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Gov. Scott Walker Crushes Tom Barrett in Fundraising Here

Incumbent Republican governor takes in more than $300,000 in campaign contributions from donors with Waukesha mailing addresses while his Democratic opponent nets about $18,000.

 

There's no way to tell just how well Gov. Scott Walker will do in Waukesha in Tuesday's gubernatorial recall election until all the ballots are counted.

What is known, however, is that when it comes to campaign contributions, the incumbent Republican governor has outraised the Democrat Tom Barrett by an amazing 18-to-1 margin in the Waukesha area.

A Patch analysis of campaign finance reports filed last week with the state Government Accountability Board shows that Walker has raised $319,861 since January from donors with Waukesha mailing addresses.

By comparison, Barrett took in $18,051 from Waukesha donors since he launched his candidacy in March, campaign finance reports show.


See who is donating to Barrett and Walker with Patch's interactive database of campaign contributions


The Patch analysis looked at more than 196,000 individual contributions reported to the state — more than 152,000 records for Walker and more than 44,000 for Barrett. Those contributions totaled $16.9 million for the governor and $3.4 million for his challenger.

Robert Kern, the retired chairman and CEO of Generac Power Systems, and his wife, Patricia, were by far the top Walker donors in Waukesha — contributing a total of $200,000 to his campaign.

In all, 26 Waukesha donors gave Walker $1,000 or more for his recall battle. Other top local contributors include: Philip J. Ziegler, $10,000; Aldo Madrigrano, $10,000; David L. Bahl, $8,500; Phillip J. Rehberg, $5,000; Jack Jacobus, $2,500; Carol Taylor, $2,400; Susan Szymczak, $2,000; Brad Heimlich, $2,000; Walter L. Kolb, $1,500; Steve Martenet, $1,500; Mary C. Gerleman-Fahey, $1,500; and Don L. Taylor, $1,500.

Barrett, on the other hand, didn't receive any contributions of $1,000 or more from Waukesha. His top local donors were: Frederick Perillo, $900; Karen Gotzler, $500; John L. Jansen, $500; Ronald D. Waterman, $500; James A. Tarantino, $500; and Faye A. Flesia, $500.

The Patch analysis looked at individual contributions only. Money the two candidates received from political action committees and other outside groups were not included in the tally.

In addition, not everyone with a Waukesha mailing address lives in the city, so these figures don't reflect how much was money the candidates raised within city limits. For example, the Kerns live in the Town of Genesee, but have a Waukesha address.

The gap between Walker and Barrett in Waukesha is by far the largest among any of the 18 Milwaukee-area suburbs in the Patch coverage area, the analysis shows. But in almost each community, Walker took in more money than his opponent.

In all, Walker raised more than $822,000 in the 18 communities in the Patch coverage area, while Barrett took in about $259,000 in those places.

The community where residents gave the most to Walker was Waukesha. Barrett fared the best in Shorewood, where he took in about $60,000.

The only communities where Barrett raised more cash than Walker were Shorewood and Whitefish Bay.

Overall, 75 percent of the individual contributions to Barrett came from Wisconsin — about $2.55 million. After Wisconsin, Barrett took in about $152,000 from California and $134,000 from Illinois — each making up 4 percent of his total donations.

About 31 percent of Walker's total individual contributions were from Wisconsin — roughly $5.26 million. The governor received $1.36 million from Florida (8 percent of his total donations) and $1.23 million from California.

The $20 million or so raised by Walker and Barrett this year is just part of the estimated $62 million that has been spent so far in Wisconsin's heated recall election, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

According to the watchdog group, total spending is nearly double the record for a statewide race: $37.4 million set during the 2010 gubernatorial race, which was also between Walker and Barrett.

Related Topics: Campaign Contributions, Recall, Scott Walker, Tom Barrett, Walker Recall, Wisconsin Recalls, campaign donations, and political donations

Hazel Wilkonson the First

10:31 am on Monday, June 4, 2012

Wisconsin, America is counting on you to get out and recall Walker! VOTE!

Reply

the 'sha guy

10:36 am on Monday, June 4, 2012

Correct, America is counting on you. Vote Walker and Kleefisch tomorrow!

Reply

the 'sha guy

10:42 am on Monday, June 4, 2012

It should also be noted that all of your other posts are on a patch site in South Hampton, NY, so you presumably live in the NYC area.

Keep your money, thoughts and your politics out of our state. We'll take care of our own business. You are not needed or wanted here.

Vote Walker / Kleefisch tomorrow!

Reply

Wisconsin Mom

11:37 am on Monday, June 4, 2012

Just think, all that $ spent on an unjustified recall. Shame on the dems and their union bullies. Wisconsin will get it right on Tues. Enough is enough.

Reply

Brash Brazen

1:38 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012

90% of the money raised by Scott Walker came from rich out of state contributors !!! You can look it up for yourselves !!!

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Tim

9:14 pm on Tuesday, June 5, 2012

And, 70% of his contributions were in amounts of $50 or less... you can look it up for yourself! Yes, my those evil rich, corporate, out of state contributors played a big role, lmao. You don't get it. People have had enough with you big government, big labor union types. I myself donated to Scott Walker. I'm not rich and like you Brash, live in CA (see, you yourself are an "out of state interest"). I did so because this race has huge implications for November. Obama isn't safe anywhere other than the west coast and northeast. The 2012 election map is going to look at lot like 1980.

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