While the Emperor Evers attempts a coup D’etat to place his handpicked successor in power, surprising and impressive fundraising numbers for Republicans up and down the ticket give Team Red momentum
Will Republicans be Lulled Into False Sense of Complacency?
With everyone watching the never-ending freeway 50-car pile-up that is the Sara Rodriguez campaign and Governor Evers’ naked power grab, few noticed that Wisconsin Republicans had a really good night last week.
Even though Wisconsin Democrats are loath to admit it and as much as their mouthpieces in the mainstream media will try to ignore it or even hide it from the voters, Wisconsin Republicans are positioned for success, and it doesn’t appear that this run for Republicans is going to stop any time soon. Not when the Democrat primary race for Governor is a hot dumpster fire about to go nuclear. Not when Governor Evers is going to attempt to install his puppet David Crowley and take out the Dem base’s preferred candidate, everyone’s darling foul-mouth Frannie.
The Republican nominee for Governor, Tom Tiffany, raised over $8 million in 2026, and the campaign enters the next period with nearly $3 million in cash on hand just months before the November general election. The $8 million raised in July is the largest amount raised for the Governor’s race ever.
Compare that to the Democrat candidates. Barnes led the pack with $841,000 raised in 2026. $800,000 last time we checked is NOT $8 million, and according to his finance reports, Barnes has just $200,000 cash on hand as he heads into the critical and bruising home stretch. If he wants to win the nomination, Barnes needs more than $200,000. His only hope of winning is a massive statewide media buy so he can make the case to their base that Hong is too radical for Wisconsin and that he has the best chance of beating Tiffany in November. Even if Barnes had the ability to raise the millions that he needs, and that is a big if, it might not matter to the radical base of the Democrat Party who seem to want the rabid and Anti-America socialism that Hong believes in.
The next-largest fundraising total over this period is Hong herself, with just over $700,000 raised in 2026. Most pundits will tell you that is a very good number for Hong, and they are not wrong. Anyone who has raised money for a statewide race will tell you it is not easy, and Hong’s approach to fundraising makes it more time-consuming and plodding. But that is really the key point here. Hong has raised ONLY $700,000 for a statewide race; she has only $400,000 cash on hand, and she is entering the final stages of a steel-cage death match with very little money.
Hong needs to raise a lot of money in a very short time to buy statewide media, hire staff across the state, buy social media ads, and pay for what is normally a very expensive get-out-the-vote effort to win the nomination. Even if Hong is able to raise the millions she needs here at the end, chances are, when she does win the nomination, Hong herself, her team, and her bank account will be exhausted and drained. Meanwhile, Tiffany waits for the winner with a mountain of money and ready to start the real battle – the general election.
While Tiffany’s total of $10 million raised over the campaign is impressive and noteworthy, what might even be more impressive is the vast and talented field team he has quietly assembled. There are literally hundreds of Tiffany supporters working every day to get his message out, connect with Republicans in every corner of this state, and get done all the seemingly small but critical stuff that goes into a successful statewide campaign. The media pundits are not talking about this because of the Rodriquez implosion and the Dem Battle Royale, but any Republican Party diehard will tell you their team hasn’t always had this grassroots army in the recent past.
Throw on top of all this the fact that there has been over $9 million in pro-Tiffany ads run across the state so far while Democrats have spent only $2.8 million because they are in the midst of a competitive primary race, and you have another metric showing Republicans doing well in Wisconsin.
Candidate Brennan is next with $665,000 raised in 2026 and closely followed by Kelda Roys, who raised $527,000 over the same period. Again, not impressive numbers but also not really surprising given how poorly each of them is doing in the Dem primary. If either one of them had been better positioned with a large fundraising haul to date, Roys or Brennan might have had an opportunity to take advantage of the Rodriquez historic fall from grace to win the nomination. But neither Brennan nor Roys has done that, and while each will now have a more respectable vote total come August 11th, neither one is a serious contender for the nomination.
