MEDIA CONTACT
Lucy Ripp, Communications Director
lucy@abwt.org · (608) 285-2777
MADISON, Wis. — Campaign finance reports reveal that two prominent Wisconsin Republicans recently accepted over $6,000 combined in monetary support from a woman convicted of conspiring to defraud the IRS.
Publicly available finance reports for GOP Congressman Tom Tiffany, who’s running for governor, and Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney, the GOP candidate for attorney general, show that both Republican politicians recently took donations from Mary-Lynn Lavine in their pursuit of higher office.
Lavine pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in 2021 of conspiring to defraud the IRS and filing a false tax return. According to reports, the company co-owned by Lavine evaded paying more than $3 million in federal and state taxes. Lavine was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, fined $75,000, and ordered to pay $1,927,852.56 in restitution to the state Department of Revenue and $834,769.65 to the IRS.
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During July 2026, Tiffany’s campaign accepted $6,000 from Lavine in addition to another $100 Lavine contributed to him on April 9, 2026. For Toney’s part, Lavine contributed $100 to his campaign on June 29, 2026.
A Better Wisconsin Together noted that when it comes to Congressman Tiffany, birds of a feather flock together. According to state Department of Revenue records, Tiffany paid no personal state income taxes in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 or 2010.
“The people of Wisconsin should be able to trust that our public officials are leading with integrity, especially those with power over our tax dollars and our laws. But the more you look at who’s funding Wisconsin Republicans, Wisconsinites are left with more questions than answers,” A Better Wisconsin Together Communications Director Lucy Ripp said in a statement.
