Only about 10 percent of Wis. political contributions come from rural areas, one-third of the state

Here's a study that is easy to replicate in your state as log as it has a searchable database of political contributions: In Wisconsin, nearly 90 percent of the $94.4 million in contributions of $100 or more over the past 10 years have come from five urban and suburban areas, according to a report by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

A third of the state's population lives in the rural areas outside the five contributing areas, which are heavily dominated by Republican contributions, reports Chris Hubbuch of the LaCrosse Tribune, which produced an interactive map with the WDC data and Tableau mapping software. “Most of the money is coming from urban and suburban zip codes. That goes a long way to explaining why neither party has much of a rural agenda,” a WDC spokesperson told Hubbuch. “The bottom line is politicians are not talking about rural issues because they can’t raise money talking about rural issues.”

Hubbuch writes, "Between 2003 and 2012, Republicans raised about 60 percent of the money from Wisconsin’s largest donors, according to the report. Only 29 of the state’s zip codes — most near Madison, Milwaukee and Kenosha — were predominantly blue, while 132 were red. In La Crosse County, where Democrats have lately prevailed in balloting, the GOP out-raised Democrats — by as much as 84 percent — in four zip codes. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign report found the GOP enjoyed a three-to-one advantage when it comes to the nearly $29 million in out-of-state donations." (Read more)