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Madison - In a sign of the epic political battle shaping up in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker reported Thursday raising $5.1 million since July, just as the group trying to recall the governor announced it had reached the half-million signature mark, putting it within striking distance of forcing a recall election.

Walker is taking advantage of the unlimited campaign contributions allowed to politicians facing recall, as well as the nationwide appeal of his efforts among conservatives.

He pulled in $250,000 from Bob Perry, owner of Perry Homes in Houston, best known in political circles as one of the primary financial forces behind the Swift Boat Veterans ads that attacked U.S. Sen. John Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign. Walker also received $205,500 from Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest, Ill., founders of the shipping supply company Uline. Walker is scheduled Friday to attend a groundbreaking ceremony - and make a jobs announcement - at Uline's Hudson operation.

Uline is a family-run company that distributes boxes, bubble wrap and other goods used for shipping. Last year under what was then the Doyle administration, the Journal Sentinel reported that the company was receiving up to $18.6 million from the state over nine years to build a new distribution center and headquarters in Pleasant Prairie, bringing 1,000 jobs from Illinois.

Other notable Walker donors: The Schuette family, which owns Wausau Homes and supports the state tea party movement, donated a total of $175,075; and H. Ross Perot Jr., son of the two-time presidential candidate, made two donations totaling $20,000 in late November.

"We have seen an outpouring of support for the governor and the steps he has taken during his first year in office to lay the foundation for a more successful Wisconsin," Walker campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews said.

Normally, candidates for governor can't raise more than $10,000 from a single donor.

The liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now said that nearly half the money Walker raised came from out of state.

"Walker is crisscrossing the country and taking unprecedented outside money," One Wisconsin executive director Scot Ross said in a statement.

The governor has spent just under $4 million since July and has just over $3 million in the bank.

"Scott Walker continues to spend millions on misleading TV ads trying to convince voters that his drastic cuts to education and other 'reforms' are working," Meagan Mahaffey, United Wisconsin's executive director, said in a statement. "But the people of Wisconsin are not buying his lies and are moving at record pace to stop Walker's destruction and recall him from office."

Still a month to go

No detailed reports on contributions to the state Democratic Party, Republican Party or the recall group United Wisconsin were available on the state elections website Thursday.

But the Democratic Party reported raising just under $1.2 million between July 1 and Dec. 10 to support its own role in the recall attempt. It has $360,000 in cash on hand.

United Wisconsin said volunteers and workers gathered 507,533 signatures from state residents in the first month and will be seeking a total of 720,277 to ensure it has enough to force a recall of the governor. There is no way to independently verify the group's signature count because the petitions will not become public unless they are turned in to state election authorities.

But if the numbers are accurate, that would mean United Wisconsin, working with the state Democratic Party, has collected the great majority of the 540,208 signatures they need with a month left to gather more. United Wisconsin launched the recall effort on Nov. 15 and has 60 days to gather the signatures, which are due Jan. 17.

The attempt to recall the Republican governor and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch was prompted, in part, by a law Walker signed this spring to end most collective bargaining for most public workers. Efforts to recall four Republican state senators are also under way, and a group is considering recalling Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar).

Graeme Zielinski, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said that the number of signatures to recall Kleefisch is similar to but slightly behind those to recall Walker. He said the number of signatures released Thursday reflects work by the organizers to remove invalid or duplicated signatures but couldn't say how many of those signatures had been removed.

"They've been vetted," Zielinski said.

Ben Sparks, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said the recall effort was a "blatant power grab" by Democrats designed to undo the governor's reforms.

"The simple truth is that Governor Walker was elected by an overwhelming majority of Wisconsin voters who were tired of the Democrats' job-killing agenda, and they have zero desire to go back to the failed policies of the past," he said.

GOP senators facing recall also reported their fundraising totals to state officials.

The campaign committee of Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) reported raising $189,932 since his last campaign finance report in July, bringing his total for the year to $375,282. Friends of Scott Fitzgerald reported spending $112,063 during that period, and said it had a cash balance of $280,269, making a challenge in his heavily Republican district even more difficult.

Sen. Pam Galloway (R-Wausau), reported raising $65,626 and had $83,602 cash on hand. She received $10,000 donations from three Schuette family donors: Thomas Schuette of Wausau, Jay Schuette of Sugar Grove, Ill., and R.J. Schuette of Wausau.

State senators normally can't raise more than $1,000 from a single contributor, but like the governor they can raise unlimited donations when facing a recall.

A campaign finance report for Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), filed Tuesday, showed $37,121 raised and $10,405 spent since his last report in July. He had $53,155 cash on hand - which included money raised previously.

The biggest individual donors to Wanggaard were Charles W. Johnson of Racine, who gave $5,000, bringing his total contributions for the year to $6,000; and Steven Suhr of Franklin, who gave $2,000. Both listed their occupations as retired.

No campaign finance report was available as of Thursday evening for Sen. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls), the fourth state senator against whom a recall effort was launched in November.