As the money flowing into elections continues to increase each cycle, many Wisconsin legislators at both the state and national level have reported spikes in their contributions from out-of-state donors.
Among those who saw large boosts in out-of-state funds between 2010 and 2012 include U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Gov. Scott Walker and U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison.
According to Federal Election Commission data, between her run in 2010 for U.S. House and her 2012 election for U.S. Senate, Baldwin’s campaign saw a 32 percent jump in itemized individual contributions from out of state.
Walker’s out-of-state contributions also increased ahead of his recall election. The percent of his funds from out-of-state individual contributions jumped more than 60 percent since 2008 to now, with the highest increases occurring between the 2011 labor protests and the recall election, according to Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System data.
Pocan also saw a jump of just less than 30 percent from 2010 to 2012, according to FEC data.
Kenneth Mayer, a UW political science professor and expert on campaign finance, said these increases are likely due to the national prominence of Baldwin, Walker and Pocan.
“For Walker, it is quite clear he is a national political figure for conservatives,” Mayer said. “The fight over Act 10 and the recall was a national issue because it was a symbol to both Democrats and Republicans over the issue of public employee unions and balancing budgets.”
Mayer added out-of-state funds were not limited to just Walker’s campaign, but that money poured in from both sides of the aisle during the recall election.
Being openly gay legislators also gives Pocan and Baldwin national prominence that lends itself to more out-of-state money, Mayer said.
“Usually the pattern is when you have a candidate with national aspirations or are a national symbol, you will attract out-of-state money,” Mayer said.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Baldwin was second to only U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner in total out-of-state contributions.
Unlike Pocan, Baldwin and Walker, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has not seen increases in out-of state campaign funds. Instead, Johnson’s out-of-state funds slid 9 percent between 2010 and 2012, according to the data.
Mark Stephens, Johnson’s campaign strategist for the 2010 Senate election, said Johnson’s 2010 campaign was too short to focus on out-of-state funding.
“We raised about $6 million during that six-month period, and most of the focus was in-state,” Stephens said. “It wasn’t until later in the summer when Johnson achieved a lead over incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold that we started to get national attention.”
Stephens added that Johnson did not enter the Senate race as a well-known political figure as Baldwin had because of her national reputation as a progressive.
He said Johnson’s campaign will likely focus more on out-of-state funding in the 2016 election because the 2010 election focused more on introducing him to Wisconsin voters, rather than garnering a national prominence.
The states contributing most to the Walker, Baldwin and Pocan campaigns are California and New York, with Florida, Texas, Missouri and Illinois also contributing high amounts to Walker.
Mayer attributes the high amount of funding from these states to population size, especially in the cases of California, New York and Florida.
“New York, California and Florida have big populations, that’s where the people are,” Mayer said. “That’s where the money is.”
However, Mayer said while many people make a big deal about out-of-state donations, Walker’s out-of-state funding is particularly uncommon.
The campaign offices of Walker, Baldwin and Pocan did not respond for comment.
