The last leg

A few observations about Post-General Campaign Finance statements filed by Vicki Barnett and Paul Welday, which reflect activity in the very last leg of the House District 37 race:

Fundraising:

Because the numbers include a contested Republican primary, it makes sense that Mr. Welday would end the race having raised about $30,000 more than Ms. Barnett – $164,749 to her $132,013. What’s really interesting, though, is that they both raised almost the same amount in the last week and a half – his $13,028 to her $11,751.

Thrift:

Give Ms. Barnett the nod on this one, she ended her campaign with $43,000 in the bank and no debt. Mr. Welday has about $1,000 in the bank and his committee owes $23,000 (all expenses he covered for the campaign).

PAC Money:

About half of Ms. Barnett’s final 33 contributions came from PACs – Planned Parenthood of MI, Michigan Laborers Political League, Michgian Equality PAC, Michigan Podiatric Action Society, Pam Byrnes Leadership Circle, Meadows Majority Fund, Foster PAC, DTE Energy Company PAC, Lakeshore Federation of Teachers in St. Clair Shores, Michigan Corrections Organization PAC, Michigan Propane Gas Association PAC, Burglar & Fire Alarm Association (who knew?), Michigan Society of Anesthesiologists, Wiener Associates PAC and the Lipton Leadership Fund.

Ten of Welday’s final 50 contributions were his own, but he also received money from the Michigan Manufactured Housing RV & Camp PAC, Michigan Aggregates Association, BIASM PAC, WMI PAC of Michigan, Chrysler Service Contracts Inc. PAC, Michigan Insurance Political Action and the Great Lakes Education Project, a PAC formed by Dick & Betsy DeVos to push school vouchers.

I could add up the numbers to determine who took more PAC money overall, but my guess would be that’s kind of a toss-up. This was an important race to both parties; money came in from all over. The big picture here is much more interesting. Though both candidates raised about the same amount of money after October 24, Ms. Barnett came into the last few weeks of the campaign in a much stronger financial position and actually spent less money. Welday spent nearly $52,000 – almost a third of all the primary and general election funds raised – in the last 10 days of his campaign, outspending Barnett about 2 to 1.

And Republicans claim Democrats are the ones always trying to throw money at a problem.

You can find all the campaign finance statements on-line at http://www.mi.gov/sos

–Joni Hubred-Golden
Publisher

Campaign Finance (is it August 6 yet?)

We’ve been tipped to a circumstance in Paul Welday’s campaign finance reporting that changes one of the numbers as reported in a previous post.

The campaign finance statements also require the reporting of unpaid expenses, and the Welday campaign has nearly $8,000 outstanding to vendors for signs, fund-raiser food, accounting and graphic design services. In the interest of accuracy, that brings his total campaign spending to $31,680. Contributions bumped today as well, with the late reporting of two contributions, including $243.45 from Right to Life Michigan.

A clarification from the previous post: The Great Lakes Education Project, which contributed $500 to Welday’s campaign, favors “school choice,” a generally accepted euphemism for vouchers. The PAC was founded by none other than Dick DeVos, whose unsuccessful 2006 candidacy set a record for campaign spending in a Michigan gubernatorial campaign.

–Joni Hubred-Golden
Michigan Woman Blogger