The 30-Day Reports
We’ll keep adding to this post as I get to more reports. Remember, for those candidates who did not face primaries, this is the first report they must file this year. An 8-day report is also required, as is a year-end report.
Let’s see what has surfaced so far…
Any doubts that Bill ‘Lumpy’ Carson is a wholly-owned obedient servant for the special interests can be disabused of that notion by reading his report. Raised $34K, even though he had no primary or general election opponent. Remember that Trey Paradee-promoted bundling party at the Batson/Kidner lobbying shop? Took place on May 23. Not coincidentally, Ol’ Lump got campaign checks from the following the very same day: ACLI (life insurance), AgentPAC, Altria, American Council Of Life Insurers (a duplicate donation, or an honest filing error?) , Barry Guerke, CDI Consulting Services, Continental Casualty Company, Delaware Bankers Association, Delaware Chiropractic Society, Dr. George Schreppler (chiropractor), DSEA Advocacy Fund, GEICO, Harvey Hanna & Associates, Health Executives’ Action League, Laird Stabler & Associates, Mary Kaye McLaughlin, Michael J. Miller (insurance litigator), Montrell Teague (harness driver), NAMIC Admin. Fund, Nationwide Mutual Ins. Company PAC, Optometry Eye PAC, Parkowski, Guerke & Swayze, PPL Consulting LLC, Rebecca Batson Kidner, Richard Bayard, Smith Capitol Advisors LLC, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits LLC, Standard Distributing Company, The Pilots’ Association For the Delaware River & Bay, The Travelers’ Company Inc., United Distributors of Delaware, USAA, William Clifton of the Delaware Farm Bureau.
This is about as anti-democratic as it gets. Ol’ Lump is owned by the insurance companies. You may have noticed that the priorities of said companies are often in direct conflict with, you know, normal people. Like Lumpy’s constituents.
Memo To Future House Leadership: Keep this casually-corrupt bozo away from any committees that consider bills affecting the corporations that own him.
Tim Sheldon donated $600 each to Val Longhurst and George Dudlek. 0 for 2. This reminds me–did anybody piss away more money with so little effect than the Delaware Building and Trades unions? They gonna keep throwing away good money after bad? Gonna stick with the same failed leadership?
Here’s a weird one–PAC Local Union 451 started the period with a balance of, wait for it, 1 penny. Raised no money, but sent a $600 check to Rep. Mimi Minor-Brown, who has no opposition.
Progressive Democrats Of Delaware have maxed out to Claire Snyder-Hall, Frank Burns, and Eric Morrison for the general election.
The 20th RD Democratic Committee contributed $3000 to the campaign of Stell Parker Shelby. That appears to greatly exceed the legal $600 limit. Am I wrong?
All Funded Up, And No Place To Spend. Remember the Little PAC That Could? Which turned into a repository of pass-through funds for BHL? Bethany is toast, but People For A Healthy Delaware has a balance of $94,906. Didn’t spend a penny since the primary.
One constant you see in almost every report from D candidates is that Sarah McBride has maxed out to them. LBR? Not so much. OK, I’ll say it–Sarah is becoming the leader of the Delaware Democratic Party in the best way possible.
A weird report from Trippi Congo (dog bites man). Started with a balance of just over $1400. Reported no new income. Wrote a check from the campaign to himself for $3K. Don’t tell me he’s contracting out his campaign bookkeeping to BHL’s husband…
Impressive report from Jane Gruenebaum, a Democrat running for Sussex County Council District 3. Over $50K raised, none of it from developers and/or LLC’s.
A curious contribution in an otherwise ordinary report from Deb Heffernan‘s campaign. First State Military Academy donated $400. Aren’t they a charter that gets state funding? Is that OK?
Monica Beard, who is challenging the Real Michael Smith in RD 22, raised a respectable $27K this year. While she’ll no doubt be outspent by Smith, she’s raised enough to be very competitive. A race to watch–and to volunteer.
Claire Snyder-Hall, who won the D Primary to succeed Pete Schwartzkopf in RD 14, has raised $23K since the primary. Her opponent, Mike Simpler, has raised $14K this year. Word on the street, though, is that Simpler may get his very own SuperPAC. Makes sense. Claire represents an existential threat to the Forces Of Evil who are protecting the tattered remains of the Delaware Way.
Kim Hoey Stevenson, who is challenging freshman Senator Russ Huxtable, has raised $71K, mostly from the Rethug establishment. Her husband is a big deal with the pro-oil, climate change-denying, Caesar Rodney Institute. Huxtable has been a superb Senator, and I encourage all of you to support him. Like, right here.
