While Badger State voters have rejected “Zuckbucks” in Wisconsin elections, campaign finance figures show big, outside money in local, so-called nonpartisan races is here to stay.
That’s particularly true of the deep-pocketed Democrat Party of Wisconsin, which continues to outraise the Wisconsin GOP by massive amounts.
A review of campaign finance records shows the DPW targeted some 15 public school districts statewide, delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars in in-kind contributions to help elect leftist candidates. The donations mainly cover the costs of mailers and other supporting efforts.
In the Waukesha School District alone, arguably the epicenter of Wisconsin’s battle over pre-K-12 education, the party had recorded north of $43,000 in in-kind contributions for Stephanie Fidlin and Angelique Byrne — two of five school board candidates running for three seats in Tuesday’s election. DPW listed in its campaign finance report three separate significant contributions totaling $21,715.11 for each of the candidates.
As The Federalist reported last week, conservative school board members in Waukesha spearheaded a letter condemning Wisconsin’s far-left public schools chief Jill Underly for campaigning for the liberal candidates and injecting herself in what is supposed to be a nonpartisan election.
“That the DPI, through its highest ranking officer, would actively meddle in local elections and rebuke local school board members, should be viewed as a blatant conflict of interest that usurps the will of the electorate and runs afoul of local control,” wrote Waukesha School Board President Kelly Piacsek and board Vice President Anthony Zenobia in the public
