One of the most prolific donors to political candidates running for federal office has no idea that’s his status.
Guy Bowers, a 66-year-old ex-detective who says he owes his fortune to an inheritance and some savvy investing, is not your typical corporate executive often associated with fattening politicians’ campaign accounts.
Yet Bowers was such an enthusiastic donor that he tops a list of perhaps hundreds who appear to have broken a campaign finance law that caps the total amount of money individuals can give federal political candidates and committees in the course of a two-year election cycle. For 2011 ...
Continue readingIn South Carolina special election full of characters, donors are just as colorful
As voters go to the polls in today's primary contests for a South Carolina special congressional election that has garnered attention for its share of colorful candidates, the donors appear just as just as worthy of a second look.
That's not just because the donors are, in most cases -- the candidates themselves. They also include a diverse range of out-of-staters from infamous dark money man David Koch to comedian Stephen Colbert's wife, as Sunlight has reported.
In the final days before polls opened, donations continued to pour in. We're keeping tabs using our Follow the Unlimited Money alert service that sends us emails every time one of the committee's we're watching files with the Federal Election Commission.
Most of the late cash has gone to former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who is trying to make the political comeback of a lifetime just two years after departing office in disgrace. Revelations of Sanford's extra-marital affair with his Argentine lover (now fiance) ended his marriage but not, it now appears, his once-promising political career. By late last month, Sanford was already the dollar frontrunner in the contest to replace Tim Scott, a Republican appointed to the Senate this year. That financial momentum has only continued to build with more late contributors jumping on the frontrunner's bandwagon.
In the 20-day period before today's primary, Sanford raked in $80,050 in contributions of $1,000 or more, bringing him to a total of at least $414,447, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Combined, the six leading Republicans and the Democrat most likely to win her primary, Elizabeth Colbert Busch, have raised over $3 million so far in the race.
Continue readingJim DeMint’s possible successors: influence profiles
Rep. Tim Scott, the frontrunner to replace retiring Sen. Jim DeMint, owned an AllState insurance branch before being elected to congress. His biggest campaign donor has been the conservative Club for Growth.
Continue readingProfile: Tim Scott
Party: Republican |
State and District: South Carolina, 1 |
Born: Sept. 19, 1965 Charleston, S.C. |
Campaign cash raised: $2,545,657 |
Money from businesses that lobby: $688,625 |
Money from leadership PACs: $75,000 |
Money from in-state / out-of-state: $938,175 / $354,102 |
At-risk in November? No |
Outside group spending: None reported |
Net worth in 2010: $915,004 to $5,949,997 |
Net worth in 2011: $450,004 to $950,000 |
Scott's Capitol Words profile
How we compiled this information
Continue reading