The account set up by a candidate for the primary purpose of raising money to fund his or her campaign for public office. The candidate is prohibited, however, from donating this money to charity or using it for personal expenses. Incumbents often amass huge "war chests" of unspent campaign funds to intimidate likely opponents and to guard against massive spending by outside special interests opposing their candidacy.

Conduits (noted as "CON" in the contributor lists)

Groups can systematically collect contributions from individuals, bundle them together and send one large check to the candidate along with the contributor list. Conduits are organized and run by corporations, professional associations, and political parties. Three conduits were very active during the Spring 1999 elections: The Madison Area Apartment Association, the Wisconsin Builders’ Association, and the Wisconsin Realtors Association. The MAAA did not file timely reports until forced to do so because of a complaint filed against it by Progressive Dane, and the Realtors did not file their required reports at all.

Conduits were created to bypass PAC limitations. The only reporting required on the part of the conduit is when a check is sent to a candidate. They are not required to report the amount of money amassed in their coffers. In practice, conduits typically funnel huge amounts of money to candidates in the final weeks of a campaign.

Note: we are still confirming contributions that came through conduits, more may be added.

PAC and individual campaign contributions, which are regulated, disclosed and subject to limits. In Madison, individuals are limited to contributing $250 to Aldermanic candidates, and PACs are limited to contributing $200. There are no limits on conduits, so long as individuals funneling their contributions through them do not exceed the $250 limit for each candidate they contribute to.

Independent expenditures are campaign activities that are done without consultation, coordination or cooperation with the candidate. In fact, the organization doing independent expenditures must file an oath the State Election Board swearing there will be no coordination. The group is not required to file the oath until the spending begins and then the actual spending does not have to be reported until 24 hours after it takes place. These expenditures are concentrated during the period of the most intensive activity -- two weeks before the election. There is no limit on what a group can spend independently to support or oppose a candidate. But they are required to report how much was spent and where the money came from.

During the 1999 elections, spending purported to be "about the issues" sought to influence elections. The Madison Area Apartment Association spent heavily in several districts smearing Progressive Dane, Progressive Dane candidates and even some candidates not affiliated with Progressive Dane with negative mailings. Progressive Dane filed a complaint with the District Attorney charging that these expenditures were meant to influence the election and therefore were subject to the same disclosure as everyone else. To date, the DA has not acted on this complaint.

Corporations, labor unions, and political organizations can collect voluntary contributions from interested individuals and members for the purpose of spending money to help elect and defeat candidates. Because corporations and labor unions have been banned from directly contributing their treasury money to candidates since 1907 and 1947 respectively, they create PACs to give limited contributions to candidates.

As required by state law, PACs have to disclose how much they spend and where the money comes from. Local PACs active in 1999 included AFSCME P.E.O.P.L.E, the Madison Professional Police Officers Association and the Wisconsin Builders Association.

Political party committees such as Progressive Dane and the Democratic Party of Dane County may contribute directly to candidate or offer in-kind financial support. Parties must report how they spend their money and where they get it from.

Filed Exempt

If a candidate has less than $1000 dollars of campaign activity, they are not required to file.  Campaign activity refers to fund raising and/or spending.

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