Gov’s Fundraising Dropped In Last Half Of 2012

After shattering fundraising records during his 2012 recall campaign, Governor Scott Walker’s fundraising came back down to earth in the second half of last year.

Walker raised more than $29 million through the end of June, but from July onward, he raised about $474,000. He ended the year with just under $800,000 in the bank.

By comparison, that’s less that Governor Jim Doyle during his successful reelection campaign in 2006. Doyle raised $880,000 during a similar period and had $2.2 million in the bank.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Political Scientist Charles Franklin says there are a couple ways to look at Walker’s totals, “I think it opens the door to Democrats in the sense that they’re not looking at an opponent who already has several million dollars in the bank.”

On the other hand, Franklin says Walker has already proven he can raise money when he needs it, and the recall afforded him a massive donor list, “That list won’t go away, and it remains a group of potential donors for him to tap going into 2014 and beyond.”

While Democrats contend Walker is vulnerable in 2014, they’ve yet to announce any challengers.