NEWS ROUNDUP:
- Congressman broke ethics rules in state legislature: U.S. Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) was charged this week with 11 counts of violating state ethics laws related to financial disclosure, campaign funds, and a $1 million consulting contract he had while serving as a state legislator. The FBI and IRS are also investigating. (The Miami Herald)
- Postal Service loses FOIA lawsuit: A U.S. district court has ruled the U.S. Postal Service must tell a California group how many pieces of mail a former school board member sent under a bulk mail permit, which is allegedly connected to shady election maneuvering. USPS had asserted that the information was exempt from disclosure and that releasing the information could cause some customers to stop using USPS services because of privacy concerns. (Federal Times)
Political Money Weather Report: A ‘Frankenstorm’ of Cash
Like many people living near the East Coast, we are anxiously following the development of Hurricane Sandy. The National Weather... View Article
Continue readingOutside Money in the House: Six Graphs and Seven Takeaways
Outside money is flooding into U.S. House races, primarily from party committees, but also significantly from dark money groups and super PACs. And though Democrats need to win 25 seats to take back the House (which most forecasters deem unlikely), nobody is giving up on anything, judging from the recent cash infusions. We are now at $218.8 million in House outside spending, with almost one-third of that money coming in the last 10 days, and more than half of it coming since October 1. Republicans lead in outside money $119.6 million to $96.7 million, including a two-to-one lead in dark money. Democratic super PACs, meanwhile, have outspent Republican super PACs. What this money all adds up to, we are still waiting to see. For now, the best we can do is to give our best take on the current state of play.
Continue readingOutside political spending crosses $1 billion mark
Outside groups have spent more than $1 billion trying to influence this year's election, and the tidal wave of special interest money so no signs of abating in the 10 days that remain before Election Day.
The total, tabulated by Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money, is especially mind-boggling considering that it comes in a campaign that has focused largely on the anemic economy and underscores the changed landscape in the first presidential campaign to be contested following the Supreme Court 2010 decision in Citizens United, which opened the door for deep-pocketed donors to flaunt their wealth in ways ...
Continue readingBig bucks propel super PACs’ sprint to the finish
Billionaire casino-owner Sheldon Adelson and his wife have poured more than $12.5 million into super PACs' coffers in just the first two and a half weeks of October, new campaign finance filings show. The biggest chunk is $10 million to Restore Our Future, which backs Romney; yesterday we reported on the couples' $2.5 million to the Ending Spending Action Fund, and Independence Virginia.
Besides the Adelsons, Restore Our Future also got several other million dollar gifts:
- Harold C. Simmons, owner of Contran Corp.
- Julian Robertson, Investment Manager at Tiger Management, LLC
- Jerry Perenchio Chartwell Partners LLC
- Edward St ...
Colorado Super PAC moves into Scott Tipton’s race
The Colorado Future Fund, a super PAC fueled by a controversial donor to GOP Colorado Rep. Scott Tipton's campaign, today filed notice that it had made an expenditure against Tipton's Democratic opponent, Sal Pace.
As reported previously by Sunlight, the Colorado Future Fund, which is run by a law clerk in a Colorado law firm headed by Tipton's campaign lawyer, reported one $25,000 contribution in August from Houston-based SG Business Services, Ltd. The company, which operates leases on land in Tipton's district, has been a flashpoint in Tipton's campaign. Until now, the Colorado Future ...
Continue readingDead end disclosure: Ohio super PAC lists dark money donors
The Government Integrity Fund Action Network, a Columbus, Ohio-based super PAC that dropped a late $1.1 million ad buy opposing Connecticut House candidate Elizabeth Esty last week, disclosed today the big donors who funded it: A pair of political nonprofits that don't disclose their donors.
New Models LLC contributed $627,000, while the Government Integrity Fund, a nonprofit sister organization of the super PAC, gave $475,000. Because both New Models and the Government Integrity Fund are social welfare organizations, they are not required to disclose their donors.
The three groups show why, in the post-Citizens United world ...
Continue readingEleventh hour political donations marked by Adelson largesse
A casino-fueled and Israel-inspired power couple that so far has underwritten Republican candidates and causes to the tune of more than $35 million in the 2012 campaign continued its open-handed ways in the closing weeks of the contest.
The final accountings of campaign committees before Election Day are due at the Federal Election Commission at midnight Thursday and early returns show big contributions from Sheldon and Miriam Adelson in the first two weeks of October.
Sheldon Adelson, who owns the Las Vegas Sands Corp. as well as casinos in Bethelehem, Pa., Singapore and Macau, gave $1.5 million Independence Virginia ...
Continue readingCrossroads machine drops combined $78 million this month — so far
Blowing away the competition, the GOP-aligned independent groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS have now dropped a combined $78 million in October alone to influence the 2012 election.
That’s about double what the official Republican party committees have spent on independent expenditures so far this month.
Among outside givers, the conglomerate founded by longtime Republican strategists Ed Gillespie and Karl Rove, are in a class all their own. You would have to total the October spending of the next eight biggest spending GOP outside groups to surpass the Crossroads machine – from the pro-Romney Restore Our Future’s $31 million ...
Continue readingSuper PACs that stay off the air
With early voting starting Saturday in Florida, a Miami-based group of community organizers and union members will be undertaking a major push across five of the battleground state’s cities to get voters to the polls.
And this group—believe it or not—is a super PAC. Yes, one of the same committees that are often described as tools of the corporate and the rich and maligned for polluting the airwaves with negative advertising.
But Florida Freedom PAC is a partnership between Florida New Majority, a community organizing group that sprung up in 2009 to empower the state’s minorities ...
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