The filing deadline for the Delaware primary is Wednesday, August 14. As I start this, there are already 10 pages of filings at the Department Of Elections site.
This article will be a work-in-progress as we will update it as the DOE site is updated, and as I get around to stuff. There’s simply too much to catch up on all at once.
The Big Story, though, is likely to remain the Big Story. That is the overriding involvement of Third Party advertisers in the election for Governor.
We’ll start there. I’ll first say that we don’t necessarily have the final 30-day reports from those Third Party advertisers as the deadline for activity to be covered in the reports is August 12.
Having said that, here’s what we have so far.
Citizens For A New Delaware Way is the 3rd Party Advertiser set up by TransPerfect sorehead Phil Shawe. Pretty sure they’re behind those anti-BHL TV ads. So far, they have reported spending over $234 K. There will be more.
Remember People For A Healthy Delaware? The Little PAC That Could? Well, it now has served as a pass-through to funnel $475 K to Bethany Hall-Long’s campaign. Literally. It raised about $475 K this year, and then, on July 12, transferred the entire amount to the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, which is the primary Third Party advertiser for BHL. An incredible amount of money was ferried to People For A Healthy Delaware through the Delaware and New Jersey Laborers’ Unions. Is that Jimmy Maravelias? I want to know. Because here are the figures: Laborers’ Political League of Delaware–$100,000; New Jersey State Laborers’ PAC–$100,000; Growing Economic Opportunities–$100,000. So, who, I wondered, was behind the Growing Economic Opportunities PAC. I checked with Open Secrets. All of its contributions came from, wait for it, the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund. That’s a total of $300,000 from the Laborers to fund BHL’s campaign. I want to know: Who is behind this?
The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association has spent virtually the entire $475K already on media for Bethany Hall Long, according to their finance reports. All funneled from various Laborers’ PACs controlled by Jimmy Maravelias.
His raiding the Laborers’ PAC’s is even more obscene when one looks at the Delaware Building Trades PAC reports. Two filings: In both instances, their balance starts at zero, there are no recorded receipts, but there are two expenditures–one for $5000 for a airplane banner on behalf of BHL, and another for over $12 K for both printed and digital media for BHL. Why use your members’ dues when you can raid regional Laborers’ PACs? Are there any remaining honest union people who can sanction Jimmy M for this?
Collin O’Mara has more modest expenditures on his behalf through the League Of Conservation Voters ($193 K, virtually all of it for digital media) and the NRDC Action Votes Federal PAC ($100 K, all of it for digital media).
You may notice quite a few committees with negligible balances that have filed both the 30-day report and filed all the rest of their reports for the remainder of the year. They represent committees that aren’t active, but have chosen not to fold their committees. The multiple reports reflect the committees’ intent to engage in no activity for the rest of the year.
Attention–Reporters: There may be a story here for you. If you go to page 10 of the DOE Campaign Finance Reports (at least as of 11:55 am today), you will note that Ernest ‘Trippi’ Congo has just amended every single one of his campaign finance reports dating back to 2016. One does not do this without some, um, strong encouragement from someone in authority. Either the Department of Elections and/or the AG’s office. This story takes on more urgency in light of the fact that Bethany Hall-Long has seen fit to hand Congo $475,000 to, pardon the expression, undertake some sort of opioid prevention project despite his not having any experience whatsoever in the field. Oh, and yet more in the form of an ’emergency’ grant. This stinks. Perhaps BHL found a kindred spirit in a fellow campaign scofflaw. $475K could buy Congo a lot of sympathy–and other stuff. Gee, ya think that him amending those reports and the State Auditor inspecting his grant proposal could be related?
Let’s see what Jeff Taschner’s DSEA is up to. Specifically, the DSEA Third Party PAC. It appears that, each time they engage in activity, they file a new report. Nothing wrong with that:
August 5: $12.5K for design for several D legislators.
August 6: $57.5K for design and placement–$42K for BHL, $15K for Kyle Evans Gay
August 8: $40K for design and placement for direct mail for BHL.
August 9: $16K for four D legislative challengers. Some good ones, including Branden FletcherDominguez, Frank Burns, and Claire Snyder-Hall. So, not everything they do sucks.
You can tell a campaign’s priorities by their contributors. Take Marjorie Lopez Waite, for example. Please. Let’s see–the anti-union Merit PAC: $6oo. ‘Act Together For Kids’, yet another PAC affiliated with that First State Educate network: $600. Eleuthere DuPont (will someone tell me his American name?): $600 (he tried to give $1200, but the second $600 was returned). Noted developers Christopher Schell and Jerome Heisler: $600 each. Debra (Tony’s wife and BHL’s fundraising chair) DeLuca: $250. I’m sure you can find many more.
Remember No Labels? $100,000 in the bank and no place to send it.
Kathy McGuiness raised $68K. Let’s see who the miscreants who contributed are. Alan Levin: $300. Christopher Schell: $600. Lumpy Carson: $500. Delaware Building & Construction Trades: $600. Friends (?) For Pete Schwartzkopf: $600. John Paradee: $300. Hmmm–something called SIABAG, LLC–$600, and something called Sibag, LLC–$600–both with the identical address. Somebody? Anybody? Tatiana Copeland: $600.
