Tuesday, July 15, 2014

LIVE BLOG: Arizona Congressional Candidates File Finance Reports

July 15 was the deadline for Congressional candidates - including all incumbents - to file their campaign finance reports for the quarter ended June 30.  Some have already given news media the highlights even though the actual report was not yet filed.  Arizona's Politics will comb through the reports and identify highlights, bottom lines, anomalies, etc.

5:05p.m.: Mikel Weisser raised $6,804 in the 2nd quarter and increased his campaign's cash on hand to $3,000.  Weisser will be the Democratic nominee challenging incumbent Rep. Paul Gosar (R-CD4) in November.

4:40p.m.: Ruben Gallego continues to lead the fundraising race in the campaign to replace retiring Rep. Ed Pastor (D-CD7), raising $273,000 in the 2nd quarter ($62,000 from PACs/committees).  Heading into the stretch run for the August 26 primary, Gallego has $300,000 ($300,048.85, to be exact) cash on hand as of July 1.

4:10p.m.: Rev. Jarrett Maupin is not playing the big-dollar Congressional campaign game. As he faces well-financed fellow Democrats Mary Rose Wilcox and Ruben Gallego for the CD7 nomination (and likely general election win), Maupin raised $8,955 in the 2nd quarter - $6,355 from individuals with last names other than Maupin - and has $8,037 in the bank.

3:45p.m.: Mary Rose Wilcox has raised more than $335,000 (total) for the likely-determinative primary election in CD7.  She had $221,409.66 in the bank on July 1, but that is less than primary opponent Ruben Gallego.  Wilcox and Gallego announced their candidacies as soon as Rep. Ed Pastor announced his retirement, and the Congressman quickly endorsed Wilcox - a longtime Maricopa County Supervisor.  The $243,542 she raised in the 2nd quarter ($35,500 from PACs) more than covered the $109,180 in expenses (plus $60,000 in bills outstanding - including a $39,300 bill to national public opinion firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for a survey).

3:20p.m.: Rep. Paul Gosar (R-CD4) has no primary election opposition, but he spent more than the $73,025 that he raised in the 2nd quarter.  Gosar collected $33,775 from individuals and $39,250 from PACs.  His cash on hand dipped slightly, to $195,366.07.  Gosar's main expense was the $33,800 that he paid to the Narional Republican Congressional Committee ("NRCC") on June 30, after the NRCC's announced crackdown on caucus members who had not paid their dues.  Gosar will face Democrat Mikel Weisser in November, in the solidly Republican district.

3:05p.m.: Martha McSally is the likely Republican nominee, has been acting like it, and raising money like it. Collecting more than $650,000 ($140,350 from PACs), McSally has more than $1.1M in the bank heading into the August 26 primary. The winner faces incumbent Rep. Ron Barber (D-CD2) in November - McSally barely lost to Barber in 2012.  And, this is the second quarter in a row where McSally has outraised Barber (and, the 1st in which she also outspent him).  And, like Barber (see below), McSally received contributions from at least 18 members of Congress (or, candidates for Congress) - an indication of the national interest in the race.

2:45p.m.: Rep. Ron Barber (D-CD2) collected $554,000 in campaign contributions ($183,000 from PACs) in the 2nd Quarter, pushing his campaign's bank account balance to nearly $1.6M.  He only spent $205,000 in the three-month period, but the nationally-ranked toss-up contest - likely a re-match against Martha McSally - is going to cost a lot more in the next 4 months.  One (more) indication of how closely the southern Arizona campaign is being watched is that at least 18 fellow members of Congress each chipped in $1,000 from their campaigns.
2:25p.m. CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: Arizona's Politics misread the date of the June 30 loan from Andrew Walter to his campaign.  Rather than coming on the last day of this past quarter, the loan was actually from June 30, 2013.  Thus, there was nothing incorrect on this most recent report: Walter has lent money to his campaign three times (at the end of reporting periods) and paid back two.  Here is the correct record:
--Loan #1: June 30, 2013, lent $25,000.  Repaid April 7, 2014.
--Loan #2: September 27, 2013, lent $25,000. Repaid April 7, 2014.
--Loan #3: March 31, 2014, lent $50,000. Currently unpaid.
Loan #3 was used one week later to repay Loans #1 and #2.  Arizona's Politics has apologized to the Walter campaign (accepted), and apologizes to our readers.  We regret the error.  The portion of the item below which is incorrect has been removed.

Andrew Walter campaign manager, Chris Tolino, tells Arizona's Politics that the campaign is very pleased with their best quarterly totals and with how the campaign is shaping up headed into the final weeks.

