Richard Uihlein
Ultra-conservative GOP mega-donor; explicit primary-challenge / hard-right framing.
Who they are.
Co-founder of Uline, a packaging and shipping-supplies distributor headquartered in Wisconsin. Along with his wife Liz Uihlein, one of the largest ultra-conservative Republican mega-donors of the past decade, funding hard-right primary challengers, election-integrity messaging organizations, and the most ideologically rightward portion of the GOP donor universe.
The chain.
- Club for Growth ActionTop donor
- Restoration PACFounder & primary funder
- Tea Party Patriots ActionMajor donor
- Ron Johnson (R, WI Sen)Top individual donor across 2016 + 2022 Senate runs2016/2022 · Won 2016 + 2022 Senate races
- Hard-right House primary challengers (broad)Tens of millions via Club for Growth Action across multiple cycles2014-2024 · Mixed; helped fund Freedom Caucus pipeline
- Election-integrity / 'stop the steal'-adjacent messagingTens of millions via Restoration PAC + affiliated 501(c)(4)s2020-2024 · Funded post-2020 election-integrity messaging infrastructure
The targets.
Sources.
Questions about Richard Uihlein.
Who is Richard Uihlein?
Richard 'Dick' Uihlein co-founded Uline in 1980 with his wife Liz. Uline is one of the largest US distributors of packaging, shipping, and warehouse supplies, headquartered in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. The Uihleins are typically grouped together as a donor unit and are widely described as the most ideologically rightward portion of the GOP mega-donor universe.
What does Uihlein fund?
Uihlein's giving is concentrated in: hard-right GOP primary challengers (especially via Club for Growth Action), election-integrity messaging (via Restoration PAC and 501(c)(4) affiliates), and ideological infrastructure for the rightward edge of the Republican coalition. He is among the most consistent individual funders of Freedom Caucus-adjacent House primary efforts.
Is Uihlein pro-Israel?
Uihlein's giving framework is domestic-conservative — election integrity, primary challenges, hard-right messaging — rather than foreign-policy focused. He is not a primary donor to AIPAC PAC or the RJC. He is included here for editorial breadth: not all GOP mega-donors share the same explanatory variable.