Megadonors and deep-pocketed national groups are pouring money into key gubernatorial races across the country, with a large majority of outside money going to support Republicans. These patterns are especially stark in four states with close races: Wisconsin, Ohio (rated as a toss-up until recently), Nevada, and Georgia.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race has been dominated by billionaires and dark money. The two leading candidates, Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany and Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, have differed sharply on economic issues such as tax policy and collective bargaining rights for workers. They have also sparred over Tiffany’s history of election denial — a particularly salient issue in closely divided Wisconsin, where the next governor will be responsible for certifying the state’s slate of electors in accordance with state law following the 2028 presidential election.
According to the campaign finance reports filed at the end of September, just three Republican megadonors, Diane Hendricks and Richard and Liz Uihlein, accounted for a staggering 92 percent of Tiffany’s fundraising during the prior three-month period. Wisconsinites will recognize Hendricks as a longtime backer of anti-union efforts in the state. Meanwhile, the Uihleins are among the most prolific donors to candidates who question the legitimacy of elections based on unfounded conspiracy theories.
Although Wisconsin law caps individual contributions to statewide candidates at $20,000, there is no restriction on contributions to state political parties, which in turn can transfer unlimited amounts to candidates. Using this loophole, Hendricks and the Uihleins have given nearly $60 million to the Wisconsin Republican Party this cycle, which in turn has transferred nearly $35 million to Tiffany’s campaign.
By contrast, Crowley has raised a total of about $12 million, with only $3 million coming from the Wisconsin Democratic Party. Several wealthy Democratic donors, including Lynde Uihlein (Richard Uihlein’s cousin) and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, have made big contributions to the state party. But their seven-figure checks have been dwarfed by the three Republican megadonors. Crowley’s next biggest source of campaign cash has been contributions from labor union PACs, which are limited by state law to $86,000.
Tiffany has also received significant support from dark money groups. One, a newly created group called First Amendment LLC — registered to an address in Virginia with ties to Scott Banister, an early investor in PayPal, Uber, and SpaceX — has spent at least $13 million on ads attacking Crowley and other Democrats in over a dozen legislative races projected to determine control of the statehouse. The Wisconsin chapter of Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity has also committed over $10 million to ads backing Tiffany.
Crowley’s main outside support has been from Protect Our Wisconsin, an affiliate of the Democratic Governors Association that has spent nearly $10 million.
Ohio
The record-shattering contest for Ohio’s next governor has similarly been headlined by big money. In a state that has become a hot spot for massive data center projects, a raging debate over public education, and growing concerns over access to healthcare, there’s a lot at stake.
Both leading candidates have eclipsed the prior fundraising record set in 2018. But while Democrat Amy Acton, a physician and former state public health official, has raised more in recent months from individual donors, her GOP opponent, billionaire biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy, maintains a huge financial advantage thanks to loans from his personal fortune totaling at least $36 million.
Ramaswamy also has backing from V-PAC, a super PAC bankrolled by national megadonors. Billionaire Pennsylvania investor and longtime school voucher advocate Jeff Yass alone has given V-PAC at least $30 million, nearly as much as the $31.9 million that Acton has raised overall. Ohio currently uses the type of taxpayer-funded vouchers Yass favors, but Acton has questioned the policy and called for reform. Other V-PAC donors include Ratmir Timashev ($5 million), the Russian-born software entrepreneur who has called for Central Ohio to become an AI hub, Ramaswamy’s former DOGE partner and fellow AI enthusiast Elon Musk ($5 million), and New York financiers Ross Stevens ($6 million) and Bill Ackman ($1 million), who hold significant investments in AI infrastructure.
Most of Acton’s campaign funds have come from the Ohio Democratic Party, organized labor groups, and individual donors. Her limited support from outside groups has come primarily from a $9.4 million ad campaign funded by the Democratic Governors Association.
Together, Ramaswamy’s campaign and allied groups have spent over $120 million on ads, more than triple the spending for Acton so far.
Nevada
A similar pattern has emerged in Nevada, though on a smaller scale: Democratic candidate and current state Attorney General Aaron Ford raised more in direct campaign contributions over the summer than his opponent, primarily from party groups and organized labor. But incumbent Republican Joe Lombardo has a sizable money advantage heading into the election’s final days thanks to far greater financial support through his affiliated PAC and donors with interests in issues like housing costs and environmental protection.
According to the most recent disclosures, Lombardo’s affiliated Better Nevada PAC has raised nearly $30 million this year. About a third of that came from the Republican Governors Association, which in turn received $6 million from billionaire hotel mogul and longtime Lombardo megadonor Robert Bigelow. Democrats have previously criticized Bigelow’s spending, arguing that his support convinced Lombardo to veto an eviction protection law that would have hurt Bigelow’s business (a claim Lombardo refutes). Better Nevada PAC also received a $1 million donation earlier this year from venture capitalist Benjamin Horowitz and his wife. Lombardo has also raised millions for another affiliated group, Nevada Way PAC, including from casino and energy industry groups.
Service First Fund, a nonprofit group originally created to help fund Lombardo’s inauguration in 2023, has also spent heavily to support Lombardo. With about $4 million this summer, the group’s ad buys accounted for over half of early spending.
Like Lombardo, Ford’s biggest source of support has been the Democratic Governors Association, which gave $7 million to an affiliated PAC. He has also received fundraising support totaling about $1 million from various Democratic governors and other officials across the country, as well as six-figure contributions from several labor unions and $400,000 from hedge fund manager Aaron Sosnick.
Georgia
Perhaps no governor’s race this cycle is more lopsided than Georgia’s, where Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire health care executive with no prior political experience, has outspent Democrat and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms five to one. In a contentious debate in early October, the candidates highlighted starkly different visions for how they would tackle rising medical costs, data center regulation, and other pressing issues.
Jackson has propelled his campaign with vast self-funding to the tune of over $100 million. During the GOP primary, Jackson was also linked (though he denies the connection) to a dark money nonprofit called Georgians for Integrity, which spent at least $13.5 million on ads attacking the eventual runner-up, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones. Since then, Jackson has continued to raise millions more through his leadership committee, For All Georgians, which is allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts under state law.
With the race still predicted to be tight, Democratic billionaires have jumped in recently with seven-figure contributions of their own to help Bottoms. JB Pritzker and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg both sent $1 million to Project Battleground Georgia, Bottoms’s leadership committee. The Democratic Governors Association also added $11.5 million to Bottoms’s late fundraising surge.
