Follow the Money

What can campaign finance reports reveal?

You can tell it is springtime in Idaho. Sure, temperatures have been in the mid-20s this week, and we are seeing snowstorms in the month of April, but the most sure indicator of the time of year is in the multitudes of campaign signs popping up at every street corner and along every highway. I will be adding my own contribution to the plethora as soon as my order arrives.

This is just a mockup, but I think it looks neat

Along with signs, campaign season means that everyone is talking about politics. In case you have not heard, every candidate I support is a wonderful God-fearing patriot who is fighting on behalf of the people against the entrenched establishment, while every candidate I oppose is a deceitful RINO who will sell us all out at the earliest opportunity and probably hates puppies too.

Seriously though, it can be hard to find the signal amidst all the noise. That social media post with “shocking news” by a “concerned citizen” might just be astroturf by a volunteer for the opponent’s campaign. That op-ed denouncing a primary candidate by a respected Republican leader might have been written because that leader is in the tank for a different primary candidate.

I sometimes wonder if we should all sew the names of the candidates we support into our shirts the way NASCAR drivers display their sponsors, or put them on our social media avatars, so that everyone can see our biases front and center. Until then, a great way to dig beneath the surface is to check out the Sunshine Reports.

Did you know that every dollar spent by a campaign must be reported at the end of each month? If you buy yard signs, treat your staff and supporters to pizza, or pay staff to promote your campaign on social media, it will be on the report. For example, it looks like gubernatorial candidate Ed Humphreys is a fan of Applebees on his long campaign trips, while Representative Priscilla Giddings occasionally stops by Chick-Fil-A.

I was amused to find that Starbucks was most often patronized by left-wing candidates and committees. Sometimes stereotypes are true.

Something else you can learn by reading campaign spending reports is who is on a campaign’s payroll. Is that person you’re arguing with on social media really just another voter, or is he on a candidate’s staff? Not that there is anything wrong with campaigns paying people for the services they provide, but it can clarify who is on whose side.

In a similar vein, every dollar donated to a campaign must be reported as well. You can glean a lot of information out of the Sunshine Reports, such as how much money a candidate has on hand, what sort of fundraising momentum a campaign has, and even how many small donors support each candidate. Some candidates boast big war chests, but a look at the report reveals that they donated 80% of that money out of their own pocket. On the other hand, a lot of small-dollar donors might mean a broader base of support.

It is one thing to talk up a candidate, but another to put your money where your mouth is. While it might feel sneaky to be reading about who your neighbors and friends donated to, this sort of transparency is good for the political process. We can see, for example, that as a candidate for lieutenant governor, Scott Bedke has taken in nearly $600,000 from more than 700 donors, while his opponent, Priscilla Giddings, has slightly less money but it comes from nearly twice as many contributors. If you look through the list of donors to Bedke’s campaign you will find a lot of corporations, lobby groups, and political action committees. This information can help clarify exactly who a candidate is appealing to.

Filing contribution reports is tedious for candidates and their treasurers, but they provide a wealth of information for interested voters. If you have some time, browse through the site yourself. Put in the name of a candidate or a committee and see where their money is coming from and how they are spending it. Put in the names of people you know and see who they are supporting.

More than three centuries ago, the Italian general Raimondo Montecuccoli said “What wonder that a certain person, being asked what were the things necessary for war, should reply that there were three, to wit, money, money and money.” Political campaigns are usually less violent than war, but they too require money, money, and money. Being able to watch where the money goes is a blessing that we should not take for granted.