STEALTH DONORS
Outside groups spent more than $1 billion trying to influence the 2012 elections. Nearly two- thirds of that money flowed through super PACs – groups able to raise unlimited contributions. Super PACs got a lot of attention this year, but despite that, some seven-figure donors managed to avoid the spotlight. Now, new research by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sheds light on a dozen super PAC donors who gave at least $1 million, but whose efforts to sway votes drew little attention.
The bipartisan list of big-money donors includes the family behind a popcorn empire, a businessman whose mining companies have been cited for a long list of environmental problems, an advertising industry leader, and a real estate developer who leases space to government agencies. All had policy or business interests depending on the outcome of the elections.
The Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United decision unleashed an onslaught of outside spending, though in many cases this year, it wasn’t enough to sweep preferred candidates into office. Nonetheless, super PAC donors with millions of dollars at their disposal and a demonstrated willingness to spend their money on politics are likely to get special attention from lawmakers. The only question remaining is, what sort of return are these donors expecting on their investments?
Philip Geier, Jr., consultant and former advertising executive.
From: New York, NY
Total Super PAC Donations: $1.35 million
American Crossroads (R): $1 million Restore Our Future, Inc. (R): $350,000
Total Other Political Donations: $207,800
Republicans: $53,400 o Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $2,500 o Rep. Rick Berg (ND)1: $5,000 o Sen. Scott Brown (MA): $5,000 o Senate candidate Jon Bruning (NE): $2,500 o Senate candidate Elizabeth Emken (CA): $5,000 o Rep. Jeff Flake (AZ)2: $5,000 o Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT): $2,500 o Senate candidate Joe Kyrillos (NJ): $2,500 o Senate candidate Linda Lingle (HI): $1,000 o Sen. Richard Lugar (IN): $2,500 o Senate candidate Josh Mandel (OH): $5,000 o Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY): $5,000 o Rep. Denny Rehberg (MT)3: $2,500 o Sen. Marco Rubio (FL): $2,400 o Senate candidate Heather Wilson (NM): $5,000 Republican party committees: $142,000 o Republican National Committee: $61,600 o National Republican Senatorial Committee: $30,400 o National Republican Congressional Committee: $30,000 o California Republican Party: $10,000 o New York Republican Federal Campaign Committee: $10,000 PACs: $12,400 o Free & Strong America PAC: $5,000 o Senate Conservatives Fund: $5,000 o Rubio Victory Committee: $2,400
About: Mr. Geier is the founder of The Geier Group LLC, a marketing, communications, and venture capital consulting company.4 From 1980 to 2000, Mr. Geier was chairman and CEO of
1 Rep. Berg unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Geier donated to Rep. Berg’s Senate campaign committee. 2 Rep. Flake successfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Geier donated to Rep. Flake’s Senate campaign committee. 3 Rep. Rehberg unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Geier donated to Rep. Rehberg’s Senate campaign committee. 4 http://www.geiergroup.com/aboutus.html.
2 the Interpublic Group, which owns advertising, marketing, media buying, and public relations companies.5
Mr. Geier has long advocated on behalf of the advertising industry, often pushing for lower taxes.6 He was the first chairman of “PRO-AD PAC,” a political action committee for the advertising industry.7 In addition, in the 1980s, he was heavily involved with the formation of an industry group created to fight federal proposals to tax advertising.8 In January 2009, Mr. Geier placed an ad in the New York Times recommending a three-tier, across-the-board tax cut that would be sent to consumers in the form of government certificate checks.9 The checks could then be used for discounts against certain purchases, including cars, computers, appliances, restaurant meals, and groceries.10 The advertisement urged readers to contact elected officials and push the proposal.11
Mr. Geier was a bundler for Sen. John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign.12
5 Id. 6 Id. 7 Id. 8 http://www.geiergroup.com/aboutus.html. 9 Rupal Parekh, Geier Has Advice for Gov’t: Give Consumers Checks, Advertising Age, January 22, 2009; http://www.geiergroup.com/IPG_NYT_hi-res.pdf. 10 Id.; Parekh, Advertising Age, Jan. 22, 2009. 11 Id.; http://www.geiergroup.com/IPG_NYT_hi-res.pdf. 12 Jack Gillum and Stephen Braun, Top Republican Super PAC Donors Backing Romney, Associated Press, March 20, 2012.
3 Franklin Haney, real estate and property developer.13
From: Washington, D.C.
Total Super PAC Donations: $2 million
Priorities USA Action (D): $1 million Majority PAC (D): $1 million
Total Other Political Donations: $82,100
Democrats: $7,500 o President Barack Obama: $5,000 o Rep. Steve Cohen (TN): $2,500 Democratic party committees: $69,60014 o Democratic National Committee: $61,600 o Democratic Executive Committee of Florida: $1,564 o Ohio Democratic Party: $1,472 o Colorado Democratic Party: $1,012 o Democratic Party of Virginia: $1,012 o North Carolina Democratic Party: $1,012 o Democratic Party of Wisconsin: $552 o Nevada State Democratic Party: $552 o Iowa Democratic Party: $460 o New Hampshire Democratic Party: $368 Republicans: $5,000 o Sen. Bob Corker (TN): $5,000
About: Mr. Haney is the founder of FLH Company, a real estate and development company with a portfolio of more than $10 billion.15 He leases office space to government agencies throughout the Southeast, including the Tennessee Valley Authority, Internal Revenue Service, General Services Administration, and Social Security Administration.16
Since 2011, FLH Company has paid Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates $410,000 to lobby Congress, the White House, and the Department of Energy.17 Former Rep. Bud Cramer (D-AL) is among the company’s lobbyists.18
13 http://www.flhcompany.com/about.html. 14 The donations to the nine state parties are subdivisions of an $8,000 payment to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee. The donations were rounded to the nearest dollar, resulting in small discrepancies when the amounts are totalled. The total amount donated to Democratic party committees is $69,600. 15 Patricia Sullivan and Thomas Heath, Haney’s Influence Reaches Far and Wide, Washington Post, November 5, 2005; http://www.flhcompany.com/about.html. 16 Sullivan and Heath, Washington Post, Nov. 5, 2005. 17 Nancy Watzman, Stealthy Wealthy: Franklin Haney Built Real Estate Empire With Government Help, Sunlight Foundation, October 18, 2012; Wexler & Wexler Public Policy Associates, Fourth Quarter 2011 Lobbying
4 Mr. Haney was a legislative assistant in the office of Sen. Al Gore, Sr. (D-TN) and was later a key financial backer and close friend of his son, former Vice President Al Gore, Jr.19 In 1999, he donated $10,000 towards the cost of renovating the vice president’s residence.20 He has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Democratic Party and thousands to Republican candidates.21
In 1998, Mr. Haney was indicted on 42 counts of illegally reimbursing friends, relatives and business associates for making more than $200,000 in contributions to members of Congress from Tennessee and to the Clinton-Gore campaigns in 1992 and 1996.22 He was later cleared of all charges.23 Mr. Haney was also investigated for paying Peter Knight, the chairman of the Clinton-Gore 1996 campaign, a $1 million retainer for legal advice shortly after renting buildings to the Federal Communications Commission.24 In 2000, Attorney General Janet Reno concluded there was no specific and credible information to support the allegation that Mr. Knight illegally helped Mr. Haney secure the lease.25
Disclosure Report on behalf of FLH Company, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Wexler & Wexler Public Policy Associates, First Quarter 2012 Lobbying Disclosure Report on behalf of FLH Company, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Wexler & Wexler Public Policy Associates, Second Quarter 2012 Lobbying Disclosure Report on behalf of FLH Company, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Wexler & Wexler Public Policy Associates, Third Quarter 2012 Lobbying Disclosure Report on behalf of FLH Company, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records. 18 Watzman, Sunlight Foundation, Oct. 18, 2012. 19 http://www.flhcompany.com/about.html; Nancy Watzman, Haney Campaign Contributions Hard To Follow, Sunlight Foundation, October 18, 2012. 20 Sullivan and Heath, Washington Post, Nov. 5, 2005. 21 Id. 22 David Johnston, Gore Friend Is Charged With Campaign Fund-Raising Violations, New York Times, November 5, 1998; Sullivan and Heath, Washington Post, Nov. 5, 2005. 23 Id. 24 Sullivan and Heath, Washington Post, Nov. 5, 2005. 25 Id.
