WOOD COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF WISCONSIN

Don't Let Billionaires
Buy Our Government

Three billionaires are bankrolling Tom Tiffany's run for governor.
This November, Wisconsin decides whether they get to buy it.

$15.6M
Raised by Tom Tiffany's campaign for governor, as of August 2026
90%+
Of Tiffany's party's war chest came from just two billionaire families
$11.3M
Spent by a Uihlein-funded PAC to boost Tiffany and attack David Crowley
$9.3M
Spent by one out-of-state dark-money group targeting David Crowley
FOLLOW THE MONEY

Two different ways to run for governor

One campaign is funded by Wisconsin families and the workers who show up for them. The other is funded by three billionaires and a dark-money machine that won't say who's writing the checks.

DAVID CROWLEY: GRASSROOTS-FUNDED
TOM TIFFANY: BILLIONAIRE-FUNDED
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Powered by working people
Crowley reported raising about $1.4 million, built on individual donors and the support of Wisconsin workers.
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Bankrolled by three billionaires
Of the $15.6 million Tiffany's campaign has raised, more than 90% of the money funneled through the Republican Party of Wisconsin came from just two donors: Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein and Diane Hendricks.
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Capped, transparent giving
Direct donations to a candidate are capped at $20,000 per person under Wisconsin law — David Crowley has built a campaign with individual donors.
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A loophole Tiffany voted for
A 2015 law — passed with Tiffany's own vote in the state Legislature — allows unlimited donations to state parties, which then funnel the money to favored candidates. The Republican Party of Wisconsin has raised over $24 million since July 2025, with about $23 million of it from the Uihleins and Hendricks alone.
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Answers to Wisconsin
Crowley is Milwaukee County Executive — a Wisconsinite who has to face voters, not a network of out-of-state donors.
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A dark-money surge with no name on it
A brand-new group, First Amendment LLC, filed its first campaign finance report in September 2026 reporting nearly $13 million in spending against Wisconsin Democrats — $9.3 million of it aimed at defeating Crowley alone. As an "express advocacy" group, it isn't required to disclose its donors.
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One vote, not one wallet
No single donor can buy a Crowley win. Every dollar is capped, and it takes thousands of Wisconsinites chipping in to compete.
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Two billionaires, one governor
Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein (Uline Corp., Illinois) and Diane Hendricks (ABC Supply, Beloit — the nation's richest self-made woman, net worth $22.3 billion) are two of the largest Republican donors in the country. A PAC funded largely by Uihlein has separately spent $11.3 million boosting Tiffany and attacking Crowley.
A THIRD BILLIONAIRE, A FIFTY-YEAR AGENDA

Meet the Wichita billionaire funding the ground game

If a glossy postcard telling you to "Vote Tom Tiffany for Governor" has shown up in your mailbox, here's whose money is behind it.

Americans for Prosperity is on the ground for Tiffany
AFP-Wisconsin has endorsed Tiffany, launched statewide digital and video ads backing his campaign, sent volunteers door-knocking on his behalf, and mailed postcards urging voters to elect him.
Founded and chaired by Charles Koch
Americans for Prosperity was built by the Koch family and is chaired today by Charles Koch, the Wichita, Kansas industrialist behind Koch Industries, one of the largest private companies in America.
A fifty-year campaign against Social Security
In 1977, Koch turned his foundation into the Cato Institute, which by 1983 was publishing strategy papers on waging what it called "guerrilla warfare" against Social Security. Koch-funded alumni later led the push to privatize it under President George W. Bush.
WHAT THEY'RE BUYING

Billionaires don't spend $30 million on a governor's race for nothing

They're protecting the same billionaire-first policies already raising costs on Wisconsin families right now.

$1,700–$4,700
Added yearly household cost from Republican tariffs (Yale Budget Lab)
9,500
Wisconsin manufacturing jobs lost, January 2025–January 2026
53%
Drop in Wisconsin ag exports to China since the trade war began
17%
Cut to UW-Madison's federal research funding in 2025
THE DETAILS

The record, documented

Every figure below is drawn from campaign finance reports and Wisconsin-based reporting.

Who's funding Tiffany
Of the roughly $15.6 million Tiffany's campaign has raised as of August 2026, more than $10 million came through the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans. Over 90% of the party's haul — about $23 million of $24 million — came from just two donors: Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein and Diane Hendricks.
The billionaires, by name
Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein own Pleasant Prairie-based Uline Corp. and live in Illinois; they're considered two of the wealthiest Republican donors in the country. Diane Hendricks co-founded Beloit-based ABC Supply and was named the richest self-made woman in America for the ninth year running, with a 2026 net worth of $22.3 billion.
The PAC attacking Crowley
Restoration of America PAC, funded largely by Richard Uihlein, has reported spending about $11.3 million to boost Tiffany and attack Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley — one of several conservative groups spending heavily on the race.
A new dark-money group emerges
Virginia-based First Amendment LLC filed its first campaign finance report in September 2026, disclosing nearly $13 million in spending against Wisconsin Democrats — including $9.3 million against Crowley and about $3.7 million against Democrats in state Assembly and Senate races. As an express-advocacy group, it isn't required to name its donors.
A loophole Tiffany voted for
A 2015 law authored by Republicans and signed by then-Gov. Scott Walker allows unlimited individual contributions to state political parties, which can then funnel the money to favored candidates. Tiffany was in the state Legislature at the time and voted for it, along with nearly every other Republican lawmaker.
AFP's ground game for Tiffany
Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin endorsed Tiffany in February 2026, calling him the candidate to make Wisconsin "more affordable." Since then, AFP-WI has run statewide digital and video ad buys, organized volunteer canvassing, and sent direct-mail postcards on his behalf.
The billionaire behind AFP
Americans for Prosperity was built by the Koch family and is chaired today by Charles Koch of Wichita, Kansas. In 1977 Koch turned his foundation into the Cato Institute, which by 1983 was publishing strategy papers describing "guerrilla warfare" against Social Security — part of a campaign against programs for working and retired Americans that Koch-backed groups have waged for roughly fifty years.
Crowley's grassroots campaign
Crowley, who won a crowded Democratic primary, reported raising about $1.4 million as of August 2026 — built on support from individual donors and Wisconsin workers.
THIS NOVEMBER

Wisconsin decides who the governor answers to

Not billionaires. Not out-of-state dark money. You.

Sources
1. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — 3 billionaires put Tom Tiffany in a big cash lead over David Crowley
2. Wisconsin Public Radio — New dark money GOP group dominates Wisconsin political spending
3. Forbes — Diane Hendricks, America's richest self-made woman (as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
4. Yale Budget Lab — Tracking the Economic Effects of Tariffs
5. Wisconsin Public Radio — Wisconsin lost thousands of manufacturing jobs in 2025
6. Wisconsin Public Radio — UW–Madison saw a 17 percent cut to federal research funds
7. Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin — endorsement of Tom Tiffany; ad campaign coverage, State Affairs Pro
8. The Nation — Charles Koch's decades-long campaign against Social Security
9. Ballotpedia — Charles Koch biography