“Donations do not influence the way I vote”
As we all know, how candidates fund their campaigns reveals much about how they will govern and what policies they will favor. The old trope that “donations do not influence how I vote” is naïve and painstakingly old-fashioned.
“Cha-ching” brings you monthly info and analysis of campaign financing trends in our county political races. ALL information we report is publicly available and donors’ names can be found at http://www.lee.vote/Campaign-Reports/Campaign-Finance-Reports.
Our May Campaign Finance Report findings:
- Many candidates point to the number of individual donors as evidence of popular support in the hope that we will not look beyond the number; we predict that it will be no different this campaign season. But don’t be fooled by the candidate’s huffing and puffing. In May, Cecil Pendergrass’s campaign had 81 donors who contributed $5 or less, 70 of whom donated $1.00 each, for a total of $108. On the other hand, the campaign received $1,000 each from 10 orthopedic doctors in just one practice. Which says more about Cecil — $108 v. $10,000 or 81 individuals v. 10?
- Another aspect of campaign financing has to do with contracts awarded by the county for specific projects. Recent county commission meetings saw three donors awarded substantial contracts: two donors recently contributed $1,000 each, the other, $500 to Cecil’s campaign. This is a trend we will be tracking and reporting on as we go down the road.
- We also are watching for $500+ donations from special interests, such as those related to developers and health care (an important industry in Lee). In May, the $10,000 from the orthopedists comprised 58% of Pendergrass’s total of $17,208, and developer-related donations made up 17% (as compared to almost 63% in April). In April and May, donations from these two special interest sectors alone – development and health care – accounted for 74% of his total campaign funds. Again, expect to hear about the 81 people who contributed $108 when the issue of special interests is raised.
- Finally, we are curious if Cecil’s campaign is going to return the April donation of $500 from the family foundation which appears to be a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Under IRS law, such contributions are prohibited.
As a watchdog group, Women For a Better Lee will be monitoring campaign donations going forward and reporting on important trends based on public information. We urge you to view the Supervisor of Elections’ website yourself: http://www.lee.vote/Campaign-Reports/Campaign-Finance-Reports, as well as the commissioners’ lobby logs posted on the Clerk of the Court’s website, www.leeclerk.org/records/lobbyist-information. These logs tell the story of who is lobbying our county commissioners. Can you match donors with those lobbying? Let us know.
Truth be told, our greatest resource in learning what our county commissioners are up to is YOU. Please email us at WFBL2022@gmail.com when you hear of fundraisers or other activities that would help us understand how our county commissioners are raising campaign money. Working together, we can bring accountability and transparency in governance to our community.
“Cha-ching” brings you monthly info and analysis of campaign financing trends in our county political races. ALL information we report is publicly available and donors’ names can be found at http://www.lee.vote/Campaign-Reports/Campaign-Finance-Reports.