I was trying to watch the Hillary Clinton interview on CNN when the phone rang. It was the DCCC wanting money, and not happy about taking no for an answer. The young man was persistent. He had a long sales pitch and several rejoinders when I declined. He also called John Boehner [pr. Bayner] ad John Boner. [sigh]. It is hard to take view someone as a politically serious person when they make mistakes like that.
Showing posts with label Campaign Finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Campaign Finance. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 07, 2015
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Campaign Finance: More of the Same
Two recent news notes on campaign finance and funding.
First from Mike Allen's Political Playbook, Dec. 8th,:
BEHIND THE CURTAIN - New Koch: big enough to elect a president? Piece by piece, the magnates build the machinery - Mike Allen and Ken Vogel: "The Koch brothers and their allies are pumping tens of millions of dollars into a data company that has built state-of-the-art profiles of 250 million Americans ... The Koch network also has developed in-house expertise in polling, message-testing, fact-checking, advertising, media buying, dial groups and donor maintenance. ... 'The Koch operations are the most important non-party political players in the U.S. today, and no one else is even close,' said a top Republican who was involved in the last eight presidential campaigns.
"The least-known vehicle for the Kochs is a for-profit company, i360, that has spent more than $50 million on building data bases and tools over the past four years. 'Right now, we're talking about and btouilding things that you won't see in 2016, because it's not going to be ready until 2018,' [said i360 President Michael] Palmer. ... i360 links voter information ... with any interaction the voter may have had with affiliated campaigns and advocacy groups. Then comes estimated income, recent addresses, how often a person has voted, and even the brand of car ...
Second, also from Politico, "Tea party fumes over campaign finance plan," by Tarini Parti and Anna Palmer, 12/11/2014. There is a provision tucked into the spending bill that passed the House today:
The provision would increase the amount of money a single donor could give to national party committees each year from $97,200 to as much as $777,600 by allowing them to set up different funds for certain expenses. The change would be a huge boost for party committees that have faced steep challenges in recent years from well-funded outside groups.
None of this is good news.
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.
FEC Report Roundup: First Quarter 2013
I’m still playing catch up with the quarterly FEC Reports. This post covers the 1st quarter
2013, January – March.
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 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 by donor (which makes it easy to track multiple donations by any one individual, unless they made more than one donation at once), chronologically (which makes it easy to see when the campaign held fundraisers), or scrambled (which is just a pain to deal with).
UPDATE: Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (13th district) is running for governor. She is still filing FEC reports but they are not included here and will be dealt with separately.
6th
Congressional District
Jim Gerlach, Republican
(incumbent)
Receipts
Itemized 112,150.00
Unitemized 300.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 112,450.00 / 112,950.00
Political Party Committees: 0.00 / 0.00
PACs: 182,000.00
/ 189,000.00
The Candidate: 0.00 / 0.00
Total Contributions: 294,450.00
/ 301,950.00
Loans Made by the Candidate: 0.00 / 0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 14,723.08 / 14,723.08
Other Receipts: 461.09 /
974.27
Total Receipts: 309,634.17
/ 317,647.35
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 86,449.59
/ 161,855.41
Refunds 0.00 / 1,000.00
Other Disbursements: 100.00 /
100.00
Total Disbursements: 86,549.59 / 162,955.41
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 254,009.30
Total Receipts 309,634.17
Total Disbursements 86,549.59
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 477,093.88
Gerlach’s reports are arranged
chronologically not alphabetically so it is hard to track multiple donations
from the same person. That being said,
14 of the 69 itemized donations were from out of state. There were 6 donations of $5200, the total
amount allowed for the election cycle.
Among his donors were some Republican heavy hitters, Manny Stamatakis,
Dr. John M. Templeton, Jr., and Nick DeBenedictis. There are also donations from two executives
at Boston Beer Company. Among the PAC
donations there are four trucking related PACs, several medical PACs, and a
smattering of restaurant and insurance industry PACs. There is also a donation from a for profit
education group.
In disbursements the campaign is
making monthly payments to the Gula Graham Group and Power 8 Political
Consulting. In addition the campaign has
hired an individual fundraising
consultant / FEC compliance person.
