AL-GOV 2009 Fundraising Overview

Who are these people (0.00 / 0)

Warren J. Williamson, Jr.

Guice Slawson

John M. McGinnis

Between the three of them, they have given or loaned $1.25 million dollars to Tim James' campaign -- most in $250,000 chunks.  Who are these men and why do they like James so much?  Or believe he's such a good investment?

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 10:27:46 AM CST

Guice Slawson (0.00 / 0)

Guice Slawson: Treated lumber baron, Republican, enemy of Riley.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 10:36:05 AM CST

[ Parent ]

James' fat cats (4.00 / 1)

all either wealthy timber, Foley Beach Express or landfill cronies of the James family. Something's fishy.

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by: malone @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 10:49:02 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Another terrific post, Mooncat! (4.00 / 1)

There's so much to comb through on all these reports that we'll all be blogging about it for the next few weeks.

In the meantime, you've done a LOT of the heavy lifting - and burned through how many printer cartridges????

I'm not short.  I'm fun size!!

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by: countrycat @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 15:08:48 PM CST

Top contributors--Democratic version (4.00 / 1)

Here are the top contributors to the Democratic campaigns.  These are total donations, sorted by top individuals (and ties), other notable individuals, and PACs.  I list some law firms (with notable partners) and campaign funds in individual categories.  Warning--this is long. More comments to follow.

Artur Davis:

Top 5 Individuals:
Jay Grinnery (Birmingham)--$35,000
Clyde Anderson (Birmingham)--$25,000
Jesse Nunn (Huntsville)--$20,000
Mcihael Goodrich (Birmingham)--$20000
Patrick Coughlin (San Diego, CA)--$15,000 (attorney)
Allen Engel (Jasper)--$12,500
Donald Hess (Birmingham)--$12,500
Lisa Engel (Birminahm)--$12,500
Ronnie Hess (Birmingham)--$12,500

Other notables:
Jere Beasley--$10,000
Scott McLain--$10,000
William Smith, Jr.--$5,000 (Royal Cup Coffee and A+)
Rendell for Governor--$5,000
Thomas "Mack" McLarty--$4,00 (former Clinton Chief of Staff)
Farris, Riley & Pitt LLC--$3,500 (former SDEC chair Redding Pitt is a partner here)
Douglas Jones LLC--$2500 (Doug Jones is former US Attorney)
Friends of Bud Cramer--$2,000
Joseph Ceci--$2,000 (given before December)
Adam Schiff for Congress--$1,000
Boucher for Congress--$1,000
Ralph Cook Campaign Cmt--$1,000

PAC's/Corporate:
Tennessee Valley Citizens for Economic Development (chaired by Steve Raby)--$75,000
TRD PAC (The Real Democrat PAC)--$30,000
Employees of Northrop Grumman PAC--$12,000
BIZPAC (chaired by Clark Richardson)--$10,000
Cunningham Bounds (Mobile law firm)--$10,000
Boatright Companies PAC--$10,000
Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton (Birmingham law firm)--$10,000
JDC PAC (chaired by John Crawford)--$10,000

Ron Sparks

Top individuals
Mack Cooper (Ft. Payne)--$25,000
Linda Sterling (Cedar Bluff)--$19,9900
Mithcell Smith (Cullman--$10,000
Laura Dean Waters (Union Springs)--$10,000
Connie Bruce (Ft. Payne)--$5,200

Other notables
Lowell Barron for Senate--$5,500 (Campaign fund)
Donald Stewart (Anniston)--$5,000 (former US Senator)
Julian McPhillips (Montgomery)--$2,000 (attorney & ran for Senate in '02)
Jerome Gray--$1,900 (ADC Political Director)
Marcel Black--$1,000
Richard Arrington, Jr.--$500

PAC's
A-Vote (AEA's PAC)--$100,000
RESOLUTION PAC (chaired by John Teague)--$50,000
RACE PAC (chaired by John Teague)--$47,500
SUPPLY PAC (chaired by John Teague)--$30,000
FamiliesALA (chaired by Byron Hyde)--$25,000
AG PAC--$17,000
Constituion Revision Committee (charied by John Herrington)--$15,000

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by: csduke @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 15:23:15 PM CST

Some comments (4.00 / 1)

Now that I have listed this, here are some notes to make.

