What Republican Candidate Donations Tell Us

Posted on by

Reporting about Les Otten’s contributions to Federal level Democratic politicians was met with disgust among the conservative base – but it lead me to wonder what the other candidates’ contributions have looked like over the years.

Donating to a Democrat or two is hardly a crime for a Republican.  While most candidates do not do it, I think those who do can be forgiven, as long as it happened in a certain context.  I, for example, have donated to a mostly conservative-Democratic friend of mine who was running for the state house – a sin I doubt really gets me kicked out of the GOP club.

But more than that – how much someone has donated, how often, and to whom is an intriguing question.  What follows is a breakdown of what each of the Republican candidates has donated at both the Federal, and state levels.  A brief analysis of the findings precedes the data.

In short:  nobody here is really breaking the bank to the tune of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to candidates or party infrastructure – so even given their differences, there is not a huge blight on anyone’s record, nor is there a huge champion of the party.  Those who are a little more active (Mills, Otten) also have some blemishes on their record (at least to a majority of the Republican base voters that make up the primary).

Enjoy.  And yes, I am planning on doing a similar look at the Democrats and their donation habits this weekend.

MATT JACOBSON

ANALYSIS – Jacobson has not shown much activity in the way of political contributions over the years.  This is hardly surprising as this does represent his first formal dive into politics.  Still, of all the major Republican candidates, he has been the least financially active in terms of donations.

He is also the only other Republican candidate to have given money to a Democratic candidate – though in this case it was to Adam Cote while he was running a primary campaign against Chellie Pingree, and Cote is a military veteran (as is Jacobson) and a former Republican who the left truly loathed, so I would suspect that particular donation isn’t really all that concerning in the long run among the GOP base.

Still, I’m sure that GOP primary voters would like to have seen a little more participation here, especially among right-leaning interest groups and Republican candidates.

FEDERAL

  • 1000.00 – Collins for Senator (06/02/2008)
  • 1000.00 – [Adam] Cote for Congress (02/08/2008)

STATE

  • 100.00 – Portland Community Chamber Political Action Committee (8/20/2008)
  • 721.27 – Matt Jacobson for Governor (6/30/2009)

PAUL LEPAGE

LePageHeadshot

ANALYSIS – Paul LePage is no big spender, but his donations make it obvious what he believes in.  He is a truly red Republican, and he hates taxes and spending.  His donations to Maine Taxpayers United, TABOR Now PAC and Still Fed Up With Taxes make that much abundantly clear.

The volume of his spending also shouldn’t be much of a point of criticism, as LePage has modest personal wealth, and lots of kids to put through college.

FEDERAL

  • 250.00 – Collins for Senator (06/28/2004)
  • 300.00 – National Republican Congressional Committee (12/20/2004)
  • 500.00 – Collins for Senator (1/30/2008)

STATE

  • 250.00 – Don’t Mortgage Me. (6/24/2005)
  • 200.00 – Maine Taxpayers United (11/17/2007)
  • 100.00 – TABOR Now PAC (4/11/2009)
  • 250.00 – TABOR Now PAC (8/11/2009)
  • 100.00 – Still Fed Up With Taxes (8/14/2009)

PETER MILLS

ANALYSIS - Peter Mills has a very long political donation history that tells a somewhat eclectic story – something that I think fits Mills personality and political behavior to a t.

Interestingly (at least to me), Mills is the only Republican who has given money to Olympia Snowe – whereas the others have mostly given to Susan Collins.  He is also the only one who has a presidential primary preference (say that five times fast) on his record – he supported Rudy Giuliani.

When looking at his state level contributions, Mills has a lot of them.  He supported more local candidates than anyone, and has also been a friend to the Maine Republican Party, as well as the Maine Senate Republican Committee.

What is likely to get the attention of much of the conservative base, however, is his donations to planned parenthood – both in 2002 and again most recently in September of 2008.  Abortion is often a “hill I am willing to die on” issue for Republicans, and even the ones who are willing to accept a pro-choice candidate despite their own beliefs get a little uneasy when a candidate goes beyond rhetorical support to actually give money to that cause.

Additionally, while it is listed here as a Republican organization, the Republican Leadership Council of Maine, and the RLC is one of the most reviled GOP organizations by grassroots conservative activists – mostly for its bend toward the center on social issues.

Still, the overwhelming majority of Mills’ contributions are to Republican candidates and causes, and that should not be overlooked.

