WisDems Updates 7/16/2026

NEW Campaign Finance Reports Reveal that Three Billionaires Own Tiffany

• New financial reporting shows that MAGA candidate for governor Tom Tiffany’s campaign is propped up by just three billionaire donors — Diane Hendricks (owner and chairperson ABC Supply) and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein. 

  • Combined, they donated over $6 million in donations to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which makes up a majority of Tiffany’s fundraising. 

  • Only a fraction of Tiffany’s fundraising comes from grassroots donors. 

  • This isn’t the first time billionaires have tried to buy Wisconsin elections — in 2025, Elon Musk spent millions failing to elect a conservative judge to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

  • It’s never been more clear that Congressman Tiffany works for billionaires, not Wisconsinites — unfortunately for him, Wisconsin voters aren’t for sale.

NEW Elon Musk’s Election Bribery

• This week, the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission filed two complaints for violating state election bribery law during his failed attempt to elect a conservative judge to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2025. 

• One of the recipients of Musk’s $1 million bribes was the president of the Wisconsin College Republicans, a group closely aligned with Nick Fuentes and other far-right figures and which has close ties to Tom Tiffany’s gubernatorial campaign.

NEW Derrick Van Orden and Tom Tiffany Dismiss Concerns of Affordability

• At a time when healthcare, gas, and groceries have become increasingly unaffordable for Wisconsinites, this week, Derrick Van Orden (3rd Congressional District) made an appearance on Fox Business, where he complained about the term “affordability,” claiming it was a word Democrats invented. 

• Back in April, MAGA candidate for governor Tom Tiffany also echoed a similar sentiment, dismissing affordability as nothing more than a "buzzword."  

• While Derrick Van Orden and Tom Tiffany ignore their constituents' daily realities of struggling to afford essentials while living off a taxpayer funded lifestyle out in Washington, their constituents are making the tough decision between putting food on the table or filling up the gas tank.

NEW Wisconsin Democrats Speak Out Against ICE, Meanwhile DVO says he is “Incredibly Proud” of ICE Agents

• Wisconsin Democrats are speaking out against a recent surge in ICE activity in Wisconsin—with at least 39 people recently arrested by ICE in the Milwaukee area.

• Republicans have taken a different approach. Recently, when asked about the recent deadly ICE shootings that have left two innocent people dead—Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine—Derrick Van Orden declared that he is “incredibly proud” of ICE agents, and shifted the blame on to local governments. 

  • This isn't the first time Van Orden has rushed to defend ICE. Earlier this year, after two Americans were killed by ICE agents in Minnesota, Van Orden went as far as to flip-flop on his own support for the Second Amendment in order to defend the agents.

• Derrick Van Orden had a chance to simply say that innocent people dying is wrong—and he couldn't do it. This dangerous stance is not a representation of Wisconsin values, and the people of Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District deserve a representative who knows the difference between right and wrong.