After being dormant for nearly the past two years, Ron Johnson’s joint fundraising operation boosted campaign dollars reported during the first quarter of 2022.
Ron Johnson Victory had $2 cash on hand to start 2020. But it pulled in more than $2.7 million in receipts during the first quarter of 2022, according to a filing with the FEC.
Of that, Johnson, R-Oshkosh, transferred nearly $1.6 million to his personal campaign account. He also gave $376,932 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The almost $1.6 million in transfers is part of the $5.9 million Johnson raised through his personal campaign account during the first quarter. In taking that out of what his joint fundraising operation pulled in to avoid double counting the money, that’s what gets him to the $7.1 million raised during the quarter announced late last week.
The Oshkosh Republican originally established Ron Johnson Victory as a joint operation between his personal campaign account and Strategy PAC, his leadership PAC. He then added the NRSC in April 2021.
Joint fundraising agreements allow donors to write one check to an organization and then have the money spread among more than one group. Those involved agree to an allocation formula that is then disclosed to donors, according to the FEC.
Federal rules, though, include limits on what can be transferred to candidates through the contribution of an individual donor. Those transfers to personal campaign accounts are capped at $5,800, which accounts for the $2,900 federal candidates can accept in a primary and the $2,900 they can take for the general election.
According to a check of the filing, Illinois businesswoman Elizabeth Uihlein donated $266,300 to the joint fundraising operation, while Eagle River physician John Butler and Ted Kellner, who founded an investment management firm in 1980, each gave $50,000.
The other top donors to the joint operation include Richard Strong, owner of Baraboo Growth, who gave $35,000. The group also reported four $25,000 donations from: Neenah retiree Jeffrey Curler; Florida retiree Stephen Mosling; Shorewood investment manager William Nasgovitz; and Lily Transportation Chairman John Simourian, of Massachusetts.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, has a joint fundraising agreement between her campaign account and People’s Voice PAC, her leadership PAC. It was created in 2014.
It had $678 in the bank to start 2022 and reported $28,972 in receipts during the first quarter. She would be up for a third term in 2024.
See Johnson’s filing here.
See Baldwin’s here.
