Pricey campaign contributions by college students raise red flags about potentially illegal giving, says the head of a state watchdog group.
A Wisconsin Democracy Campaign analysis released Monday shows that 177 contributors identified as “student” in campaign finance reports gave $86,243 to candidates for statewide office and the Legislature from 2002 through June 2007. Of those, 31 contributed $1,000 or more.
“The typical money struggles people associate with college students certainly did not appear to be a problem for many of these 177 student contributors,” the group said in a news release, and Executive Director Mike McCabe said in a telephone interview that “I think the kids and their parents have some explaining to do. The circumstances around these donations is clearly curious.”