Roy Moore backer Dick Uihlein has bankrolled Kevin Nicholson's campaign and outside groups with more than $15 million; and Uihlein-funded Club for Growth has brought in more than 28% of Nicholson's fundraising to-date.

MADISON -- The Democratic Party of Wisconsin today called on GOP Senate candidate and out-of-state billionaire puppet Kevin Nicholson to immediately cut ties with and reject the financial backing of his most prolific megadonor, Illinois billionaire Dick Uihlein, who has poured millions into supporting Nicholson's campaign and funding the numerous out-of-state special interest groups boosting his candidacy, while also secretly funding bigot and alleged sexual predator Roy Moore's Senate run in Alabama.

Moore stands accused of sexual assault and harassment by numerous, credible women who have bravely come forward to say that Moore pursued relationships with them when he was an adult and they were in their young teens. The allegations against Moore are so damning that twenty-five Republican Senators have now disavowed Moore's candidacy. Nevertheless, Uihlein has continued to support and finance Moore's super PAC, while Nicholson continues to tout Uihlein’s support and “friendship” on the campaign trail.

Uihlein has to-date funded at least seven Nicholson-supporting organizations with $15 million, and he is the sole funder of Solutions for Wisconsin, a pro-Nicholson super PAC to which Uihlein has to-date donated at least $3.5 million. Just yesterday, it was announced that two key Nicholson campaign aides are transitioning to the Uihlein-funded Solutions for Wisconsin.

Nicholson, for his part, continues to praise Uihlein on the campaign trail. Earlier this month, he called Uihlein and Uihlein-funded corporate special interest group Club for Growth (which bundled over 28% of Nicholson's Q3 fundraising) "the kind of friends you want." And in March of this year, Nicholson gushed that he was "honored and humbled" to have Uihlein's support (and that of his super PAC Solutions for Wisconsin).

“Wisconsinites don’t want any “solutions” that involve an out-of-state billionaire-controlled candidate like Kevin Nicholson who has decided to accept Illinois billionaire Dick Uihlein’s support and millions and align himself with Roy Moore and his values,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning. “Kevin Nicholson needs to tell Wisconsinites why he's accepting millions from Roy Moore’s biggest financial supporter and turning his back on Wisconsin values."

Illinois billionaire Dick Uihlein has given $100,000 in support of Moore -- and over $15 million to 7 groups supporting Kevin Nicholson. Nicholson's campaign is currently running ads promoting his support from another prolific Roy Moore defender, Steve Bannon.

MADISON -- A new bombshell report from The Daily Beast reveals that out-of-state billionaire puppet Kevin Nicholson's biggest backer, Illinois CEO Dick Uihlein, has similarly been secretly bankrolling Alabama Senate candidate and alleged serial sexual predator Roy Moore. 

A billionaire from Illinois, Uihlein has to-date deployed at least $15 million across 7 groups that have lined up to support Kevin Nicholson's candidacy. Uihlein has invested over $3.5 million alone in Solutions for Wisconsin, a group solely dedicated to electing Nicholson.

Brad Bainum, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson for the 2018 Senate race, issued the following statement on the latest high-profile Kevin Nicholson supporter backing Roy Moore:

"The same out-of-state billionaire who's funneling money into alleged serial sexual predator Roy Moore's candidacy in Alabama is also pouring millions into buying Kevin Nicholson a U.S. Senate seat here in Wisconsin. Wisconsinites should be concerned that Nicholson is in joint company with Roy Moore. And they should be worried that Kevin Nicholson is totally controlled by an out-of-state billionaire backer who's only qualification for picking candidates to bankroll is that they promise to help him get rich at the expense of working families.

"We also now know why Kevin Nicholson waited so long to only half-heartedly distance himself from Roy Moore: it wasn't just Nicholson's out-of-state boss Steve Bannon pressuring him to support Moore -- Nicholson's top backer, Illinois CEO Dick Uihlein, is funding Moore's candidacy, too."

Wisconsin Governor to be featured at Turning Point USA at its Student Action Summit in December.

MADISON -- Gov. Scott Walker is a confirmed speaker for the controversial, far-right group Turning Point USA at its Student Action Summit in December, alongside noted conspiracy theorists, fake news propagators and white supremacists.

Walker, who has spent much of his second term neglecting Wisconsin while making a bid for the national conservative spotlight, will be appearing alongside a controversial slate of speakers that has been announced to include Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka, Dinesh D’Souza, Joe Walsh and Donald Trump Jr.

