Article by Erik Setzer
A big deal has been made lately about campaign finances, where the money is coming from and such. The most interesting comments I’ve heard so far involve allegations that any candidate who backs his campaign with a great deal of his own money is simply “trying to buy the election.” Assuming that money does have such an extreme effect on elections, I’m not sure that we should be as concerned about candidates spending a great deal of their own money on their campaigns. After all, all money comes with strings attached. If most of a candidate’s money comes from their own pocket, then how can they be tugged in the direction of a special interest?
I’m going to present to you some perspectives on campaign financing involving Republican primary races that are important to northeast Florida. When I’m done, I hope you’ll think twice before following the mantra of somebody “buying an election.”
Let’s start with the governor primary. A lot has been made of Rick Scott spending millions of dollars of his own money. How dare this man contribute swathes of his own money! Look instead at good Bill McCollum, he’s not spending his own money. That makes him more a man of the people, right? Well, McCollum’s been getting a bit of aid. Republican bigwigs Mike Haridopolos and Dean Cannon have been funneling money through their 527 groups to help McCollum’s campaign. Obviously, they’d prefer to keep their good buddy around. Where does that money come from? People like the chairman of the Everglades Foundation, or South Florida doctors who have been involved in prior battles over key legislation, or Florida Power and Light. Does none of that come with strings attached? I think’s obvious that there are strings attached.
In a race closer to home, the campaign for State Senate District 8, some critics are coming out against Charles Perniciaro for using $330,000 in personal loans for his campaign. Aside from that, the majority of his money is from people in the medical and education fields (Perniciaro is a doctor; his wife is a teacher). They suggest that somehow John Thrasher is a more genuine candidate because he’s raising money from elsewhere. Thrasher has received over $5000 in contributions from people involved in Greyhound racing; over $12,000 from people involved in “government affairs” and “government relations;” and over $12,000 from political action committees (PACs). (It should be noted here that Perniciaro did indeed hold to his vow to now accept money from PACs and is on record as having refunded the money.) In all of these cases, there are most definitely strings attached. But perhaps more interesting is that Thrasher has over $21,000 of contributions from outside of Florida. Over $165,000 of the over $215,000 that Thrasher had raised according to the Florida Division of Elections’ website as of July 28, 2010 was from donors outside of Thrasher’s district. So it’s a reasonable question to ask whether Thrasher receiving money from multiple external sources really makes him a better representative for his district than Perniciaro. After all, you have to wonder what all of those people – especially non-FL businesses and PACs – are hoping to do by contributing to Thrasher, especially considering his role as a lobbyist.
Turn your attention then to Congressional hopeful Chris Nwasike, running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Congress District 3. Nwasike hasn’t been throwing his own money into the race, but he has stirred up a controversy of his own. Nwasike was heavily involved in the “Keep God in America” rallies, and the treasurer (Jay Fields) for those rallies was also his campaign treasurer. There’s been some concern about shady dealings, such as a check for $2000 being issued to Fields’ wife from Keep God in America and on the same day Fields writing a $2000 check to Nwasike’s campaign. Hundreds more have gone to Fields from Keep God in America. This leads some to question if Nwasike was trying to funnel money from the non-profit group into his campaign.
The story of campaign financing goes a lot deeper than just the surface with any campaign. It is worth doing the research to find out where a candidate’s money is actually coming from, and what strings may be attached to it. It’s far better to know before making your mark on the ballot who might be beholden to what groups, or if someone has already tipped their hand as to how responsible they are with money.
Further Reading:
http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/06/24/haridopolos-funneling-big-cash-to-support-mccollums-bid/
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2010/06/haridopolos-sends-350k-to-mccollum-linked-527.html
http://wokv.com/localnews/2010/07/thrasher-opponent-calls-campai.html
http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/07/28/congressional-candidate-accused-of-funneling-non-profit-funds-to-campaign/
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/campaign-finance/contrib.asp
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July 30th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Lets not forget that Dean Black also in CD3 is being investigated by the Federal Election Commission and his volunteer team in the article above committed a felony by secretly recording people. FEC fines plus jail time for the volunteers. Go Yost
July 29th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Very few people could afford to finance a campaign in 3 months. I appreciate the fact that Dr.Perniciaro believes so strongly in what he is doing that he is willing to bear the expense of his campaign. Now Republican voters in Senate District 8 have a choice in the August primary of a candidate that is not tainted with scandals and special interest money. I hope they exercise their right to vote on August 24.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
Perniciaro will owe no favors to special interest groups when he arrives in Tallahassee. That speaks volumes to me as a voter. I don’t perceive him as buying a seat in the Senate, but as a candidate who strongly feels it is time for a change and is willing to step out (in a limited amount of time) in a challenging election. Thanks for writing this article!
July 29th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Another factor in Perniciaro’s self-funding is he didn’t have any intention of running until he saw what Mr. Thrasher did in the legislative session. When you have to jump in three months before the election, you can’t raise enough even if you spend all your time asking for money instead of talking to people. He’s running for the right reasons, and he’s self-funding for the right reasons.
Good article.