living outside of the Badger State — underscoring the national spotlight on this year's race for a seat on the state's highest court.
Voters will decide Tuesday whether to give liberals control of the most consequential judicial body in a battleground state known for its policy battles and decisive role in presidential races.
Conservatives are defending a 4-3 majority on the state Supreme Court that has drawn incredible levels of spending for a spring race that most Wisconsinites have historically skipped.
More:What April's Supreme Court election may tell us about the 2024 partisan races in Wisconsin
The last spending record set in 2020 of $10 million has been pulverized this year nearly five times over and more than doubling the national record. The candidates, former Supreme Court justice Dan Kelly, a conservative, and Protasiewicz also have drawn record fundraising.
When not counting the nearly $9 million the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has put into her campaign, 52% of Protasiewicz's donations are from out of state, according to an analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel of campaign finance records. Without the state GOP contributions to conservative candidate Kelly's campaign, 11% of his total donations are from outside of Wisconsin.
Protasiewicz raised nearly $3 million from out-of-state donors, more than six times higher than the record set in 2019 by state appeals judge Lisa Neubauer in her race against Brian Hagedorn, who ultimately prevailed that year and joined the court's conservative majority.
Democrats build robust national donor network
Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Elections Research Center, attributed Protasiewicz's fundraising haul, in part, to a national network of donors Democrats have had better success than Republicans in creating in recent years.
"Democrats have generally built up more national infrastructure to promote fundraising for candidates across the country," Burden said.
"Under Ben Wikler, the state Democratic Party has become one of the most prolific parties for fundraising in the country," Burden said of the state party's chairman. "During the height of the pandemic, he organized online events featuring celebrities and other notable figures to attract interest and donations from across the country. Protasiewicz is now benefitting from the national network of donors that has built up since 2020."
Burden said Protasiewicz is using the donation platform ActBlue, "which has become the backbone for online fundraising by Democratic candidates and groups."
"Republicans do not have a similar centralized system. The main GOP competitor to ActBlue is WinRed, which Kelly is not using," Burden said.
Burden said the race's key issue of abortion has also likely attracted donors from across the country who oppose the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in addition to the abortion rights groups that typically participate in court elections anyway.
"Abortion rights groups and activists are looking for ways to counter the Dobbs decision and the Supreme Court race in Wisconsin is the most prominent vehicle for doing that in early 2023," Burden said.
Protasiewicz said Wisconsin is a microcosm of the nation, resulting in massive outside interest in the race.
"People have asked what do you think about the nationwide interest in this race? They've even said what do you think about the international interest in this race? And I've said, I think it's a good thing," Protasiewicz told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board earlier this month.
"What you're seeing are actual contributions to my campaign from across the country. That gives me the ability to communicate with people all over our state. That gives me the ability to be on TV. That gives me the ability to be on digital. That gives me the ability to travel all over the state."
Sam Roecker, spokesman for the Protasiewicz campaign, said the fundraising reflects the race's stakes.
"We’ve received more donations from Wisconsinites than any candidate in this race because people know how much is at stake," he said.
A spokesman for Kelly did not respond to a request for comment.
Molly Beck and Andrew Hahn can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com and ahahn@gannett.com.