Both Mark Rendon and Claire Snyder Hall have raised admirable war chests. Unlike KMG, virtually all of the contributions are from individuals, and the vast majority of the donations come from Delawareans. While I’m not involved in that campaign, I have to think that KMG is headed for a third place finish.
Just saw Stephen Jankovic‘s campaign report. He’s running in that three-way D primary in RD 10 to replace the retiring Sean Matthews. Stick a fork in that campaign. $540 raised.
Memo to the American Council Of Engineering Companies Of Delaware: You can’t contribute $1200 for a state legislative race. You contributed $1200 to both Rep. Mike Smith and Kevin Hensley. Make sure they give that money back.
Who do the cops want? The TROOPERS PAC maxed out to Our PAL Val, Bill Bush, and Trinidad Navarro.
Progressive Dems Of Delaware maxed out to Claire Snyder-Hall, Coby Owens, Eric Morrison, Kamela Smith, Monica Shockley-Porter, and Terrell Williams.
The FOP State PAC maxed out to Bill Bush and sent $1200 to Ruth Briggs King, a Republican running for Lt. Governor.
Not only do the Western Region Rethugs invite Election Deniers to speak at their soirees, they too have exceeded legal campaign limits with their contributions. $1300 to Brenda Menella For House and $1300 to Friends Of David Hansperger. Now you know. Now you know what to do.
Say…do we have a John Carney Dark Money Third Party PAC? Sure looks like it. It’s called PAC 302, with contributions from Citigroup, three ‘Complete Care’ facilities, $35 K from something called the ‘Grow Delaware PAC’, $5K from Highmark and $10K from Riverfront Hotel. Wait, we’re not done with the money three-card monte yet. After raising this money, PAC 302 has sent virtually the entire amount to something called Citizens For Wilmington’s Future, based, as you might expect, in Alexandria, Virginia. Only one direct contribution to a candidate. Yep, John Carney.
Holy fuck! This Change Can’t Wait PAC. Virtually every plutocrat you can name. They raised over $800K this cycle and spent almost $700K of it. Is this PAC backing Matt Meyer? Can’t tell from the expenditures. If so, it’s scary.
The Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association reports ponying up $125K for Bethany.
Kyle Evans Gay‘s report is up, and it reflects a juggernaut. It combines grassroots donors and some of Delaware’s highly-connected. She raised over $223,000, and has around $184K available for the stretch run. Was planning to write up that race today. Nothing I see here changes my perspective on how this contest will play out.
This is as good a time as any to give a shout-out to Patrick Jackson of the Department Of Elections. I don’t know how he and his team are doing it, but they are posting these reports really quickly.
Kidskidskids, for the umpteenth time, you can’t donate more than $600 to a state legislative campaign. PAC Local Union 451 (Ironworkers) either didn’t get the memo or didn’t give a shit. $1200 to Ed Osienski’s campaign, $750 to Our PAL Val’s campaign, and $1200 for Walsh For The 9th (Sen. Jack Walsh).
A couple of days ago, we speculated about a Carney Third Party PAC. No further need to speculate. Citizens For Wilmington’s Future filed their report. It’s a Carney Third Party PAC. Not sure that the report is accurate as it does not reflect the cash bomb that PAC 302 dumped into Citizens For Wilmington’s Future. It reports about $13K in receipts, with all of it being spent on a Carney mailer.
Ex-cop Bob Williams, who is running for NCC Council President, raised money from cops and, of course, the Building Trades. Among his expenditures: $100 to Our PAL Val, who has run interference for the cops since she got her ‘job’ as Executive Director of the Police Athletic League.
In marked contrast, Jason Hoover, who is running for the same position, raised 3 times as much as Williams ($22K to Williams’ approximate $7K), all of it from individual donors.
Citizens For A New Delaware Way, sore loser Phil Shawe’s PAC, received an infusion of, wait for it, $1 million from Shawe. Has about $600K remaining. Those anti-BHL ads aren’t going anywhere.
Tracey Miller has won the $$ battle over Ade Kuforiji in RD 34. In fact, doesn’t look like Kuforiji joined the battle. He started with about $5000 and raised–$300. Spent less than $1000. Meaning, he should have enough left over for his next vanity campaign. Miller started with $8K, raised $14K, and has spent $5000. For some reason, she paid $298 for Friends Of Val Longhurst. You’d have to ask her why. Yes, she’ll need to raise more for the General, but she will be competitive, at least.
Mike Ramone has raised over $76K for his gubernatorial primary campaign. The duPonts and Copelands are well represented as they likely (and incorrectly) view this as a belated return to relevance. I mean, even Dr. Oz won the primary. The general, though?
Glad to see that Eric Morrison has raised a lot of money to try to stave off the challenge of Charter School advocate Marjorie Lopez Waite. Started with $40K, raised another $25K, and has plenty left for the homestretch. Several legislators and retired legislators. Not Our PAL Val, though.
