As Green Bay City Council candidates raise cash, worries about dark money, attack ads arise

GREEN BAY - The specter of dark money-fueled attack ads looms over the Green Bay City Council spring election season.

With less than two weeks until the Feb. 20 primary election, fewer than half of the 28 candidates for council seats have raised and/or spent campaign dollars. But incumbents and challengers alike anticipate a repeat of the 2022 council campaign that saw partisan groups and political parties flood Green Bay voters with dark money attack ads beyond candidates' control.

The Press-Gazette ahead of the Feb. 20 primary reviewed candidates' campaign finance reports filed with the Green Bay City Clerk's office. As of Feb. 8, the reports showed 15 candidates did not receive or spend campaign money while the 13 who did have raised between $300 and $6,100. Combined, the candidates reported cash-on-hand and new contributions totaling almost $32,000. The reports include contributions and expenditures made in the second half of 2023 and some of January.

Several candidates have pledged to remain nonpartisan and used the pledge to raise alarm about outside groups seeking to influence City Council elections. Even candidates who did not sign the pledge said the likelihood outside attack ads are coming concerns them.

Chris Wery, the District 8 incumbent, has raised the most money of any candidate, $6,140. Wery said the potential for attack ads and outside spending motivated him to focus on fundraising as the campaign season began.

"I worked hard at it (fundraising). I saw what happened two years ago," Wery said. "I'm preparing for attacks."

Here’s a look at the City Council campaign finance pre-primary picture.

Candidates who raised and/or spent money

Wery didn't make any campaign expenditures, so he also has the most cash on-hand with $6,140.

Rounding out the top five are:

• Barbara Dorff, a former City Council member vying to represent District 1 again, raised $5,445.

• District 4 challenger Jon Shelton raised $4,064.

• District 11 challenger Christina Thor raised $3,725.

• District 4 challenger Dane Lasecki raised $2,980.

Contributions include campaign contributions from individuals and campaign funds, in-kind contributions, and loans to the campaign.

No statement

Eleven candidates have not filed any sort of campaign finance statement, as of Feb. 2.

Those candidates are:

• Jim Hutchison

• Andy Nicholson

• Bill Morgan

• Douglas Yates

• Craig Stevens

• Robert Maccaux

• Paul Boucher

• Tarl Knight

• Jeff Osborne

• Eric Kuzma

• Bobby Lindsey

No Activity

Three candidates filed what’s called a Statement of No Activity and a fourth filed a campaign finance statement that showed no cash on hand, no contributions and no expenditures.

Candidates who file a statement of no activity pledge that they have not raised or spent any campaign funds during the relevant time period. Three filed such statements:

• District 1 incumbent Jennifer Grant

• District 6 incumbent Steven Campbell

• District 6 challenger Joey Prestley

Kathy Hinkfuss, a candidate in District 12, filed a campaign finance statement, but reported raising nothing and spending nothing.

Candidates who signed the nonpartisan pledge to refuse outside money, influence

Michael Poradek, a candidate for the District 11 seat, invited all 28 candidates running for City Council to sign a pledge to leave party affiliations at home and to not accept partisan or external special interest groups.

The four candidates who joined Poradek and signed the pledge on Jan. 30 are District 2 incumbent Jim Hutschison, District 4 incumbent Bill Galvin, District 4 challenger Dane Lasecki and District 9 challenger Tarl Knight.

“We’ve seen in the past what partisan politics have done to these local elections,” Lasecki said. “Many people choose not to run in these elections because they’re afraid of character assassination.”

Galvin called the 2022 campaign “ugly” and “full of falsehoods and lies” spread by outside groups with dark money. He urged all candidates to call out those organizations this spring.

5 candidates have accepted contributions from political parties

It is not illegal or in any way inappropriate for a City Council candidate to accept contributions from political parties or other campaign committees.

Records show five candidates — Dorff, Shelton, District 7 candidate Alyssa Proffitt, District 10 candidate Ben Delie, and Thor — have received contributions from outside political groups that include the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, former state Sen. Dave Hansen’s campaign fund, and current state Rep. Kristina Shelton’s campaign fund.

The majority of contributions were less than $300 and none exceeded $500.

The source of such contributions can at least be identified when the funds are donated to a candidate. Many of the attack ads that the nonpartisan pledge signatories raised alarms over are, in contrast, often funded by dark money groups whose donors and intentions are murkier.

Green Bay Mayor, School Board president and other council candidates contribute to City Council candidates' campaign coffers

Campaign finance reports show Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich and Green Bay School Board President Laura McCoy were among notable donors to several candidates' campaign funds.

Genrich's campaign committee, Friends of Eric Genrich, contributed $500 to Jim Ridderbush, who is challenging Wery for the District 8 seat.

Genrich's chief of staff, Amaad Rivera, contributed $500 to Dorff's campaign.

McCoy donated $200 to District 7 candidate Alyssa Proffitt and $100 to Poradek, the District 11 challenger.

And Dorff donated $50 to Shelton, Ridderbush, Thor and Poradek.

The spring pre-primary report, covering contributions from Jan. 1 to Feb. 5, is due Feb. 12.

Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay City Council candidates raise cash, raise attack ad concerns