5 Mel Heifetz, real estate developer.
From: Philadelphia, PA
Total Super PAC Donations: $1.0005 million
Priorities USA Action (D): $1 million Democracy Engine PAC (D): $500
Total Other Political Donations: $66,900
Democrats: $16,950 o President Barack Obama: $5,000 o Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI)26: $1,750 o Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV)27: $700 o Senate candidate Susan Bysiewicz (CT): $200 o Sen. Bob Casey (PA): $1,000 o Sen. Dianne Feinstein (CA): $500 o Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY): $500 o Rep. Mazie Hirono (HI)28: $200 o Sen. Claire McCaskill (MO): $500 o Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI): $750 o Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (MA): $200 o Rep.-elect Cheri Bustos (IL): $700 o Congressional candidate Val Demings (FL): $700 o Rep. David Cicilline (RI): $500 o Congressional candidate Tarryl Clark (MN): $500 o Rep.-elect Tammy Duckworth (IL): $500 o Rep.-elect Tulsi Gabbard (HI): $500 o Rep.-elect Patrick Murphy (FL): $250 o Rep.-elect Mark Pocan (WI): $500 o Congressional candidate Kelda Helen Roys (WI): $500 o Rep.-elect Kyrsten Sinema (AZ): $500 o Rep. Betty Sutton (OH): $500 Democratic party committees: $53,30029 o Democratic National Committee: $43,300 o Pennsylvania Democratic Party: $5,000 o Democratic Executive Committee of Florida: $977
26 Rep. Baldwin successfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Heifetz donated to Rep. Baldwin’s Senate campaign committee. 27 Rep. Berkley unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Heifetz donated to Rep. Berkley’s Senate campaign committee. 28 Rep. Hirono successfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Heifetz donated to Rep. Hirono’s Senate campaign committee. 29 The donations to the nine state parties are subdivisions of a $5,000 payment to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee. The donations were rounded to the nearest dollar, resulting in small discrepancies when the amounts are totalled. The total amount donated to Democratic party committees is $53,300.
6 o Ohio Democratic Party: $919 o Colorado Democratic Party: $632 o Democratic Party of Virginia: $632 o North Carolina Democratic Party: $632 o Democratic Party of Wisconsin: $345 o Nevada State Democratic Party: $345 o Iowa Democratic Party: $287 o New Hampshire Democratic Party: $230 PACs: $6,850 o EMILY’s List: $6,850
About: Mr. Heifetz made his fortune from hotels, gay bars, and real estate30 and has long backed groups associated with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues.31 He has donated money to HIV/AIDS nonprofits, kept Philadelphia’s William Way LGBT Community Center open, and put uninsured HIV patients on his insurance plan in the 1980s.32 Mr. Heifetz has also been active in local Philadelphia politics. He was a financial supporter of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D), though the two fell out in 2011 over the city’s dealings with the Boy Scouts.33
Mr. Heifetz wrote an August 2012 column in the Huffington Post explaining his donation to Priorities USA, his single largest political donation ever.34 He described Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s support for a federal marriage amendment “as insulting as it is harmful,” and said he was also concerned about Supreme Court nominees, the prospect of another war in the Middle East, and the possibility that Mr. Romney could gut financial regulations.35
30 Scott Rothaus, Donor Helps Gay Group Back on Its Feet, Tallahassee Democrat, July 27, 2004. 31 Matthew E. Pilecki, EDGE Sits Down With Gay Philanthropist Mel Heifetz, EDGE Boston, January 21, 2011. 32 Id.; http://www.waygay.org/. 33 Pilecki, EDGE Boston, Jan. 21, 2011. 34 Mel Heifetz, Why I Gave One Million Dollars to Re-elect President Obama, Huffington Post, August 6, 2012. 35 Id.
7 Virginia James, investor.
From: Lambertville, NJ
Total Super PAC Donations: $1.4 million
Club for Growth Action (R): $1.2 million Women Speak Out PAC (R): $200,000
Total Other Political Donations: $44,000
Republicans: $29,000 o Sen.-elect Ted Cruz (TX): $5,000 o Senate candidate Clark Durant (MI): $2,500 o Rep. Jeff Flake (AZ)36: $2,500 o Senate candidate Josh Mandel (OH): $2,500 o Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (IN): $2,500 o Senate candidate Mark Neumann (WI): $2,500 o Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (NY): $2,000 o Rep.-elect Thomas Cotton (AR): $2,500 o Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ): $2,500 o Rep. Steve King (IA): $2,500 o Rep.-elect Keith Rothfus (PA): $2,000 PACs:$15,000 o Independent Women’s Voice: $10,000 o Club for Growth PAC: $5,000
About: Ms. James is a member of the leadership council of the Club for Growth, a conservative group.37 In all, she has contributed roughly $2.2 million to various Club for Growth election funds since 2007, including a $1 million donation to the club’s super PAC.38 The $1.2 million she has donated to Club for Growth Action since its formation made her the group’s second largest donor for the 2012 cycle.
