Donors to Lawbreaking All Children Matter Dole Out $74,000 in Last Minute Contributions

MADISON, Wis. — Donors to the lawbreaking All Children Matter have just made an unprecedented 146 last-minute legislative contributions totaling $79,725 to 33 Republicans and 4 Democrats over two weeks in mid-October. These individuals, who have given All Children Matter more than $10 million, made 134 maximum contributions allowed under Wisconsin law during this final barrage.

The 146 contributions were made from October 12 to October 25. All Children Matter has also spent untold cash across Wisconsin on racist, smear ads and mailings this year against Democratic candidates and legislators.

“It looks like the donors to the lawbreaking All Children Matter are the official sugar daddies for Wisconsin Republican candidates this year,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. “Ungodly amounts of money in racist, inaccurate smear ads, nearly $74,000 in last second campaign contributions – All Children Matter and its supporters are covering all of its bases with the Republicans.”

A full grid of all these contributions, obtained from records at the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board is available at: www.OneWisconsinNow.org/acm74k.

The mostly out-of-state donors giving the 146 contributions totaling nearly $80,000 are:

• Ann Brennan, Ohio, 18 contributions totaling $9,600
• Dick and Betsy DeVos, Michigan, 13 contributions totaling $7,000
• John Fisher, California, 16 contributions totaling, $8,325
• Virginia James, New Jersey, 9 contributions totaling $4,700
• George and Susan Mitchell, Milwaukee, 5 contributions totaling $3,500
• Bill and Susan Oberndorf, California, 17 contributions totaling $9,500
• Richard and Sherry Sharp, Virginia, 25 contributions totaling $13,200
• Christy Walton, Wyoming, 12 contributions totaling $6,900
• Jim and Lynne Walton, Arkansas, 3o contributions totaling $17,000

The One Wisconsin Now website www.AllCashMatters.org showed that these donors had previously given state legislators $130,000. This new flood of contributions puts that total well over $200,000.

All Children Matter is the Michigan-based, pro-private school vouchers group financed by right wing billionaires and millionaires, including DeVos’s and the Wal-Mart heirs. All Children Matter was fined $5.2 million by the Ohio Elections Commission on April 4 for illegally funneling $870,000 into Ohio campaigns.

All Children Matter remains under a legal cloud in Wisconsin after the State Elections Board determined in November 2006 that All Children Matter violated rules about express advocacy. That investigation is in the hands of Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board who was tasked to determine the penalty for the organization.