There are payments of around $4600 for a thank you party at a place
called Teca. That must have been some
party.
7th
Congressional District
Pat Meehan, Republican
(incumbent)
Receipts
Itemized 123,400.00
Unitemized 2,467.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 125,867.00 / 128,917.00
Political Party Committees: 0.00
PACs: 81,500.00
/ 84,560.11
The Candidate: 0.00 / 153.66
Total Contributions: 207,367.00
/ 213,630.77
Loans Made by the Candidate:
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 0.00
Total Receipts: 207,367.00
/ 213,666.77
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 153,706.43
/ 264,934.57
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 153,706.43 / 264,934.57
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 1,007,477.33
Total Receipts 207,367.00
Total Disbursements 153,706.43
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 1,061,137.90
Meehan’s reports are also arranged
chronologically. There are 10 (of 68)
out of state donations. There were 22
donations totaling $5200 so they cannot donate again in this election cycle. Among the notables are Vahan and Danielle
Guerghian. Other donors include a
laundry owner and assorted CEOs. Some
donors are listed as Meehan Majority Makers.
There are PAC donations from the aerospace industry represented by Airline
Pilots, Air Traffic Controllers, Lockheed and Boeing, and then from
pharmaceutical industry PACs Merck and Astra Zenica. There is a donation from JEB PAC.
In disbursements, the campaign
paid $13K for lawn signs. They also paid
for an EZPass, and for cable tv. There
were 3 paid employees. The Theodore Co received
just under $10K for fundraising. Chris
Mottola consulting was paid $28K. There
must have been some drama with a campaign office, as there are payments for rent,
for moving, and 3600 to a firm that does waterproofing and other types of
repair. In addition to local political
campaigns Meehan donated $2000 to Christie for Governor. The campaign reimbursed Patrick Meehan, Jr.
for expenses, and reimbursed Meehan’s leadership fund, Patriots Leading a
Majority.
8th
Congressional District
Mike Fitzpatrick,
Republican (incumbent)
Receipts
Itemized 173,325.00
Unitemized 27,853.16
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 201,178.16 / 206,723.16
Political Party Committees: 0.00
PACs: 100,470.00
/ 104,470.00
The Candidate: 0.00
Total Contributions: 301,648.16 / 311,193.16
Loans Made by the Candidate: 0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 491.00 / 491.00
Other Receipts: 13.02
/ 37.86
Total Receipts: 302,152.18
/ 311,722.02
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 140,756.93
/ 254,316.50
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 140,756.93 / 254,316.50
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 114,083.20
Total Receipts 302,152.18
Total Disbursements 140,756.93
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 275,478.45
Fitzpatrick’s reports are arranged
chronologically. Of the 172 itemized
donations, nine were from out of state and 12 were for more than $5,200, the
total allowed in this election cycle. As
with other reports, it is difficult to see who many of those people donated
again, given the arrangement of the report.
Among notables donating are William Sasso and Thomas Manion. A number of people at Teletronics Technical
Company donated, as did a group of people who work at Merck. There are also clusters of health care system
owners, care dealers and mechanics. The
president of the Seoul National University donated, as did a librarian, artist,
nurse, teacher, and some local business owners.
In PACs there are a number of local political committees that donated,
and a cluster of finance related PACs.
The US Cuban Democracy PAC donated as did the JEB Fund.
In disbursements there are
payments for a rental car and gas payments.
There are payments to Olive Garden, Temperance House, and the US House
Members Dining Hall, as well as plane, train, and hotel costs. The campaign made several small payments to
Federal Express. LN consulting and KC
Consulting were each paid about $6K. The
Theodore consulting company received nearly $9K.
