Nicholson’s mother helps Dems — including Baldwin
Nicholson, a former Democrat now running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate, likes to say that he comes from a family of Democrats. Boy, he wasn’t kidding. In particular, Nicholson’s mother,
Donna, has a long history of giving small- and medium-sized donations to Democrats.
Among the beneficiaries of her largesse is U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin,a Wisconsin Democrat whom Nicholson is hoping to oust next year. By contrast, there is no record of his mother donating to Nicholson’s campaign, though the election is a year away.
Federal campaign records show Donna Nicholson has made 15 donations to Baldwin’s campaign since 2012 for a total of $441, including four contributions in the current election cycle. Her most recent donation was June 2016, about a year before her son announced his candidacy. Most of the contributions were given through ActBlue, a political action committee that funnels donations to liberal candidates.
Since Kevin Nicholson got into the Wisconsin race in late July, his mother has made 14 donations to federal groups or Democratic candidates, including U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan from Wisconsin and U.S. Sens. Al Franken of Minnesota and Tim Kaine of Virginia.
Donna Nicholson did not return calls. Kevin Nicholson did not respond to an email asking if his mother is supporting his candidacy, financially or otherwise.
Officials with his campaign are so tight-lipped about family matters that it declined recently to tell a Politico reporter what his parents do for a living. That hasn’t always been the case. In 2000, when Nicholson was the head of the president of the College Democrats of America, he told the
Journal Sentinel that his parents might not like it if he ran for office in Wisconsin.
“They’re afraid of being found out as the only Democrats in Mequon,” Nicholson said on Aug. 14, 2000. There has been some dispute over when he changed political parties; he has said it was a gradual shift.
Nicholson’s mother is also a frequent donor to Democracy for AmerKevin
ica, a liberal political action committee that has endorsed Randy Bryce, a Democrat hoping to challenge House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican.
Since 2014, she has given more than $1,200 to the Vermont-based PAC, including $300 in recent months.
So would it be fair to say that neither Nicholson nor his mother is a big fan of Ryan?
Earlier this week, Nicholson was caught on tape saying Ryan’s occasionally lukewarm support for President Donald
Trump is “a problem” and that the speaker has a “light footprint in the state.” His remarks have prompted criticisms from U.S. Rep. Jim Sensen-
brenner, dean of Wisconsin’s congressional Republicans.
Nicholson campaign spokesman Michael Antonopoulos rejected any suggestion that the GOP candidate and his mother share similar views on Ryan, a longtime Janesville politician.
“This is an absurd and disingenuous question,” Antonopoulos said. “Kevin is a conservative who supports Speaker Ryan and has stated repeatedly that he comes from a family of Democrats.”
Antonopoulos then went on the attack against state Sen. Leah Vukmir, the only other announced candidate for the GOP nomination in the U.S. Senate race, accusing her campaign of trying to sow discord between Nicholson and Ryan.
“It’s sad to see Senator Vukmir’s campaign helping Tam- my Baldwin by seizing the Democrats’ playbook of trying to use a media-hyped story to create a divide among Republicans when none exists,” Antonopoulos said.
Officials with the Vukmir and Baldwin campaigns declined to comment.
Joshua Karp, a spokesman for American Bridge, a liberal super PAC backing Baldwin, said:
“Kevin Nicholson is everything people hate about politics, a political opportunist who says whatever he thinks voters want to hear and changes political parties whenever it’s convenient.”
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.