The club’s ultimate goal is replacing the federal progressive income tax with either a flat tax or single-rate sales tax.39 In the short term, the Club for Growth advocates for a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts, the lowering or elimination of the capital gains, dividend, and corporate income tax rates, and the passage of a balanced budget amendment that would require
36 Rep. Flake successfully ran for Senate in 2012. Ms. James donated to Rep. Flake’s Senate campaign committee. 37 http://www.clubforgrowth.org/aboutus/?subsec=0&id=122. 38 Keenan Steiner, Anti-Tax ‘Club for Growth’ Led Rightwing Spending That Unseated Indiana’s Lugar, Sunlight Foundation, May 10, 2012. 39 http://www.clubforgrowth.org/philosophy/.
8 a supermajority vote to raise taxes.40 The Club for Growth PAC endorsed 12 candidates in 2012; Ms. James donated to seven of them, including four of five Senate candidates.41
In August 2012, Ms. James, represented by lawyers from the Center for Competitive Politics, filed a complaint challenging limits on contributions to federal candidates.42 On October 31, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found in favor of the Federal Election Commission and dismissed her suit.43 Ms. James has appealed her case to the Supreme Court.44
40 Id. 41 http://www.clubforgrowth.org/endorsedcandidates/; Center for Responsive Politics, Donor Lookup, James, Virginia, 2011-2012. 42 Press Release, Center for Competitive Politics, CCP Legal Team Files Suit Challenging Sub-Aggregate Limits Under Buckley v Valeo, August 31, 2012, available at http://www.campaignfreedom.org/2012/08/31/ccp-legal- team-files-suit-challenging-sub-aggregatelimits-under-buckley-v-valeo/; Virginia James v. FEC, No. 1:12-cv- 01451-JEB-RLW (D.D.C.), Verified Complaint for Declaratory Relief, available at http://www.campaignfreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Verified-Complaint.pdf. 43 Virginia James v. FEC, No. 1:12-cv-01451-JEB-RLW (D.D.C.), Order, available at http://fec.gov/law/litigation/james_dc_order.pdf; Virginia James v. FEC, No. 1:12-cv-01451-JEB-RLW (D.D.C.), Opinion, available at http://fec.gov/law/litigation/james_dc_memo_opinion.pdf. 44 Virginia James v. FEC, No. 1:12-cv-01451-JEB-RLW (D.D.C.), Notice of Appeal, available at http://fec.gov/law/litigation/james_james_appeal.pdf.
9 Philip and Susan Ragon, medical database company owners and philanthropists.
From: Cambridge, MA
Philip Ragon
Total Super PAC Donations: $1 million
Priorities USA Action (D): $500,000 American Bridge 21st Century (D): $250,000 House Majority PAC (D): $125,000 Majority PAC (D): $125,000
Total Other Political Donations: $80,800
Democrats: $15,000 o President Barack Obama: $5,000 o Rep. Chris Murphy (CT)45: $5,000 o Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (MA): $5,000 Democratic party committees: $65,800 o Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: $30,800 o Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: $25,700 o Democratic National Committee: $9,300
Susan Ragon
Total Super PAC Donations: $750,000
Priorities USA Action (D): $500,000 House Majority PAC (D): $125,000 Majority PAC (D): $125,000
Total Other Political Donations: $80,800
Democrats: $15,000 o President Barack Obama: $5,000 o Rep. Christopher Murphy (CT)46: $5,000 o Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (MA): $5,000 Democratic party committees: $65,800 o Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: $30,800 o Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: $30,800 o Democratic National Committee: $4,200
45 Rep. Murphy successfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Ragon donated to Rep. Murphy’s Senate campaign committee. 46 Id.
10 About: Mr. Ragon is the founder and CEO of Intersystems Corp., a software company that is the largest provider of database management services to the healthcare industry.47 In 2003, the company created an electronic health-record database for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.48 The federal government has paid Intersystems more than $77 million since 2000, nearly all of it through the Department of Defense.49 A provision in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 created $26 billion in financial incentives to encourage adoption of digital health records.50 The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services51 and the Rhode Island Quality Institute52 hired Intersystems to digitize medical records; the company has so far received nearly $5 million worth of stimulus funds.53
Mr. and Mrs. Ragon founded the Philip T. and Susan M. Ragon Institute, a joint program of Harvard, MIT, and Massachusetts General Hospital to research vaccines for AIDS and other diseases.54 The couple donated $100 million to fund the institute.55
The Ragons have long been active political donors. In 2004, they contributed a combined $3 million to America Coming Together, a PAC seeking to defeat President George W. Bush.56 Mr. and Mrs. Ragon have donated nearly $700,000 to Democratic candidates and committees since 2004.57
47 http://www.intersystems.com/aboutus/index.html; Brendan Coffey, Hidden U.S. Software Billionaire Ragon Surfaces in Boston, Bloomberg, September 18, 2012. 48 Id. 49 http://usaspending.gov/search?form_fields={%22search_term%22%3A%22INTERSYSTEMS+ CORPORATION%22}; http://usaspending.gov/searchsummary?form_fields={%22search_term%22:%22 INTERSYSTEMS%20 CORPORATION%22,%22spending_cat%22:null,%22dept%22:null,%22extent_competed%22:null, %22recipient_duns%22:null,%22psc_code%22:null,%22naics_code%22:null,%22fyear%22:null}. 50 Coffey, Bloomberg, Sept. 18, 2012. 51 http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/RecoveryData/pages/RecipientProjectSummary508.aspx? AwardIdSur=97127. 52 http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/RecoveryData/pages/RecipientProjectSummary508.aspx? AwardIdSur=93034; http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/RecoveryData/pages/RecipientProjectSummary508. aspx?AwardIdSur=108428. 53 http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/RecoveryData/Pages/Recipient.aspx?duns=108851353. 54 http://www.ragoninstitute.org/about_history.html. 55 Id. 56 Coffey, Bloomberg, Sept. 18, 2012. 57 Id.
11 Ira Rennert, investor, miner and industrialist, owner of The Renco Group, Inc.
From: New York, NY
The Renco Group, Inc.
