Tony Wied

Rep. Tony Wied is hundreds of thousands of dollars ahead of Democrats in the 8th Congressional District race.

The most well-financed Democrat had about $21,000 in cash on hand, about 16 times less than Wied.

The money contest in the 8th Congressional District race is no contest. Democrats trail Rep. Tony Wied, R-De Pere, by hundreds of thousands of dollars on all campaign finance metrics, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.

Wied, who filed his statement of candidacy for the 2026 election one week after being sworn into office, entered the new year with over $353,000 of cash in hand. This was over 16 times what the most well-financed Democratic contender, Mark Scheffler, had in liquid cash, about $21,000. Rick Crosson had roughly $7,400 on hand.

The difference in what campaigns raked in was even wider.

Contributions to Wied’s campaign up to Dec. 31 clocked in at over $675,000. Scheffler, who officially filed candidacy paperwork Aug. 1, has so far brought in just under $47,000. As for Crosson, who officially entered the race two weeks after Scheffler, he counted $2,900.

The Democratic showing is a far cry from that of Kristin Lyerly, the Democratic challenger to Wied for former Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher’s seat in 2024. In the first three months of her campaign, Lyerly reported over $891,000 in campaign contributions, though she was not in a three-person race for the Democratic nomination as Scheffler, Crosson, and Katrina deVille are in now. (DeVille, the most recent Democratic candidate, did not file a financial report. Former Democratic contender Ben Hable dropped out in November, he told the Green Bay Press-Gazette.)

Scheffler, in his bid as a progressive candidate, has disavowed traditional campaign financing tactics, pledging to not fund his campaign through donations from corporations or large names. Crosson has not made such a promise, though has made it a point to broaden the Democratic Party’s appeal to as many voters as possible, as has Scheffler.

The strategy has not translated into donations. There were 14 itemized contributions to Scheffler’s campaign in the most recent reporting period, from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, all of which were from the Appleton-area. Of those, two came from Scheffler himself, totaling $20,000, the bulk of the roughly $24,500 Scheffler took in during the last months of 2025. As for the five itemized donations to Crosson’s campaign, several appear to be from Crosson’s personal and family connections living across the country.

As for Wied, most contributions to date have come from political committees, equaling $373,000, and large individual contributions, largely driven by three- or four-figure donations, including Elon Musk’s $6,600 and $3,100 donations on March 24 earmarked through the conservative fundraising platform WinRed. These large contributions made up most itemized donations in the most recent reporting period, the top 10 of which were:

WinRed: $9,303.45

Transportation Trust Fund (an authorized campaign committee for Wied): $7,196.74

David Wolff, CEO of UFA Inc., an air-traffic-specific engineering firm: $5,000

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce: $5,000

Scott Mayer, president of QPS Employment Group: $5,000

William Kress, CEO of Green Bay Packaging: $5,000

Edward Martin, owner of H.J. Martin and Son: $5,000

Terri Martin: $5,000

American Council of Engineering Companies: $5,000

Direct Supply, Inc. Partners PAC: $5,000