In Wisconsin politics, state-level candidates and PACs spent $34.71 million between Jan. 1, 2021, and Mar. 31, 2022. More than $6.01 million or 17.30 percent of all campaign finance expenditures went to the 10 payees at the top of the list.
A payee is an entity or individual who has received money from a campaign account. Candidates and PACs must report campaign expenditures, including payments to vendors, donations to other campaign accounts, and bank transfers, to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.
Top 10 Wisconsin payees (1/1/2021 – 3/21/22)
Here are the top 10 recipients of Wisconsin campaign money in the 2022 election cycle, as of the most recent reports.
| Rank | Payee Name | Total Received |
| 1. | Strother Nuckels Strategies | $960,640.46 |
| 2. | Democratic Party of Wisconsin (Federal Account) | $915,363.01 |
| 3. | DPW Federal Account | $903,528.49 |
| 4. | Targeted Media Platform LLC | $780,210.00 |
| 5. | Paychex of New York LLC | $552,869.74 |
| 6. | Cleansweep Campaigns | $427,791.34 |
| 7. | Pointer Marketing Inc | $388,985 |
| 8. | Scasey Communications | $377,067.68 |
| 9. | Gps Impact | $369,167.88 |
| 10. | Adp Inc | $330,089.34 |
Total Expenditures in nine states during the 2022 election cycle
Campaign finance expenditures vary widely among state-level candidates and PACs. A number of factors, including state-specific campaign finance regulations, influence how expenditure activity varies across states. Here is how total campaign finance expenditures in Wisconsin compared to eight other states with data available from Transparency USA for the 2022 election cycle:
Comparison of total expenditures, by state
| Rank | State | Total Expenditures | Reporting Period |
| 1 | Texas | $337,432,351 | 1/1/2022 – 2/19/2022 |
| 2 | Pennsylvania | $319,374,389 | 1/1/2022 – 3/9/2022 |
| 3 | Florida | $302,254,134 | 1/1/2022 – 2/28/2022 |
| 4 | Michigan | $71,971,787 | 1/1/2022 – 4/20/2022 |
| 5 | Arizona | 63,716,617 | 1/1/2022 – 3/31/2022 |
| 6 | Ohio | $59,240,397 | 1/1/2022 – 4/13/2022 |
| 7 | Wisconsin | $34,706,022 | 1/1/2022 – 3/21/2022 |
| 8 | Indiana | $32,159,398 | 1/1/2022 – 4/8/2022 |
| 9 | North Carolina | $22,543,037 | 1/1/2022 – 12/31/2021 |
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Wisconsin PACs submitted to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.
| Report Name | Report Due Date |
| 2022 Jan Semiannual | 1/18/2022 |
| 2022 Spring Pre-Primary | 2/7/2022 |
| 2022 Spring Pre-Election | 3/28/2022 |
| 2022 Jul Semiannual | 7/15/2022 |
| 2022 Fall Pre-Primary | 8/1/2022 |
| 2022 Sept Data | 9/27/2022 |
| 2022 Fall Pre-General | 10/31/2022 |
| 2023 Jan Semiannual | 1/7/2023 |
This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.