MADISON, Wis. — A media report has exposed Republican State Representative Bob Donovan’s shady scam to solve his personal affordable housing crisis – tapping his campaign donors to literally help pay his rent. As detailed in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Donovan’s campaign finance reports revealed he paid himself $850 every month for what he called “staff lodging” after renting an apartment in the state assembly district he represents while also maintaining a home outside of the district.
According to the news story:
In November, Donovan, 69, narrowly defeated Bird again in an expensive reelection battle. He voted using the address of his new, in-district apartment, while his wife used the old, out-of-district residence to vote.
A month after his victory, the GOP lawmaker began paying himself $850 a month from his campaign account for “staff lodging” at his old house. In all, he paid himself $5,950 in the seven months after the election, according to campaign reports.
The item was made even more confusing by the fact that he didn’t even list a campaign staffer during any of that time.
Rep. Donovan now appears to be trying to cover up his shady scheme. After being contacted by a reporter, he revised his campaign finance report and deleted the reported payments to himself. However, his hasty cover up has not accounted for where the nearly $6,000 has gone as his reported cash on hand balance remains the same in the revised July 2025 report.
As of today, a campaign finance report filed in January 2025 has not yet been scrubbed of an $850 payment to himself for “staff lodging” in December of 2024.
Questions raised by the media reporting have gone unanswered:
So was Donovan using his campaign account simply to pay off the mortgage for his old, out-of-district house or to cover the rent at his new, in-district apartment?
Donovan didn’t return calls or emails. We visited both his residences, but no one answered at either.
A Better Wisconsin Together Deputy Director Mike Browne commented, “Bob Donovan got caught trying to fix his own affordable housing crisis by tapping his special interest campaign donors to help pay the rent. And instead of answering any of the serious ethical or even legal questions his scam raises, he’s trying to cover his tracks.”
