Of the 50 TV advertising markets where stations have been putting political ad files online since Aug. 2, Las Vegas has the most disclosures on Political Ad Sleuth, with more than 2,300 filings. If you just look at Senate races, though, the No. 1 spot goes to Pennsylvania, which has Sen. Bob Casey, Jr. (D) facing challenger Tom Smith.
Political Ad Sleuth, a project of the Sunlight Foundation and Free Press, is just one week old and already the amount of political ad filings on TV are hitting record numbers. Be sure to check out how your local media market ranks.
Democratic super PACs come into their own
Democratic super PACs, which earlier this year lagged far behind their Republican counterparts, passed a milestone in August: they took more in contributions into their coffers than GOP super PACs: $28 million versus $22 million. Filings covering September are due this Saturday.
It may be more of a photo-finish than it first appears: a portion of the Democratic groups' take involve PAC-to-PAC transfers, which are difficult to extricate from the totals due to way reports are filed with the Federal Election Commission. But quarterly filings that landed Monday leave little doubt that the Democratic super PACs, including Priorities USA and ...
Continue readingWho let the dog out? Frosh Republican Allen West’s tweet sics would-be pooch adoptees on the Marines
A tweet from Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., calling for volunteers to adopt IED-sniffing dogs has contributed to a situation that Marines might describe as a 'snafu.'
On West's Facebook page, a post stated that the Marine Corps has 400 decommissioned dogs in need of 'forever homes.' West (or a staffer) promoted the page on Twitter and deleted it two hours later. The deletion was captured by Sunlight Foundation's Politwoops, a site that records and posts deleted tweets from politicians. The Facebook post has since been removed.
Information about the dogs was based on a military listserv email sent ...
Continue readingStealthy effort fuels get out the vote effort–in Israel
An assertive bipartisan get-out-the-vote effort known as “IVoteIsrael” and aimed at Americans living in that country appears to have ties to conservative billionaire Ronald S. Lauder, a supporter of Republican causes and of the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A project of Americans for Jerusalem, a charity registered under 501(c)4 of the U.S. tax code, IVoteIsrael is not required to release information about its donors. However, corporate filings in Delaware show that the group lists the same Manhattan address as that used by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation. Other intriguing connections:
- Allen Roth, the president of ...
Moderate millionaire floods far-flung House race
The super PAC of one of California’s richest political donors, who supports centrist Republicans, has dropped more money on an obscure House race than both candidates combined.
The committee, Spirit of Democracy America is largely funded by Charles T. Munger, Jr., the heir to Berkshire Hathaway’s billionaire vice chairman and the third third biggest donor in California politics in the past decade, according to a study by California Watch. The group has spent more than $545,000 on the race so far. Combined, candidates Paul Cook and Greg Imus reported spending $363,000 as of the most recent ...
Continue readingRapper donor, mystery million and other fun finds in pop-up PAC filings
(Updated 8:42 a.m. Oct. 16)
Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel Michel, known as Pras, can now add 'political activism' to his long list of talents. Michel is the only reported donor to super PAC Black Men Vote. He ponied up $250,000.
It's just one of the interesting nuggets turned up by the Sunlight Reporting Group's examinations of filings by super PACs that made their first-ever unveilings of donors Monday, as reports from committees that file on a quarterly schedule were due at the Federal Election Commission. Sunlight has identified nearly two dozen committees that surfaced as independent ...
Continue readingShadowy super PAC spends $1 million in Connecticut House race
The Government Integrity Fund Action Network, a super PAC that to date has disclosed just $10,500 in contributions, today reported dropping a money bomb in a Connecticut House race: $1.1 million in to produce and air ads in opposition to Elizabeth Esty, the Democratic candidate in her state's 5th Congressional District.
The money more than levels the financial field in the competitive race for the open seat: Esty has raised $2.1 million for her race, with about $857,000 left to spend down the stretch, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Her Republican opponent, Andrew ...
Continue readingPolitical big bucks in paradise: Hawaii Senate race draws outside donors
Hawaii's first open Senate seat in more than three decades has attracted two high-profile women candidates and lots of outside money.
The race, which guarantees that Hawaii will elect its first woman senator in the state's 53-year history, represents a rematch between Republican Linda Lingle, below left, and the Democratic congresswoman Mazie Hirono, at right. Lingle beat Hirono in a 2002 race for governor. Both women have attracted considerable support from inside and outside their state, as well as from a host of interest groups, which have pumped more than $1 million into the race.
Early on, Lingle ...
Americans for Tax Reform drops $2 million in one day
Dark money group Americans for Tax Reform just dropped close to $2 million to influence competitive House races.
Victories for the 501(c)4 non-profit lobbying organization, founded by conservative lobbyist Grover Norquist in 1985, would undoubtedly complicate efforts to reach a deal to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" because the group "opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle." ATR's central tenet -- the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, which requires lawmakers to "solemnly bind themselves to oppose any and all tax increases," enjoys the backing most Republicans in Congress and all but one of this year's GOP presidential ...
Continue readingSay what? Obama and others mistweet during VP debate
As Joe Biden and Paul Ryan spat fire at one another during the Thursday night's vice presidential debate, the online community buzzed with commentary, tweeting quotes, praise, and criticism of the candidates' performances. President Barack Obama's Twitter feed was particularly busy, feverishly posting Democratic debate points under the label #TeamJoe.
As Politwoops--a Sunlight Foundation tool that captures politicians' deleted tweets--proves, not even the president is absolved of error. In the social media frenzy, Obama's team misquoted his number two, taking a statement intended to support the middle class and turning it into one championing the rich ...
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