Friday, January 03, 2014

FEC Report Roundup: Second Quarter 2013

I’m still playing catch up with the quarterly FEC Reports.  This post covers the 2nd quarter 2013, April - June.

You can browse these reports yourself at www.fec.gov.  As always I apologize in advance for any errors or misinterpretations.  I am neither a lawyer nor an accountant, just an interested observer and these thoughts should be taken as such. 

Where there are two numbers separated by a slash, the first is the amount for this quarter and the second is the amount for the election cycle.

Watch the ratio of  itemized (over $250 donations), unitemized (smaller donations), and PAC ratios.  In open races or in challenger’s reports, there are usually fewer PAC donations.  They like to stick with people they are fairly certain are going to win. 

Reports can be arranged alphabetically, chronologically, or scrambled.

6th Congressional District 

Jim Gerlach, Republican (incumbent)   

Receipts
Itemized 82,849.00
Unitemized 6,508.00
Total of Contributions from Individuals 89,357.00 / 202,307.00
Political Party Committees: 
PACs:  217,000.00 / 406,000.00
The Candidate:    0.00
Total Contributions:  306,357.00 / 608,307.00
Loans Made by the Candidate:  0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.):  0.00 / 14,723.08
Other Receipts:  825.71 / 1,799.98
Total Receipts:  307,182.71 / 624,830.06
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 107,434.46 / 269,289.87
Total Refunds:  0.00 / 1,000.00
Other Disbursements: 33,100.00 / 33,200.00
Total Disbursements: 140,534.46 / 303,489.87
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 477,093.88
Total Receipts 307,182.71
Total Disbursements  140,534.46
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period 643,742.13

Gerlach’s report is arranged chronologically so it is difficult to track multiple donations by the same person.  Of the 95 individual itemized donations 20 were from out of state.  One new donor reached the $5200 limit for the election cycle.  Notable names include Elsie Hillman and Bruce Toll.  There were donations from multiple employees of Pension Co., Ringler Associates, Novogradac & Co., Urban Engineers, and the Temple University Health Sys.  Among PACs there were clusters in finance, insurance, health care, energy, and real estate.  Interesting individual PACs – Pizza Hut PAC, and a donation from the NEA.  The National Structure Settlements Trade Association has donated a total of $10K. 

In disbursements the Gula Graham Group received almost $20K for fundraising, and was reimbursed over $16K for expenses.  Power 8 Political Consulting received about $18K.  the campaign paid over $7K for FEC compliance.  There were travel reimbursements, including a hotel stay at a Ritz Carlton.  The campaign bought $3K worth of golf shirts.  There were also payments to other political committees, $27,500 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, $1K to the county Republican committees in Montco, Lebanon and Berks Counties, and $2,500 to the Chester County Republicans. 

7th Congressional District 

Pat Meehan, Republican (incumbent)   

Receipts
Itemized 150,900.00
Unitemized 4,970.00
Total of Contributions from Individuals 155,870.00 / 284,787.00
Political Party Committees: 0.00
PACs:  245,967.00 / 330,527.11
The Candidate:    0.00 / 153.66
Total Contributions:  401,837.00 / 615,467.77
Loans Made by the Candidate:  0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.):  384.00 / 420.00
Total Receipts:  402,221.00 / 615,887.77
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures:  104,221.71 / 369,156.28
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 104,221.71 / 369,156.28
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 1,061,137.90
Total Receipts 402,221.00
Total Disbursements   104,221.71
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period 1,359,137.19

Of the 160 itemized individual donations 45 were from out of state.  There were 5 new donors who have given $5200 and will not be able to donate any further in the election cycle.  Notable individual names:  Elsie Hillman, William Sasso, and Joe Grace.  There were a number of lawyers in the list of donors.  Two employees of the Greater Philly Chamber of Commerce donated.  Among the individual donor’s occupations we find a portrait artist, a bridal consultant, an anesthesiologist, and a plumber.  There was a dizzying array of PACs in the PAC list.  As an example, next to each other on the report were the Human Society and the Institute of Makers of Explosives.  There were a cluster of unions (IBEW, government employees, postal workers, etc).  Comcast Corp has now donated $10,000.  There was a donation from KochPac.  Meehan also received donations from out of state politicos, Pete Roskam’s PAC, Eric Cantor’s PAC, Pete Sessions for Congress, and Kevin McCarthy for congress.

