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Tom Tiffany has received about $11,500 from the political action committee linked to We Energies.

Both state and federal records show the WEC Energy Group PAC shares an address with WEC Energy Group, which houses We Energies, the state’s largest utility provider.

Wisconsin campaign finance records show the PAC made four donations to Tiffany totaling $2,000 in 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2019. At that time, he was a Republican state lawmaker.

Federal Election Commission records, which capture his campaign for Congress, show the PAC made five donations totaling $9,500 to Tiffany between 2019 and 2023.

The PAC has not donated to Tiffany since he began his campaign for governor, records show.

Tiffany is far from the largest recipient of donations tied to We Energies.
The PAC contributes to both Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin, including six donations totaling $136,000 to Gov. Tony Evers’ campaign.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• State of Wisconsin Ethics Commission: WEC Energy Group PAC (WEC PAC)
• Federal Election Commission: WEC Energy Group Political Action Committee
• WEC Energy Group: About Us
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Some We Energies customers see utility bills spike for December 2025
• Wisconsin State Legislature: Senator Tom Tiffany
• Federal Election Commission: Tiffany for Wisconsin, Inc

Has We Energies donated thousands of dollars to Tom Tiffany? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Gas prices in Wisconsin averaged above $5 a gallon in six southeastern counties in early June 2022.

According to the travel organization AAA’s page for Wisconsin, the statewide average gas price was $4.923 on June 12, 2022 – a record high that hasn’t been seen since.

Still, individual Wisconsin counties and metro areas exceeded $5 a gallon – a different measure than the statewide average.

A web archive of the same AAA page captured on June 16, 2022, showed the average price was above $5 in six counties, including Milwaukee County at $5.144.

Gas prices fluctuate for many reasons. Prices spiked in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed up crude oil prices, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Former Gov. Scott Walker called back to 2022 prices in the wake of U.S. strikes on Iran, which bumped prices past $3.50 in late March.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• AAA: Fuel Prices for Wisconsin
• AAA: Fuel Prices in Wisconsin (2022)
• U.S. Energy Information Administration: U.S. retail gasoline prices rose in summer but ended 2022 lower than start of 2022

Did gas prices in Wisconsin top $5 a gallon in June 2022? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Campaign finance records show Reid Hoffman is the largest donor to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

Hoffman, a venture capitalist and LinkedIn co-founder, has donated $15.4 million to the state party, according to campaign finance records.

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission confirmed in an email that online records reach back to 2008, though Hoffman only began donating to the state party in 2019. Wisconsin passed legislation in 2015 that allowed unlimited contributions to state parties.

State online campaign finance records show Hoffman’s name twice; he has profiles under different addresses.

Hoffman’s combined donations place him far above the second-highest donor, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, whose donations total about $5.9 million.

Hoffman’s name appeared hundreds of times in the latest release of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Hoffman apologized in 2019 for his role in rehabbing Epstein’s image.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Sunshine: Wisconsin Campaign Finance: Payer: Reid Hoffman
• Sunshine: Wisconsin Campaign Finance: Democratic Party of Wisconsin
• Wisconsin State Legislature: 2015 Act 117
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Big donors to Wisconsin political campaigns appear in Epstein files

Is Reid Hoffman the largest donor to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin?  is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Francesca Hong, a candidate for governor in Wisconsin, has not won the Democratic primary – because the election hasn’t happened yet.

A viral post on X claims Hong “just won” the Democratic primary for governor. But Wisconsin’s primary to narrow down candidates for governor and other partisan offices isn’t until Aug. 11, 2026. The general election is Nov. 3.

In other words, Wisconsin voters won’t see Hong on the ballot until late summer.

A Marquette University Law School poll – published the same day as the misleading post – found 11% of Wisconsin voters said they plan to vote for Hong in the primary, compared to 10% for Mandela Barnes. A majority of voters, 65%, were undecided.

Polls do not determine election outcomes, and there is no guarantee that Hong will maintain that lead over the next six months.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin doesn't vote Nov. 4, but here are the 2026 election dates
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: Upcoming Events
• Marquette University Law School: New Marquette Law School Poll finds large majorities of Wisconsin voters undecided on candidates for state Supreme Court, governor

Did Francesca Hong win the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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Wisconsin doesn’t have more registered voters than the adult population.

The claim, recently recirculated by President Donald Trump, combines two voter lists to misrepresent the number of active, eligible voters in Wisconsin.     

Wisconsin’s adult population is around 4.8 million, according to Jan. 1 estimates from the state Demographic Services Center.

On Feb. 1, Wisconsin had around 3.6 million active, registered voters, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. 

The state has 4.6 million inactive voters on a separate list. Voters move to the inactive list if they die, move to a new state or are convicted of a felony, for example.

Adding those two numbers produces a total of 8.2 million, more than the state’s total population.

State law requires an inactive list for record-keeping purposes. Plus, it helps clerks prevent fraud by catching someone registering under a dead person’s name, for example.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Wisconsin Elections Commission: February 1, 2026 Voter Registration Statistics
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: FAQs
• Wisconsin Demographic Services Center: Official Final Estimates, 1/1/2025

Does Wisconsin have more registered voters than adults? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.