Tiffany’s Campaign is Powered by Billionaires
This letter to the editor, by Laurie Harmon, appeared in the Hudson Star Observer on October 22, 2026.
Why would three billionaires give $27.6 million to fuel Wisconsin’s governor race? Answer: a big return on their investment. Do we really want to be the reason three billionaires get even richer while so many of us in Wisconsin are struggling to access and pay for healthcare, groceries, gas and other vital goods and services? I don’t, and I certainly don’t believe the lie that when billionaires make money, it trickles down to everyday Americans.
Campaign laws are supposed to prevent special interest donors from monopolizing campaign funding, but they found the loophole. Even though Wisconsin law says an individual can give a candidate for governor no more than $20,000, donors can still give unlimited sums to state parties, which in turn can pass that money along to candidates.
Those three billionaires, Diane Hendricks, Richard Uihlein and Elizabeth Uihlein, donated $27.6 million to the Republican Party of Wisconsin in the latest reporting period. The party then transferred $24.2 million to Tom Tiffany’s gubernatorial campaign, 92% of all the money he raised in that period. Billionaires spend their money for one reason: to make more money, and they are hoping their investment will pay off on the backs of hardworking Wisconsinites like you and me. The roughly $2 million that came from other donors will mean little to Tiffany because his campaign is not powered by the people and does not have Wisconsinites’ best interests at heart.
David Crowley, on the other hand, raised $10.2 million over the same period, with more than $6 million coming from individual donors. We care about what Wisconsin wants, not what big business and corporate greed demand. Elections shouldn’t depend on who has the most money. Instead, they should best represent the people.
Wisconsin has a choice on Nov. 3. Only one candidate, David Crowley, will watch out for Wisconsin’s interests. Tom Tiffany, however, has three billionaires expecting him to look out for their interests first. Wisconsin’s governor should answer to Wisconsin’s people. Vote like it matters, because it truly does.