In disbursements, the campaign paid rent, about $1300 for website maintenance, cable tv, and travel expenses or reimbursement (EZPass, airfare, a Ritz Carlton, and two Hyatts).  The Theodore Co received around $20K.  The campaign paid $6K for FEC compliance.  Red Maverick Media received $8K.  County Republican committees in Chester ($5K), Montco ($1K), Lancaster ($1K), and Berks ($1500) were paid for event sponsorship or tickets or the like.  Also, Caitlin Ganley, who was (is?) Meehan’s district director received a $10K consulting retainer (I double checked the amount on the FEC pdf report; it is $10,000).


8th Congressional District 

Mike Fitzpatrick, Republican (incumbent)   

Receipts
Itemized 184,952.50
Unitemized 23,525.50
Total of Contributions from Individuals 208,478.00 / 415,201.16
Political Party Committees:  0.00
PACs:  255,475.00 / 359,945.00
The Candidate:   0.00
Total Contributions:  463,953.00 / 775,146.16
Transfers from Other Authorized Committees:  37,897.03 / 37,897.03
Loans Made by the Candidate: 
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.):  0.00 / 491.00
Other Receipts:  44.91 / 82.77
Total Receipts:  501,894.94 / 813,616.96
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures:  96,457.67 / 350,774.17
Other Disbursements: 250.00 / 2,250.0
Total Disbursements: 96,707.67 / 353,024.17
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 275,478.45
Total Receipts 501,894.94
Total Disbursements   96,707.67
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period 680,665.72

Fitzpatrick’s reports are arranged chronologically.  Of the 263 itemized donors, 37 were from out of state.  Two donors made two donations each which equaled $5200 and therefore cannot contribute again in this election cycle.  Notable donors include Phil English, Vahan Gureghian, Manuel Stamatakis, Nick DeBenedictis, William Sasso, and the Chicksaw Nation (listed as an individual donor).  There were clusters of attorneys, construction executives, engineers, and paint manufacturers.  Several employees of the Navmar Applied Sciences (which looks to be a defense contractor, something about drones). 

In PACs, the Congressman has amassed an amazing amount of support from other politicians, such a combined total of $10K from Eric Cantor’s leadership PAC, ERIC PAC, a combined total of $10K from JEB PAC, donations from Darryl Issa’s PAC, Conrad Burns’s PAC, Jeff Denham’s PAC, and on and on and on.  The largest is a $37K transfer from Patriot Day I, a Republican multi-candidate fund.  This was a tricky organization to research.  The FEC report lists it as Patriot Day 1 but it is actually Patriot Day I.  There are several Patriot Day accounts, all of which are associated with (or managed by) a law firm that handles a large number of Republican political accounts.  Fitzpatrick’s FEC report lists the donors whose money was transferred to his account, including John Boehner.  There are also profession or corporate based PACs, such as KOCHPAC, Wal-Mart PAC, and Sea World PAC.  There are several bank and credit union PACs.  It really is a breath-taking list.  I am impressed. 

In disbursements, there is one paid employee.  KC consulting received $11K, the Theodore Company $36K, $6K for website development, Campaign Financial Services received $16K.  There is another $4K to another fundraising firm, $3K to Temperance House for catering.  The campaign paid car rental fees and a lot of money for gas, as well as train and airfare payments.  A debt to Amex for $4k is listed, but looking ahead, it appears to have been paid by the 3rd quarter.



Shaughnessy Naughton, Democrat  

Receipts
Itemized 49,916.00
Unitemized 0.00
Total of Contributions from Individuals 49,916.00
Political Party Committees:  0.00
PACs:  1,000.00
The Candidate:  100.00 
Total Contributions:  51,016.00
Loans Made by the Candidate:  38,000.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.): 
Total Receipts:  89,016.00
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures:  80.92
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 80.92
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 0.00
Total Receipts 89,016.00
Total Disbursements   80.92
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period 88,935.08

I feel for the person preparing this report; it is an amended report and still shows signs of being done by someone not acquainted with doing them.   There are not unitemized donations listed but that is misleading.  The itemized receipts page lists donations as small as $20, when it should only list those over $250.  The donors are listed alphabetically which makes it easier to track repeat donations.  Of the 203 donations listed, 61 were from out of state.  No donors reached the $5200 maximum allowed for the election cycle.  Notable names include Thomas Knox and Judith von Seldeneck.  There were three donors with the name Dessertine and a Dessertine family trust.  There were six donors named Morrow.  Donor occupations include clusters of teachers (several of these) and real estate agents.  Other interesting occupations include stone mason, Microsoft executive, diplomat and architect.  The Friends of Dan McCaffery donated $1,000.  The candidate provided loans totaling $38,000.  There is also a debt listed but it is to the candidate and I think may be part of the aforementioned loan, but am not certain.


