Wisconsin was Big Labor’s Waterloo in 2012, when a heated recall election upheld Scott Walker’s governorship. His 2014 reelection victory only compounded the suffering of union bosses long opposed to Gov. Walker’s pro-employee reforms.
Now they’re seeking payback—and the state Senate. Watchdog has more:
Three-dozen unions have already dumped nearly $220,000 into campaign coffers benefiting seven Democrats running for state Senate, according to campaign finance records through earlier this month.
The cash is on top of the nearly $1 million that big-government groups have spent attacking Republican incumbents and challengers.
Groups ranging from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to the United Transportation Union contributed at least $217,967 combined to the cause, through Sept. 7. More than half of that, $118,017, went to the State Senate Democratic Committee. The remaining contributions were marked for individual candidates.
Especially active is the Construction Trades Coalition (CTC), which has rolled out a statewide radio campaign attacking incumbent Republican state senators. CTC has even targeted Democrats who have failed to oppose right-to-work legislation and other items on Big Labor’s wish list. For example, the outfit attacked Jimmy Anderson—a wheelchair-bound Democrat who lost his parents and brother at the hands of a drunk driver—for failing to “stand up” against Gov. Walker. (Terry McGowan, the union boss behind the advertisements, later defended the campaign.)
For Big Labor, no stoop is too low.