Populist Wineke Outpaces Opponents’ Fundraising in Dane County Executive Race

Verona Democrat’s pace tops field of six candidates

Joe Wineke presents a campaign bringing a small-town, let's-have-beer-in-rural-Dane County sensibility combined with an unvarnished progressive record as state senator.

I met Wineke in 1989 when he was working over-time preventing the Enron Company's natural gas division from shoving a large natural gas pipe line through the private land of Dane and Green county farmers and landowners.

A large political coalition led by Mike Bauer and Ed Garvey joined forces.

Wineke shined and made a lot of friends in Dane County by telling Enron what to do with their pipeline, ultimately moved to a more sensible route. Ask around Paoli and Fitchburg and people still remember the fight.

Two weeks out from the primary for Dane County Executive, anything can happen in a race with a strong field of candidates.

Wineke's leave-my-land-alone attitude plays well in rural Dane County, and he can hold his own in the Isthmus.

From the Wineke campaign:

VERONA – Joe Wineke (D-Verona), candidate for Dane County Executive, outpaced his opponents’ 2010 fundraising efforts, according to finance reports filed with the County Clerk’s office today. The former State Senator and Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman brought in more money per day than each of his five opponents – Zach Brandon, Eileen Bruskewitz, Scott McDonell, Joe Parisi, and Spencer Zimmerman.

The “January Continuing” report, due today, covered all funds raised between each candidate’s announcement and the December 31, 2010 finance deadline. The reports show:

Zach Brandon raised $2,560.00, beginning December 8 – or $111.30 per day
Scot McDonell raised $32,725.72, beginning November 24 – or $884.48 per day
(McDonell’s total includes a $19,494.39 transfer from his county board account)
Joe Parisi raised $21,957.05, beginning November 23 – or $577.82 per day
(Parisi’s total includes a $5,000.00 personal loan and $4,678.15 transferred from his legislative account)
Joe Wineke raised $14,360.40, beginning December 15 – or $897.53 per day.

“Despite the late start, our campaign set an aggressive fundraising pace through the end of 2010,” said Wineke. “With the help of friends, family, and working families across Dane County, we’ve built a strong coalition in the lead-up to the Primary, and we haven’t slowed down since. I’m grateful for their continued support in the fight for Dane County’s future.”