The following is a statement from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning on his choice to be featured at this controversial event taking place in Florida next month, Dec. 19 - 22.

“It is shocking to most Wisconsinites how much time Gov. Scott Walker spends outside of our state promoting people and groups whose values are in direct conflict with everything Wisconsin stands for: fairness, opportunity, community and responsibility.

"Instead of addressing Wisconsin’s needs, Walker is raising money and rallying Tea Party crowds, sharing events with white supremacists, advocates of political violence, fake-news conspiracy theorists and ring-wing extremists. Walker should be honest about his role at these national events because it is a far cry from the act he puts on in his carefully orchestrated, invitation-only Wisconsin appearances."

Nonpartisan group reports on current issues.

MADISON - Congratulations to the League of Women Voters of Sheboygan County, which recently received full recognition as a League! Go to their Facebook page to see recent and upcoming events for this dynamic group.

If you contacted your state legislators about bills the League was following in the November legislative floor sessions, thank you! Here is a roundup of what happened to the bills and what the next step, if any, is for each proposal. And thanks to our intern Eliana Locke for preparing this resource.

After suffering a 28% staffing reduction in the state budget, the Wisconsin Elections Commission will consider a proposal on Monday to ask the legislature for funding for three positions devoted to election cybersecurity and voter education. Read the League's statement of support.

Special elections have been scheduled to fill vacancies in 3 legislative districts:

• Senate District 10 (parts of Burnett, Polk, St. Croix, Pierce and Dunn counties)
• Assembly District 66 (within the City of Racine)
• Assembly District 58 (within Washington County).

If there is a Primary Election for any of these districts, it will take place December 19. The final Election will be on January 16. For more details, click here and scroll down to the Special Election announcements in the center column. In each announcement, you can click on “attachments” for a list of candidates and more information.

Mega rich behind dark money ads in Senate race would gain. Nicholson donor Dick Uihlein could save up to $340,000,000; Vukmir donor Diane Hendricks would get a $867,000,000 cut.

MADISON - Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its Leah Vukmir and Kevin Nicholson-endorsed version of the #GOPTaxScam that would increase taxes on millions on middle-class families -- nearly half of middle-class families, to be exact -- while slashing corporate tax rates and taxes for the richest Americans.

Among other things, the House GOP tax plan completely eliminates the estate tax -- the tax that's levied on "property (cash, real estate, stock, or other assets) transferred from deceased persons to their heirs," but only where the property value exceeds $5.49 million per individual. The estate tax simply doesn't impact most Americans -- and eliminating it only benefits the super-wealthy, like Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir's megadonors (take it from a Wisconsin farmer). 

Here's a look at how Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir's respective billionaire donors would be rewarded by the House GOP bill's elimination of the estate tax (assuming they would at-present be taxed at the 17% effective rate):

• Illinois billionaire Dick Uihlein has already invested a whopping $15 million in groups backing out-of-state billionaire puppet Kevin Nicholson, but that's just a drop in the bucket compared to the benefits Uihlein would reap under the tax cuts Nicholson wants to gift Uihlein in return:
  
  Estimated Net Worth: $700,000,000 - $2,000,000,000
  Estimated Cut From Estate Tax Repeal: $119,000,000 - $340,000,000
• Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks is campaign finance co-chair for right-wing state Senator Leah Vukmir, who reportedly kicked off her campaign with "a private audience with [the] influential billionaire." We don't know everything Vukmir has promised Hendricks, but is there any way tax cuts for the wealthy weren't discussed? Here's how Hendricks would benefit from the estate tax repeal Vukmir is calling for:
  
  Estimated Net Worth: $5,100,000,000
  Estimated Cut From Estate Tax Repeal: $867,000,000

"Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir are calling for a massive transfer of wealth to their biggest donors, and they want hardworking Wisconsinites to pay for it," said Brad Bainum, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson for the 2018 Senate race. "It's clear what's happening here: Nicholson and Vukmir aren't looking out for Wisconsin working families -- their only concern is rewarding their corporate special interest big donors."

Slogan is a deceptive cover-up of government run by Republican donors.

MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Matt Flynn today made the following statement highlighting the way Scott Walker’s dismal record contrasts with Walker’s new campaign slogan, “Moving Wisconsin Forward.”

Flynn said, “Since the day I announced my candidacy for governor, I have called my candidacy a campaign for ‘moving Wisconsin Forward again.’ Apparently, this message is so appealing that the incumbent governor decided to borrow the slogan for himself. The only difference is he leaves out the crucial word, ‘again.’

