Digital dark money blankets Wisconsin

As Democrats wait to pick their Senate nominee, Ron Johnson receives major air cover online

One of the most promising opportunities for Democrats to pick up a U.S. Senate seat (and maintain their majority) is in the perennial swing state of Wisconsin, where far-right Sen. Ron Johnson is up for re-election. There’s just one problem for Democrats, however - they won’t have a clear nominee to run against Johnson until a mid-August primary election. In the meantime, “dark money” political groups on the Right and Left are filling the gap with persuasion advertising online meant to boost or attack Johnson on issues from the economy to extremism.

FWIW found that political advertisers have spent nearly $2 million on Facebook, Instagram, Google, and YouTube advertising over the past 30 days - with a huge amount being driven by opaque political groups with no formal ties to the candidates themselves. Here’s a breakdown:

Google + YouTube

Political advertisers have spent a total of $811,000 in the past 30 days targeting voters on Google and YouTube in Wisconsin. We were surprised to find that the majority of that spending came from just two dark money groups - One Nation ($278k) and Wisconsin Truth PAC ($200k).