Scott Walker has raised over $5M this year, 90 percent of it from out of state, for his state political committee

An investigation by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign found that $9 out of every $10 in individual contributions that Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s state campaign committee raised during the first half of 2015 came from outside the state, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.

A campaign finance report filed Monday by the governor’s state campaign committee, Friends of Scott Walker, showed the committee raised a total of nearly $5.6 million from individuals between January and June 2015. Nearly $4.8 million, or 87 percent, of his individual contributions came from outside Wisconsin. About $74,000 in individual contributions were anonymous, unitemized, or had no state or zip code.

Walker, who was reelected last year to a second, four-year term, announced last week he would run for president. The governor cannot use money raised by his state campaign to run for federal office.

Walker has received millions of dollars in out-of-state contributions since the 2011 and 2012 recall races spurred by his successful effort to slash public employee collective bargaining rights. Campaign finance reports in recent years have generally showed Walker accepted between half and two-thirds of his individual contributions from outside Wisconsin.

Fourteen of the 17 donors who gave the legal limit of $10,000 (or more) to the governor’s state campaign between January and June 2015 were from outside Wisconsin. Some of those out-of-state donors were:

• Dick J. Randall, a retired Cupertino, Calif., building contractor, $12,200;
• Grace Evenstad, of Naples, Fla., $10,000. Evenstad is identified in Walker’s report as a self-employed consultant who works in Dayton, Ore. Online information shows Evenstad and her husband own Domaine Serene Vineyards and Winery in Oregon;
• John Flatley, of Milton, Mass., $10,000. Walker’s report identified Flatley’s occupation and employer as “management” and “self.” Online records and the personal and employer addresses listed in Walker’s report show Flatley is a Massachusetts real estate developer who owns the John Flatley Co.;
• Gerald I. Flynn, of Los Angeles, Calif., president of Transportation Commodities Inc., in Commerce, Calif., $10,000;
• Klaus Heidegger, of Chatsworth, Calif., $10,000. Walker’s report identifies Heidegger as owner of Monarch Inc. in Ridgecrest, Calif. However, online records identify Monarch’s owner as Eileen Shibley, and that Heidegger has been associated with five companies, but not Monarch, Inc.;
• Wayne Laufer, of Sanibel, Fla., a retired oil company executive and engineer, $10,000;
• Gerald Marcil, a real estate developer in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., $10,000;
• Dennis Troesh, of Henderson, Nev., $10,000. Troesh is identified in Walker’s report as a retiree. Online records matched with the personal address listed for Troesh in Walker’s report show he is a manager or officer for at CTTG Holdings and JABC Holdings.

Total individual contributions to Walker exceeded $100,000 in 15 states. Topping the list of out-of-state individual contributions to Walker during the first six months of 2015 were: California, $648,884; Florida, $479,008; Texas, $385,778; Illinois, $262,717, and New York, $182,624.