13th Congressional District (open seat)
Valerie Arkoosh, Democrat
Receipts
Itemized 214,250.00
Unitemized 2,515.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 216,765.00
Political Party Committees: 0.00
PACs: 1,500.00
The Candidate: 0.00
Total Contributions: 218,265.00
Loans Made by the Candidate: 0.00
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 0.00
Total Receipts: 218,265.00
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 3,802.61
Other Disbursements: 0.00
Total Disbursements: 3,802.61
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 0.00
Total Receipts 218,265.00
Total Disbursements 3,802.61
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 214,462.39
About half of her donations came from out of state. The report is scrambled so it is difficult to
track whether or not the donations are from the same people. There were 28 listings for donations of
$5200, the total allowed for the election cycle, but I think that was 14 people
donating $2600 twice – again, it’s hard to tell when the reports are
scrambled. As might be expected, Dr.
Arkoosh has a significant number of donations from physicians and others in the
medical field. There was also a little
Hollywood, including a directory of celebrity services, a sr vp at Showtime, a
filmmaker, and a project developer at Google.
A piano teacher and a private investigator were also donors. Notable individuals are Dr. Manan Trivedi, a
former congressional candidate in the 6th congressional district,
the director at Women’s Way, and Debra Brady.
The only PAC listed is the Women’s Campaign Fund.
The only disbursement listed is $3500 to a fundraising consultant.
Return of the FEC Report Roundup
In previous years I would take a close look at the quarterly FEC reports for suburban Philadelphia congressional races. In 2012 work-related issues prevented me from taking the time to do that. (Each FEC round up post takes about 8 hours to compile and with only a hour or two a day, at most, possible for blogging, it can be an onerous task.) Most of this year was devoted to simply catching up with various aspects of life.
However, over the holidays I've gone back and looked at 2013 FEC reports and started putting together quarterly roundups. The first two will be posted this weekend, the third, hopefully, soon after, and the fourth sometime in February or March. I enjoy doing this and hope it is useful to at least some readers.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Political Donation Maps
The Sunlight Foundation has put together national maps showing political donations by county, with a variety of alternative maps. I found the political donations per capita to be interesting. It usually breaks down into a dollar or two per person, but, of course, that's not how donations are actually made -- it's a few people making larger donations.
The map is at: http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/10/23/political-influence-by-county-a-new-way-to-look-at-campaign-finance-data/
Interesting stuff. (h/t Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post's The Fix blog)
Thursday, July 04, 2013
1% of the 1%
The Sunlight Foundation has produced an interesting report on campaign donations. Most come from 1% of the 1% of the population. Interesting read and good infographics. There is another chart showing statistics on donors by state.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Understanding Campaign Finance
The Sunlight Foundation has produced a very informative graphic on campaign finance and how and to whom fundraising is reported. Some types of committees report to the FEC and some to the IRS. Check it out:
http://sunlightfoundation.com/feature/why-does-the-irs-regulate-political-groups-a-look-at-the-complex-world-of-campaign-finance/
(h/t Chris Cillizza's The Fix blog)
Thursday, November 08, 2012
The Mouse, the Master, and the Money
Some of you may have read or noted that George Lucas sold LucasFilm (including Industrial Light and Magic) to Disney. LucasFilm is / was a private company so George is pocketing a little over $4 Billion (billion with a B). He has announced that he intends to donate the money to a foundation on educational issues. In other words, he's giving the money to kids in some form or another. (Read more at The Hollywood Reporter's "Disney Deal: Lucas will use $4 billion to fund education," by Alex Ben Block, 10/31/2012).
I thought of this frequently in the last few days of the campaign, watching the endless series of campaign ads, listening to the robocalls, and reading all the incoming emails. Over the years I've gotten to know several people who make their living in politics and certainly wish them all well. But I can't help but think all the money, especially all that unregulated PAC money, could have been used for better purposes.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
NewsWorks Story on Political Donations
NewsWorks has an interesting story on "Cutting tariffs for political donors" by Emma Jacobs highlighting the activities and comments of some of our local Congressional representatives. It's interesting reading.
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Chaka Fattah's 2011 FEC Reports
Sometime next week the quarterly FEC report roundup should
be done but in the meantime let’s take another quick look at Philadelphia. As always, let me state that I am neither a lawyer or an accountant. These are just my observations and I encourage those interested to review the reports themselves at www.fec.gov. I apologize in advance for any errors or misconceptions.
