Sen. Ron Johnson has the financial backing of Diane Hendricks and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, whose Wisconsin-based businesses made them billionaires.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Sen. Ron Johnson may be a polarizing figure in Washington, but he has managed to please a couple of key people in his home state, Wisconsin. Diane Hendricks, a Wisconsin native and the richest self-made woman in America, has given $6.5 million to a super PAC backing Johnson. Meanwhile, Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, founders of Wisconsin-based packaging company Uline, have chipped in over $4 million to several groups supporting the senator.
The donations mostly flowed through a super PAC called Wisconsin Truth PAC. Hendricks gave $6.5 million to the outfit, and the Uihleins kicked in $3.5 million. The PAC in turn spent $9.2 million on ads supporting Johnson, including almost $3.6 million in July alone.
In addition, the Uihleins cut checks totaling $292,100 to Ron Johnson Victory, a joint fundraising committee that supports Johnson’s campaign and other Republican groups. Richard Uihlein funneled another $2.2 million to Americas PAC, a super PAC he has almost single-handedly bankrolled that has spent $284,000 on the race.
Johnson has gotten more support from another famous billionaire in the Heartland. Kansas-based Koch Industries, led by Charles Koch, has given $6.5 million to another super PAC supporting Johnson, Americans for Prosperity Action. That group spent over $2.8 million supporting Johnson and gave him a 100% on its scorecard that grades votes on key legislation. “Sen. Johnson’s strong track record on fiscal responsibility and his opposition to regulatory overreach earned this endorsement,” Americans for Prosperity Action wrote in a May press release.
The Uihleins, Koch Industries and Hendricks are all big-time donors nationally. This cycle, Richard Uihlein has funded ads knocking Democrats running for Senate in Georgia, Nevada and New Hampshire. Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, meanwhile, has backed Republican Senate candidates in Missouri, North Carolina, Utah and Pennsylvania. Hendricks has also donated to other big conservative PACs, including the GOP’s official congressional fundraising entities, a group called Club for Growth Action and a Trump-affiliated organization named Make America Great Again, Again!
In Wisconsin, the billionaire backers may help Johnson maintain his cash advantage over his presumptive Democratic opponent, Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes. Johnson’s official campaign committee had raised $17 million as of July 20, compared to Barnes’ $7 million. But Barnes’ campaign said it raised more than $1 million in the last week of July, when his Democratic competitors dropped out, making him the presumptive nominee.
Barnes may get more firepower soon. Senate Majority PAC, a pro-Democratic super PAC with plenty of billionaire donors, has already spent $4.6 million on the Wisconsin senate race, including $3.5 million in just the last month. A spokesperson for the group said it has reserved a total of $15 million worth of ads in the state.