Three billionaires gave more than 90 percent of the money raised by Representative Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor of Wisconsin, according to state campaign finance reports filed on Wednesday night.
Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, founders of the Uline packaging empire, each gave $11 million to the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Diane Hendricks, the owner of a roofing supply company, gave another $12 million to it.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin, which raised only $2 million beyond the combined donations of the three billionaires, moved $24.2 million to Mr. Tiffany’s campaign. The transfer accounted for 92 percent of the money he raised during a three-month reporting period that ended Wednesday.
The campaign finance rules in Wisconsin allow individuals to make unlimited contributions to state parties. There is no cap on the transfers the parties can make to their endorsed candidates.
The loophole has allowed Democrats in recent years to raise huge amounts of money for their candidates in State Supreme Court races, but since the state’s current campaign finance rules came into place a decade ago, Wisconsin has not ever recorded a race in which just a few wealthy donors have made up the vast majority of a campaign’s funding.
Mr. Tiffany’s Democratic opponent, David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, raised $10 million during the same reporting period. Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois and Lynde Bradley Uihlein, a cousin of the conservative Mr. Uihlein, each gave $1 million to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which contributed $2.73 million to Mr. Crowley’s campaign.
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