Gov. Walker Money Machine Rolls on to Protect His Supreme Court Pick

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker and his special interest allies effort to win a term on the State Supreme Court for the historically inexperienced Rebecca Bradley rolls on with more money being poured into television advertising. According to information obtained by One Wisconsin Now, the right-wing Wisconsin Alliance of Reform as added over $419,000 to their TV ad buy, bringing their total spending over just two weeks to nearly $900,000.

“Gov. Walker and his money machine are working overtime to keep a crony who will have their back on the state high court,” said One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. “Their spending of nearly $1 million in just two weeks for Rebecca Bradley shows just how confident they are that she’s in their corner.”

The Wisconsin Alliance for Reform is a new Wisconsin based right wing group headed by Republican operatives. The group has also been active in purchasing media on behalf of widely unpopular Tea Party Sen. Ron Johnson for his 2016 election.

Data collected from television stations in media markets across the state shows how the new ad buy of $373,095 on broadcast and $46,370 on cable television is being allocated:

• $104,090 on broadcast and $3,752 on cable in the Milwaukee media market; 
• $100,200 on broadcast and $3,873 on cable in the Madison media market;
• $63,540 on broadcast and $22,543 on cable in the Green Bay media market;
• $56,055 on broadcast and $6,833 on cable in the Wausau media market;
• $49,210 on broadcast and $9,378 on cable in the La Crosse media market.

In past elections, the state big business lobby the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the Wisconsin Club for Growth run by Gov. Walker’s campaign consultant have spent millions to elect right-wing Supreme Court judges to advance their agenda in the courts.

Despite her previous on the record comments that she would not coordinate with outside groups, footage produced by the Bradley campaign itself is being used in a coordinated effort by the Wisconsin Alliance for Reform in their advertising,

Ross noted that Bradley is a historically inexperienced candidate for the state’s highest court, having no experience in criminal law and owing her entire judicial career to an unprecedented three appointments to the bench by Gov. Walker in less than three years. In her only other campaign the Wisconsin Club for Growth, overseen by a paid consultant to Walker’s campaign, spent an unprecedented $167,000 on her behalf for a local judicial election.

He concluded, “Nothing about Rebecca Bradley shows that she can be trusted to be an independent voice on the state high court. The massive spending by Gov. Walker’s money machine to put their crony on the court only serves to further prove that.”