Kevin Strouse, Democrat  

Receipts
Itemized 181,899.66
Unitemized 18,191.36
Total of Contributions from Individuals 200,091.02
Political Party Committees:  0.00
PACs:  18,500.00
The Candidate:    35,175.00
Total Contributions:  253,766.02
Loans Made by the Candidate:  0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.):  0.00
Total Receipts:  253,766.05
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures:  35,504.26
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 35,504.26
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 0.00
Total Receipts 253,766.05
Total Disbursements   35,504.26
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period 218,261.79

Strouse’s reports are arranged alphabetically.  Of the 170 donations (reduced from the listed number to account for noted duplicate donations by some individuals) 77 were from out of state.  Twelve donors have contributed the maximum amount allowed for an election cycle ($5200); three of those twelve were named Strouse.  Notable donors include Dennis Alter (who gives his occupation as tourist), Betsy Sheerr, Richard Hayne (Urban Outfitters), and Dr. Manan Trivedi.  Occupational clusters include doctors, finance, and government analysts.  There was also an actor, an artist, a tennis coach, and a senior policy advisor at Third Way.  In PACs there were several relating to military or veterans concerns.  There were a handful of political committees, such as the Friends of Jared Polis, and Nancy Pelosi for Congress.  The candidate has contributed about $35K of his own money. 

In disbursements, there was one paid employee.  The campaign paid New Media Campaigns $5K for internet, and bought NGP software used for tracking and filing campaign donations.


13th Congressional District

Incumbent Democrat Allyson Schwartz is running for governor; she is still filing FEC reports but they are not included here and will be dealt with separately.

Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, Democrat   

Receipts
Itemized 255,620.34
Unitemized 22,178.10
Total of Contributions from Individuals 277,798.44 / 494,563.44
Political Party Committees: 0.00 
PACs:  7,500.00 / 9,000.00
The Candidate:   0.00
Total Contributions:  285,298.44 / 503,563.44
Loans Made by the Candidate: 0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.): 0.00 
Total Receipts:  285,298.44 / 503,563.44
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures:  40,105.09 / 43,907.70
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 40,105.09 / 43,907.70
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 214,462.39
Total Receipts 285,298.44
Total Disbursements  40,105.09  
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period 459,655.74

I counted 21 donors who have now donated the full legal amount for the 2014 election cycle but as the report is scrambled it is too difficult to figure out how many of those are duplicate listings.  Ditto with the roughly 154 donations out of the 366 which are from out of state.  Notable donors include Lynn Yeakel, attorney Daniel McElhatton, Peter Buttenwieser, and Rosemarie Greco.  In with the standard captains of industry and professional occupations, Arkoosh received donations from a retired storyteller, the COO of the Phillies, a teacher, a metalsmith, and a journalist.  In PACS, there were three medical groups and another donation from the Women’s Campaign Fund.

In disbursements, there were three paid employees, payments for rent, air and train travel, $6K for website work, and $3K for FEC compliance.


Brendan Boyle, Democrat

Receipts
Itemized 138,578.00
Unitemized 17,349.00
Total of Contributions from Individuals 155,927.0
Political Party Committees:  0.00 
PACs:  96,800.00
The Candidate:   0.00
Total Contributions:  252,727.00
Loans Made by the Candidate:  0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.):  0.00
Total Receipts:  252,727.00
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures:  28,065.18
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 28,065.18
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 0.00
Total Receipts 252,727.00
Total Disbursements   28,065.18
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period  224,661.82

Only 18 of 158 donations from out of state and some are multiples from the same people.  I counted seven donors who have given the total allowed for the entire election, and cannot donate any more.  Two of these are the candidate and his wife, another two are two of the Susquehanna International Group trio who gave a significant amount of money to Anthony Williams gubernatorial campaign in 2010.  They are strong supporters of charter schools.  Among the others who donated are a tennis instructor, a waiter, a chef, three funeral directors, Det Ansinn, Alan Butkovitz, State reps, Kevin Boyle, Michael Carroll,  Richard Mirabito, former State rep Babette Josephs, the Lenfests,  the lieutenant governor of Illinois, and the standard assortment of doctors, lawyers, and Indian chiefs (ceos).  Of the PACs that contributed, there were several union related contributions, several state rep and Philadelphia ward campaign committees, $1000 from Students First PAC, and two Irish related committees.

