CHICAGO – Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sought to endear himself to Wisconsin's convention delegation Monday by touting Wisconsin's famous convenience store chain Kwik Trip — a company that happens to have strong ties to Republicans and his opponent in November.
Walz, the presumptive Democratic vice presidential nominee, referenced the whirlwind weeks since he became Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate during a talk to Wisconsin delegates at the Democratic National Convention. He referenced a recent visit to Sheetz, the Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain.
"They didn't realize how high the bar is with a Kwik Trip guy," Walz said, referencing the La Crosse-headquartered gas station and convenience store chain.
Kwik Trip is arguably the most popular gas station and convenience store chain in Wisconsin, and the comment was met with applause. But the organization also has strong ties to Republicans and former President Donald Trump.
Donald Zietlow, long the chief executive officer for Kwik Trip who retired in 2023, has given more than $1 million in federal and state donations to Republican groups and candidates over the years.
Among his hundreds of contributions are at least four for a total of $365,000 to Trump Victory, Trump's leadership PAC. In August 2016, Zietlow and his wife hosted a fundraiser for Trump in La Crosse.
He has also given more than $ 370,000 to Wisconsin candidates and campaigns , with the vast majority of those dollars going to GOP groups and candidates, including $20,000 to Republican Party gubernatorial nominee Tim Michels in 2022 and $10,000 in to former conservative Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly last year. He previously donated $20,000 to Kelly for his 2019 campaign.
Zietlow did support former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, giving his three donations totaling $450.
More recently, Zietlow has given to a number of high-profile Wisconsin Republicans , including Sen. Ron Johnson, and the state's GOP congressmen. He just in June chipped in $6,600 to Republican Rep. Brian Steil's campaign.
In the 2015-16 campaign cycle, Kwik Trip's political action fund gave a total of $75,000 to two conservative PACs — $50,000 to Let America Work and $25,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House Republican super PAC.
The Kwik Trip PAC has been much more active at the state level. Since 2016, the PAC has given $103,000 to the state Republican Party and the two GOP legislative committees. By comparison, the Democratic Party and the two Democratic legislative committees have received $48,500, less than half the figure for Republicans.
Zietlow spent 52 years with Kwik Trip, including two decades as its president and CEO.
Scott Zietlow, the current CEO of Kwik Trip who succeeded his father, is less politically active, having last made a donation in 2016. There is no record of his giving to any state candidates or groups.
The founders of Sheetz, the Pennsylvania convenience store chain, meanwhile, have also donated to candidates on both sides of the aisle. For instance, the Sheetz Inc PAC recently chipped in $1,000 each to U.S. Don Davis, a North Carolina Democrat, and Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance.
It's biggest contributions went to Pennsylvania FoodPAC, which represents grocery and convenience stores in the Keystone State.
Aside from the Kwik Trip comment, Walz on Monday praised Wisconsin Democrats' work over the past several weeks, noting they've signed up more than 42,000 people in the state to volunteer since Harris became the party's presidential nominee.
He contrasted the Democratic ticket with Trump and said Democrats were "doing politics with a sense of dignity, with a sense of kindness, with a sense of joy."
"Look, as I said, I am not waking up the day after this election and not thinking we left it all on the field," Walz said. "We are going to leave it all on the field."
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tim Walz says he's 'a Kwik Trip guy' but the company has big ties to Trump
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