Scott Walker amasses $4 million campaign war chest, dwarfing Dem rivals in Wisconsin governor's race

MADISON - Gov. Scott Walker reported Tuesday that he had raised $3.7 million in the last half of 2017 and had $4.2 million in cash, underlining the huge financial advantage he has over a fragmented field of Democratic challengers.

Walker's fundraising easily outpaced the more than $2 million raised by his Democratic challengers combined and the just over $1 million they had in cash. The governor fell short of the $5.1 million that he raised in the last half of 2013 and the $4.6 million in cash he had during the same point in his previous election campaign.

The numbers were still sobering for Democrats, however.

In addition to Walker's own campaign cash, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch had $1.4 million in cash and the state GOP had $2 million for a total of $7 million heading into 2018. Those totals were $2 million ahead of the 2013 numbers and made it clear that whichever Democrat wins the August primary, his or her campaign would find itself substantially outmatched in the money race.

"Our record of reform is resonating in every part of Wisconsin, and we’re ready to keep moving the state forward. We’re building the resilient grassroots campaign that we know will propel Wisconsin Republicans to victory in November," Walker said in a statement.

The Democrats' fundraising made clear that more than a half dozen of them will have enough money to keep campaigning, eliminating the possibility of one candidate quickly clearing the field or even sharply narrowing it.

Former state Democratic chairman Matt Flynn had the most cash on hand and came close to also raising the most cash after excluding the candidates' own money. Flynn announced his run Oct. 10 and raised $351,000, including a $40,000 personal loan, and has $305,000 in cash.

State Superintendent of Schools Tony Evers, who announced his run on Aug. 23, raised $312,000 without putting in any of his own money but has only $115,000 in cash.

Firefighter union president Mahlon Mitchell raised $310,000 after announcing his run Nov. 13 and has $242,000 in cash. In just 20 days into the race, former state Rep. Kelda Helen Roys raised $148,000, including a $96,000 personal loan, and has $151,000 on hand.

Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik launched his bid July 11 and raised $554,000 with $98,000 on hand, but $450,000 of that came from Gronik's personal wealth.

State Rep. Dana Wachs (D-Eau Claire) raised $514,500 since announcing Aug. 7 and has $163,200 in cash, his campaign said. But Wachs, a trial attorney, lent himself almost half the money, or $235,000.

Political activist Mike McCabe raised $104,000 but $25,000 of that came from loans from McCabe and his wife. He has just $21,000 in cash in spite of being in the race since September.

After announcing on Sept. 25, Sen. Kathleen Vinehout of Alma raised $83,000, including $15,000 in loans from herself and her husband, and had just $17,000 on hand.

For comparison, in January 2014 the sole serious Democratic challenger to Walker, former state Commerce Secretary Mary Burke, had raised nearly $1.8 million at this same point in that race, including $400,000 of her own wealth, and had $1.3 million on hand.

In the last half of 2001, Democrats Jim Doyle, Tom Barrett and Kathleen Falk raised a combined $1.4 million but had $2.9 million in the bank ahead of the 2002 elections.

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Collectively, this year's Democratic challengers brought in more money than Burke and the 2002 Democrats, but their fragmented field meant that none of them had anything like Burke's financial resources, let alone Walker's.

Joe Zepecki, a former campaign aide to Burke, said he was "encouraged" by the Democrats' numbers.

"This field, with no blessing from anyone nationally, has managed to raise more than (Burke)," he said.

Walker had an average contribution of $226 from 11,795 donors and raised $1.5 million, or 41%, from out-of-state donors.

Among the Democrats, Flynn had the largest average donation at $723. He was followed by Wachs at $177, Gronik at $112, Evers at $85 and McCabe at $82.

In the Democratic primary, Evers had by far the most contributors at 2,460 followed by Wachs with 923.

Of the Democrats, Gronik had the most out-of-state contributions at $56,000 — more than half his outside money — and was followed by Flynn, who had $46,000 from out of state.

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin entered the race for governor last week and so he doesn't need to report anything to state elections officials yet.

Over the weekend, Soglin said on WISN-TV's "UpFront with Mike Gousha" he planned to raise $20 million in his campaign for governor — a difficult if not impossible task. In July, Soglin's mayoral campaign reported raising only $27,000.

Also Tuesday, businessman Kurt Kober announced that he had raised more than $150,000 for his Democratic campaign for lieutenant governor, including more than $26,000 of his own money, but has only $25,000 in cash. Kober is running against former state Rep. Mandela Barnes of Milwaukee, who just announced his run last week.

Meanwhile, Kleefisch raised $302,000 for her lieutenant governor's campaign and had $1.4 million on hand. The state GOP raised $349,000 and had $1.2 million on hand.

The state Democratic Party hadn't reported its totals as of deadline.