September 28, 2008
Union Leader
(Partial article)
OUT-OF-STATE MONEY: The Manchester Republican Committee last week took a swipe at Democrats over the amount of campaign funds they raise from out-of-state sources.
It’s been no secret that Republicans haven’t held a candle to Democrats’ fund-raising prowess. City GOP chair Rep. Will Infantine said an analysis by his vice chair Keith Murphy shows Democrats get nearly half their money from outside New Hampshire.
Murphy analyzed public finance reports that show Democrats raising $3.7 million and Republicans raising $682,000, not counting federal contests. Of their total, Democrats got 47 percent, or $1.7 million, from out-of-state sources. Republicans got 30 percent, or $209,000 from outside the state.
That prompted an immediate slap back from Democrats over information Republicans won’t release about some of its fundraising groups. Democrats had already complained about the Daniel Webster PAC that U.S. Sen. John Sununu runs, saying it has improperly failed to register in the state.
The party then repeated its charges that the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition has improperly pulled a curtain across information about its finances.
Calling it “a front for the Republican Party and its candidates,” Democratic Party senior advisor Kathy Sullivan said NHAC claims to be an exempt non-profit, but acts like a partisan political committee.
Two of its directors are candidates for the House, she said, and it was originally organized by out-of-staters to work on elections. (Note: This is not true. It was organized to get tax caps on the ballot.)
Most of the Democratic money cited in Murphy’s analysis, nearly $1.1 million, went to three places: the Senate Democratic Caucus, the state Democratic party and Gov. John Lynch’s campaign.
Wherever it comes from, all money is green and the GOP is way behind. State GOP chair Fergus Cullen might consider calling in some help from other area codes.
The state Democratic Party alone got four-times what the GOP did from out-of-state sources, nearly $402,000 compared to $103,000.