Campaign
Transparency & Disclosure
Voters across the political spectrum support strong disclosure laws. Wisconsinites deserve to know who is trying to influence our government and elections with secret money.
Ethics & Accountability
Public officials should act in all of our interest, not to line their own pockets. Common Cause is fighting to ensure that all of our leaders are held to high ethical standards.
From city councils to the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court, the people making decisions that affect our lives and our families need to be held to the highest ethical standards. Common Cause works to ensure that those empowered to act on everyone’s behalf disclose their personal finances, uphold the rule of law, and cannot turn their public service into a personal profit scheme.
What We’re Doing
Campaign
Background and History of Judicial Recusal in Wisconsin
The landscape began to shift about a decade ago when outside special interest groups, for the first time, began to pour millions of dollars into the election of two State Supreme Court Justices.
Your financial support helps us make an impact by holding power accountable and strengthening democracy.
Updates
Blog Post
Actions You Can Take NOW to Defend Democracy and Advance Reform
We can rise up, fight back, organize and mobilize through action and engagement.
Impact
The Cure for the Ills of Democracy is Indeed More Democracy
Common Cause Wisconsin updates and actions for Summer 2025
Opinion
The fight for the survival of democracy will be won at the ballot box
The cure for the ills of democracy in Wisconsin and nationally is voting.
Press
News Clip
Why are Wisconsin Supreme Court elections so expensive and what can be done about it?
Some of those factors have pushed high court races in other states into the seven- or even eight-figure range, but only Wisconsin — the first to see nine-figure spending on a court contest — has all of them.
“It’s the whole picture that makes us so obscene,” says Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, which advocates for transparent and accountable government.
“It’s the whole picture that makes us so obscene,” says Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, which advocates for transparent and accountable government.
News Clip
How could your voting choices change in the future?
You could have a voice in empowering a larger political spectrum in the future if a bipartisan coalition of Wisconsin voters gets its way.
News Clip
Supreme Court case takes deeper dive into campaign financing
Common Cause Wisconsin Executive Director Jay Heck believes that a decision favoring Republicans would pump even more money into politics as a whole, which he says could erode trust in the candidates at the federal and state levels.