Total Super PAC Donations: $1 million
Restore Our Future (R): $1 million
Ira Rennert
Total Other Political Donations: $75,400
Democrats: $2,100 o Congressional candidate Michael Wildes (NJ): $2,100 Republicans: $12,500 o Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $5,000 o Congressional candidate Randy Altschuler (NY): $2,500 o Rep. Eric Cantor (VA): $5,000 Republican party committees: $60,800 o National Republican Congressional Committee: $30,800 o Republican National Committee: $20,000 o 7th District Republican Committee: $10,000
About: Mr. Rennert, whose worth is estimated at $6.5 billion, made much of his fortune in the 1980s junk bond market, using leveraged purchases to turn The Renco Group into one of the largest holding companies in the U.S.58 Many of Renco’s investments are in mining and industrial companies.59 Renco’s current holdings include U.S. Magnesium and the Doe Run Company, a Peru mining facility involved in a long-running environmental lawsuit in the U.S. and an environmental dispute with the government of Peru.60 Mr. Rennert’s 110,000 square foot residence in Sagponack, NY, is believed to be America’s largest inhabited residence.61
Mr. Rennert and his companies have often run afoul of environmental protection authorities. For nearly 13 years, his Utah-based Magnesium Corporation Corp. topped the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list as the worst air polluter in the country.62 In January 2001, the EPA sued Renco’s MagCorp, the nation’s largest magnesium producer, for $900 million in penalties,
58 http://www.forbes.com/profile/ira-rennert/. 59Id.; Josh Harkinson, Upper-Class Warfare in the Hamptons, Mother Jones, July/August 2012. 60 http://www.forbes.com/profile/ira-rennert/; Todd C. Frankel, $320 Million Verdict in Lead Smelter Case Sends Clear Message, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 30, 2011; Kennan Steiner, As Dispute Heats Up, Renco Continues Lobbying For Its Peruvian Smelter, Sunlight Foundation, April 26, 2011; Renco Commences Arbitration Against Peru In First Case Under U.S. FTA, Inside U.S. Trade, April 8, 2011. 61 Harkinson, Mother Jones, July/Aug. 2012. 62 Hugh O’Shaughnessy, Poisoned City Fights to Save Its Children, The Observer (UK), August 11, 2007.
12 alleging a pattern of dumping hazardous waste.63 That lawsuit remains pending.64 In 2001, tests found more than half the children living near a Doe Run smelter in Missouri had been exposed to enough lead to give them brain damage.65 Doe Run settled a lawsuit over the matter in 2011.66 The Missouri smelter also paid $65 million in fines to the EPA for breaking environmental laws.67 That same year, Renco bought RG Steel, assuming $650 million in liabilities, including the cleanup of contaminated steel plants to match guidelines set by the EPA.68 RG Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2012.69
Renco’s Peruvian lead smelter, La Oroya, has also been subject to environmental complaints.70 When Doe Run bought La Oroya in 1997, the company agreed to a plan to clean up its operations but repeatedly asked for extensions.71 In 2007, a study of the air and water in neighborhoods near the plant showed unsafe levels of arsenic, cadmium, and lead.72 The plant shut down in mid-2009.73 In July 2010, Peru revoked Doe Run’s license and began to consider liquidating the plant.74 In April 2011, Renco initiated arbitration with Peru under the new U.S.- Peru Free Trade agreement, asking for $800 million in damages for what it alleged was unfair discrimination against the company.75 In November 2012, Doe Run Peru’s creditors appointed UBS to liquidate the company.76
Renco has aggressively lobbied Congress for support in the dispute with Peru. Since 2010, the company has spent $620,000 on lobbying over trade relations and trade pacts with Peru, and defending business assets against expropriation by the Peruvian government.77 In January 2011
63 Nathan Vardi, Man With Many Enemies, Forbes, July 22, 2002. 64 Chuck Bennett, Furor At Steel Tycoon Rennert’s Bankruptcy ‘Ploy’, New York Post, July 30, 2012. 65 Harkinson, Mother Jones, July/Aug. 2012. 66 Id.; Frankel, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 30, 2011. 67 Kenan Steiner, As Renco’s Lobbying Drive Fades, So Does Congressional Support In Its Dispute With Peru, Sunlight Foundation, April 12, 2012. 68 Bennett, New York Post, July 30, 2012. 69 Id. 70 Id. 71 Kennan Steiner, As Renco Lobbies and Peru Deliberates, Doe Run Peru Remains Idle, Sunlight Foundation, March 8, 2011. 72 O’Shaughnessy, The Observer (UK), Aug. 11, 2007. 73 Steiner, Sunlight Foundation, March 8, 2011. 74 Id. 75 Steiner, Sunlight Foundation, Apr. 26, 2011; Renco Commences Arbitration Against Peru In First Case Under U.S. FTA, Inside U.S. Trade, April 8, 2011. 76 Dorothy Kosich, Peru’s La Oroya Complex to Have New Owner in August—Doe Run Peru Administrator, Mineweb, November 14, 2012. 77 Steiner, Sunlight Foundation, Apr. 12, 2012; Capitol Counsel LLC, Fourth Quarter 2010 Lobbying Report (Amended) on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Royer & Brooks LLP, Fourth Quarter 2010 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Mayer Brown LLP, Fourth Quarter 2010 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere, & Denegre, Fourth Quarter 2010 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Capitol Counsel LLC, First Quarter 2011 Lobbying Termination Report (Amended) on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Royer & Brooks LLP, First Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Mayer Brown LLP, First Quarter
13 eight members of Congress wrote Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, asking them to intervene to help Renco.78 A Treasury official responded diplomatically, reminding the members the trade pact with Peru had been negotiated to allow neutral arbitration.79 Four of the members later appeared to change their position, signing a March 2012 letter from other members of Congress urging Secretaries Clinton and Geithner to side with Peru.80 The dispute is still ongoing.81
Mr. Rennert is also a friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has “provided cash and support for groups like the Elad Association and Ateret Cohanim, which promote the construction of Jewish homes in Arab sections of Jerusalem.”82
2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere, & Denegre, First Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Monument Strategies, LLC, First Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Royer & Brooks LLP, Second Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Mayer Brown LLP, Second Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere, & Denegre, Second Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Monument Strategies, LLC, Second Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Royer & Brooks LLP, Third Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere, & Denegre, Third Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Monument Strategies, LLC, Third Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Royer & Brooks LLP, Fourth Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere, & Denegre, Fourth Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Monument Strategies, LLC, Fourth Quarter 2011 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Royer & Brooks LLP, First Quarter 2012 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere, & Denegre, First Quarter 2012 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Monument Strategies, LLC, First Quarter 2012 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Royer & Brooks LLP, Second Quarter 2012 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere, & Denegre, Second Quarter 2012 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Monument Strategies, LLC, Second Quarter 2012 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Royer & Brooks LLP, Third Quarter 2012 Lobbying Report on behalf of Renco Group, Inc., Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records. 78 Kennan Steiner, Eight Lawmakers Signed A Letter for Renco, Sunlight Foundation, May 4, 2011. 79 Id. 80 Steiner, Sunlight Foundation, Apr. 12, 2012. 81 Bennett, New York Post, July 30, 2012. 82 Harkinson, Mother Jones, July/Aug. 2012.