This is a short summary of the 2010 FEC
reports for Congressman Chaka Fattah’s campaign. Fattah has a safe seat (PA-02) so he doesn’t really
need to raise the kind of money that candidates in more competitive districts
do. That shows.
His beginning cash on hand in the post general (2010)
report, likely to be the low point of the election cycle, was $11,536.45. At the end of 2011 he had $120,714.57. Of the money raised over the year only $3,635
came from unitemized contributions. That
means he has remarkably few small donations, too small to meet the threshold requiring
the campaign to report the donor’s name, occupation, address, etc. Overall he received more money from PACs
(about $186,000) than itemized donors (about $135,000). Also unusual, he spent less on operational
expenditures than he did on other expenses.
It’s almost twice as much on “other” than operating expenditures. What is “other?” Well, quite a bit goes to other political
campaigns, donations to Philadelphia candidates like Curtis Jones and Blondell
Reynolds Brown, and about a third of the “other” went to the Fattah for Mayor
campaign debt. He gave $40,000 to the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The campaign makes car payments, buys a lot of gas, and paid for Sirius
radio. It must be an expensive car; the
payments are almost $800 a month. The
campaign also paid for some train tickets. There are payments to Paychex but I
don’t see payments for salaried employees so maybe he pays consultants and the
like through Paychex. Fattah likes to travel – there are payments
for plane tickets and it looks like he travels with staff sometimes; for some
trips more than one ticket is purchased.
A couple of interesting notes from the donations. In one quarter there were 12 itemized
donations and 10 were from Comcast employees.
Nothing wrong with that but the optics in that one report are not
perhaps the best. Fattah also received a
lot of money in one report from people in the space industry. Looking at his committee assignments he is on
the Appropriations Committee and one of his subcommittees deals with
space. In addition to the individual
donations from Comcast employees he received a total of $10K from the Comcast
PAC, notable amounts from the National Weather Service Employees Organization,
and a teachers union.
In short, nothing really remarkable, but it's always interesting to look through these things.
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
3rd Quarter 2011 FEC Report Round Up
I’m still playing catch up with the quarterly FEC Reports. This post covers the 3rd quarter 2011, July –
September.
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.
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
Itemized 70,057.00
Unitemized 20,382.03
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 90,439.03 / 91,548.90
PACs: 1,000.00 / 1,000.00
The Candidate: 10,000.00 / 10,000.00
Total Contributions: 101,439.03 / 102,548.90
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 0.00 / 1,635.05
Total Receipts: 101,439.03 / 104,183.95
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 13,224.03 / 73,542.51
Other Disbursements: 0.00 / 750.00
Total Disbursements: 13,224.03 /
74,292.51
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 21,804.15 (22,167.20*)
Total Receipts 101,439.03
Total Disbursements 13,224.03
Total Receipts 101,439.03
Total Disbursements 13,224.03
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 110,382.20
Five people donated $2500 in this
reporting period; another two donated $5000, the maximum for this election
cycle. In individual donations, there is a large cluster of physicians as might
be expected given that Trivedi is a doctor.
There are also small clusters of higher education, and attorneys. The report is scrambled so it is hard to tell
what percentage of donations are from out of state. Trivedi has donated $10K to the campaign (or
it might be $7500, it’s hard to tell). The only PAC donations is from Allyson Schwartz’s
leadership pac for $1000. In
disbursements, there are payments for general consulting and fundraising.
Jim Gerlach, incumbent
Republican
Receipts
Itemized 88,624.23
Unitemized 8,474.50
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 97,098.73 / 324,796.73
PACs 117,404.00 / 454,205.84
Total Contributions: 214,502.73 /
779,002.57
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 0.00 / 8,482.55
Other Receipts: 821.82 / 1,990.39
Total Receipts: 215,324.55 / 789,475.51
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 215,324.55
/ 789,475.512
Refunds: 350.00 / 350.00
Other Disbursements: 16,545.00 /
59,705.00
Total Disbursements: 166,033.74 /
504,906.32
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 471,724.16
Total Receipts 214,502.73
Total Disbursements 166,033.74
Total Receipts 214,502.73
Total Disbursements 166,033.74
Cash On Hand At Close Of The Reporting
Period 521,014.97
Only around 8 of Gerlach’s
itemized donors are from out of state.
