Voters are going to the polls today in southeastern Missouri to select a replacement for their former congresswoman, Jo Ann Emerson, and as is always the case, they've been preceded by monied interests trying to influence the outcome. So let's review the bidding:
Although Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker shows that there are many other races (including some that won't take place until next year), there's still a bit of intrigue. On Monday, our colleagues over at the Center for Public Integrity revealed that Conservative Strikeforce Super PAC, the group spending in the race on behalf of the GOP standard-bearer (and odds-on favorite in the ruby Republican red corner of the Show-Me State) Jason Smith, timed the expenditure so that the donors won't have to be revealed until after Election Day. We've seen this trick before.
Continue readingFAIR drops multi-state TV buy against Senate immigration bill
Last update: June 4, 6:40 p.m.
One week before the Senate is to begin debating a sweeping immigration reform bill that has bipartisan support, a leading opposition group is launching a multi-state ad buy, records in Political Ad Sleuth reveal.
UPDATE: The Federation for American Reform has spent at least $89,250 on TV buys in various markets this year, after TV stations posted more ad contracts Tuesday, according to a review of Ad Sleuth records (You can view all of the ad buys here). And in addition to the TV markets mentioned below, the group's ad ...
Continue readingNRSC tries to paint GOP as Party of Yes in new fundraising video
Criticized as the party of "no" by Democrats and even members of their own party, GOP Senate Republicans are trying to convince donors in a video posted online Thursday that theirs is in fact the party of "yes."
Continue readingBachmann not the fundraising powerhouse she used to be
With Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., deciding to retire in 2015 rather than face a tough road to reelection in the face of accusations of misusing campaign funds, she has not been the fundraising magnet she used to be, records from the first quarter of this year show.
The fiery Bachmann was one of the most prolific fundraisers in Congress, raising almost $15 million in the 2012 cycle. That was more than all but two other House members, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio and Allen West, R-Fla., a former congressman who, like Bachmann, had a flair for made-for-cable-news invective. Politically, Bachmann hass ...
Group opposed to immigration bill advertising in 18 states
As the Senate prepares to take up sweeping and controversial immigration reform legislation next month, NumbersUSA is hitting the airwaves to oppose the legislation in 18 states.
Continue readingNonprofit’s $4 million dark money dump unreported for three months
An Arizona non-profit political group spent $4 million more than was been widely reported on last year's election thanks to a loophole in federal election law that allows some last-minute spending to be hidden until Jan. 31.
In all, Americans For Responsible Leadership spent $9.8 million on federal elections in 2012. That figure doesn't include $11 million more given to a California PAC that state authorities have described as "campaign money laundering".
Continue readingMayors Against Illegal Guns runs ad backing Nevada background checks
The latest TV ad by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the gun control group funded by Mayor Mike Bloomberg, hit the airwaves in Nevada this week, ahead of a close vote Wednesday on a background check bill that passed the state Senate.
The bill would close the loophole that allows private sales to be made without checking the criminal background of the purchaser. It also bans people deemed mentally ill and likely to harm someone from possessing a gun. The bill can be followed on Scout, Sunlight's tool for tracking the progress of state and federal legislation.
The bill passed ...
Continue readingThanks to lobbying, farm bill yields crop insurance funds
It's deja vu all over again as the Senate debates the farm bill this week--just as it did nearly a year ago without any legislation ultimately passing--and one of the hot button issues remains the crop insurance program whose cost has been steadily rising to more than $14 billion in 2012. The Senate bill reforms but also expands the Depression-era program; President Barack Obama has called for additional cuts and several senators are offering amendments to reform it.
On the other side are the agricultural trade associations representing the crop insurers and the farmers that make use of ...
Continue readingSurge of immigration lobbyists fueled by push for high-skilled foreign workers
As the immigration reform bill has been negotiated in the Senate, the number of new lobbying registrations filed this year disclosing an interest in the issue has surpassed the number from all of 2012. Some organizations are hiring lobbyists for the first time while others have bolstered their Washington presence to influence the bill.
Continue readingHealth group airs ad backing Obama EPA nominee
The American Public Health Administration has begun airing a new TV ad supporting Pres. Obama's nominee for EPA Administrator, Gina McCarthy. It's the first time the nonprofit group has aired an ad backing a specific nominee, according to a spokeswoman.
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