14 Jackson T. Stephens, Jr., Warren Stephens, and family companies Stephens Investment Holdings, LLC and Stephens, Inc.83
From: Little Rock, AR
Stephens Investment Holdings, LLC / Stephens, Inc.
Total Super PAC Donations: $1.5 million
American Crossroads (R): $1.5 million
Jackson T. Stephens, Jr.
Total Super PAC Donations: $1.025 million
Club for Growth Action (R): $1.025 million
Total Other Political Donations: $63,500
Republicans: $42,500 o Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $5,000 o Sen.-elect Ted Cruz (TX): $7,500 o Rep. Jeff Flake (AZ)84: $5,000 o Senate candidate Josh Mandel (OH): $5,000 o Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (IN): $5,000 o Senate candidate Mark Neumann (WI): $2,500 o Rep. Dave Camp (MI): $5,000 o Rep.-elect Thomas Cotton (AR): $5,000 o Rep. Thomas Massie (KY): $2,500 Republican party committees: $16,000 o Oklahoma Leadership Council: $8,000 o Republican Party of Idaho: $8,000 PACs: $5,000 o Club for Growth: $5,000
Warren Stephens
Total Super PAC Donations: $550,000
Restore our Future, Inc. (R): $500,000 Congressional Leadership Fund (R): $50,000
83 http://www.stephens.com/about_stephens_inc.aspx. 84 Rep. Flake successfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Stephens donated to Rep. Flake’s Senate campaign committee.
15 Total Other Political Donations: $109,400
Democrats: $4,900 o Congressional candidate Chad Causey (AR): $2,400 o Rep. Richard Neal (MA): $2,500 Republicans: $41,200 o Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $5,000 o Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT): $7,500 o Sen. Mitch McConnell (KY): $2,400 o Rep. Spencer Bachus (AL): $2,500 o Rep. Dave Camp (MI): $2,500 o Rep. Eric Cantor (VA): $5,000 o Rep.-elect Thomas Cotton (AR): $1,500 o Rep. Rick Crawford (AR): $4,900 o Rep. Tim Griffin (AR): $5,000 o Rep. Steve Womack (AR): $2,500 o Congressional candidate Scott Wallace (AR): $2,400 Republican party committees: $63,300 o National Republican Committee: $25,500 o National Republican Congressional Committee: $23,100 o National Republican Senatorial Committee: $14,700
About: Stephens, Inc. is a Little Rock-based investment bank known for its early backing of Walmart.85 In 2006, the Stephens family split the family business.86 Warren Stephens bought Stephens Inc. and the other financial services companies,87 including Stephens Investment Holdings, LLC.88 Stephens Investment Holdings reported spending $420,000 on lobbying in 2011 and the first three quarters of 2012, mainly reporting lobbying on tax reform.89
Jackson T. Stephens, Jr., Warren Stephens’ brother, worked for Stephens Inc. until 1983.90 In 1987 he founded a private biotechnology firm, ExOxEmis, Inc., and he is the company’s
85 http://www.stephens.com/about_stephens_inc.aspx. 86 http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/research/company-profiles/11/stephens-inc. 87 http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/research/company-profiles/11/stephens-inc. 88 Gwen Moritz, Stockholders List Shorter, Lighter, Arkansas Business, September 7, 2009. 89 Stephens Investment Holdings LLC, First Quarter 2011 Lobbying Disclosure Report, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Stephens Investment Holdings LLC, Second Quarter 2011 Lobbying Disclosure Report, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Stephens Investment Holdings LLC, Third Quarter 2011 Lobbying Disclosure Report, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Stephens Investment Holdings LLC, Fourth Quarter 2011 Lobbying Disclosure Report, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Stephens Investment Holdings LLC, First Quarter 2012 Lobbying Disclosure Report, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Stephens Investment Holdings LLC, Second Quarter 2012 Lobbying Disclosure Report, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records; Stephens Investment Holdings LLC, Third Quarter 2012 Lobbying Disclosure Report, Secretary of the Senate, Office of Public Records. 90 http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=10319109&privcapId= 10312492&previousCapId=10151048&previousTitle=Gilder%20Gagnon%20Howe%20&%20Co.%20LLC.
16 chairman and CEO.91 Jackson T. Stephens, Jr. is also the chairman and a director of the Club for Growth, a conservative group that frequently targets more centrist Republicans, including Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar and Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, for defeat.92
The club’s ultimate goal is replacing the federal progressive income tax with either a flat tax or single-rate sales tax.93 In the short term, the Club for Growth advocates for a permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts, the lowering or elimination of the capital gains, dividend, and corporate income tax rates, and the passage of a balanced budget amendment that would require a supermajority vote to raise taxes.94 The Club for Growth PAC endorsed 12 candidates in 2012; Mr. Stephens donated to six of them.95 He is also known as a longtime foe of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee (R), and funded ads against his 2008 presidential campaign.96
91 Emelio Bruna and Jack Price, Selling the Fourth Estate to the Highest Bidder, Gainseville Iguana, May 24, 2012; http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=10319109&privcapId=10312492&p reviousCapId=10151048&previousTitle=Gilder%20Gagnon%20Howe%20&%20Co.%20LLC. 92 http://www.clubforgrowth.org/aboutus/?subsec=0&id=122; Gregory Giroux, Club for Growth Super-Pac Has $5 Million in Bank, Bloomberg, April 19, 2012; Brian Bolduc, Club for Growth Targets Dewhurst, National Review, May 9, 2012; Pema Levy, Club for Growth Eyes Lindsey Graham’s Senate Seat in 2014, Talking Points Memo, September 20, 2012. 93 http://www.clubforgrowth.org/philosophy/. 94 Id. 95 http://www.clubforgrowth.org/endorsedcandidates/. 96 Michael Scherer, Huckabee’s Score-Settling Book, Time, November 16, 2008; Bruna and Price, Gainseville Iguana, May 24, 2012.
