Race For Paul Ryan’s Seat Dominated By Out Of State Money

The race for House Speaker Paul Ryan’s seat is heating up as his presumptive Democratic challenger, Randy Bryce, spent big in the fourth quarter of 2017. Ryan also faces a Republican primary challenge from far-right ethno-nationalist Paul Nehlen, whose campaign has struggled to fundraise and was jettisoned by Steve Bannon and Breitbart News, who had previously backed him. But among all three candidates, out of state dollars dominate their fourth quarter hauls.

In Ryan’s case, getting significant money from across the country comes with the territory as Speaker. Being a leader in the party has granted him attention, from speculation about a future presidential bid to being rewarded with nearly half a million dollars from Charles Koch and his wife contributed to his joint fundraising committee. Records reviewed by International Business Times using data from the most recent quarter compiled by ProPublica’s FEC Itemizer , found that 814 of 2,502 contributions to Ryan in the fourth quarter came from Wisconsin. Only $68,410.50 of the $1,432,680 his congressional campaign directly raised came from Wisconsin, at an average contribution of roughly $84.

Political pundits expecting a midterm Democrat surge have predicted that Ryan may resign this year , with his career on a high note from passing the tax bill, rather than risk defeat to a Democratic challenger. Ryan’s most likely Democratic challenger, former Milwaukee ironworker Bryce, spent a more than $922,000 in the fourth quarter — a significant sum for a challenger almost a year out from the election. At over $423,000, nearly half of Bryce’s campaign expenditures were on direct mailing.

Bryce has similarly seen a surge in funding from outside Wisconsin, matching Ryan’s out of state fundraising to try to keep pace with the House leader. Only 241 of 1,942 contributions to Bryce in the last quarter came from Wisconsin, raising a total of $41,306 — a comparatively small portion of the challenger’s $1,191,132 raised from October through December.

Were Ryan not to run, the only Republican candidate actively fundraising is Paul Nehlen, a repeat primary challenger to Ryan who has espoused far-right, ethno-nationalist views. Nehlen recently drew national attention for creating a list of Jews in the media who have criticized him. His views, which often aligned with Steve Bannon’s Breitbart News, became too extreme for Bannon and in December the former White House strategist severed ties with Nehlen.

Bannon’s decision may be political calculus more than drawing an ideological line in the sand, as Nehlen lost badly to Ryan in the last election and has struggled to fundraise ever since. He currently owes nearly $62,698 — one and a half times his paltry $38,682 cash on hand. After a brief uptick in fundraising in the third quarter of 2017 that saw him bring in $87,564, Nehlen only managed to raise $38,854 in the closing months of the year. Nehlen followed the trend, getting most of his attention from donors from outside his home state flocking to him for his views: Only 10 of his 65 contributions were from his home state. Those 10 contributions came from only five different individuals.

Nonetheless, Nehlen spent most of his money on consultants, most notably $17,800 of $65,361 his campaign spent in the fourth quarter went to Noel Fritsch, a political consultant closely linked to Bannon’s alt-right. Fritsch has worked for several campaigns, including Chris McDaniel’s failed 2014 U.S. Senate bid. McDaniel is currently serving as a state senator in Mississippi and Breitbart regularly covers him and features him as a columnist . Last week McDaniel joined the radio show of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist who reportedly blames 9/11 on the World Zionist Organization .