There were nine new donors who have donated a total of $2500, three who
have donated above that, and two who have donated at total of $5000, and therefore
cannot donate again in this election cycle.
A few things that caught my eye – the Chicksaw Nation is listed with
individual donors; I’m not sure that’s correct.
Four people in one family each donated $2500; three of them are listed
as students. That’s a lot for a student
to donate. Looking at occupations there
are clusters in education, health, finance (including credit unions). There are five brewery owners, and a farmer. In PACS, he received a total of $5K from the
Automobile Dealers Association, American College of Cardiology, Aetna’s PAC,
the National Beer Wholesalers, Bank of America, a pac for physical therapists,
a pac for airline pilots, and the American Hospital PAC. There are lesser donations from Merck and the
Mainstream PAC. Bayer has donated a total
of $6K, Price Waterhouse Cooper has donated $5500. There are clusters in energy and health
care. Things that jumped out at me –
Poker Players Alliance, and the Humane Society’s Legislative Fund. In disbursements, he paid $14,500 to the
NRCC. Gerlach has opened or moved his
campaign office. There are payments for
a security deposit, rent, office “fit out,” and furniture. One golf outing cost $10K and another $1700. He bought general insurance. He paid one fundraiser about $27K, a campaign
finance consultant about $21K. Someone
was paid for FEC compliance, and the campaign hired a media consultant.
7th Congressional District
Pat Meehan, Republican
Receipts
Itemized 95,100.00
Unitemized 1,947.00
Total of Contributions from Individuals
97,047.00 / 491,819.77
Other Political Committees 0.00 /
1,600.00
PACs 105,500.00 / 488,000.00
Total Contributions 202,547.00 /
981,419.77
Transfers from Other Authorized
Committees: 0.00 / 25,069.40
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Rebates, etc): 2,358.84 / 2,358.84
Other Receipts: 0.00 / 471.29
Total Receipts: 204,905.84 /
1,009,319.30
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 98,239.07
/ 591,329.32
Contribution Refunds: 0.00 / 11,000.00
Total Disbursements: 98,239.07 /
602,329.32
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 627,601.00
Total Receipts 204,905.84
Total Disbursements 98,239.07
Total Receipts 204,905.84
Total Disbursements 98,239.07
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 734,267.77
Note the relatively small amount of unitemized donations,
those under $250, compared to the itemized donations. Note also that that PAC donations are larger
than contributions from individuals. About
20 of the 120 individual contributors are from out of state. There are three donors who have reached the
maximum $5K donation for this election cycle, four who are above $2500, and
nine who have donated $2500. In donor’s
occupations there are the usual lawyers, also health administration. The Chicksaw Nation donated. One portrait artist donated. Among the numerous PAC donations are several
company PACs and industry PACs. Many of
these are in the transportation, health care, and insurance areas. One that jumped out at me was the US-Cuba
Democracy. In disbursements, rent
payments are present. The campaign paid
a fundraising company $26K, $6500 for accounting, and nover $8K for legal
fees. The campaign paid $1314 to a golf
club for a fundraiser.
