VIA WISCONSIN EXAMINER:

Corporate donors have given Wisconsin Republican Party groups more than three times as much money as they have to Democratic Party groups so far this year, according to a campaign finance watchdog group, and they are spending twice as much on political contributions as they did two years ago.

Through June 2022, corporations gave $633,393 to the state Republican Party, Republican Assembly Campaign Committee and the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reported Thursday after reviewing campaign finance reports. 

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee and the State Senate Democratic Committee have received $188,500 in corporate contributions over the same period, the Democracy Campaign found. That translates to $3.65 given to the GOP groups for every dollar given to the Democratic groups.

The donors include business, unions and trade groups representing health care, agriculture, construction, insurance, banking, manufacturing, tourism, energy, real estate and other sectors.

Wisconsin banned corporate or union political donations for more than a century until 2015, when then-Gov. Scott Walker signed legislation repealing the ban. The 2015 law allows corporate contributions of up to $12,000 a year to each political party and each legislative campaign committee.