FEDERAL

  • 1000.00 – Snowe for Senate (09/01/2005)
  • 1000.00 – Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee, Inc. (9/14/2007)

STATE

  • 100.00 – Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (11/7/2002)
  • 200.00 – Maine’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Council (9/3/2004)
  • 65.00 – Peter Mills for Senate (4/13/2004)
  • 270.00 – Don’t Mortgage Me. (4/28/2005)
  • 480.00 – Don’t Mortgage Me. (6/6/2005)
  • 3000.00 – Don’t Mortgage Me. (6/8/2005)
  • 250.00– Abigail Holman for Representative (4/26/2006)
  • 100.00 – Jeffrey Ferland  for Maine Representative (8/15/2006)
  • 250.00 – Abigail Holman for Maine Representative (8/22/2006)
  • 660.00 – Maine Republican Party (9/22/2006)
  • 500.00 – Maine Republican Party (9/22/2006)
  • 658.13 – Maine Senate Republican Committee (10/19/2006)
  • 250.00 – Gerald Davis for Maine Senate (8/13/2008)
  • 250.00 – Planned Parenthood of Northern New England Action Fund-Maine (9/15/2008)
  • 100.00 – Republican Leadership Council of Maine (10/31/2008)

LES OTTEN

ANALYSIS – Otten has gotten quite a bit of heat recently over his donations.  He has given to more Republicans than Democrats – both Federally and at the state level – however he has also given plenty of money to Democrats as well.  As I touched on earlier, his donation to Adam Cote is unlikely to cause very much anger in Republican circles, but his donations to Joe Biden, Mike Michaud and especially Chellie Pingree certainly have.

Also troubling to many Republicans is the fact that he donated to both sides of the first congressional seat race last year, giving to both Pingree and Charlie Summers.  This gives the impression of opportunism, and hasn’t sat well to many people.  You will often see corporate entities, trade associations and interest groups split support to two candidates in the hopes of making a friend no matter who wins – but you don’t often see it in a politician or individual donor.

He also gave a whopping $10,000 to an organization called “Fighting for Maine’s Future”, a group dedicated to supporting bond questions regarding higher education and research and development.   This is hardly an evil sin to the conservative base, but a great deal of GOP voters hate all bonds.  Then again, I have heard a lot of people express the “I vote against all bonds, except those for education” sentiment, so who knows.

None the less, it should still be noted that he did support four Republicans seeking a congressional seat, as well as Susan Collins and the Maine Republican Party.  Skeptics, however, will view his donations in 2009 to party apparatuses with little favor, as they occurred while he was either preparing to run, or had already announced for governor.

FEDERAL

  • 1000.00 - Jane Amero for Congress (10/25/2000)
  • 2000.00 – Collins for Senator (02/23/2001)
  • 1000.00 – [Rick] Bennett for Congress (03/23/2001)
  • 1000.00 – Citizens for [Joe] Biden (08/13/2001)
  • 1000.00 – Kevin Raye for Congress (11/01/2001)
  • 500.00 – Charlie Summers for Congress Committee (09/11/2007)
  • 1000.00 – Michaud for Congress (02/15/2008)
  • 2000.00 – [Adam] Cote for Congress (06/08/2008)
  • 1800.00 - Charlie Summers for Congress Committee (06/09/2008)
  • 2300.00 – Collins for Senator (10/15/2008)
  • 2000.00 – Charlie Summers for Congress Committee (10/24/2008)
  • 2000.00 – Chellie Pingree for Congress (10/27/2008)

STATE

  • 10,000.00 – Fighting for Maine’s Future (9/18/2007)
  • 2000.00 – Casinos No! (10/6/2008)
  • 1000.00 – Maine Republican Party (4/16/2009)
  • 250.00 – Cumberland County Republican Committee (4/20/2009)
  • 6200.00 – Les Otten for Governor (6/29/2009)
  • 1000.00 – Maine Republican Party (8/20/2009)

BRUCE POLIQUIN

ANALYSIS – Poliquin is another 100% Republican donor, though he has never given to any Federal candidates (which, ironically, could be seen as a positive by the Snowe and Collins haters in the party).

Most of his activity has been since he began his run for Governor – especially his support for the party infrastructure.  In 2009 he has given to the Maine Republican Party, and the Maine Senate Republican Majority PAC, something he had never done before.

Prior to that, his only activity was to give $1000 to Peter Cianchette for Governor in 2002, and $500 to the anti-gay marriage “Coalition for Marriage” group.

As is to be expected given what we already know, Poliquin’s biggest donation is to his own campaign.  Still, his donations are 100% behind the party, and he has talked a great deal about using his resources to support the party infrastructure.  So far, so good.

FEDERAL

  • No Federal level contributions

STATE

  • 200.00 – Peter Cianchette for Governor (3/5/2002)
  • 300.00 – Peter Cianchette for Governor (3/25/2002)
  • 500.00 – Peter Cianchette for Governor (6/25/2002)
  • 500.00 – Coalition for Marriage (9/27/2005)
  • 100.00 – Maine Republican Party (4/20/2009)
  • 2000.00 – Maine Republican Party (5/13/2009)
  • 1000.00 – Maine Republican Party (5/13/2009)
  • 500.00 – Maine Senate Republican Majority (7/30/2009)
  • 161413.12 – Bruce Poliquin for Governor (Various dates)