17 Barbara Stiefel, fundraiser and philanthropist.97
From: Coral Gables, FL
Total Super PAC Donations: $1.55 million
Priorities USA Action (D): $1.05 million American Bridge 21st Century (D): $250,000 Women Vote! (D): $250,000
Total Other Political Donations: $116,339
Democrats: $36,200 o President Barack Obama: $5,000 o Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH): $1,000 o Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR): $500 o Sen. Bill Nelson (FL): $4,800 o Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (MA): $5,000 o Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI): $500 o Congressional candidate Keith Fitzgerald (FL): $2,000 o Rep.-elect Lois Frankel (FL): $5,000 o Rep.-elect Joe Kennedy III (MA): $2,500 o Rep.-elect Patrick Murphy (FL): $4,900 o Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL): $5,000 Democratic party committees: $73,139 o Democratic National Committee: $61,500 o Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: $2,500 o Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: $2,044 o Democratic Executive Committee of Florida: $1,436 o Ohio Democratic Party: $1,352 o Colorado Democratic Party: $929 o Democratic Party of Virginia: $929 o North Carolina Democratic Party: $929 o Democratic Party of Wisconsin: $507 o Nevada State Democratic Party: $507 o Iowa Democratic Party: $253 o New Hampshire Democratic Party: $253 Independents: $1,000 o Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT): $1,000 PACs: $6,000 o Moving America Forward (D): $5,000 o EMILY’s List: $1,000
97 Natalie Friedman, New SuperPAC Financial Reports Reveal More Big Spenders, GPB News, June 21, 2012.
18 About: Ms. Stiefel’s family sold Stiefel Laboratories to GlaxoSmithKline for $2.9 billion in 2009.98 According to a study of ultra-high net worth political donors, Ms. Stiefel is worth approximately $120 million.99
Ms. Stiefel is listed as an officer for multiple foundations connected to her family, including the Barbara A. Stiefel Foundation, and has donated generously to children’s charities in Africa, supporting building girls’ school dormitories.100 In addition, Ms. Stiefel is a longtime supporter of the Nature Conservancy in Florida and has donated between $100,000 and $250,000 to the group.101 She has spoken out about the need to maintain a worldwide supply of clean water.102 Ms. Stiefel also donated between $1,000 and $5,000 to the Clinton Foundation in 2009.103
98 Alex Leary, Meet Florida’s Big-Time Donors To Super PACs, Tampa Bay Times, October 14, 2012; Peter Lattman, S.E.C. Accuses Stiefel Labs and Its Ex-Chief of Fraud, New York Times, December 12, 2011. 99 Top UHNW Donors Give Less Than A Quarter Percent Of Their Net Worth To Super PACs; Republicans give greater percentage of wealth to political causes; Democrats devote larger percentage to philanthropy, PR Newswire, September 6, 2012. 100 Brian Montopoli, Obama Camp Claims $146.6 Million In Cash, CBS News, June 20, 2012; Stephen Rwembeho, Rwanda: Kayonza School Unveils Dormitories, The New Times (Rwanda), March 24, 2012. 101 The Nature Conservancy, 2011 Florida Annual Report, available at http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/ northamerica/unitedstates/florida/explore/fl_annual_report_10_10_fin_lo_res.pdf; http://www.nature.org /media/womenandwater/. 102 Id. 103 2009 Donors to the Clinton Foundation, Associated Press, January 2, 2010.
19 Richard Uihlein, owner of Uline, a packaging materials company.
From: Lake Forest, IL
Total Super PAC Donations: $1.635 million
Club for Growth Action (R): $710,000 Freedomworks for America (R): $350,000 The New Prosperity Foundation (R): $325,000 Liberty Principles PAC, Inc. (R): $100,000 USA Super PAC (R): $100,000 Madison Action Fund (R): $50,000
Total Other Political Donations: $213,500
Republicans: $59,800 o Sen. Kelly Ayotte (NH): $2,500 o Rep. Rick Berg (ND)104: $2,500 o Sen.-elect Ted Cruz (TX): $5,000 o Rep. Jeff Flake (AZ):105 $5,000 o Senate candidate Josh Mandel (OH): $5,000 o Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (IN): $2,500 o Rep. Denny Rehberg (MT)106: $5,000 o Senate candidate Sarah Steelman (MO): $4,800 o Senate candidate Don Stenberg (NE): $2,500 o Rep. Justin Amash (MI): $500 o Rep. Eric Cantor (VA): $2,500 o Rep.-elect Thomas Cotton (AR): $2,500 o Rep. Sean Duffy (WI): $5,000 o Congressional candidate Scott Keadle (NC): $2,500 o Rep. Don Manzullo (IL): $1,000 o Congressional candidate David McIntosh (IN): $2,500 o Rep. Paul Ryan (WI): $2,500 o Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (WI): $2,500 o Rep.-elect Ann Wagner (MO): $1,000 o Rep. Joe Walsh (IL): $2,500 Republican party committees: $124,200 o Republican National Committee: $123,200 o Republican Federal Committee of Pennsylvania: $1,000 PACs: $29,500
104 Rep. Berg unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Uihlein donated to Rep. Berg’s Senate campaign committee. 105 Rep. Flake successfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Uihlein donated to Rep. Flake’s Senate campaign committee. 106 Rep. Rehberg unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Uihlein donated to Rep. Rehberg’s Senate campaign committee.
20 o Senate Conservatives Fund: $10,000 o Family PAC: $7,500 o Citizens for Prosperity in America Today (R): $2,500 o Madison PAC For Constitutional Limited Government: $2,500 o Madison Project: $1,250 o National Republican Trust PAC: $250 o Prosperity Action Committee: $2,500 o Prosperity PAC: $2,500 o Tea Party Express / Our Country Deserves Better: $500
About: Mr. Uihlein and his wife Elizabeth are, respectively, the CEO and president of Uline, a company that sells packaging and shipping materials for ground transportation.107 The company now has more than $1 billion in annual sales.108
In 2008, Wisconsin awarded the company millions of dollars in incentives to move from Illinois to Wisconsin.109 Ultimately, the company is expected to receive $18.6 million over nine years.110 The Uihleins have donated $292,000 to Wisconsin state politicians since 2008,111 including $260,500 to Gov. Scott Walker’s fight against a recall earlier this year.112 In 2012, Uline announced plans to expand in Wisconsin, a move helped by a technical change to state law signed by Gov. Walker.113
A message from Ms. Uihlein posted on Uline’s website warns of “unfunded state pension liabilities, the costs of the Affordable Healthcare Act and politicians who seem inept at voting responsibly” before going on to caution readers to “Tread carefully.”114
107 Tom Held, Uline Promises a Bright Future, Corporate Report Wiconsin, January 30, 2012. 108 Id. 109 Id. 110 Jason Stein, Enterprise Zone Keeps Jobs In Check, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 14, 2010. 111 http://www.followthemoney.org/database/search.phtml?searchbox=Uihlein%2C+richard&Type[]=Contributors &ContributorSearchType=1&States[]=WI&Years[]=2012&Years[]=2011&Years[]=2010&Years[]=2009&Years[]= 2008; http://www.followthemoney.org/database/search.phtml?searchbox=Uihlein%2C+elizabeth&Type[]= Contributors&ContributorSearchType=1&States[]=WI&Years[]=2012&Years[]=2011&Years[]=2010&Years[]=20 09&Years[]=2008. 112 http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor.phtml?d=1049235510; http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor.phtml?d=1049234524; http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor.phtml?d=1049234523; http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor.phtml?d=1049235509. 113 Held, Corporate Report Wiconsin, Jan. 30, 2012. 114 http://www.uline.com/Corporate/About_President.aspx.
