Tom Tiffany‘s campaign gets nearly all its funding from three billionaire donors

Following a fundraising deadline, it became clear that Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor Tom Tiffany is being bankrolled by three billionaire megadonors.

According to campaign finance reports, between July 1 and Sept. 23, Tiffany reported raising $26,314,950.42. Of that, $24,406,862.00 came from transfers from the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

The party received $11 million from Richard Uihlein, $11 million from Elizabeth Uihlein, and $5.6 million from Diane Hendricks, for a total of $27.6 million.

Meaning, it’s entirely possible that 92.7% of Tiffany’s political donations come from three billionaire mega donors.

“Congressman Tom Tiffany has raised $26 million y’all. Twenty-four million of that came from three people, three billionaires,” Democratic candidate David Crowley said Sept. 30 at a campaign stop in Madison. “Now why on earth would anyone contribute that amount of money?

“Because they know that Congressman Tom Tiffany is willing to sell the state of Wisconsin, our precious state, to the highest bidder. Matter of fact, he’s already done it. He delivered them tax breaks and you and I are paying the price for it right now.

“This is exactly the Washington corruption we don’t need and this is exactly why we have to defeat Tom Tiffany this upcoming November.”

Crowley raised $10.2 million with $2.5 million in transfers from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

The party also did $252,463 in in-kind contributions for Crowley after it got $1 million each from Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and longtime Dem donor Lynde Uihlein.

The Uihleins are a wealthy family with roots in Wisconsin that is historically known for the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. Elizabeth and Richard started shipping supply giant Uline in 1980 and have given millions to Republicans. However, their cousin, Lynde, has supported Democrats.

Hendricks is considered America’s richest self-made woman, who founded ABC Supply Co., in Beloit in 1982.

Despite the clear fundraising advantage, Marquette University Law School released a poll on Sept. 30, showing a slight lead for Crowley with about a month to go until Election Day, Nov. 3.