We know from a report by the Billings Gazette on August 4 that 22% of Gianforte’s itemized individual contributions come from outside Montana.
When it comes to Bullock, 33% of his itemized individual contributions are from out of state.
Dave Parker at MSU says that it’s not “a very big difference” and he also notes that those from out-of-state aren’t “going to have an interest in donating in a governor’s race.”
Well, why are they doing it then?
Parker says those out-of-staters have “professional or personal connections with the candidates.”
We’re also told that $126,107, or 5% of the $2.3 million that Bullock has raised, come from PACs.
Let’s hit up those finance reports ourselves and see what’s underneath.
When it comes to Bullock, 33% of his itemized individual contributions are from out of state.
Dave Parker at MSU says that it’s not “a very big difference” and he also notes that those from out-of-state aren’t “going to have an interest in donating in a governor’s race.”
Well, why are they doing it then?
Parker says those out-of-staters have “professional or personal connections with the candidates.”
We’re also told that $126,107, or 5% of the $2.3 million that Bullock has raised, come from PACs.
Let’s hit up those finance reports ourselves and see what’s underneath.
Melanie Brock
Let's start with Bullock.
Our governor's PAC affair makes me sick.
- $660 from Pennsylvania’s Citigroup PAC on July 8
- $1,000 from BNSF Rail PAC on July 27
- $9,310 from Treasure State PAC on June 28
BNSF Rail PAC is especially pathetic, playing both sides and hoping they come out without any shit on their shoes.
So far in 2016 the PAC has given 61% of their contributions to Republicans and 39% to Democrats.
I’ve reported on Treasure State PAC before.
Their treasurer is Mick McKeon of Missoula. His roots go way back.
The PAC’s top 5 donors are all Indian nations, none of whom are located in Montana.
They gave nearly $50,000.
Their sixth highest donor is Hilltop Public Solutions, and they gave $7,500 to the PAC.
After that we get a few more tribes – the Cahuilla, Ak-Chin, and Cherokee – then First Interstate Bank ($5,000 contribution) and then Heather Podesta & Partners.
Heather Podesta was married to Tony Podesta, the brother of Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, before their marriage imploded and they each went after the ‘brand.’
Next up is Kelso & Co, an investment firm that focuses on corporate buyouts.
More Indian tribes then make up the donor list – Pottawatomi, Mission – before Texas’s Slack & Davis is listed.
This is another personal injury law firm, the same kind that Mick McKeon runs.
The list goes on. Mostly it’s Indian gambling interests and lobbyists that give money to this PAC so their interests are met.
The PAC then gives money to both Bullock and Denise Juneau so they carry out those interests via favorable legislation.
This is politics today, folks, and my God does it make me sick.
One thing that’s quite clear from the contributions this month is that wind companies see a viable benefit in donating to Bullock.
Everpower Wind Holdings Inc. PAC gave $660 on July 17 while WINDPAC gave about $770 in June and July.
After that we get about 30 pages of individual contributors. Maybe you could go through and find commonalities in residences and employers, but I’m not sure what good it’d do.
At the end of the report we get about a page of spending, and here’s what stood out to me:
Brock Consulting in Missoula continues to rake in the dough from Bullock.
You’ll recall that Melanie Brock got her start working as a field rep for Baucus in 2004, worked at UM for a time, was finance director of Friends of Max Baucus, headed over to the Montana Meth Project, then became press secretary for Baucus before heading over to do finance work for Bullock in 2011.
Please remember that consulting is a catch-all term that can pretty much mean anything.
I wonder what it is she does exactly.
Bullock spent $13,333 with New York’s Global Strategy Group for “research,” or what I believe is digging up shit on Gianforte.
Perhaps that’s the outfit that runs the video trackers as well.
I find video tracking to be quite pathetic myself, but both campaigns are employing the slime balls now.
Nicole Kayner was paid $1,500 on July 1 for email consulting work…whatever that is.
Guess I’m in the wrong business, huh?
Besides that there’s a lot of postage and printing and it leaves Bullock with $1.5 million in the bank.
Now let’s look at Gianforte.
There’s no PAC money to speak of, just a lot of pass-the-hat events. Most of those brought in $20, though the good folks in Chester gave $50, as did those in Florence.
After that we get about 35 pages of individual contributions then about 8 or so pages of spending.
Here are the highlights of Gianforte’s summer spending:
I continue to like the fact that Gianforte hires his own workers, pays them, pays taxes on them, and supplies them with health insurance.
Bullock does none of this, relying on the Democratic establishment and their East Coast ringers.
$679 was spent on Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance this month, and perhaps in that regard Gianforte knows a bit about the Obamacare marketplace.
I don’t think Bullock has had to shop for health insurance for more than a decade, being in the public sector and all.
- Wages continue to be high, with Ron Catlett getting about $2,700 for the month of July.
- Someone named Kody Craner in Columbia Falls got paid about $270 for the month while Morgan Darlington got about $2,300.
- Paige Davis got paid $3,300 in wages and also took home another $3,050 in “2nd quarter fundraising commission”…whatever the hell that is.
- Someone named Ryan Eret of Billings got paid about $700 while Aaron Flint made about $5,200 for July.
- Amy Lunde got paid almost $6,000 in July and someone named Kirsten Mead of Powell, Ohio, got paid about $600.
- Devin Morrison got paid around $1,800 for the month and Joshua Soares got $530.
I’d say most of these folks got a pay raise following the primary, and that’s based on the reporting I did on their pay from months ago.
Over $8,300 were paid in IRS payroll taxes for the month and about $2,000 for state payroll taxes.
Gianforte hasn’t even been elected yet but his payroll has put tens of thousands of dollars into Montana’s economy.
Bullock doesn’t have a payroll, nor do I believe he’s ever had one.
Gianforte spent $21,000 with Virginia’s Red Print Strategy for 2 days of TV commercial shoots.
Boston’s Salient Point was paid $7,500 for debate preparation on July 2.
Ohio’s Strategic Media got over $583,000 for several weeks of media air time for advertising.
Indiana’s Prosper Group got $21,700 for online advertising and web hosting services.
Gianforte spent $11 washing his car in Bozeman on July 11.
All said and done and he had $74,000 in the bank at the end of the month.
Gianforte is spending a shit-ton of money and Montana businesses are benefiting from that.
Bullock isn’t spending so much, and businesses thus aren’t benefiting.
That said, Gianforte continues to piss most of his money away with out-of-state companies.
That’s not what I’d expect from someone that says he wants to create Montana jobs.
Don’t you typically have to spend money in the state where you want the jobs made?
He’s doing well with Indiana and Ohio and New York, but when it comes to Montana, most of his spending is service-industry oriented or focused on gas, printing, and postage.
Most years I’d vote for the Democrat because of that, but Bullock has major problems that preclude me from doing that.
Ted Dunlap or leaving it blank – that’s my plan.
On a final note, If we want to look at the Zinke/Juneau race we see that 80% of Zinke’s money come from out-of-state, compared to 38% of Juneau’s.
Despite “everyday Montanans” contributing to the campaign, Juneau is still expected to lose and lose big.