• Davis did much better in individual fundraising, and his top contributions are from individuals.  The PAC's I listed made up about a quarter of Sparks's total amount.
• Davis did not draw directly from AEA or BCA.  The AEA is not much of a suprise.  BCA's PAC is ProgressPAC and they contributed nothing directly to the Davis campaign.
• Much of the business support Davis has received comes through individuals.  His top contributors are the CEOs of HealthSouth, Books a Million,Future Research Corp.  Davis also draws heavily from a traditional Democratic financial source--attorneys.
• Sparks top contributors come from local individuals who likely have some connection to him.  Cooper is the president of Cooper Hosiery, Smith owns an auto dealership in Cullman, and Bruce owns business in Fort Payne.
• In what is not a suprise, Sparks gets some money from establishment figures in Democratic politics in Montgery--Lowell Barron, AEA, Jerome Gray.

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by: csduke @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 15:39:14 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Curious, I did a google search (4.00 / 2)

on "John Teague" because he seems to have his paws in a lot of PACs that are flush with cash.

Found this about his legal problems in the past:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=20010118&id=uwAuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fd0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3530,1577798

That didn't seem to hurt him though. He's on Danny's list of "Top 40 most influential non-elected Alabamians."

John Teague – Ex-state senator who, like Coker, tends to get what he wants for his clients. Has a wide array of clients and associates. 

Found this helpful description from AL.com of some of the PACs donating money in Alabama:

Speed PAC - One of several PACs run by lobbyist John Teague. It received money from trial lawyer firm Hare Wynn Newell and Newton in Birmingham, Fight Back for Justice and other sources.

Supply PAC - One of several PACs run by lobbyist John Teague. It received money from other PACs that were funded by the Alabama Education Association teachers' lobby and other sources.

Talladega PAC - One of several PACs run by lobbyist John Teague. It got money from Fight Back for Justice PAC, Fund for Alabama's Children and Education, Environmental Campaign Fund, and the Poarch Creek Indians Tribal Goverment Fund.

YOUR PAC - One of several PACs formed by lobbyist John Teague. It received money from from two other Teague PACs, Supply PAC and Speed PAC.

ALABEZ PAC - One of several PACs formed by lobbyist John Crawford. It received money from Franklin PAC, among others.

Franklin PAC - One of several PACs formed by lobbyist John Crawford. It has received money from Franklin Resources Group.

Go through the whole list and your head will spin.  This PAC give to that PAC that gives to this other PAC and most are connected with at least one principal officer....

Somebody explain to me again why campaign finance reform shouldn't be a the top of every voter's "to do" list?

 

 

I'm not short.  I'm fun size!!

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by: countrycat @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 15:54:31 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Campaign finance (4.00 / 2)

This points to both campaign finance reforms including the ban of PAC-PAC transfers.  There are a number in the state that are run by or associated with the top contract lobbyists in the state (including John Teague, John Crawford, Fine & Geddie, and Tom Coker).  It is easy for them to bury money.

Not only that, the PAC can give money contrary to their stated mission.  For example, the contribution to Sparks from the "Consitutional Revision Committee" confused me.  It is not from ACCR but its stated purpose is to "promote the revision of the Constitution of 1901."  Sparks has not been on the front advocating for this issue--he makes some offhanded comments about revising it through the legislature where necessary, but in a tone that is rather dismissive of the efforts instead of championing this approach.  However, this PAC gave to Sparks, a candidate who does not appear to be aligned with their stated goals. 

The PAC issue creates one of the most confusing aspects of campaign funding in this state and needs to be changed.  (Close behind that is for the state to enter the 21st century in disclosing donations--create a database that campaigns can file electronically and that enable searchable data rather than just scanning PDF files.)

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by: csduke @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 18:21:33 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Constitution Revision (0.00 / 0)

It's code, csduke.  "Revision" is what we've been doing to the Constitution since 1901.  So far, one single article has been revised.  At this rate, we might get through the whole document by the next millenium, which would be still be too soon for some of the folks in Montgomery -- they like the current situation just fine.

"Revision" is code for "maintain the status quo" which is unfortunately the position Ron Sparks has staked out on the constitutional reform issue.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 10:45:12 AM CST

[ Parent ]

That was an interesting link (the PAC list) (4.00 / 2)

These same names keep popping up - I swear, they're a sackful of cats - there's not a one of them that doesn't have a piece of all the others!

"The War in Iraq is not the disease. The War in Iraq is a symptom. Arrogance is the disease" - Bill Richardson

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by: herding old cats @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 20:12:29 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Compare and Contrast-democratic version (0.00 / 0)

Compare Artur Davis' top contributors;

Artur Davis:

Top 5 Individuals:
Jay Grinnery (Birmingham)--$35,000
Clyde Anderson (Birmingham)--$25,000
Jesse Nunn (Huntsville)--$20,000
Mcihael Goodrich (Birmingham)--$20000
Patrick Coughlin (San Diego, CA)--$15,000 (attorney)
Allen Engel (Jasper)--$12,500
Donald Hess (Birmingham)--$12,500
Lisa Engel (Birminahm)--$12,500
Ronnie Hess (Birmingham)--$12,500

Total 9

(As mooncat says, who are these people?  Anybody know?)