21 Michael Weaver and William Weaver, owners of Weaver Holdings and Weaver Popcorn Co.
Weaver Holdings/Weaver Popcorn Co.
Total Super PAC Donations: $2.4 million
American Crossroads (R): $2.4 million
Michael Weaver, president of Weaver Holdings and Weaver Popcorn Co.
Total Other Political Donation: $90,600
Republicans: $22,300 o Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $5,000 o Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (IN): $2,500 o Rep. Larry Bucshon (IN): $5,000 o Rep.-elect Luke Messer (IN): $2,500 o Rep.-elect Jackie Walorski (IN): $4,900 o Rep. Todd Young (IN): $2,400 Republican party committees: $68,300 o National Republican Senatorial Committee: $30,800 o Republican National Committee: $22,500 o Indiana Republican State Central Committee: $15,000
William Weaver, COO of Weaver Popcorn Co.115
Total Other Political Donations: $50,700
Republicans: $19,900 o Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $2,500 o Senate candidate Richard Mourdock (IN): $5,000 o Rep. Larry Bucshon (IN): $2,500 o Rep. Todd Rokita (IN): $2,500 o Rep. Marlin Stutzman (IN): $2,500 o Rep.-elect Jackie Walorski (IN): $2,500 o Rep. Todd Young (IN): $2,400 Republican party committees: $30,800 o National Republican Senatorial Committee: $30,800
About: Weaver Holdings, a private family company, is the parent company of Weaver Popcorn Co., Inc.116 Weaver produces more than 30 percent of the world’s popcorn.117
115 Bruce C. Smith. New Owners Want to Preserve Lilly Home, Indianapolis Star, February 1, 2011. 116 Michael Beckel and Reity O’Brien, Mystery Firm Is Election’s Top Corporate Donor at $5.3 Million, Center for Public Integrity, November 5, 2012; http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/campaign-finance/pac/american-crossroads.
22 Michael Weaver was an outspoken opponent of the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation that would have made it easier for workers to unionize. He wrote a September 2009 op-ed in the Indianapolis Star opposing the legislation.118 Mr. Weaver claimed the measure would “kill jobs,” an argument repeatedly used by Republicans opposing the legislation, which stalled.119 He is a supporter of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) and strategized with him to win Republican control of the Indiana House of Representatives in 2010.120 William Weaver was approached by state Republicans to consider running for a Senate seat in 2010, but declined.121
Both Michael and William Weaver donated the maximum $30,800 allowed to the National Republican Senatorial Committee this election cycle, which in turn spent more than $3.1 million on the hotly contested Indiana Senate race.122 American Crossroads also spent more than $1.3 million on the Senate race, all opposing the Democratic candidate, Rep. Joe Donnelly, who eventually won.123 During the 2012 election cycle, Michael Weaver donated more than $100,000 to Indiana state candidates and committees.124 Weaver Popcorn gave $175,000 to the Republican Governors Association, which gave $1 million to Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence — the single largest donation to an Indiana gubernatorial candidate in nearly a decade. 125
117 http://www.popweaver.com/about-us.html; http://www.popweaver.com/frequently-asked-questions.html. 118 Why Oppose EFCA? It’s All About Jobs, US Fed News, September 15, 2009. 119 Id. 120 W. James Antle, III, Mitch the Knife, American Spectator, November 10, 2010. 121 Bruce C. Smith. New Owners Want to Preserve Lilly Home, Indianapolis Star, February 1, 2011. 122 http://www.opensecrets.org/races/indexp.php?id=INS1&cycle=2012. 123 http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cmte=C00487363&cycle=2012; Sean Sullivan, Democrat Joe Donnelly Wins Indiana Senate Race, Washington Post, November 6, 2012. 124 http://www.followthemoney.org/database/search.phtml?searchbox=weaver%2C+mike&Type[]=Contributors& ContributorSearchType=1&States[]=IN&Years[]=2012&Years[]=2011. 125 $1M Donation to Pence Campaign Brings Scrutiny, Associated Press, August 4, 2012. The article states Weaver Popcorn contributed $125,000, but Weaver Popcorn also donated an additional $50,000 to the RGA. See http://cqmoneyline.com/tr/tr_MG_indivdonor.aspx?td=1_0.
23 Steven Webster, investor in energy companies.
From: Houston, TX
Total Super PAC Donations: $1 million
Restore Our Future (R): $1 million
Total Other Political Donations: $92,950
Republicans: $22,500 o Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $5,000 o Rep. Rick Berg (ND)126: $2,500 o Senate candidate Jon Bruning (NE): $2,500 o Senate candidate Linda Lingle (HI): $2,500 o Rep. Connie Mack (FL)127: $2,500 o Senate candidate Josh Mandel (OH): $2,500 o Rep. Denny Rehberg (MT)128: $5,000 Republican party committees: $63,950129 o National Republican Senatorial Committee: $30,800 o Republican National Committee: $30,800 o Oklahoma Leadership Council: $587 o Republican Party of Idaho: $587 o Republican State Committee of Massachusetts: $587 o Vermont Republican Federal Elections Committee: $587 PACs: $6,500 o Free & Strong America PAC: $5,000 o Every Republican is Crucial (ERIC) PAC: $1,500
About: Mr. Webster is a founder and co-managing partner of Avista Capital Partners, a private equity firm with investments in the energy sector.130 He also holds large stakes in and is a
126 Rep. Berg unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Webster donated to Rep. Berg’s Senate campaign committee. 127 Rep. Mack unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Webster donated to Rep. Berg’s Senate campaign committee. 128 Rep. Rehberg unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012. Mr. Webster donated to Rep. Rehberg’s Senate campaign committee. 129 The donations to the nine state parties are subdivisions of a payment to Romney Victory, Inc., a joint fundraising committee, and also take into account some refunds. The donations were rounded to the nearest dollar, resulting in small discrepancies when the amounts are totalled. The total amount donated to Republican party committees is $63,950. 130 http://www.formds.com/issuers/avista-capital-partners-iii-lp; http://www.forbes.com/profile/steven-webster/.