Melissa Brayman, who is the R candidate for New Castle County President, only raised $6K. I will almost certainly vote for her. Monique Johns has been strong-arming the D committees for $$’s, she’s hoovering up developer money, oh, and she’s incompetent. Brayman, at the least, is competent. And hasn’t been bought and paid for. Why the fuck would I vote for Johns?
Terrell Williams’ report doesn’t fill me with confidence. Had about $15K to spend. Spent about $17K. All due respect, not the financial profile one would have hoped for in a competitive race, especially since Kevin Hensley has about $120K on hand.
Anyone doubting that Kyle Evans Gay has her eyes on an even higher office, she’s more than proven that she can raise money. $224K since the primary.
Mike Ramone raised $78 K since the primary, already had about $44K left over. Seems a little light to me.
I could be wrong, but I don’t think that a single contributor to Darius Brown‘s campaign lives in his 2nd Senatorial District.
Shout-out to Madinah Wilson-Anton. All the money she raises, and it’s a decent amount, goes to progressive candidates and progressive causes. Definitely in the running for my favorite legislator.
Lest you were concerned, you needn’t worry about Matt Meyer‘s ability to raise money post-primary. He has banked almost $400K since then. Mike Ramone has raised $78 K. Can you say ‘smart money’? Looks like even Mike Houghton is doing penance…
I’m caught up–for now. More to come…
Is Lumpy short for “lump sum”?
Thurman Adams used to call him that–‘Ol Lumpy’.
It fit.
It’s a childhood nickname, just for the record.
Named for the “Leave It to Beaver” character?
Bravo
Did you notice Tim Sheldon took no developer money the last 7 years!, of course not because he is a working man
And yet, and yet, he rarely meets a development proposal he opposes.
You can look it up.
Did a deep dive. You know who has helped finance the ‘working man’? Besides the building and construction trades, I mean?
Those noted friends of labor, the Carpenter family of Montchanin. Pretty much everybody in the family has ponied up. Engineering companies, law firms engaged in, yes, seeking approval for development projects.
The Tarabicos family. He hasn’t raised any significant money since 2019 because he still sits with about $47K in his coffers. But check out his 2019 and 2017 reports, THEN get back to me.
LOL Tarabicos is as dirty as they come for land use attorneys. And Tim Sheldon comes on here saying he doesn’t take developer money! Go drink a few more Tim
I did a stone wall for Mr. Carpenter. He offered me a tip, but I said just contribute to my campaign. Yes, I worked for it.
Bullshit. You don’t think we saw the projects that the Carpenter family is proposing before council? It’s not as if you are the only beneficiary of their campaign contributions. What did the other council members who got contributions from them do for the $$’s? Answer: Same as you. Get money, approve their development plans.
In fact, you’re so full of shit, I did a deep dive.
In 2018, members of the Carpenter family gave multiple donations to Ken Woods, Penrose Hollins, Janet Kilpatrick, Bob Weiner, David Tackett, and Karen Hartley-Nagle.
Were they doing work around the grounds to get those contributions?
In 2019, the Carpenter family made multiple donations to David Tackett, Bill Bell, Tim Sheldon (you), and Karen Hartley-Nagle.
In 2020, the Carpenter family made multiple contributions to George Smiley, Karen Hartley-Nagle, and Jea Street.
The amount of contributions to Karen Hartley-Nagle, in particular, can only be construed as bribes.
I am the one who unlike you have a trade and yes I did work on his property. Others , you can ask them
Oh.
The multiple contributions from the Carpenter family to you were merely expressions of gratitude.
The multiple contributions from the Carpenter family to ALL THOSE OTHER County Council members, they were the bribes.
Got it.
I think the point was that given how many contributions he’s made to various Democrats, it doesn’t take masonry work to earn his munificence.
What does being a working man have to do with it? Does he self-fund his campaigns with his earnings?
In Eric Hansen news, he is now on three weeks in the same shirt and same pants. The shirt is somewhat silky and sheer, and he should really consider an undershirt. I have never considered how perky my US Senator’s nipples ought to be, but I think Eric has the edge there.
Been struggling to come up with the perfect name for my latest musical project.
“Eric Hansen’s Nipples” it IS!
I believe RD’s are considered part of the Democratic Party. Political Party’s can contribute up to $25k to a non statewide candidate, depending on the office. State Rep’s can get up to 3k. She can’t get 3k from an RD and the party, the amount can’t exceed 3k combined.
Thanks! I noticed that there were a couple of other transactions like that after I had flagged this one.