Contrast Ron Sparks top contributors;

Top individuals
Mack Cooper (Ft. Payne)--$25,000
Linda Sterling (Cedar Bluff)--$19,9900
Mithcell Smith (Cullman--$10,000
Laura Dean Waters (Union Springs)--$10,000
Connie Bruce (Ft. Payne)--$5,200

Total 5

(Same question as above)

Artur Davis's "notables"

Jere Beasley--$10,000
Scott McLain--$10,000
William Smith, Jr.--$5,000 (Royal Cup Coffee and A+)
Rendell for Governor--$5,000
Thomas "Mack" McLarty--$4,00 (former Clinton Chief of Staff)
Farris, Riley & Pitt LLC--$3,500 (former SDEC chair Redding Pitt is a partner here)
Douglas Jones LLC--$2500 (Doug Jones is former US Attorney)
Friends of Bud Cramer--$2,000
Joseph Ceci--$2,000 (given before December)
Adam Schiff for Congress--$1,000
Boucher for Congress--$1,000
Ralph Cook Campaign Cmt--$1,000

Total 12

Note LLC=Limited Liability Company

Ron Sparks "notables"
Lowell Barron for Senate--$5,500 (Campaign fund)
Donald Stewart (Anniston)--$5,000 (former US Senator)
Julian McPhillips (Montgomery)--$2,000 (attorney & ran for Senate in '02)
Jerome Gray--$1,900 (ADC Political Director)
Marcel Black--$1,000
Richard Arrington, Jr.--$500

Total 6

Artur Davis PACs

Tennessee Valley Citizens for Economic Development (chaired by Steve Raby)--$75,000
TRD PAC (The Real Democrat PAC)--$30,000
Employees of Northrop Grumman PAC--$12,000
BIZPAC (chaired by Clark Richardson)--$10,000
Cunningham Bounds (Mobile law firm)--$10,000
Boatright Companies PAC--$10,000
Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton (Birmingham law firm)--$10,000
JDC PAC (chaired by John Crawford)--$10,000

Total 7

Who are the people behind these PACS?  Anybody know?

Ron Sparks PACs

A-Vote (AEA's PAC)--$100,000
RESOLUTION PAC (chaired by John Teague)--$50,000
RACE PAC (chaired by John Teague)--$47,500
SUPPLY PAC (chaired by John Teague)--$30,000
FamiliesALA (chaired by Byron Hyde)--$25,000
AG PAC--$17,000
Constituion Revision Committee (charied by John Herrington)--$15,000

Total 7

AEA= Alabama Education Association

John Teague sounds like one of them there King Kong, Godzilla, Uber Liberals aka my kind of democrat. :)

Talladega PAC - One of several PACs run by lobbyist John Teague. It got money from Fight Back for Justice PAC, Fund for Alabama's Children and Education, Environmental Campaign Fund, and the Poarch Creek Indians Tribal Goverment Fund.

Anyone that fights back for justice, Alabama's children and education, the environment and Native Americans is A OK with me.  I ain't made at FamilesALA PAC and the Constitution Revision Committee either.  

What does AG PAC stand for?

Thanks for this mooncat.  Great work.

 

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Tue Feb 02, 2010 at 21:31:53 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I wondereda bout AG PAC too. (0.00 / 0)

Couldn't dig up anything, but I just had a few minutes to look yesterday.

I'm assuming that it's some kind of agriculture-related PAC, but it's not ALFAs PAC.

Unfortunately, PACs often give themselves high-sounding names like "Save America PAC" "Move Alabama forward PAC" etc. etc. when they're actually corporate-money, regressive PACs fighting actual change.

Kind of like Bush named his pollution bill the "Clear Skies Initiative" and ALFAs corporate hog farm protection bill was called the "Family Farm Protection Act."

In that same vein, I want to to know more about that Environmental campaign Fund....

I'm not short.  I'm fun size!!

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by: countrycat @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 07:09:20 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Uh Huh (4.00 / 1)

In that same vein, I want to know more about ALL the PACs.

Let me know what you dig up.:)

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 10:01:55 AM CST

[ Parent ]

It's all so shadowy. (0.00 / 0)

The system seems designed to obscure who's giving what to whom - and what the #$% PAC is actually hoping to accomplish.