You’ll notice that we have not talked about Rodriquez in this piece. We literally cannot fathom or comprehend what is going on in her camp, and not only does she have zero chance, zero, of winning the nomination, we think that by the time we publish this, Rodriquez will have dropped out and thereby ended one of the most bizarre episodes in Wisconsin political history. After that, she will never be mentioned again in Wisconsin politics, and we thought we should begin that practice now.
True enough, before we hit publish on Friday, Rodriquez announced she was suspending her campaign. Even more diabolical, Dem insiders are telling the mainstream media that there is a viable attempt afoot to draft David Crowley back into the race. Crowley dropped out of the race after a lackluster campaign and after a scandal came to light in which his administration failed to renew Milwaukee County’s health insurance plan in a timely manner, leaving county employees and retirees unprotected. Insiders believe that as part of this effort, current Governor Tony Evers will endorse Crowley in an attempt to jump-start his relaunch. Man, oh, man.
After dropping out just days ago because he was polling at only 3% in the latest Marquette Law School poll and he had no shot of winning, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is officially back in the race. According to his July 2026 campaign finance report, Crowley raised about $250,000 in the first six months of the year, spent almost $540,000 over that same time period, and entered July with $315,000 cash on hand. Crowley’s cash on hand is not impressive, and if this were a genuine contest on the Democrat side, Crowley would just be jockeying to complete a forgettable campaign with a strong third or second finish.
Of course, this is not a typical race. Evers and rich Democrat power players are betting that the media attention from their hostile takeover will be enough to propel Crowley to victory. Crowley had little campaign infrastructure before he suspended his campaign, no grassroots army of volunteers, and little name ID, as evidenced by his paltry 3% in the Marquette poll. No doubt Governor Evers will try to call in a favor from his special-interest backers and mega donors to get pro-Crowley TV ads on air, but it is difficult to see how that will work with just over 3 weeks left before the vote. Crowley’s $315,000 cash on hand is not enough to do a statewide TV buy, let alone a meaningful TV buy in just the Democrat-rich Madison and Milwaukee TV markets. So, how do Crowley and Evers think they can win? We suspect that part of the conversion Evers had with Crowley to get back in came with a promise that Evers or his prolific fundraiser Ben Wikler would raise a lot of money in a matter of days for an “independent” statewide TV and social media buy.
Queue the righteous indignation from the radical socialist Democrat base. While the left devolves further into chaos and hand-to-hand combat, the real question, as we have pointed out before, is whether it is too late to stop Hong or whether she is inevitable.
While the continued chaos and anarchy on the Democrat ticket is about the best news Tom Tiffany and Republicans could ask for, there are even more reasons for Republicans to feel good about where things stand. Back to the main article.
Wisconsin Republicans’ good week wasn’t limited to just Tiffany. In fact, Republicans had widespread good news up and down the ticket.
Let’s start with the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee or RACC. The campaign committee charged with electing Republicans to the State Assembly and keeping their majority has a mind-blowing $12.5 million cash on hand at the close of this reporting period. $12.5m! Assembly Dems have $2.3 million. Congrats to Republican Speaker Robin Vos and newly-in-charge Tyler August for pulling in such a big number. Clearly, Assembly Republicans will have all the money they need to get their candidates reelected and their message out. Couple this with the campaign genius of Vos/August, it seems unlikely that Dems can take control of the chamber.
The news is almost as good for the State Senate. CERS, the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, has $5 million cash on hand. Anyone who has paid attention to recent election cycles knows that CERS hasn’t done well in this area in the past. Congrats to Pat Testin, who is also new to being in charge, and his team for an impressive haul. Senate Democrats, in contrast, have $2.3 million cash on hand.
Individual Senate Republican candidates also posted impressive numbers. Howard Marklein, the top Senate Republican incumbent target and one of the core four, is sitting on an astonishing $1 million dollars heading into the final months of the campaign. We told you Marklein was a prolific fundraiser, but we would have never guessed over one million. Contrast that with the Dem establishment candidate in this race, Jenna Jacobson, who just announced an ad buy because she is still trying to lock down the nomination and has a serious primary challenge on her hands.
