The 12 current members of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance have contributed over $385,000 to political candidates at the federal, state and local levels.
When compared to the political giving of the notoriously conservative Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the giving of the of the current WISTAX directors is even more conservative. WMC’s 2009 board of directors gave to Republicans and conservative candidates at about an 82 percent rate. The current WISTAX board of directors have given to Republicans and conservatives 92.8 percent of the time.
Members of the WISTAX board of directors and their spouses have donated $357,988 to Republicans and conservatives, compared to $27,775 to Democratic or liberal candidates.
The current members of the WISTAX board are also much more active givers than their counterparts at WMC. The average total giving for a member of the WMC board is $20,277; for the WISTAX directors, that amount climbs to $32,146.*
Visit the Current Board of Directors page to see the WISTAX Watch contribution report for each member of the WISTAX board.
Contributions from WISTAX board members by party and political ideology
Total contributions from current board members
* Berry has made no political contributions in the recent past, but his spouse has contributed a total of $2,175 to political candidates, $1,925 of which was given to Republican or conservative candidates, or 89 percent.
Contributions made during the board tenures of current board members
Contributions made in each year by current board members (current board-per year)
This graph shows the breakdown of contributions made each year by current board members. For example, the columns in 1998 represent contributions made in 1998 by current board members.
The following data and corresponding charts represent campaign contributions to candidates in the 2002 gubernatorial race. Contributions between 2000 and 2002, up until the day of the election, made to the two major party candidates, Scott McCallum (R) and Jim Doyle (D), are included in the analysis.
Total contributions from current board members
The following data and corresponding charts represent campaign contributions to candidates in the 2006 gubernatorial race. Contributions between 2005 and 2006, up until the day of the election, made to the two major party candidates, Mark Green (R) and Jim Doyle (D), are included in the analysis.
Total contributions from current board members
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Information compiled from the Wisconsin Campaign Finance Information System, the Federal Election Commission and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign database of campaign contributions. Contribution amounts include amounts donated by the individual and spouse.
* One Wisconsin Now recognizes this is a dubious statistic -- taking the total contributions and dividing by every single member. The average is certainly skewed by the overwhelming amounts donated by the more active givers of the WISTAX board. This is the same method WISTAX uses to arrive at the "Total Tax" number in its annual report. See the WISTAX report "Total Tax Fallacy" for more information about this dubious tactic and to see it used time and again by WISTAX to create an anti-tax environment to push its conservative agenda.
