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Report: "Old Boys Club" Rules WI Political Contributions

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Thursday, November 14, 2013   

MADISON, Wis. – There's a huge gender gap between men and women when it comes to making political donations in Wisconsin, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

The Campaign tracked political spending during the last two 10 year periods, and
Mike McCabe, the group’s executive director, says the lineup looks like a rich old boys club.

"You look overall in our economy and women earn about 77 cents for every dollar that men earn,” McCabe says. “But when you look at the big political donors, women are giving about 25 cents for every dollar that men are giving."

McCabe adds because big campaign contributions remain a critical way to influence government policy, women have what he calls woefully less sway than men with policymakers and he sees it as a type of glass ceiling.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign compared contributions between 1993 and 2002, and between 2003 and 2012, and found women's donations did increase between the two decades.

"Still, men dominated and so, women gave a heck of a lot more money – their contributions almost quadrupled – but yet still, at the end, when you looked at the total pot of money, men were still giving three times more than women, in both decades," McCabe explains.

The report says most of the money went to candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

In the first decade the group studied, 1993 through 2002, the biggest female political donor was Mary Kohler, whose husband Terry was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor in 1982. McCabe says next, the group looked at women's donations between 2003 and 2012.

"One stood out, and that was Diane Hendricks of Beloit, that gave over half a million dollars,” he says. “She's one of the richest women in America. She's a billionaire and has backed Republican candidates for a long time. So you know, when you look at the women who are among these big donors, the list almost begins and ends with Mary Kohler and Diane Hendricks."

Hendricks owns ABC Supply, one of the nation's largest wholesale roofing and construction companies. She gave more than a $500,000 to Republican Scott Walker's campaigns.





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