Wisconsin Senate race is all about the money

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

The hottest Senate race of the 2016 cycle is a rematch that flips the dynamics from six years ago on its head: The one-time self-funding millionaire incumbent is now the underdog, and the favored challenger is a previous three-term senator whose past campaign-finance pledges and modest means made him a perennial target.

 

First-term Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., knocked off liberal icon Russ Feingold in 2010 by tapping into Tea Party sentiment and plowing $8.8 million of his fortune into the race.

 

Feingold almost lost re-election in 1998 because he refused to allow his campaign, the Democratic Party or affiliated outside groups use "soft money" to counter the millions of GOP-backed dollars that poured into the state on behalf of his opponent that year. Feingold again rejected third-party help and fell to Johnson in 2010, after independent groups spent approximately $3 million on the race, the bulk of which benefited Johnson.

 

Feingold's name is synonymous with campaign finance reform known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, which is more commonly referred to as McCain-Feingold. And the former senator is again campaigning against the shadow groups and anonymous donors that have multiplied since the Supreme Court rolled back most of his signature legislation with the 2010 Citizens United ruling.