Billionaires give $3.5M to pro-Ron Johnson PAC
The billionaires’ band is back together.
And they have a new vehicle to drive their message.
The three biggest donors with Wisconsin ties — Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, owners of Uline Inc. in Pleasant Prairie, and Diane Hendricks, cofounder of Beloit-based ABC Supply Co. — are giving big bucks to Wisconsin Truth PAC, a new super PAC backing U.S. Ron Johnson.
Federal records show that Hendricks gave $2 million to the group in February. Liz Uihlein donated $1 million in March to the political action committee, which is actually based in Houston, Texas, and then Dick Uihlein chipped in $500,000.
Jan Rees-Jones, the wife of Texas oil executive Trevor Rees-Jones,
rounded out the list of individuals giving to Wisconsin Truth PAC by dropping $100,000 on March 21.
Formed in February, the conservative super PAC is already out with an ad promoting the reelection efforts of Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican.
“Joe Biden was put in charge of our economy, and now Wisconsin’s hardworking families are paying the price, a record high price on everything from gas to groceries,” the TV spot says. “That’s why Ron Johnson is fighting for lower taxes, ending reckless spending and finding American energy solutions that protect our safety and our wallets.”
Of course, this is nothing new. According to Pro Publica, the Uihleins and Hendricks put some $20 million into groups that backed Johnson’s 2016 reelection campaign.
Then, one year later, Wisconsin’s senior senator pushed for a tax break for small businesses and other socalled pass-through entities as part of then-President Donald Trump’s tax cut bill. These businesses have profits pass through to the owners, who then pay taxes on their personal returns.
Johnson recently acknowledged the Oshkosh-based plastics business he owned, Pacur LLC, benefited from the small-business tax provision, though he didn’t say by how much.
“So they want to make it sound like I carved out some loophole for a couple of people,” Johnson told GOP supporters in Medford last month. “What I did is I made sure that 95% of American businesses weren’t left behind in tax reform. I’m really proud of that achievement.”
Pro Publica was able to put a dollar figure on how much the tax break benefited the Uihleins and Hendricks. The figure wasn’t small.
“The expanded tax break Johnson
muscled through netted them $215 million in deductions in 2018 alone, drastically reducing the income they owed taxes on,” Pro Publica reported. “At that rate, the cut could deliver more than half a billion in tax savings for Hendricks and the Uihleins over its eight-year life.”
No wonder the trio is again dropping big bucks in support of another term for Johnson.
Matthew Rothschild, head of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said their heavy spending tips the electoral scales in favor of some candidates.
“This is not good for democracy,” Rothschild said. “The Uihileins and Diane Hendricks are some of the very wealthiest people in Wisconsin, and some of the most right-wing. Now they’re pooling a small fraction of their vast resources to tell Wisconsinites how to vote.”
In the past, these three billionaires have not limited their influence to Wisconsin.
Federal and state filings show the Uihleins donated $74.8 million to GOP candidates and conservative groups around the country in the 2019-20 cycle.
That sum included an $800,000 donation to the political fund for Tea Party Patriots, a far-right group that participated in the “March to Save America” rally that preceded the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Only three other individuals or couples in the country coughed up more federal campaign cash than the Uihleins during that two-year cycle.
Hendricks donated nearly $13.1 million to Republicans and conservative groups over the past two years.
Her giving included $6.2 million to three super PACs helping Trump in his failed reelection bid. In October 2020, Trump used ABC Supply’s private hangar at the Janesville airport to address thousands of supporters.
Neither the Uihleins nor Hendricks could be reached for comment.
Rothschild has called their spending “obscene” in the past.
“The Uihleins and Diane Hendricks seem to think their vast wealth can buy them everything, including political power,” Rothschild said last week.
“But that’s not how our system is supposed to work. We all should have an equal voice in the political arena, but they’re going to be drowning out the rest of us.”
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com.