“Walker removed ‘again’ to leave voters with the impression that he has been moving Wisconsin forward all along. Wisconsin voters know better. Since he first took office in 2011, he has consistently moved Wisconsin backwards.

“Walker is simply a policy mule for a Republican donor cartel. These donors want to socialize all their risk, privatize any profits, and transfer the public assets of Wisconsin into their pockets. Here are a few of their objectives which Walker has obeyed:

• Walker drove down wages by passing Act 10, Right to Work, and by repealing prevailing wage.
• He turned down more than $800 million in train money and more than $500 million in Medicaid money.
• He is turning over almost $3 billion in taxpayer cash to a Chinese company and exempting them from clean water regulations that American companies such as Miller Brewing and Harley-Davidson have to obey.
• He has cut funding to the University of Wisconsin System, eliminated statutory tenure, and insulted the professors by calling their opposition ‘a collective groan,’ and falsely stating they were more interested in themselves than in their students.
• He has permitted industry to write their own environmental permits, polluting our water.
• He permitted a foreign private corporation to force private Wisconsin property owners to give up their property under the doctrine of eminent domain, which had previously been reserved for state purposes.
• He broke up one of the best government accountability agencies in the world and created a giant slush fund for his campaign donors in the form of the WEDC.
• He led the effort to add Wisconsin to the call for a Constitutional Convention that will amend the United States Constitution to permit Republican donors to steal public assets well into the future.

“This atrocious record is Walker’s idea of ‘moving Wisconsin forward.’ He has turned Wisconsin through a gerrymandered legislature into a donor occupation group. It’s time for a new governor.

“Forward has been Wisconsin’s state motto since admission to the union, and it accurately captures most of our state’s progressive history. We gave America kindergarten, Earth Day, workers’ compensation insurance, and other forward-thinking ideas. Wisconsin has been called the birthplace of progressivism.

“Scott Walker’s time as governor has repealed or damaged almost every aspect of Wisconsin progressivism. His time is up. Wisconsin is ready for change.”

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Matt Flynn is a Navy veteran, attorney, and former Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For additional information, visit www.ForwardWithFlynn.com.

According to uncovered secret agenda, Schimel at Mar-a-Lago with elite donors. DPW Chair demands Schimel come clean with Wisconsinites on his role.

MADISON - Last weekend, according to an agenda obtained by MapLight, Brad Schimel appears to have attended an opulent retreat and fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago that the Republican Attorney’s General Association (RAGA) did its best to hide. 

The weekend’s activities included: a dinner with $125,000-per-year donors to the RAGA, golf tournaments, catamaran tours and numerous fundraisers. Most alarmingly, on the agenda, was a panel dubiously titled “Rule of Law Restoration Update: 370 Days since the election of President Trump.”

Secrecy for the event was a top priority, as it was not made public and the agenda notes that “cell phone use and picture taking is prohibited in all areas.”

“These lavish, secretive retreats making policy with rich donors behind closed doors are exactly why Wisconsinites have lost their faith in partisan politicians like Brad Schimel,’ said Martha Laning, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “He should disclose to Wisconsinites what plans and promises he made at this event, especially to any regular RAGA donors like Koch Industries and major opioid manufacturers that have already done so much to harm to the people of Wisconsin. 

“Schimel needs to immediately disclose if he attended, and if so, disclose if he met with representatives of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioids that Schimel claims he's investigating. With donors like these, it’s no wonder Schimel uses his DOJ to disenfranchise voters, rob people of their health care and place the needs of big business over those of hard-working Wisconsinites. The people of our state deserve an Attorney General who puts them first, and it’s clear Brad Schimel does not.”

To qualify, students would need to be Wisconsin residents and enrolled in school full-time. Evers is also pledging to include the “Higher Ed, Lower Debt” proposal in his first budget as Governor to help over 800,000 Wisconsinites to refinance their student loans.

MADISON – Tony Evers, State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Democratic candidate for Governor is announcing his plan to provide students at Wisconsin’s 13 two-year UW College campuses and online program with a 50 percent cut in tuition, if elected Governor in 2018. To qualify for the tuition reduction, students would need to be Wisconsin residents and enrolled in school full-time.

Since 2010, our UW Colleges, which primarily serve out-state communities from Baraboo to Barron County and Washington County to Wood County, have suffered a 32 percent decline in enrollment. Over 60 percent of new freshmen enrolling at UW Colleges in 2016-17 were first-generation college students, with 1 out of 5 students being 24 years old or older.