The political party limit for State House candidates is $3,000. It is $5,000 for State Senate. The State Party limits apply to the State Party itself, the sub-division committees, and the RD committees,
Did building trades back anyone who actually won? Asking for a friend
I don’t think so in any competitive race. I think they backed Sarah and LBR, but every time they waded into a competitive race, they lost.
Bill Bush
Right. Think they supported Eric Morrison as well. Also likely some less competitive races.
But all that money pissed away on BHL more than makes up for anything good they might have done…
I wonder whether any challenges to the leadership in the State AFL/CIO and DSEA are on the horizon.
Anything connected to home building is in feeding frenzy mode here, as expected that includes the politicians they own, Lump McLump Face included. Saw this game on Long Island, it’s going to turn “My beloved Delaware” into an endless development end to end at some point. Take pleasure knowing I will be dead before it happens. Can assure there is ever growing gridlock in Smyrna at this point, and it’s just getting started.
Nobody wants to live there anymore, it’s too crowded.
That’s why I left 50-plus years ago.
Ba-dum Tssss
Re Heffernan and FSMA: chairman of the board, your friend and mine, Scott Kidner
JEE-ZUS!
It’s the only recorded donation from FSMA.
Wonder what’s the story behind it…
INDEPENDENT KATZ!
Are there any other kind of katz?
He’s taken a novel approach to FEC reporting requirements.
You can’t herd Katz.
What has four legs and chases Katz?
Mrs. Katz and her lawyer.
Miller RD 20 is well funded against Selby, Rappa in RD 13 is even more well funded against Neal and he has a lot of prominent R support. Huxtable for reasons known only to him is sitting on 95K with 4 weeks to go in a highly competitive race. Maybe he has a super secret plan?
Well, Rappa IS an R.
And Huxtable has spent close to $25K on his campaign so far.
Left to her own devices, she would have lost that primary to Larry Mitchell in 2022. She wasn’t, and likely still isn’t, a great campaigner.
However, despite any left-over animus from the primary, she got over 60% in the general. With increased voter turnout in a presidential year, she should be OK.
And Huxtable’s opponent, Mrs. Caesar Rodney, received $1,200 from Senator Gerald Hocker. Doesn’t he know campaign finance law or does he know it won’t be enforced? She also was pretty well maxed out by the major developers and the manufactured home park owners.
Gerald is better than everybody dontcha know! I lived across the street from his son for 20 years one of the most condescending humans I’ve ever met. All the more reason Huxtable needs to spend and spend effectively. It will be useless on November 6.
RD 13 resident here. Definitely concerned for this seat. Rappa has been all over, but I’m hoping the registrations alone mean it can’t happen.
Assuming high turnout all around, the R could get every single Independent and Republican vote and still fall short by a lot.
The only way for the Republican to win in that district is getting a lot of D turncoats.
There’s a guy named DelCollo who did just that in the Senate District that shares most of the 13th. My point is that I am seeing a lot of complacency across the state. Ya gotta run through the tape!
This wouldn’t surprise me…if his spend is mail heavy, he wouldn’t be writing the checks until about now probably. Maybe had his firm delay the invoicing until after the filing deadline so he could show a strong cash on hand.
I know a ton of Democrats refusing to vote for Johns after her previous scandals and now very odd campaign reporting. Johns being a Democrat may pull her over the finish line but I see that race being closer then alot of people think.
I hear talk of some pretty obnoxious Facebook posts, especially by her husband.
I don’t have Facebook, so, if someone would care to do some investigation…
El, you should probably get fb just to view some of these Relationship Dr episodes with Dr Tim and Dr Lady Mo. Easily the worst advice to ever receive here:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/G5f6ZEXtMDmSQ8Kt/
Took me a while to place the song–‘Killing Me Softly’.
I’m watching…I can’t keep watching. ‘Sex as a weapon’, ho-kay.
“Don’t hold back your body from your mate.” “Your body is mine.”
That’s it. I’m done…
Except to say, kinda makes you wonder whether she’ll hire qualified people, or orgy participants.
When government is a circus, people elect clowns.
Let’s remember dr lady mo got 27 percent of the vote. Literally that has to be a record to let someone hold office with so few votes. She’s gone in 4 years with one sound candidate to oppose her
The good thing is the council president has no superpowers. No leadership role, just one vote and banging the gavel at council meetings. Can anyone think of a significant achievement by KHN in the last four years? Or, for that matter, some of the folks who preceded her, like Chris Coons and Paul Clark?
It has come to my attention that her 30-day does not, uh, contain the level of detail one would expect from a serious and scrupulous candidate.
I know she is neither of those things, but thought it was worth pointing out.