24 director of Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc.,131 SEACOR Holdings, Inc.,132 Geokinetics, Inc.,133 Basic Energy Services, Inc.,134 and Hercules Offshore, Inc.,135 all energy companies.136
Mr. Webster was previously chief executive officer and president of R&B Falcon Corporation, an offshore drilling contractor, and chairman and chief executive officer of Falcon Drilling Company, which he founded in 1988.137 Each of these companies service different parts of the oil and natural gas industry, including seismic discovery, exploration, production, trading, and transportation.138
131 Mr. Webster owns 2,496,903 shares of Carrizo, amounting to a 6.3% ownership stake. See Carrizo Oil & Gas 2012 Schedule 14A Proxy Statement, available at http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data /1040593/000119312512162766/d301623ddef14a.htm. 132 Mr. Webster owns 41,587 shares of SEACORP, amounting to an ownership stake of less than 1%. See SEACORP. Inc. 2012 Schedule 14A Proxy Statement, available at http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/859598/000090951812000165/mm04-2712_def14a.htm. 133 Mr. Webster owns 1,142,363 shares of Geokinetics, Inc., amounting to a 5.7% ownership stake. See Geokinetic 2012 Schedule 14A Proxy Statement, available at http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data /314606/000110465912045136/a12-1754_1def14a.htm. 134 Mr. Webster owns 543,700 shares of Basic Energy Services, amounting to a 1.3% ownership stake. See Basic Energy Services Inc. 2012 Schedule 14A Proxy Statement, available at: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/ 1109189/000119312512173196/d300108ddef14a.htm. 135 Mr. Webster owns 1,822,639 shares of Hercules Offshore, amounting to a 1.3% ownership stake. See Hercules Offshore Inc. 2012 Schedule 14A Proxy Statement, available at: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1330849/ 000119312512143313/d284506ddef14a.htm. 136 http://www.forbes.com/profile/steven-webster/. 137 Id. 138 http://www.seacorholdings.com/; http://www.crzo.net/company-bio; http://www.geokinetics.com/About- Geokinetics/History-12.html; http://www.basicenergyservices.com/; http://www.herculesoffshore.com/about_overview.html.
25 Dean White, real estate developer and owner of Whiteco Industries, Inc. and White Peterman Properties, Inc.
From: Merrillville, IN
Dean White
Total Super PAC Donations: $45,000
Campaign for Primary Accountability (R): $25,000 USA Super PAC (R): $20,000
Total Other Political Donations: $131,800
Republicans: $6,000 o Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: $5,000 o Rep. Todd Young (IN): $1,000 Republican party committees: $120,800 o Republican National Committee: $60,800 o National Republican Congressional Committee: $30,000 o Indiana Republican State Central Committee: $20,000 o Republican Central Committee of Nevada: $10,000 PACs: $5,000 o Madison PAC for Constitutional Limited Government: $5,000
Whiteco Industries, Inc.
Total Super PAC Donations: $1 million
American Crossroads (R): $1 million
White Peterman Properties, Inc.
Total Super PAC Donations: $10,000
USA Super PAC (R): $10,000
About: Mr. White’s net worth is estimated at $1.3 billion.139 The son of an advertising executive, Mr. White took over the family business and vastly expanded it, making money from billboards and hotels, among other real estate holdings.140 In 1998, he sold Whiteco Outdoor Advertising to Chancellor Media Corp. for $930 million, and in 2006, he sold off hotels in a $1.7
139 http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/Q1AE.html. 140 Id.; Diane Poulton, Family Business: Generations of Jobs, BusINess, July 23, 2011.
26 billion deal.141 In early 2011, Mr. White opened a $450 million five-hotel complex next to Lucas Oil Field, the $720 million home of the Indianapolis Colts.142
Mr. White is a key player in Indiana politics. During the 2012 election cycle, Mr. White contributed $2.063 million to Indiana state Republican candidates and party committees,143 including $250,000 to the House Republican Campaign Committee of Indiana144 and $425,000 to Gov.-elect Mike Pence, making him by far the largest individual donor to the Pence campaign.145 In January 2012, Howey Politics Indiana, an independent political newsletter about Indiana politics, dubbed Mr. White the “uber finance guy in Indiana politics” and ranked him the ninth most politically powerful man in Indiana, and the highest ranked private citizen.146 In total, Mr. White has contributed more than $3.592 million to Indiana Republicans since 2008.147
He has used his clout to push projects where he stands to benefit, including the construction of a proposed expressway and other infrastructure improvements near his developments.148
141 Keith Benman, NWI Billionaire Dean White’s Checking Out of 87 Hotels, Times of Northwest Indiana, October 12, 2005; http://www.forbes.com/profile/dean-white/. 142 Id.; http://www.lucasoilstadium.com/about.aspx. 143http://www.followthemoney.org/database/search.phtml?searchbox=white%2C+dean&Type[]=Contributors&State s[]=IN&Years[]=2012&Years[]=2011. 144 http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/contributor.phtml?d=1047089605. 145 The Republican Governors Association and the Mike Pence Committee (Rep. Pence’s congressional committee) respectively contributed $1,019,187 and $319,394 to Rep. Pence’s successful gubernatorial campaign. Anthony J Moravec, Rep. Pence’s next largest contributor after Mr. White, gave $205,000. See http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?c=145112. 146 Doug Ross, Money Buys Dean White a Spot on Clout List, Times of Northwest Indiana, January 19, 2012; Brian A. Howey and Mark Schoeff Jr., HPI’s 2012 Power 50 List, Howey Politics Indiana, January 27, 2012. 147 http://www.followthemoney.org/database/search.phtml?searchbox=white%2C+dean&Type[]=Contributors& States[]=IN&Years[]=2012&Years[]=2011&Years[]=2010&Years[]=2009&Years[]=2008. 148 Will Higgins, A Cautious Game-Changer Gets Daring, Indianapolis Star, April 4, 2010.
27 METHODOLOGY
CREW used data tracked by Political MoneyLine to create a database of donations made to Super PACs during the 2012 cycle as of September 1, 2012. CREW reviewed donor information for typos and variations on the same name, such as middle initials. Researchers then used the data to find individuals and companies donating $1 million or more to Super PACs and looked for media coverage of those donors. CREW included donors who had received only limited media coverage.
Researchers then used the Center for Responsive Politics’ database at www.opensecrets.org, Political MoneyLine’s database at www.politicalmoneyline.com, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics’ database at www.followthemoney.org to find other political donations made by these donors during the 2012 cycle. CREW found additional information on these donors in a wide variety of sources, including company websites, campaign finance reports, news articles, corporation filings, lobbying records, and the Super PACs’ own websites.
28