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Nicholas Jacobs, chair of the College Republicans of Wisconsin next to the Wisconsin Federation of College Republicans logo.
Nicholas Jacobs, chair of the College Republicans of Wisconsin: 'Our team is energized, focused, and ready to make sure our endorsed candidates have every tool they need to win.'
The College Republicans of Wisconsin began July with $3,100 in the bank — not where a political organization wants to be in the run-up to consequential spring and midterm elections that will determine a state Supreme Court justice, Wisconsin’s next governor, and who controls the state Legislature.
But, thanks to two $500,000 donations from conservative megadonors and Illinois residents Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, of the business supply company Uline, the campus organization started the year with $1 million at its disposal, according to July-December campaign filings it submitted Jan. 12.
After receiving the Uihlein donations, the group transferred $86,000 to Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s campaign on Dec. 30. Tiffany has received the maximum individual contribution of $20,000 from each of the Uihleins. Party committees like the College Republicans, however, are able to make unlimited contributions to candidates.
The Young Democrats of Wisconsin, which issued a press release about the filing on Jan. 15, argue the donations demonstrate the organization is “a billionaire-funded political operation, engineered from outside our state.”
“It shows they are fundamentally disconnected from the realities facing Wisconsin students and young voters: rising tuition, unaffordable housing, student debt, and an economy that increasingly leaves working people behind,” Jake Williams, chair of the Young Democrats of Wisconsin, said in a statement. “Billionaires like the Uihleins are not investing in young people, they are investing in power, using massive checks to manufacture consent and tilt the political playing field.”
The last campaign finance report from the College Democrats of Wisconsin, filed in January 2024, reported 14 contributions from eight individuals. The group has since requested to terminate its status as a committee, meaning that it no longer plans to “receive contributions, make disbursements or incur obligations” and its “cash balance and obligations have been reduced to zero.”
Evelyn Schmidt, chair of the College Democrats of Wisconsin, says the group no longer uses its own committee: “We are solely funded by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. We do not accept donations or handle our own money. The state party holds our budget and handles reporting.”
The Young Democrats of Wisconsin, a larger group representing 18-to-40-year-olds, listed $2,517 in donations from 20 individuals, as well as two inbound transfers from the Democratic Party of La Crosse County, in the most recent July-December filing period.
The Young Democrats of Wisconsin almost immediately began using the Republican group’s benefactors as a fundraising pitch.
“Billionaires just poured $1 million into College Republicans,” a pop-up message on their website reads. “Chip in now to help grassroots students fight back and keep our democracy people-powered.”
Nicholas Jacobs, chair of the College Republicans of Wisconsin, did not respond to an interview request. Jacobs made headlines in 2025 for winning $1 million from Elon Musk as part of an event meant to elect conservative candidate Brad Schimel to the state Supreme Court.
In a Jan. 8 press release, the College Republicans of Wisconsin acknowledged that it had raised “over $1 million already this cycle” and said it is “harnessing unprecedented momentum for the midterms.”
“Our team is energized, focused, and ready to make sure our endorsed candidates have every tool they need to win,” Jacobs said in the press release. “Tom Tiffany was our first endorsement of the cycle, and we are prepared to work night and day to take Wisconsin back to the top.”
In response to a post on X criticizing the organization for the Uihlein’s donations, the College Republicans of Wisconsin’s account replied with an animation of Tom, from the cartoon Tom and Jerry, yawning.
The College Republicans of Wisconsin is part of the larger national College Republicans of America. The state group has chapters at various universities and colleges throughout the state. Those chapters are responsible for on-campus messaging, tabling, and canvassing in nearby areas, and often act as gateways for campus conservatives to get involved in politicking.
Democrats have lost some support among youth in recent years. The Fall 2025 Harvard Youth Poll, surveying a representative sample ages 18-29, found that 28% of respondents identified as Democrat, 25% Republican and 44% independent or unaffiliated. In 2024, the same poll found that 39% of respondents identified as Democrats, 23% Republican and 36% independent or unaffiliated. Two percent of respondents in both years refused the question.
Democrats and Republicans in Wisconsin have accused the other of being reliant on billionaire donors in recent election cycles, part of a broader conversation around out-of-control campaign spending in the state. Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and liberal mega-donor George Soros have made large campaign contributions to Wisconsin candidates in recent elections; on the conservative side, Musk, the Uihleins and Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks have all made significant donations.