Serious question: why do we even pretend to have campaign finance regulations in this state?
Yes, a serious question, and a good one.
Another item for a legislative transparency agenda.
Great work breaking these down… I saw your comment about Kyle and decided to take a look at her report, she has raised an impressive amount of money. However, did anyone else see the $15,000 donation from the “C-11” PAC?
First is this more campaign finance shenanigans?… Last I read, PACS can’t contribute that much directly to a candidate (max for statewide from a PAC directly to a candidate is 1200) but then I had an even more puzzling question…
I googled the PAC’s address and it comes back to the law firm of Michelle Allen, the same lawyer that filed the Sexual Harassment suit in August against Meyer which was used to fuel Bethany’s last-minute smear campaign against Matt.
Additionally, Melissa Lafferty gave 5k to C-11 and she along with her husband Bill who had previously donated to the tune of over 20k to People for a Healthy Delaware and DLGA… so why are the people who contributed heavily to try and bring down Matt suddenly flooding money into Kyle’s campaign?….If they really cared about electing Kyle as LG, wouldn’t they have donated more during the primary? So what is the story here, do they still have something planned against Matt or is investing in Kyle just their new substitute for the old BHL investment/corruption?
Kyle has been posing for pictures and doing joint campaign appearances with Matt, all the while she is taking tens of thousands of dollars from the very people who tried to take down her new “running mate.” So are those cheerful pictures all just an act?
Bigger question – Does Matt know that he is standing beside someone who is suddenly being funneled money from the very people who tried to take him downin August? Not trying to go all House of Cards here, but something just doesn’t add up…
Those guys just love to load up on Lieutenant governors. Certainly don’t blame Kyle for taking the easy money.
All I can say is that Matt campaigned for Kyle when she ran for the State Senate.
And she has not been shy about her dissatisfaction with the Carney regime.
But you ask good questions here. Keep in mind, though, that there are more than a few BHL contributors who have since ponied up for Matt.
Want to find out who/what this C-11 PAC is. But not right now. Too busy enjoying the Dallas Cowboys getting smoked.
I believe that C-11 is some sort of Party entity created by the Senate caucus several years ago to get the senate to a Dem majority. It should have been C-14, but baby-steps I guess.
Anyway, I think it counts toward the Party contribution limits, not PAC limits.
Thanks. Makes sense.
And yet the C-11 PAC isn’t listed as affiliated with the party it’s a registered PAC whose intent is electing democrats – check the registration of it. It’s listed at the address of Michelle Allen’s law firm and lists Patrick Allen as the treasurer. This PAC could have given this 15k to the party and had them forward it on to Kyle- PACs can give 20k to a party and the Party can give 25k to the candidate. However that didn’t happen. Both entities filed reports showing that this PAC directly sent 15k to Kyle. So that seems to clearly be in violation.
The C-11 PAC lists one expenditure this year to a candidate and that’s to Kyle, but no donations to her during the primary and none to any of the Dems that have competitive races. Nope instead it’s just one donation to her from two donors one of whom had also contributed to both of the PACs that came after Matt.
Just seems odd to take money from a PAC connected to the law firm that has filed multiple suits against your “running mate” and makes me wonder if these folks feel like they have found a new elected official to buy…She did receive the Party endorsement after all and while she has been critical of the Carney administration (many, many are) she hasn’t made any comments about the BHL scandals. So I think it is worth asking the question and digging further.
You go ahead and do that.
Ok, so after liberalgeek’s response, I looked again and it is a “Political Committee” not a PAC. I stand corrected. Assuming that a “Political Committee” is treated as a Political Party, which unless it is affiliated with the party and represents a group of the party, it doesn’t seem like it should but that is a campaign finance reform question to tackle later, so let’s assume this is in fact a subset of the party aimed at supporting the senate majority – why are they donating to Kyle instead of Russ Huxtable? Isn’t that the seat they should pour 15k into to protect the supermajority instead of donating to Kyle who isn’t going to be in the senate and doesn’t look to be losing nor is she short on funds… so yes, I do wonder why those targeting Matt just a month ago are donating to Kyle in that large of an amount.
All that I can tell you is that as of 4 years ago, there were several people in the party that assumed that this fund would be spent down and closed. It was widely regarded as an odd duck.
I saw that they gave to Russ after the primary last cycle.
Personally, I think Kyle is great, but I’d much rather that if they had money to spend, that they would spend it on Russ. If they think Russ is safe, I’d save it to win the two anticipated special elections in the senate. Perhaps they expect another round of fundraising into the committee for the specials.
But I have literally never knowingly spoken to anyone that makes those decisions, so your mileage may vary.