Newcomer Republican Dr. Mike Roberts has $245,000 cash on hand at the close of the reporting period. Very impressive for a first-time candidate and even more impressive when you see that longtime incumbent Robyn Vining has $236,000 cash on hand. Let that set in. Dr. Roberts out-raised a professional politician who has been running for office for eight years. This might end up being the most expensive legislative campaign this cycle, but Republicans can feel good that Dr. Mike is able to not only compete but actually beat Vining in an early indicator.
Looking at another statewide race, more positive signs for Wisconsin Republicans. Republican candidate for Attorney General, Eric Toney, has raised over $720,000 in the first six months of the year. During the same time frame, incumbent Democrat Josh Kaul raised $836,000. Toney’s continued fundraising competitiveness is even more interesting when you look back to the start of the campaign. In the last six months of 2025, Toney raised $446,000 while Kaul raised $285,000. This is important because in the first matchup, Kaul outraised Toney by several million and won the general election by just 35,000 votes despite the wide fundraising advantage. Kaul could be in trouble.
In the two Congressional races everyone is watching, early numbers are once again encouraging for Republicans. In the 1st Congressional District, incumbent Bryan Steil is running against a crowded Democrat field including Mitchell Berman, Miguel Aranda, Lorenzo Santos, and Peter Burgelis. Well, it is a little less crowded at the time of this writing because Milwaukee Alderman Burgelis, despite not even living in the district, has already decided to drop out. Apparently, someone of authority in Democrat circles thought so little of the candidates who actually live in the 1st that he/she/they convinced Burgelis it would be a good idea to run for a Congressional seat he doesn’t even live in. Surprise, surprise. Burgelis got no traction and has headed back home to Milwaukee with his tail between his legs.
Steil raised $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2026 and has over $6.1 million in cash on hand, more than 20 times the combined total of all his opponents.
In the 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Republican Derrick Van Orden awaits the winner of the Democrat primary, which pits Rebecca Cooke against former Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge. Cooke is hoping for a rematch with Van Orden. Van Orden won against Cooke with almost 52% of the vote back in 2024. Last year, some insiders were concerned that Van Orden would not be able to keep up with Cooke’s fundraising. With the most recent reporting period closing on June 30th, Van Orden has $4.7 million cash on hand. Cooke has $2.4 million, and Berge has just $100,000. Most think Cooke will win the primary, but she will enter the general come August 12th trailing significantly in the fundraising category, a significant positive for Republicans.
Wow. Take a step back and look at these numbers in totality. Wisconsin Republicans have entered July, with less than four months to go to Election Day, November 3, with impressive fundraising numbers across the board and, more importantly, in the crucial races that will determine the future of our great state.
Republicans, don’t kid yourself. All this could be lost in an instant. There is a lot of time left before the November election and a lot of work that needs to be done. If the Party, if the campaigns, if the candidates, if the volunteers, if the Republican voters – if anyone thinks that Republicans have this in the bag because, well, no one in their right mind would vote for a Socialist, foul-mouth Frannie isn’t likable, or President Trump will make sure we win, you are in for a rude awakening and Republicans will lose the Governor’s office, the Assembly, the Senate, everything.
Bloviating Big Boy JB Pritzker and the Epstein Island visiting Reid Hoffman have so much money and are so obsessed with taking down Team Trump that they will spend tens of millions to support whomever the Dem nominee is. Side note: have you ever stopped to ask yourself why the Governor of ILLINOIS, yes, the Bears still suck ILLINOIS, and someone who has no ties to Wisconsin would spend millions on millions in an attempt to force their political views on Wisconsinites?
Remember, too, that the State Supreme Court is firmly in the hands of partisan liberal hacks who will ignore the Constitution and come up with whatever ruling the Democrats need to keep power and banish the Republicans to wander the political wilderness for forty years. If Wisconsin Republicans do not win in November, Democrats will have power for many years to come, maybe even decades.
Wisconsin Republicans, up and down the ticket, clearly have momentum heading into the midterm cycle, which has historically posed challenges for their candidates and their brand. Now that Republicans are positioned favorably with just a few months to go, can they close the deal and seize the opportunity in front of them?
Time will tell.
We at The Heartland Post know we’re going to enjoy watching the show.
