The last FEC report round up I posted was the pre-general in
2010. What happened to them? I do the quarterly FEC reports. The absence is in part this was because I didn’t have
reliable Internet access, in part because life just got busy. But I’m hoping to get caught up. Since the post general and year end reports
can be messy, I’ve left those off for now and just picked up with the first
quarter of 2011. I might go back later
and pick up on specifics and unusual items in the post general and year
end. The other two 2011 quarterly
reports should be along shortly.
1st Quarter 2011 FEC Reports
Okay, here we go again.
First off, 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.
This report covers January – March, 2011. Where there are two numbers in a category the first is for the quarter, the second is for the election cycle total.
All but one unelected candidates from the last election have
terminated their campaign committees (Dee Adcock in 13th
district, Bryan Lentz in the 7th,
and Patrick Murphy in the 8th), so I haven’t included any
information about them here. The 6th
district challenger, Dr. Manan Trivedi has declared his candidacy for the 2012
election so his report is included.
Watch the itemized (over $250 donations), unitemized
(smaller donations), and PAC ratios.
Generally, you will find unitemized to be about 10% the amount of
itemized and PAC’s either a half or quarter the amount of the itemized
donations., at least for incumbents. 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.
Just about everyone posted reports in alphabetical order,
which makes them easier to deal with. My
thanks to those preparing the reports for that.
6th Congressional District
Manan Trivedi,
Democrat
Receipts
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 0.00 / 1,109.87
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 1,551.05 / 1,635.05
Total Receipts: 1,551.05 /
2,744.92
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 2,405.43 /
60,055.43
Other Disbursements: 500.00 /
500.00
Total Disbursements: 2,905.43 /
60,555.43
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 23,521.58
Total Receipts 1,551.05
Total Disbursements 2,905.43
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 22,167.20
There is a $1,300 receipt on the
list of receipts that is not reflected in the summary. There may be a reason for this that I don’t
understand but it does make me wonder if an amended report will be
forthcoming. Since refunds are listed
here but none on the detailed listings it is possible that the amount was put
on the wrong line.
Jim Gerlach, incumbent
Republican
Receipts
Itemized 76,700.00
Unitemized 8,786.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 85,486.00 / 85,896.00
PACs 146,185.00 / 146,208.67
Total Contributions: 231,671.00 /
232,104.67
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 400.00 / 643.27
Other Receipts: 153.78 / 665.99
Total Receipts: 232,224.78 /
232,224.78
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 119,569.78
/ 192,434.38
Other Disbursements: 2,950.00 /
39,650.00
Total Disbursements: 122,519.78 /
232,084.38
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 128,070.33
Total Receipts 232,224.78
Total Disbursements 122,519.78
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 237,775.33
Of the 62 individual itemized
contributions, 13 were from out of state.
Occupationally there were a lot of attorneys and corporate executives,
as well as one prosperous farmer. Seven
people have maxed out their donations for the entire election cycle, three have
donated $2500, two $2400 and one over $2400.
In the PAC donations, there were clusters in finance, medicine, and
pharmaceutical groups.
Pat Meehan, Republican
Receipts
Itemized 207,305.00
Unitemized 11,525.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 218,830.00 / 238,180.00
Other Political Committees 400.00
/ 1,600.00
PACs 114,800.00 / 128.750.00
Total Contributions: 334,030.00 /
368,530.00
Transfers from Other Authorized
Committees: 4,219.60 / 4,219.60
Other Receipts: 0.00 / 466.00
Total Receipts: 338,249.60 /
373,215.60
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 66,704.31
/ 376,006.42
Contribution Refunds: 0.00 /
8,000.00
Other Disbursements: /
Total Disbursements: 66,704.31 /
384,006.42
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 44,941.68
Total Receipts 338,249.60
Total Disbursements 66,704.31
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 316,486.97
Congressman Meehan is a red meat
Republican. About13 donors have maxed
out at $5,000, which means they cannot donate any more during this election cycle,
an additional 26 have donated $2,500. Another
11 (or thereabouts) have donated more than $2400. Only around 10% of his donors are from out of
state. One donor is listed as
contributing more than $5,000, so an amendment may be in order. The three Susquehanna Investment Group
individuals who contributed so much to Anthony Hardy Williams’s gubernatorial
campaign last year, and are strong proponents of charter schools, have donated
to Meehan. In PACS there are some
notable GOP leadership and related PACS, two connection to Congressman Darrell
Issa, Great Eight Committee and the Invest in a Strong and Secure America
PAC. Eric Cantor’s ERIC PAC, Mitt Romney’s
Free and Strong America PAC. Even the
KochPAC donated, yep the Koch Brothers company gave Meehan money. Congressmen Pitts and Gerlach donated. The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers and National
Beer Wholesalers donated. One group that
stood out was the Turkish Coalition NJ PAC; no idea what that’s about. In disbursements you see the standard rent, fundraising
expenses, accounting, etc. A fundraising
firm received over $12,000. Meehan has
hired Rick Santorum’s former communication person, or at least her firm. Oddly, he paid Charlie Dent $225.00 in
dues. It doesn’t say what the dues are
for. The campaign is making car
payments. One item that jumped out at me
– The Academy of Music is given a contribution of $4,400. That might have been an event expense. It was paid on January 26 so it might have
been a thank you party, but it is listed as a contribution not an event.
