Politics & Government

Gov. Scott Walker Crushes Tom Barrett in Fundraising Here

Incumbent Republican governor takes in nearly $15,000 in campaign contributions from residents in Port Washington and Saukville, while his Democratic opponent nets about $2,400.

Whether Gov. Scott Walker or Democrat Tom Barrett will win — or carry Port Washington and Saukville for that matter — won't be known for sure until all the ballots are counted Tuesday night.

What is known, however, is that when it comes to campaign contributions, the incumbent Republican governor has outraised the Milwaukee mayor by a more than 6-to-1 margin in the two communities.

A Patch analysis of campaign finance reports filed last week with the state Government Accountability Board shows that Walker has raised $10,394 in Port and $4,560 in Saukville — a total of $14,954.

Find out what's happening in Port Washington-Saukvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

By comparison, Barrett took in $2,079 from Port Washington and $364 from Saukville — a total of $2,443 — since he launched his candidacy in March, campaign finance reports show.

See who is donating to Barrett and Walker with of campaign contributions

Find out what's happening in Port Washington-Saukvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Patch analysis looked at more than 196,000 individual contributions reported to the state — more than 152,000 records for Walker and more than 44,000 for Barrett. Those contributions totaled $16.9 million for the governor and $3.4 million for his challenger.

Walker's biggest donors in Port Washington are Jeffrey and Rose Morgan, who contributed $1,500. Jeffrey Morgan is an executive with Allied Insulation Supply Co. Other major Walker contributors include: Mary C. Stitt, $1,000; Joe N. Bichler, $500; and Shirli A. Flack, $500.

In Port Washington, nobody gave Barrett more than $350, campaign finance reports show. His top donors were: Leigh Ullman, $350; Elaine Harvey, $150; Barbara M. Wooten, $100; Irene Fiacchino-Symes, $100; and June Eastvold, $100.

The Patch analysis looked at individual contributions only. Money the two candidates received from political action committees and other outside groups were not included in the tally.

Walker's edge over Barrett in contributions can be found in the rest of the Milwaukee-area suburbs, according to the Patch analysis.

In all, Walker raised more than $822,000 in the 18 communities in the Patch coverage area, while Barrett took in about $259,000 in those places.

The community where residents gave the most to Walker was Waukesha, where there were more than $319,000 in donations. Barrett fared the best in Shorewood, where he took in about $60,000.

The only communities where Barrett raised more cash than Walker were Shorewood and Whitefish Bay.

Overall, 75 percent of the individual contributions to Barrett came from Wisconsin — about $2.55 million. After Wisconsin, Barrett took in about $152,000 from California and $134,000 from Illinois — each making up 4 percent of his total donations.

About 31 percent of Walker's total individual contributions were from Wisconsin — roughly $5.26 million. The governor received $1.36 million from Florida (8 percent of his total donations) and $1.23 million from California.

The $20 million or so raised by Walker and Barrett this year that has been spent so far in Wisconsin's heated recall election, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

According to the watchdog group, total spending is nearly double the record for a statewide race: $37.4 million set during the 2010 gubernatorial race, which was also between Walker and Barrett.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Port Washington-Saukville