“As the state that created Kindergarten in the 1850’s and the Wisconsin Idea in the 1900’s, we have a strong tradition of public education -- one that has been eroded under Governor Walker’s leadership. This is a meaningful first step toward restoring that tradition. In Walker’s stagnant economy, it’s harder than ever for folks to make ends meet with just a high school diploma. Our two-year campuses play a pivotal role in helping students stay close to home while getting the skills they need to get good-paying jobs. This proposal will help strengthen our UW Colleges, create a better-trained workforce and make college more accessible to all Wisconsinites,” Evers said.

Evers’ proposal would provide full-time students with a 50 percent tuition cut in their freshmen and sophomore years at two-year colleges, where annual tuition is currently $4,750. The proposal is expected to cost less than $20 million a year and would provide substantial financial relief to thousands of Wisconsinites.

“As the saying goes, budgets are about priorities. Scott Walker and legislative Republicans are fine with giving 11 multimillionaires $22 million in tax breaks, without requiring them to create a single job. I believe we can spend that money better. Instead of helping millionaires get richer, we can use this money to help make college a reality for thousands of Wisconsinites. We must invest in the people and communities of this state to move Wisconsin forward again,” Evers said.

Evers is also pledging to include the “Higher Ed, Lower Debt” proposal in his first budget as Governor, which would allow over 800,000 Wisconsinites to refinance their student loans like a home mortgage. Thanks to Walker’s policies, Wisconsin now ranks among the five worst states in the nation for percentage of college graduates with student loan debt. Seventy percent of the class of 2015 in Wisconsin is graduating with debt, averaging nearly $30,000 per student. “Our young people should not be forced to deal with a mountain of debt just as they are starting to build careers and families,” Evers said. “We simply must make this common-sense investment in the next generation of leaders,” Evers concluded.

“I support you and will work for you” says Milwaukee area Congresswoman.

MILWAUKEE - Congresswoman Gwen Moore endorsed Mahlon Mitchell’s candidacy for Governor Monday, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to endorse in the Democratic primary for Governor.

Her son, Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde read the following statement from Congresswoman Moore at Mitchell’s Milwaukee event:

“I’m sorry that I am unable to join you in person at your announcement of your candidacy for Governor.

“I am so proud of you, and I am so glad that I reached out to you before any of the current candidates announced. As I survey the field forming I am even more impressed with your cognitive and emotional intelligence, your Statewide Leadership experience, your public policy acumen and service. I think you would be a great Governor.

“I support you, and will work for you.”

Candidate for Governor holds Town Hall at Atlas Coffee Mill, 425 West Water Street, Appleton beginning at 6pm Tuesday, November 14.

APPLETON, WI - Mike McCabe's Principle over Party campaign continues to make its way around the state, this time focusing on the Fox River Valley. Stops on Tuesday include visits to local small businesses and a Town Hall at Atlas Coffee Mill (425 West Water Street, Appleton) beginning at 6pm Tuesday, November 14.

The People Powered Campaign has been making its way across the state since its kick-off in early September. Recently Mike McCabe was in Superior, Ashland, Eau Claire, and River Falls just to name a few stops. Regardless of the location, Mike's message remains the same.

“There is risk involved in taking this stand against the influence of big money. But there is an even greater risk if everyone keeps going along with the corrupt way election campaigns are regularly being funded. If big money rules again in the next election for governor, some candidate will win but the people will lose,” McCabe said.

In 1995 McCabe was a founding member of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group that specializes in tracking the money in state elections and works to make people matter more than money in politics. He led the group for 15 years as its director and during that time exposed money’s influence and called out wrongdoing by state officials, earning a reputation as a leading government whistle blower and one of the nation’s best political money trackers.

Before the Democracy Campaign came along, the only way to see who was donating to elected officials and candidates for office was to travel to the old state Elections Board office in Madison and personally examine mountains of paper reports. The Democracy Campaign entered all of the information on those reports into an electronic database and published it online, making it vastly easier to follow the money in Wisconsin politics. For its efforts under Mike’s leadership, the Democracy Campaign was named the Citizen Openness Advocate of the Year in 2012 by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and the state chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

He continued, "I am running for governor for one reason and one reason only. To do everything I can to get our government working for all of us and not just a privileged few."

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For more information on the campaign visit: GovernorBlueJeans.com .