| Party: Republican |
| State and District: Tennessee, 6 |
| Born: Jan. 16, 1951 Baltimore, Md. |
| Campaign cash raised: $5,039,692 |
| Money from businesses that lobby: $817,042 |
| Money from leadership PACs: $97,400 |
| Money from in-state / out-of-state: $2,041,813 / $109,450 |
| At-risk in November? No |
| Outside group spending: $69,590.78 in support, $232,789 in opposition |
| Net worth in 2010: -$7,315,946 to $69,860,990 |
| Net worth in 2011: Not yet reported |
Black's Capitol Words profile
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Continue readingProfile: Tim Huelskamp
| Party: Republican |
| State and District: Kansas, 1 |
| Born: Nov. 11, 1968 Fowler, Kan. |
| Campaign cash raised: $1,873,301 |
| Money from businesses that lobby: $348,455 |
| Money from leadership PACs: $48,000 |
| Money from in-state / out-of-state: $707,689 / $211,275 |
| At-risk in November? No |
| Outside group spending: None reported |
| Net worth in 2010: $114,015 to $460,000 |
| Net worth in 2011: $123,010 to $420,000 |
Huelskamp's Capitol Words profile
How we compiled this information
Continue readingProfile: Scott Rigell
| Party: Republican |
| State and District: Virginia, 2 |
| Born: May 28, 1960 Titusville, Fla. |
| Campaign cash raised: $6,466,058 |
| Money from businesses that lobby: $390,699 |
| Money from leadership PACs: $143,500 |
| Money from in-state / out-of-state: $4,407,915 / $330,355 |
| At-risk in November? No |
| Outside group spending: None reported |
| Net worth in 2010: $7,819,054 to $36,119,998 |
| Net worth in 2011: $5,745,074 to $51,592,996 |
Rigell's Capitol Words profile
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Continue readingInfluence profile: Paul Ryan
Rep. Paul Ryan, whom Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney reportedly will name as his running mate Saturday, is a prolific fundraiser whose most ardent backers are a curious mix of the conservative elite and the blue collar plebian.
Since winning election to the House in 1998, the Wisconsin Republican has attracted more than $11 million in donations, Sunlight's Influence Explorer shows. Among Ryan's most generous backers: the beer wholesalers, Koch industries -- headed by conservative bankrollers David and Charles Koch -- and the Carpenter and Joiners union. Over the years, Ryan also has received steady support from the Laborers union ...
Continue readingSuper PAC profile: American Bridge 21st Century
The recent buzz that one of the frontrunners to be Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, had registered as a foreign agent for the Duvalier dictatorship in Haiti came from American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC that's spent most of its money not on attack ads, but on opposition research.
The registration was old news: A July 17 Washington Post profile of Portman, seen at right, noted it, along with a Patton Boggs attorney's statement that, though registered, Portman hadn't represented Haiti. But it shows that independent ...
Continue readingStealthy Wealthy: To Robert Rowling, political giving makes business sense
Texas-based billionaire Robert Rowling has given a total of $6.8 million to American Crossroads, the super PAC that has run ads criticizing President Barack Obama for, among other things, bailing out and bankrolling private businesses with public money. Yet Rowling, seen at right, a member of the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans who inherited his fortune, hasn't been averse to seeking taxpayer assistance in his own business ventures. And he's been willing to use his private fortune to seek public dollars.
Though he's a less well-known name than mega donors like George Soros or ...
Continue readingMissouri primary: McCaskill and Democrats helped Republican Todd Akin to Senate nomination
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Democratic outside groups, pouring in over $1 million during Missouri's Republican Senate primary, got the guy they wanted: Rep. Todd Akin, who Tuesday upset two other Republicans to take the GOP nomination.
Recent polls have shown McCaskill trailing all three Republicans in head-to-head matchups, but Akin has the smallest edge. She is betting voters will see the six-term congressman -- who gave "thanks to God our creator" in his victory speech and has been endorsed by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian -- as too conservative.
Late in the primary, McCaskill hit TV and ...
Continue readingFirst light on dark money: Bloomberg gun control group discloses donors
When Mayors Against Illegal Guns Action Fund, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's vehicle for pushing for tighter gun control regulation, ran ads Sunday morning calling on President Barack Obama and his Republican opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, to offer plans to reduce gun violence, they became the first dark money group to publicly disclose its donors.
Bloomberg's group, a social welfare organization set up under section 501(c)4 of the tax code, is the first to comply with a U.S. District Court ruling requiring such organizations, which normally keep their donors secret, to disclose them ...
Continue readingWisconsin’s Ron Johnson defends gun ownership
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican whose state is the site of the nation's most recent deadly shooting spree, this time at a Sikh temple, has benefitted from more than $1.3 million from gun rights groups, far more than any other member of Wisconsin's congressional delegation.
Overall, gun rights groups and associated individuals, dominated by the National Rifle Association (NRA), have poured $1.6 million into campaigns involving members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, according to a search on Influence Explorer. In contrast, gun control groups have spent $11,300 since 1989.
Tea party enthusiast Johnson won ...
Continue readingPoliticians win Olympic gold too
All eyes are on London for Friday's official opening of the 2012 Olympic Games, but the medal stands won't be the only place you'll find Olympic gold.
Since 1997, Olympic organizing groups in the United States have spent more than $10 million lobbying Congress. Some members of U.S. Olympic Committee's 15-member board of directors have also been generous political donors. Here's Sunlight's look at some of the top finishers in the influence Olympics:
- The US Olympic Committee (USOC) spent more than $2.7 million on lobbying since 1997, according to Sunlight's Influence ...
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