Politics & Government

Gov. Scott Walker Crushes Tom Barrett in Fundraising in Sussex

Incumbent Republican governor takes in nearly $20,000 in campaign contributions from village residents, while his Democratic opponent nets about $3,100.

Whether Gov. Scott Walker or Democrat Tom Barrett will win — or carry Sussex, for that matter — won't be known for sure until all the ballots are counted Tuesday night.

What is known, however, is that when it comes to campaign contributions, the incumbent Republican governor has outraised the Milwaukee mayor by a more than 6-to-1 margin in Sussex.

A Patch analysis of campaign finance reports filed last week with the state Government Accountability Board shows that Walker has raised $19,554 in Sussex since January.

Find out what's happening in Sussexwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

By comparison, Barrett took in $3,169 in Sussex since he launched his candidacy in March, campaign finance reports show.

See who is donating to Barrett and Walker with of campaign contributions

Find out what's happening in Sussexwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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.

Christopher Shult, CEO of Sussex-based Bevco Engineering Co., is the biggest Walker contributor from the village, giving the govenor $5,000 in the recall campaign.

Other top Walker donors from Sussex are: Troy T. Mews, $1,054; John F. Berry, $1,000; Chris Daniels, $1,000; Anthony C. Wick, $600; Jefferey A. Roberts, $500.

In Susex, only one resident, Brett Eckstein, made a contribution of $1,000 to Barrett. Other top Barrett donors were: Linda Meagher, $450; Brad Lill, $125; Margaret Tennessen, $125; and Pam Rundhaug, $125.

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.

Walker's edge over Barrett in contributions can be found in the rest of the Milwaukee-area suburbs, according to the Patch analysis.

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, where there were more than $319,000 in donations. 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 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.


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