In disbursements he paid $7K for fundraising services, $3K for accounting services, $3800 for setting up a website, a little over $4K for design and printing services.  There was one paid employee.


Daylin Leach, Democrat   

Receipts
Itemized 278,939.14
Unitemized 34,851.70
Total of Contributions from Individuals 313,790.84
Political Party Committees:  0.00
PACs:  33,800.00
The Candidate:    10,000.00
Total Contributions:  357,590.84
Loans Made by the Candidate:  0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.):  0.00
Total Receipts:  357,590.84
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures:  77,227.22
Refunds: 3,100.00
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 80,327.22
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 0.00
Total Receipts 357,590.84
Total Disbursements   80,327.22
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period 277,263.62

Leach’s reports are arranged alphabetically.  He received a lot of donations through the ActBlue national online fundraising tool.  However, very few of his donations are from out of state.  It is hard to get an accurate count of total donations because those coming through ActBlue have two lines in the report, one for the donation and one for ActBlue.  There were 25 out of state donations which is a small percentage of the total; I would guess around 10% or so.  Ten donors have contributed $5200, the total allowed for the entire election cycle.  There were several donations from people who are or were in the state legislature (house and senate) and also those who work there.  Other notable names:  Joe Hoeffel, H. F. Lenfest, Jeffry and Marsha Perselman, Betsy Sheerr, and Dr. Manan Trivedi.  There were occupational clusters for attorneys, mental health, and the standard business executives.  There were also three librarians, two writers, two teachers, the president of PA Planned Parenthood, an arts consultant, and a food blogger. 

The PAC donations reflected some of the individual donations, with a number of state political PACs contributing, most associated with a particular candidate, such as the Friends of Rob Teplitz, and Citizens for Hughes.  There were two animal rights groups and two marijuana legalization groups.

In disbursements, Leach’s use of online technology is evident.  Along with Amtrak travel expenses, the campaign also used priceline.com and uber taxi service.  In addition to paying $14K to Devine Mulvey Longabaugh for media, there were a total of around $3K in payments for Facebook advertising.  There were three paid employees.  In addition a fundraising consultant, Vanessa DeRose, was paid $15K.  An Internet consultant received $2500.  Another fundraising consultant received $3K.   The campaign paid $2100 for NGP campaign software. 


Marjorie Margolies, Democrat  

Receipts
Itemized 173,000.00
Unitemized 4,345.00
Total of Contributions from Individuals 177,345.00
Political Party Committees:  0.00
PACs:  8,000.00
The Candidate:    0.00
Total Contributions:  185,345.00
Loans Made by the Candidate:  0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures (Refunds, etc.):  0.00
Total Receipts:  185,345.00
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures:  24,378.73
Other Disbursements: 1,000.00
Total Disbursements: 25,378.73
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of Reporting Period 0.00
Total Receipts 185,345.00
Total Disbursements   25,378.73
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting Period 159,966.27

Just over half, 67 of 130, of the donations were from out of state.  A total of 13 donors have reached the election cycle limit of $5200.  There are some big national names on the donor list:  Lanny Davis, Martin Frost, Harold Ickes, Vernon Jordan, Thomas “Mack” McLarty, Anthony Podesta, Robert O. Rubin, and Donna Shalala.  Local notables Marcel Groen, Joan Specter, and Dr. Manan Trivedi.  There were only a few PAC donations, one is from Citizens to Elect Dwight Evans and another was from AmeriPAC (Steny Hoyer’s leadership PAC).


There were few disbursements.  Other than two employees, there was a $4K payment to Joe Trippi for website work, and $8K to the Katz Watson Group for fundraising.  There were other disbursements, such as $2600 for NGP software.

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