Free Republic

WASHINGTON - A draft opinion by the Federal Election Commission calls for allowing the Russ Darrow Group to continue running car commercials in the final days of the Wisconsin U.S. Senate campaign, concluding that the ads don't constitute "electioneering." The opinion was prepared by the FEC's general counsel's office, but will not have the force of law unless and until it is approved by the FEC's commissioners. The commissioners are scheduled to take up the draft opinion next Thursday. At issue is the McCain-Feingold law's ban on corporate-funded broadcast advertisements that mention political candidates 30 days before the primary and...

MILWAUKEE -- Campaign commercials, debates, fundraisers and signature drives are the bread and butter of campaigns, but Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Russ Darrow has added a twist. More than 600 people crowded the Pabst Theater last night to see a ``movie premiere,'' which amounted to a roughly nine-minute, commercial criticizing Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold’s voting record and positioning Darrow as “the right Russ” for Wisconsin. The Darrow ``movie'' claimed Feingold's moves to reform campaign finance reform were motivated by ambition and had done nothing to help the state's economy. It panned Feingold's annual 72-county ``listening sessions'' and claimed Feingold...

Attention Wisconsin FReepers - the Russ Darrow website is up and running. Please help the ONLY GOP Candidate that CAN DEFEAT Russ Feingold. The ONLY candidate with 38 years of business experience--starting a business from scratch--he did not inherit a dime! The ONLY candidate with the name ID THROUGHOUT the State, which is needed against to build support. The ONLY candidate with the Funding to run the campaign that is needed to defeat an incumbent like Feingold. The ONLY candidate with Lt. Gov. Margaret Farrow out CAMPAIGNING on his behalf, it is nice to have endorsements but if they do...

The Wisconsin Right to Life Political Action Committee endorsed three of the four Republicans seeking to unseat U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) without expressing a clear preference for any of the three. The committee endorsed state Sen. Bob Welch, car dealer Russ Darrow and Oconomowoc businessman Tim Michels over Feingold, but did not mention the fourth Republican, Robert Gerald Lorge, a lawyer from Bear Creek. Lorge, who ran an unsuccessful campaign for secretary of state in 2002, announced his candidacy after the other three Republicans. The political action committee for Wisconsin Right to Life also endorsed President Bush in his...

U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., co-author of past campaign finance reform legislation, has earned more money for his re-election campaign for the U.S. Senate than his three Republican opponents combined. As of the Sept. 30 third-quarter filing period last year, Feingold amassed $2.3 million for his re-election campaign. Challenger Russ Darrow earned nearly $900,000 by that date, followed by Tim Michels, who raised more than $550,000. State Sen. Bob Welch, R-Marion, finished at the bottom of the Republican candidate pool with $300,000. Four times a year, candidates are required to report the amount their campaign has raised. Since then, Republican...

MADISON - Millionaire car salesman Russ Darrow raised $1.38 million last year for his U.S. Senate bid, including $475,000 in the fourth quarter alone, according to campaign finance reports Darrow released Saturday. Darrow got $442,257 in contributions from individuals between October and the end of the year, according to the reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. He took $20,000 from political action committees and gave himself $12,843. He had $1.12 million in the bank at the end of the year. Darrow is one of a trio of Republican candidates vying to challenge incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in November. He...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold says he’ll fight a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage this year, while two of his would-be GOP challengers support the proposal. Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat facing re-election this fall, calls the amendment an ‘‘abuse’’ of the Constitution. Most members of the state’s congressional delegation, regardless of party, also oppose it. Republican Senate candidates Tim Michels and Bob Welch support the amendment, while the third candidate, Russ Darrow, said he’s undecided. The amendment by Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., defines marriage as a union of a man and woman, and prohibits both the state and...

WASHINGTON — Senate GOP candidate Tim Michels said Friday that he raised a little over $1 million last year, including $500,000 in loans he made to his campaign. Michels, a construction company owner, is one of three candidates in the Republican primary in Wisconsin, along with car dealer Russ Darrow and state Sen. Bob Welch. The winner will take on Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. Michels was the only candidate to release his 2003 fund-raising figures Friday. The deadline is Jan. 31. But Darrow campaign manager Eric Schutt said his candidate’s fund-raising totals will exceed Michels’. Schutt declined to provide any...

Well-known through his car dealerships but a newcomer to the political scene, Russ Darrow has been crisscrossing the state to show voters what "The Darrow Difference" is all about in his bid for a seat in the United States Senate. A longtime resident of Big Cedar Lake and the owner of 19 car dealerships and related leasing and financing companies, the 63-year-old Republican has decided to transfer his business over to his children and follow the campaign trail. That move is attracting the attention of some high-powered political talent along the way, including former U.S. Sen. Robert Kasten, R-Wis., who...

Republicans mark state as key in 2004 election Excerpted from the Associated Press; October 29, 2003 Madison — Republicans will target U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold and Rep. Ron Kind as they try to increase their majorities in Congress and win Wisconsin for President Bush in next year's elections, the national GOP chairman said Tuesday. The Republican Party has marked Wisconsin as a key battleground state for the 2004 race ever since Bush lost the state to Al Gore in 2000 by fewer than 6,000 votes... ..."Wisconsin is trending our way. It's not just my gut. It's what you see on...

Wisconsin car dealer Russ Darrow made his Republican U.S. Senate bid official Thursday, saying he hopes to bump off two-term Democratic incumbent Russ Feingold, whom he labeled as too liberal and out of step with Wisconsin residents. Darrow, 63, will first have to face two other Republicans who also have announced their U.S. Senate bids: state Sen. Bob Welch, 45, and Brownsville businessman Tim Michels, 41. In an interview, Darrow called himself "a grounded kind of guy, a real person who takes care of real people" and touted his business experience as a plus for the Senate job he hopes...

A provision in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law aimed at helping candidates compete against self-funding millionaires could help one of the bill's sponsors, Sen. Russ Feingold, in next year's Senate race. The "millionaire's amendment" raises contribution limits for candidates whose opponents finance their own campaigns and outpace them in spending. Two of the three candidates who have filed in Wisconsin's GOP primary, Tim Michels and Russ Darrow, are millionaires. The law could allow Feingold, D-Wis., hold off a barrage of funding if either of them wins the primary and challenges the senator next year. Feingold campaign manager George Aldrich...