Russell Dana Feingold is an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S. Senate seat he had previously occupied. From 1983 to 1993, he was a Wisconsin State Senator representing the 27th District.
America Votes is a 501(c)(4) organization that aims "to coordinate and promote progressive issues." America Votes leads national and state-based coalitions to advance progressive policies and increase voter turnout for Democratic Party candidates.
Scott Kevin Walker is an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Milwaukee County executive from 2002 to 2010.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin.
Capital Research Center (CRC) is an American conservative 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. Its stated purpose is "to study non-profit organizations, with a special focus on reviving the American traditions of charity, philanthropy, and voluntarism." According to The Washington Post, it also discourages donations by corporations and non-profits supporting what it sees as liberal or anti-business policies. It monitors the giving of major liberal donors in the U.S.
The Democracy Alliance is a network of progressive megadonors who coordinate their political donations to groups that the Alliance has endorsed. Since its founding in 2005, the Democracy Alliance has given more than $1 billion to liberal organizations and political campaigns. According to The New York Times, the group "channels money from megadonors, whom the group keeps anonymous, to organizations it believes will advance a progressive agenda." It has been described by Politico as "the country's most powerful liberal donor club".
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law is a liberal or progressive nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. The Brennan Center advocates for public policy positions including raising the minimum wage, opposing voter ID laws, and calling for public funding of elections. The organization opposed the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v. FEC, which held that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent political expenditures by nonprofits.
Annette Kingsland Ziegler is an American jurist serving as chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court since May 2021. She has been a member of the court since 2007, and is generally regarded as part of its conservative wing. Ziegler served as a Wisconsin circuit court judge in Washington County from 1997 to 2007.
Robin Joseph Vos is an American businessman and Republican politician and the 79th speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, serving in that role since 2013. He has been a member of the Assembly since 2005, representing most of the southern half of Racine County. Vos is also president of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org.
In politics, particularly the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public.
The 2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election was a special election to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. It resulted in voters re-electing incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker over the Democratic candidate Tom Barrett by a larger margin than in 2010 when Walker also faced Barrett. Recall organizers opposed Walker's agenda, particularly his limiting of collective bargaining rights for state employees and they collected over 900,000 signatures to initiate the recall election process. There was also a recall for Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. She won her race, defeating Democrat Mahlon Mitchell, making her the first lieutenant governor to run in and survive a recall.
Diane Marie Hendricks is an American billionaire, businesswoman, and film producer from Wisconsin. She is the widow of the late businessman Ken Hendricks.
Richard Ellis Uihlein and Elizabeth Uihlein are American billionaire businesspeople, founders of Uline and conservative donors. Richard is also an heir to the Schlitz brewing fortune.
Issue One is an American nonprofit organization that seeks to reduce the role of money in politics.> It aims to increase public awareness of what it views as problems within the present campaign finance system, and to reduce the influence of money in politics through enactment of campaign finance reform.
Brian Keith Hagedorn is an American lawyer and a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, serving since 2019. Prior to his election to the supreme court, he served four years as a judge on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.
Daniel Kelly is an American attorney and former judge who served as a Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice from August 1, 2016, through July 31, 2020.
Arabella Advisors is a Washington, D.C.-based for-profit consulting company that advises left-leaning donors and nonprofits about where to give money and serves as the hub of a politically liberal "dark money" network. It was founded by former Clinton administration appointee Eric Kessler. The Arabella network spent nearly $1.2 billion in 2020 and raised $1.6 billion that same year. In 2022, Arabella raised $1.3 billion and spent $900 million.
The Sixteen Thirty Fund is a hub of undisclosed political spending on the American Left. The group serves as a fiscal sponsor for other organizations, incubating and financing various progressive projects. According to The New York Times, "The Sixteen Thirty is part of a broader network of progressive nonprofits that donors use to fill specific spaces on the political chessboard." The Sixteen Thirty Fund is administered by Arabella Advisors, a for-profit consulting firm.
The 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election was held on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, to elect a justice to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a ten-year term. Milwaukee County circuit judge Janet Protasiewicz defeated former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Daniel Kelly, effectively flipping the ideological balance of the court from a conservative to liberal majority.
