Gov. Walker’s Money Machine Kicks Into Gear to Prop Up Rebecca Bradley

MADISON, Wis. — Revealing deep concern about the electoral prospects of his crony pick for the State Supreme Court, Gov. Scott Walker’s money machine is buying hundreds of thousands of dollars in television advertising on behalf of Rebecca Bradley. Information obtained by One Wisconsin Now reveals the right wing front group Wisconsin Alliance for Reform is dropping nearly $415,000 on TV ads for Bradley across the state to from February 2 to 8, in advance of the February 16 primary election.

“Rebecca Bradley owes her entire judicial career to Gov. Scott Walker with an unprecedented three judicial appointments in three years,” said One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. “Now Walker’s money machine is propping up Rebecca Bradley with huge money because they know the public thinks she cannot be trusted to be an independent voice on the court.”

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.

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.

Data collected from television stations in media markets across the state shows how the advertising has been allocated for next week: $100,000 in Milwaukee, $100,000 in Madison, $64,000 in Green Bay, $56,000 in Wausau and $50,000 in La Crosse. In addition, the buy includes nearly $50,000 in cable buys spread throughout these television markets.

Ross noted that while the group sponsoring the outside spending for Bradley is new to the scene, their media buy was placed by the firm that purchased Gov. Walker’s 2014 advertising and employed his campaign consultant R.J. Johnson from the Wisconsin Club for Growth.

Ross concluded, “Rebecca Bradley’s planned coronation by Gov. Walker has been thwarted by months of bad press over Bradley’s extremist opposition to birth control, hiding her public calendars and her hardcore partisan Republican politics. Walker’s machine is spending because like no other previous governor, Scott Walker knows how important it is to have a friend in court.”