Walker To Out-of-State Interests: Keep Your Celebrities, But Send Money. . . To Me

"I don't need people from outside of this state.  This is about me and the people of the state of Wisconsin." — comments by Governor Scott Walker reported by WisPolitics.com during a campaign stop in Pewaukee this week.

Walker's comments referred to recent visits by President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and former President Bill Clinton on behalf of his opponent, Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke, in next Tuesday's elections.

But if that's how the governor feels about outside influence in Wisconsin elections then maybe he should return the $13 million in individual campaign contributions he has accepted from outside Wisconsin since January 2013 to run his reelection campaign.  These outside contributions are responsible for about 52 percent of his total $25.1 million in identifiable individual contributions he accepted from 2013 through October 20, 2014, according to a Democracy Campaign analysis.

And Walker's out-of-state haul in direct contributions doesn't count the millions of dollars in out-of-state influence being spent to support him by electioneering groups led by the Washington D.C.-based Republican Governors Association which he has encouraged and thanked for its help.  The association's 527 group has raised tens of millions of dollars from wealthy individuals, multi-national corporations and trade groups across the country to help Walker and other Republican governors and candidates win elections.

As for Burke, the Democratic candidate raised $2.8 million or 31 percent of her total $9 million in identifiable individual campaign contributions from outside Wisconsin, according to a review of campaign finance reports she has filed since she entered the race in October 2013.

Like Walker, Burke has benefited from millions of dollars in outside electioneering spending chiefly led by the Greater Wisconsin Committee through its issue ad and 527 groups and a political action committee fueled by numerous state and national labor unions and Democratic ideological organizations that get millions of dollars in contributions from wealthy business interests.