8th Congressional District
Mike Fitzpatrick, Republican
Receipts
Itemized 93,000.00
Unitemized 27,819.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 120,819.00 / 157,739.00
Political Party Committees: 1,000.00 / 1,000.00
PACs 86,676.88 / 149,376.88
The Candidate: /
Total Contributions: 208,495.88 /
308,115.88
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 256.30 / 256.30
Other Receipts: 17.60 / 41.21
Total Receipts: 208,769.78 /
308,413.39
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 91,204.80
/ 252,632.29
Contribution Refunds: 0.00 /
2,960.00
Other Disbursements: 0.00 / 100.00
Total Disbursements: 91,204.80 /
255,692.29
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 28,060.03
Total Receipts 208,495.88
Total Disbursements 91,204.80
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 145,625.01
Congressman Fitzpatrick raised less money than the other
incumbents in the first quarter, and has only one maxed out donor at
$5,000. His report is chronological not
alphabetical so it is difficult to see how many others donated $2,500, etc, but
glancing through the donations I don’t think he has had very many large amount
donors. Of the 124 individual donations
listed, only 16 were from out of state.
Occupational clusters include finance and lawyers. He has also won the support of a Lutheran
minister. Among the PAC donations there
are clusters in insurance, banking and finance.
Like Meehan he received contributions from the Tuesday Group and Free
& Strong America. Rep. Spencer
Baucus’s PAC, Growth & Prosperity PAC donated $5k. The Mortgage Bankers Association also
donated. The Log Cabin Republicans
contributed. In disbursements, Mr.
Fitzpatrick really used the plastic. A
lot of disbursements were put on Amex.
There are a lot of catering expenses.
A few other things that jumped out at me are an over $1,000 lodging
expense at the Intercontinental Hotel in NY, but that may be associated with
the Pennsylvania Society meeting. In
February the campaign spent $7k on catering and $4,600 on lodging at the Hyatt
Regency in DC. How many people are you
putting up at a hotel to spend over $4K on lodging? There is a $11K catering expense at the
Temperance House and $12K on catering at Spring Mill Manor. That’s not all of the catering expenses. The campaign paid nearly $2k for photography
and then another $200 to another photographer.
For a fiscal conservative Mr. Fitzpatrick has a lot of debt. He owes $10K for polling, $15K for
consulting, $16K for advertising, $20k to one fundraiser, and $13K to another fundraiser.
13th Congressional District
Allyson Schwartz, Incumbent District (first elected
2004)
Receipts
Itemized 301,765.63
Unitemized 8,089.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 309,854.63 / 317,504.63
Political Party Committees 11.85 /
11.85
PACs 84,500.00 / 85,900.00
Total Contributions: 394,366.48 / 403,416.48
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 31.37 / 194.26
Other Receipts: 2,169.94 /
3,638.39
Total Receipts: 396,567.79 / 407,249.13
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 74,184.04 / 213,565.25
Contribution Refunds: 0.00 / 2,100.00
Other Disbursements: 300,770.00 /
303,295.00
Total Disbursements: 374,954.04 /
518,960.25
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 1,405,093.07
Total Receipts 396,567.79
Total Disbursements 374,954.04
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 1,426,706.82
Of the over 280 itemized individual donations, roughly a
fourth were from out of state. About 40
people have maxed out contributions for the primary election, an additional 11
have maxed out donations for the primary and the general. There are no celebrities or notable names in
the donor list other than some political names that frequently show up (Connie
Williams, Bob Borski). There are occupational clusters in the arts and the
healthcare industry. Among the
interesting occupations in the list are horse trader, metal trader, and scrap
dealer. In PAC donations there are a lot
of $1,000 to $5,000 donations from healthcare industry groups. Other clusters are labor and finance. The one donation that is larger than the others
is a total $10,000 donation from a bipartisan group that promotes the relationship
between the US and Israel.
In disbursements, Schwartz has paid $300K to the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee. The
campaign paid $17K to a DC fundraising firm, $1,200 to a website hosting firm,
$3,000 to the PA Democratic Party for a voter file, $2,000 for postage, health
insurance for her staff, city, state, and federal taxes, and continuing
payments on a car for campaign use.