They don't have Web sites (most don't, anyway) and many seem to be administered by the same group of 5 to 10 people - both Democratic and Republican.

It's really maddening!

I'm not short.  I'm fun size!!

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by: countrycat @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 10:35:08 AM CST

[ Parent ]

You noticed that too? (0.00 / 0)

Shadowy is right (pun intended). 

The system seems designed to obscure who's giving what to whom - and what the #$% PAC is actually hoping to accomplish.

And, they don't have websites, I wonder what's up with that?

Strike that, I know.

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 14:52:02 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Why not dig yourself? (4.00 / 1)

We don't have any magic beans here, and there's certainly plenty of digging that needs to be done with these PACS.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 10:40:42 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Who say's I'm not digging myself? (0.00 / 0)

What's that you keep saying about assumptions? :)

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 14:48:11 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Compare and Contract totals-democratic version (0.00 / 0)

Artur Davis top contributions total=$154,500.00

Ron Sparks top contributions total=$70,190.00

Davis notables contributions total=$47,000

Sparks notable contributions total=$16,400

Davis total PAC contributionsl= $176,000.

Sparks total PAC contributions=$284,000.

 

Top+notable+PAC Davis=$377,500.

Top+notable+PAC Sparks=$370,590.

Per mooncat;

Artur Davis moved a million from his congressional account.

Ron Sparks moved $108K from his Ag. Commissioner account.

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 15:55:18 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Agree. Sparks' fundraising performance was not good (0.00 / 0)

At least not until this "miracle money" showed up in January.  And somehow found its way onto his 2009 report.  Besides the surprising half million dollar loan from himself the contributions are mostly PACs that don't have to file another statement for months so there's no way to see who is really bankrolling Sparks, but without it he would have been essentially out of the race as of the moment the financial report became public.  Ugly.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 16:15:58 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Sorry. Sounded like you were expecting countrycat to dig all the PAC stuff out (0.00 / 0)

But if you're digging, you might share your bounty with the rest of us.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 16:17:20 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Some PAC thoughts (4.00 / 1)

There are a few different types of PACs that come across on these forms:

1)  Employee-based PACs.  These are some of the most straightfoward on the forms.  Northrop Grumman Employees PAC and Lockheed Martin Employees PAC gave to Davis--these are both comprised of employees at these companies who chose to give and the PAC is interested in support for the space & defense industries.  A-Vote gets funding through members of AEA and offers funds to candidates who AEA endorses.  Other Unions have similar PACs

2)  Corporate PACs--these are based on contributions from employees and others affiliated but don't have employees on the name.  Boatright Companies PAC (a rail company) is an example.  Similar to this is ProgressPAC--the PAC for the Business Council of Alabama who receives funds from member organizations.

3)  The lobbyist-affiliated PACs.  Note the list countrycat offered.  These are those which are hard to trace.  

This is a somewhat simplistic view and there are some more nuances to take account of for this.

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by: csduke @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 16:51:01 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Does this answer some of your questions (4.00 / 1)

 Redeye, I'll start with a note on methodology in highlighting contributions.  Top givers were just that.  Looking at total amounts, most of Sparks top contributors are PACs; Davis has more individuals that give more.  The notables were names I recognized on the list that have some role in statewide or Democratic politics.  This includes both Alabama figures like Jere Beasley and Bill Smith, as well as others from outside the state but involved in Democratic politics (Mack McLarty and various campaign funds).  You can dig through the reports to highlight more individuals who give to individual campaigns.

Why did I see these as important?  They were not as important for the amounts given as the thought of whom is backing whom.  For example, the fact that Sparks received money from Lowell Barron, Jerome Gray, Marcel Black, and Julian McPhillips can give you a lens into groups that might support him.  Similar with Davis receiving money from Beasley, Smith, Redding Pitt's firm, and others.

This might also help you--I have searched google for what some of the top contributors do.  Here is what I found:

Jay Grinney--Healthsouth CEO
Clyde Anderson--Books-a-Million CEO
Jesse Nunn--Pres. Future Research Corp.
Michael Goodrich--Birmingham attorney
Patrick Coughlin--Attorney and former Asst. US Attorney
Ronne & Donald Hess--Former President of Parisian Dept. Store
Lisa Engel--Civic volunteer.  She and Mrs. Hess are part of the Women for Davis

Mack Cooper--President, Cooper Hosiery Mill
Mitchell Smith--Mitch Smith Chevy dealership
Connie Bruce--Bruce's Foodland

 

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by: csduke @ Wed Feb 03, 2010 at 17:04:03 PM CST

[ Parent ]