Political Money Report 4/25/16 - Reform groups sue the FEC, Trump attacks a pro-Trump PAC and a new campaign finance record

“It’s too up in the air to put money down.”

April 25, 2016

A NOTE FROM FRED

On Friday, Democracy 21 joined the Campaign Legal Center in suing the Federal Election Commission regarding the five complaints the two groups filed at the FEC that were dismissed. Each of our complaints requested the FEC to investigate the use of LLCs to launder anonymous contributions into federal elections. Under this scheme, donors give contributions to super PACs anonymously by giving them to LLCs who then contribute to super PACs. The super PACs disclose the contributions as coming from the LLCs, but the actual donors are kept secret. This growing practice will become common place unless the FEC stops it.

This enforcement failure is just one example of the FEC inaction against potential serious campaign finance violations since Sen. McConnell, an adamant campaign finance opponent, was able to have three Republican commissioners placed on the six-member Commission to represent his opposition. The Federal Election Administration Act (S. 2611) introduced by Sen. Udall would abolish the dysfunctional FEC and create a new enforcement agency. Any future campaign finance reforms must include the creation of a new enforcement approach for the reforms to be effective. Read our press release.

“It’s too up in the air to put money down.” Republican mega-donors are "sitting on their checkbooks" until a nominee is decided, according to the Hill. Many top donors said they were fed up after they had early enthusiasm for candidates who have now sense dropped out of the race. Read more.

Winners and Losers from latest fundraising reports - Sen. Rob Portman raised $2.4 million in the first quarter for his race against former Democratic Governor Ted Strickland in Ohio. Former WI Senator Russ Feingold also did well by raising $3.35 million for his race against Republican Senator Ron Johnson. The "Losers" include Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk who was significantly out-raised by his Democratic challenger Rep. Tammy Duckworth. Read more.

The Wall St Journal broke down data from the latest presidential campaign fundraising filing including - Trump has donated $36 million of his own money for his campaign so far but has directed around $600,000 back towards Trump owned businesses for catering, air travel and hotels. The Clinton campaign has been far more frugal than the Sanders' campaign recently, spending $28 million in March compared to Sanders $46 million. Read more.

New campaign finance record - the $12.4 million of his own money wine retailer David Trone has spent running for a Maryland congressional seat is the most ever from a self-financing House candidate. His decision to entirely self-fund his race is fueling a debate over whether bankrolling your own campaign in a similar way to what Trump is doing is a positive or a negative. Read more.

The Indiana GOP Senate primary is showcasing the growing Republican divide between the establishment (the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Sen. Mitch McConnell supporting Rep. Todd Young) and the anti-establishment (Club for Growth and Sen. Rand Paul supporting Rep. Martin Stuzman). The Chamber of Commerce is planning to spend more than $1 million on ads supporting Young. Read more.

Trump's lack of interest in small donors could "do lasting damage to the Republican Party" says top strategists. Trump has disregarded using emails for fundraising and building small donor lists. "In 2013 and 2014, one of the most valuable assets for Republican candidates at every level was Mitt Romney’s email list." The Republican Party used these lists to frequently ask donors to give small amounts regularly. Trump has "passively harvested the contact information" of supporters and hasn't emailed out any mass requests for donations. “Easily he’s left tens of millions of dollars of fund-raising potential on the table." Read more.

The Trump campaign comes out against the pro-Trump super PAC. In a letter sent last month and published online Friday, Trump's campaign says the Great America PAC is not authorized to fundraise on Trump's behalf and that "using the name, image and slogan of Donald J. Trump in connection with your fundraising activity in a way that is likely to cause confusion." The PAC has said its goal is to raise $15 million to support Trump. Read more.

Correct the Record, a pro-Clinton super PAC, has announced they will spend more than $1 million to respond to users that criticize Clinton on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media sites. Read more.

2016 FACT OF THE DAY

$180 million - The amount both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns have raised so far this election. The Sanders' campaign has outraised Clinton's campaign every month this year by at least 50%. Read more.

IN THE STATES

WI: Governor Walker still has around $1 million in campaign debt from his failed presidential bid. Read more.

MD: A loophole in state law allows Maryland lawmakers running for Congress and local office to be exempt from the state's ban on fundraising during a legislative session. State lawmakers running for office have taken in at least $33,000 so far from lobbyists and executives of groups trying to sway government officials during the legislative session. Read more.

CA: Drug companies are expected to spend $100 million in lobbying efforts trying to defeat a state referendum to allow Medicare to negotiate the price of prescription drugs. Read more.

NY: The latest in the Mayor de Blasio campaign finance investigation - lawyers representing some of the implicated parties sent a harshly worded letter to the State Board of Elections saying the board has "a shocking lack of understanding or a complete disregard of the most fundamental aspects of the state's election laws." The Board of Elections alleged that political operatives known as Team de Blasio violated state election laws. Read more.

By: Fred Wertheimer (@FredWertheimer) & Kathryn Beard (@KathrynBeard)

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