Grassroots support for Kevin Nicholson in Wisconsin?

For those of us here in Southeast Wisconsin, you can’t turn on a radio lately without being bombarded with ads for Kevin Nicholson, one of the candidates on the GOP side for US Senate who will face Wisconsin State Senator and Wisconsin GOP party endorsed Leah Vukmir, Madison conservative Griffin Jones, Retired De Pere businessman George Lucia, and Delavan Republican Charles Barman in the primary on August 14th. His ads say that he is now a conservative Republican despite his recent conversion from the Democrat Party where he was the President of the College Democrats of America and is now ready to work for Wisconisnites in Washington. Even though these ads are being run by a Super PAC that, by law, has no ties to Nicholson, He has not shied away from the claims made in the ads. Additionally, Nicholson often points to his grassroots support around Wisconsin in an attempt to show that he is for Wisconsin and Wisconsin is for him.

Is that really the case? An in depth look at his campaign finances tells quite a different story. In reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, during the period from July 1st, 2017 and March 31st, 2018, the Nicholson campaign raised $2,306,065. That is quite a good result for a candidate who has never run for any other public office in the past. However, where the money comes from should give Wisconsinites pause. A quick breakdown of his donations show:

• Total receipts from National Club for Growth (A DC Super PAC) - $403,882.50
• Total receipts from donors outside of Wisconsin - $1,527,300.70
• Total receipts from Wisconsin donors - $374,881.80

That’s a hard to ignore 83.7% of donations from sources outside of Wisconsin. There will always be out of state/district donations at federal level elections. There are always groups and individuals looking to gain influence for whatever reason. Still, when you see this level of support (or lack there of), you have to wonder if Wisconsin really does support him as much as he says.

If the support isn’t there despite his claims, can it really be much of a stretch to believe that Nicholson would bend the truth about other issues? Is he really the conservative he says he is? Is he really going to represent Wisconsinites in Washington? Or, is he just a good talker like in his private sector job and is using those talking skills to sell himself without any real substance behind his claims? Hopefully we will find out the truth before the point of no return in August.