9:50a.m.: Andrew Walter has $220,081.02 cash on hand as of July 1, and raised $105,000 in the 2nd quarter.  Walter is making a bid for the GOP nomination in closely-watched CD9, for the right to attempt to unseat Rep. Kyrsten Sinema.  

(corrected paragraph, see 2:25pm entry above)  Walter did not lend any personal money to his campaign in the 2nd quarter.  In fact, he repaid two earlier loans.  He lent $50,000 on March 31, and one week later (April 7) repaid himself for the two earlier loans that he had made. 

GOP opponent Wendy Rogers has $387k in the bank.

9:40a.m.: Independent candidate Jose Peñalosa is running in CD7, and he collected $800 to go with the $4,200 that he contributed to his own campaign.  All of that, and then some, went to qualifying for the ballot, which required many more signatures than the candidates in the recognized political parties.  Peñalosa's petitions were challenged, but he successfully represented himself - he's an (immigration) attorney - saving a lot of money.  Peñalosa has $356.05 cash on hand as of July 1.  He will face the winner of the hotly contested Democratic primary, as well as a Libertarian candidate.

9:25a.m.: Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-CD3) maintained the status quo in his campaign's bank account in the 2nd quarter, raising $55,521 ($23,250 from PACs) and spending $56,093.  Cash on hand is $108,270.14.  Grijalva will face Gabby Saucedo Mercer in the general election.

9:10a.m.: Wendy Rogers has $387,000 in the bank on July 1, down slightly from the balance at the beginning of the period but still impressive as she looks to be the GOP nominee in CD9.  Rogers collected $138,367.90 during the 2nd quarter.  Rogers spent $19,050 on "polling" as she battles Andrew Walter for the right to try to unseat incumbent Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-CD9) in the closely-watched district.

July 16, 9:00a.m.: We're now combing through the reports filed after hours (Eastern time, anyway).  Looks like there is about a dozen left, then some committees, follow-ups, etc.

11:30p.m.: Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-CD9) brought in $581,000 during the 2nd quarter, bringing her total fundraising (for her 1st reelection effort) to over $2.4 million.  Of that, she now has $1,595,047.76 in the bank, as of July 1.  Of the 2Q contributions, $220,000 came from PACs and conduit contributions.  In one of the most hotly-contested districts in the nation, Sinema will face either Wendy Rogers or Andrew Walter as the Republican nominee.
5:45p.m.: Arizona's Politics has already received a few contacts (phone call, email, direct message) about the characterization of Rep. Adam Kwasman's very messed up campaign finance filing today.  A couple of people were concerned about the seemingly-out-of-character harshness.  Personally, I have no problems with Kwasman and even like him.  However, there are two main reasons that it was written (and tweeted) this way: 
(1) This is an escalation of the pattern of incorrect filings by Kwasman campaign. While at least this was timely filed (the previous two reports were not filed on time), the mistakes are amateurish and incomprehensible (at least, by this reporter). Coupled with the errors that were pointed out by the FEC last month, it is even more egregious.  (By the way, the Kwasman campaign failed to correct and/or respond to the FEC's delinquency letter by the July 11 deadline.)  Triple this with the fact that Arizona's Politics spoke with Kwasman in April about the difficulties his campaign treasurer and/or compliance consultant was/were having.
(2) The cumulative figures are a bad error, but a $27,000 personal loan has to be properly reported.  While it was disclosed near the end of the 63 page report (page 62), it was nowhere to be found in the all-important "Summary Page" and "Detailed Summary Page". (Just to double-check, we checked the previous report, it was not reported there.)  More mind-boggling, it was not accounted for in the "Cash Summary".  Is it not noticeable in the campaign's bank balance? Did Treasurer Bret Summers not check over the report he signed?



5:10p.m.: Rep. Ed Pastor (D-CD7) may be retiring, but he still has a $1.3M campaign warchest to spend - as he sees fit with some limitations. In his 2nd Quarter report, he did not fundraise any monies, but he did sell a "DC Donor List" for $594 to his preferred successor, Mary Rose Wilcox.  Whether that is market value or not, Pastor's committee made a $1,000 donation to Wilcox's campaign 2 1/2 weeks later.

(4:40p.m.: Signs of the Brewer Cavalry Are Here:  Arizona Governor Jan Brewer began flexing her political muscles this past week, saturating Southeast Valley LD18 with campaign signs noting her support of Reps. Bob Robson and Jeff Dial. Both were among a minority of Republican lawmakers who voted last year with Gov. Brewer to accept federal (Obamacare) monies to expand AHCCCS (Medicaid). )

4:20p.m.:  Rep. Matt Salmon (R-CD5) continued fundraising hard during the 2nd quarter, even with light opposition to his reelection in the East Valley district.  He gathered $141,797 ($772,000 total) and has more than $500,000 cash on hand as of July 1, 2014 ($501,563.42, to be exact.)  Of the contributions this quarter, $57,750 came from a variety of PACs.  Democrat James Woods will provide the general election competition.