If/when John Carney loses in his run to be Mayor of Wilmington, it won’t be due to a lack of funding. Setting aside his dark money third party PAC we mentioned earlier, he added $162K to his existing $108 K, which was presumably transferred over from his Governor’s campaign. The miscreants who contributed are too numerous to mention. Check out the report and choose the ones you can’t stand. He’s spent a lot as well. Over $200K. Makes you wonder why he hasn’t put this contest away…until you realize it’s John Carney we’re talking about. I do have one question, though, and perhaps someone can answer it. Why are all these liquor stores, at least half of which aren’t in Wilmington, ponying up $250 each? I also found notable the number of returned contributions.
Val Gould, candidate for NCC Council President, raised about $11K, and, with loans, raised about $15.5K. Regardless of how this campaign turns out, they have a bright political future should they choose to pursue it. I’m all for it–and yes, Val has my vote.
Our PAL Val Longhurst has raised a lot of money–and she’ll need all of it. Started the year with $160K, and raised another $100K. This doesn’t reflect overwhelming support for Longhurst, this reflects the recognition that, if you don’t pony up and if she wins, she will exact retribution on you. As in, your bills won’t go anywhere. I’ve spent a lot of time campaigning on behalf of Kamela Smith down in that district. I’m telling you–all the money in the world can’t overcome a great grassroots campaign. Betcha Tony DeLuca and Dave McBride would agree with that statement. Kam and her team are running a great grassroots campaign. Just sayin’.
Kinda thought that Sherry Dorsey Walker would have raised more money. Started the year at $47K, raised over $38K. It doesn’t suck, but I don’t think it’s enough to be competitive. Especially with Kyle Evans Gay up with what I consider a real good TV ad.
Debbie Harrington raised a pretty similar amount in her bid for Lt. Governor. Unfortunately, it pales in comparison to what Kyle Evans Gay has raised. Started with $52K and added $23K. She also has loaned the campaign $20 K.
Monica Shockley-Porter raised about $11K to go along with her initial balance of just over $7K. She’s facing Bill Bush, who will have a shitload of money from the special interests bankrolling him. She has enough to be competitive, but if you’re gonna make a donation anywhere, make it here.
Kamela Smith is in a similar situation. Started the year with just over $3200, and has raised $21K. Very respectable, but an additional contribution could well make the difference against Val Longhurst.
Marcus Henry raised $79K this year, to go along with $86K in loans and his initial balance of about $140 K. In other words, he’s got plenty of money for the stretch run in the race for NCC Executive.
You can pretty much stick a fork in the campaign of Karen Hartley-Nagle. Despite some huge contributions from developers, she raised only about $20,500 this year after starting the year with $13K in the bank. Larry Tarabicos’ law firm contributed $1200, and Tarabicos personally contributed another $1000. BTW, I saw one of the first signs of her campaign today–signs on I-95. Didn’t know it was legal to post such signs on an interstate. She’s the only one. She’s also a loser.
Monique Johns raised almost nothing, yet seems to be the favorite in the race for NCC Council President. Started the year with $944, and raised $6725. Also loaned her campaign $4K. A lot of ‘unknown’ addresses among her contributors, BTW.
Dennis E. Williams: Still a bleeping joke. He’s not heading back to Dover. Not with the grand total of $3600 raised and another $1500 in loans.
Branden Fletcher Dominguez‘ grassroots-based campaign started the year with $11,500 banked and raised another $12K. More than enough for his campaign to succeed in RD 3.
For those of you who didn’t think that BHL could still raise money (looks at self in mirror), she raised a shitload of money, much of it from people I’ve never heard of. The bad news for her? She’s burned through most of it. She started the year with $687K and raised $531K. The bad news? She burned through over $1 mill, leaving her with $218K for the stretch run. I just focused on the max ($1200 each) donors. A lot of them are from tony out-of-state addresses, many in Pa. Plus, a bleepload from Suxco. I’m guessing that the guy from the Democratic Lieutenant Governors’ Association riffled through his contact list.
Matt Meyer started the year with $1.7 mill in the bank and raised another $823K. He has $1.6 mill remaining to spend. While that likely makes him the favorite, it all depends on how he spends the money.
Collin O’Mara’s report just went up and, it makes me angry. He started out the year with a balance of $870K, $750K of which was from loans. He raised another $101K. Here’s the kicker, though–he only spent slightly over $54K. While in theory this leaves him with over $917,000 to spend, I think we’ve learned a different lesson. He doesn’t intend, and likely never intended, to spend the $750 K he lent the campaign. $54 K in a statewide race doesn’t give you much name recognition. He’s toast. God damn.
You wanna see a finance report showing a candidate who is completely beholden to the special interests and not to their constituents? Look no farther than State Rep. Bill Bush‘s report. An additional $23 K added to his starting balance of $47K. Virtually all special interest money. Yes, including $500 from the guy who Bill Bush made head of Del-Tech–‘Dr.’ Mark Brainard. Did I mention that Monica Shockley Porter is running against him?