MILWAUKEE - — Milwaukee voters are being asked to approve some big spending — a $252 million referendum. It's been the topic of TV and radio ads, splashed across social media and digital billboards to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Andrea Albers set out to find out how much money has been poured into this race to try and influence voters. She dug through campaign finance reports and found the Vote Yes for MPS campaign, funded by the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA), has spent around $277,000 backing the referendum.
In contrast, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, or MMAC, has spent nearly $425,000 through the Enough Is Enough campaign. At least $175,000 was spent asking people to vote no via TV, radio, and digital ads.
The Enough Is Enough campaign is almost entirely funded by MMAC. Campaign finance reports show $400,000 dollars in donations and additional MMAC staff time was donated to the effort.
Up to this point, the Vote Yes for MPS campaign has spent less than MMAC but raised slightly more with over $200,000 still available to spend in the final stretch.
The bulk of the funding for Vote Yes for MPS has come from MTEA, the union that represents MPS staff. Individual donations, many from teachers, were a piece of the pie as well totaling $18,000.
Both campaigns spent a considerable amount on mailers — at least $58,000 by Vote Yes for MPS and at least $78,000 by Enough is Enough.
"My mailbox has been filled with flyers this season," said Jean Orlow, who votes on Milwaukee's east side. She says the tactic worked. What Orlow found in the mailbox helped influence her decision to vote yes in the ballot box. "I no longer have kids in MPS so I don't follow what's going on," she admitted. "Without getting that information in the mail specifically, I probably would be clueless."
97-year-old Helga Smith also had a full mailbox. "We are spending money on so many things, money we don't have really," she said thoughtfully. Smith says she chose to vote no on the MPS referendum and added that she's a proud German immigrant who cherishes the right to make her voice heard. "I came after the war, I came in '51. We did vote over there but there was only one name on the ballot," she recalled.
Both campaigns will be trying to make every dollar, and every minute count by calling and texting voters, even knocking on doors until polls close.
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