8th Congressional District
Mike Fitzpatrick, Republican
Receipts
Itemized 64,380.00
Unitemized 8,395.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 72,775.00 / 415,246.61
Political Party Committees: 0.00 / 1,000.00
PACs 64,185.00 / 438,616.30
Total Contributions: 136,960.00 / 854,862.91
Transfers from Authorized Committees:
0.00 / 16,404.51
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 0.00 / 256.30
Other Receipts: 252.87 / 312.98
Total Receipts: 137,212.87 /
871,836.70
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 66,414.57 / 451,988.44
Contribution Refunds: 250.00 / 3,210.00
Other Disbursements: 0.00 / 100.00
Total Disbursements: 66,664.57 /
455,298.44
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 438,893.87
Total Receipts 137,212.87
Total Disbursements : 66,664.57
Total Receipts 137,212.87
Total Disbursements : 66,664.57
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 509,442.17
There were five new donors contributing
a total of $2500, and another four contributing $5,000, the total allowed this
election cycle. Like other congressional
reps he received a donation from the Chicksaw Nation. Ten out of 70 donors were from out of
state. In PAC donations there are a number of
politically oriented PACs donating. For
example, there are small donations from five local Philadelphia campaign
committees, such as Taubenberger for Philly, and Friends of Chris Vogler. The Kitchen Table Patriots also made a small
donation. Statewide GOP PACS, such as
Keystone Alliance PAC, are also represented, as are national GOP organizations,
including the Republican Main Street PAC and the Tuesday Group PAC. There are also a handful of donations from
leadership PACs such as Guthrie for Congress (Guthrie is from Kentucky). The Brady for Congress committee that donated
is for a Texas congressman named Brady, not the Pennsylvania Democrat named
Brady. The US Cuba Democracy also
donated. There were clusters of
donations from organizations in energy, insurance, finance, and health /
pharmaceutical groups. In disbursements
Rep. Fitzpatrick is paying rent, presumably for a campaign office. He also pad Patton Boggs $20K for legal
consulting. I wonder what that’s
about. Campaign Finance Services
received $15K, Catalyst Group around $22K.
The campaign also spent over $2600 to cater a fundraiser at the New York
Yacht Club. Mr. Fitzpatrick’s campaign
continues to carry a lot of debt, $16K to the Strategy Group for Media for
advertising.
13th Congressional District
Allyson Schwartz, Incumbent District (first elected
2004)
Receipts
Itemized 147,694.00
Unitemized 12,767.00
Total of Contributions from
Individuals 160,461.00 / 715,343.62
Political Party Committees 24.99 /
221.96
PACs 142,550.00
/ 399,511.35
Total Contributions: 303,035.99 / 1,115,076.93
Offsets to Operating Expenditures
(Refunds, etc.): 0.00 / 194.26
Other Receipts: 2226.45 / 8062.97
Total Receipts: 305,262.44 / 1,123,334.16
Disbursements
Operating Expenditures: 73,922.41 / 368,927.09
Contribution Refunds: 0.00/ 3,100.00
Other Disbursements: 5,750.00 / 313,870.00
Total Disbursements: 79,672.41 / 685,897.09
Cash Summary.
Cash On Hand At Beginning Of
Reporting Period 1,750,264.98
Total Receipts 305,262.44
Total Disbursements 79,672.41
Total Receipts 305,262.44
Total Disbursements 79,672.41
Cash On Hand At Close Of The
Reporting Period 1,975,855.01
Four donors contributed $2500, eight between $2500 and
$5000, and seven have donated the $5000 allowed for this election cycle. Of the 216 donors, around 80 are from out of
state. No celebs on the list but there
is an NBC executive. There is also a
bakery owner, a paralegal, and the president of the Pakistani-American
Christian Association. There are
occupational clusters in health care administration, education, the arts, and
pharmaceuticals. In PACs two donated $10K,
Comcast and the association of orthopaedic surgeons PAC. Schwartz is cornering the market on middle
class shopping PAC money, with donations from the PACs for Wal-Mart, Target,
and CVS. Among the unusually named
groups we find the Society for Relief of Distressed and Decayed Pilots (relates
to sea freight and transport), and the Women in Psychology for Legislative
Action. There are a lot of donations
from PACs relating to health care workers, for example, family physicians,
physician assistants, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, etc. One of the perks of sitting on a big bank account
is interest. It looks like the campaign
earns $8K a month in interest. Not bad,
not bad at all. In disbursements,
Schwartz gave $5K to the Montgomery County Democrats. She pays health insurance for her works, car
insurance for the campaign car, and rent for an office. The campaign paid $10K to Erickson & Co
for fundraising. There are several
payments for catering and food, including pretzels for small events. There are a few payments (total: $1300) to the Picnic Pros, possibly for
events attended by all those Wal-Mart, Target, and CVS people. Posher events are listed as well. Local celeb chef Stephen Starr catered an
event; Starr also donated to the campaign.
There are a few other $1000 or thereabouts payments for catering.
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