4:00p.m.: State Rep. Adam Kwasman today continued to have troubles properly filing his campaign finance reports.  While his previous reports have been filed late and he is currently under a deficiency report from the FEC on his 1st quarter report, today's 2nd quarter report neglects to include previous amounts raised and spent.  Kwasman raised $75,000 in the past three months ($10,400 from fellow Kwasmans) and spent $51,000, thus increasing his cash on hand to $88,078.29.  He also apparently lent his campaign $27,000 on June 11, but did not include that loan in his cash flow analysis. Kwasman is seeking the GOP nomination for the highly-competitive CD1; he is battling state House Speaker Andy Tobin and team roper Gary Kiehne in the primary, with the winner to face incumbent Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick.

3:40p.m.: Eagar team roper* and businessman Gary Kiehne lent another $100,000 to his campaign, supplied $35,856 in in-kind contributions and received another $14,200 from family members as he continues to largely self-fund his campaign for the GOP nomination in CD1.  He raised approximately $42,000 from individuals and a committee not (directly) associated with the family, for a total contribution amount in the 2nd quarter of $93,150.40.  He has now lent $300,000 to the effort (and given an additional $40,856), and his cash on hand on July 1 was $337,022.75.  Kiehne is battling state lawmakers Andy Tobin and Adam Kwasman for the chance to unseat incumbent Democrat Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick.
* Kiehne lists "team roper" as his occupation on the reports.

12:45p.m.: Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-CD1) filed a mammoth 441 page report, detailing the $416,000 in net contributions - including $140,000 from PACs - received in the 2nd quarter.  Her cash on hand for the general election campaign climbs from just over $1.0 million to $1.3 million.  The swing district is one of the most hotly-contested in the nation, and Kirkpatrick will face the winner of the three-way Republican primary battle.  (3:10: Clarified that the $416,000 is for "net contributions", and added in $5,500 from the joint fundraising committee "Copper State Majority Fund" (Kirkpatrick, Barber, Sinema).

12:15p.m.: Rep. David Schweikert (R-CD6) filed his 2nd quarter report last night, indicating that he more than doubled his cash on hand, from $40,000 to more than $85,000.  Schweikert raised $112,499 in the quarter - including $40,000 from PACs - and only disbursed $67,860.  Schweikert is running unopposed on the Republican side, and has Democratic opponent John Williamson in November, in the solid GOP district.

11:30a.m.: What if you held a big fundraiser for four major candidates, and only two people contributed? Well, you distribute the $3,600, anyways. The McSally Tobin Rogers Ducey Victory Committee started out with high hopes, and Phoenix attorney Sid Rosen spent $6,840 on the May 15 fundraiser.  However, only East Valley builder Ed Robson and California property financier Adam Milstein contributed, a total of $3,600.  Because Robson had already maxed out his contributions to Andy Tobin and Doug Ducey, his contribution was split between Martha McSally and Wendy Rogers.  Milstein's was divided evenly among the four.

11:10a.m.: State House Speaker Andy Tobin treaded fundraising water in the 2nd quarter, increasing his cash on hand only by $7,000, to $220,502.  He raised $176,000 - only $19,000 from PACs - but spent a nearly-equal amount as he attempts to gain the Republican nomination to face incumbent Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick in CD01.  He gathered maximum contributions from local sports team owners Nancy and Bill Bidwill (Cardinals) and the Kendricks (Diamondbacks).  (His campaign did refund previous contributions from some of the Kendricks' children.)  He also received a $2,600 maximum contribution from David Koch, and he continues to disburse monies ($27,000+) to Sean Noble's (formerly tied to the Koch Brothers' network) DC London firm.

10:55a.m.: Shelley Kais - facing an uphill fight to wrest the GOP nomination from presumptive nominee Martha McSally - raised $9,364 in the 2nd quarter.  The nominee will face incumbent Rep. Ron Barber in very competitive CD2.  That brings her overall fundraising total to just over $30,000. She has $13,313 cash on hand.  She paid her company, Kais E. Systems, $3,000 for "graphic design, web design and IT". Another Republican, Chuck Wooten, filed his 2nd quarter report earlier, and has $3,436 on hand.

10:40a.m.: Arizona Rep. Trent Franks (R-CD8) was the first to file this morning, just after midnight.  He brought in $43,000+ in contributions - more than half from PACs - but paid out more than that.  His cash on hand on July 1 was less than $15,000.  Franks is facing a primary challenge from Clair van Steenwyk.  Franks donated to a few candidates around the country, including $1,000 to Wendy Rogers, who is running for the GOP nomination in Arizona's CD9.



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