WEAC: $1.57 million for Four Wisconsin Senators

Steven Walters

ow much do election-year firewalls cost to build? For the state's largest teachers union, $1.57 million.

That's how much the Wisconsin Education Association Council said last week it will spend trying to make sure four Democratic state senators are re-elected - enough, WEAC hopes, to keep a Democratic majority in the 33-member state body.

Although there are 15 Democratic candidates running for the state Senate, and 80 Democrats running for the state Assembly, the latest WEAC report shows that the teachers union is placing what amounts to an "all in" bet on saving just four Democratic senators who are finishing their first terms.

In an Oct. 25 report to the Government Accountability Board, the 98,000-member union reported that it will independently:

• Spend the most - $440,044 - to try to re-elect Democratic Sen. Jim Sullivan of Wauwatosa in the 5th district. WEAC's pro-Sullivan spending will total $327,939; the remaining $112,105 will be used against Sullivan's Republican challenger, Republican Rep. Leah Vukmir, also from Wauwatosa.

Amazing and something to consider when school spending is discussed.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 4, 2010 5:51 PM
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