Chamber of Commerce $12,425 in Spring Campaigns so far . . . no surprises who their candidates are – this council is essentially controlled by them. Pretty much opposite of the AHAA endorsements and Progressive Dane. Seriously, sometimes I think the two parties in Madison are the Chamber of Commerce and Progressive Dane.
Tied for first place!
$2130 – District 3 – Lauren Cnare (running against Barbara Davis) – 25% of the $8425 raised this year*
$2130 – District 14 – Tim Bruer (running against John Strausser) – his report is messed up – looks like he raised $3025 from individuals – I think he failed to report the conduit money, if so, this is 41% of his money, if not, its even more.
People they are really wanting to make sure get elected:
$1800 – District 2 – Bryan Post (running against Ledell Zellers) – 22% of the $8010 raised this year*
$1100 – District 12 – Larry Palm (running against Leslie Peterson) – 15% of the $7201 raised this year*
$1100 – District 9 – Paul Skidmore (running against Ricardo Cruz) – (no report filed?)
Middle of the Pack
$950 – District 6 – Scott Thornton (running against Marsha Rummel) – 15% of the $6514 raised this year*
$900 – District 17 – Joe Clausius (running against Spencer White) – 22% of the $4075 raised this year*
$750 – District 20 – Matt Phair (running against Kevin Wymore) – 18% of the $4150 raised this year*
$400 – District 5 – Shiva Bidar Sielaff (unopposed) – 34% of the $1180 raised this year*
$300 – District 8 – Scott Resnick (no longer has a race) – 9% of the $3345 raised this year*
After thoughts . . . or payoffs to those unopposed?
$250 – District 1 – Lisa Subeck (running against Philip Sigurslid)
$200 – District 10 – Maurice Cheeks (unopposed)
$150 – District 11 – Chris Schmidt (unopposed)
$100 – District 7 – Steve King (unopposed)
$75 – District 13 – Sue Ellingson (running against Zach Madden)
$50 – District 19 – Mark Clear (unopposed)
* I’m just looking at the reports since January and taking them at their word they filled them out right, these seem to be the worst reports I have ever seen
Who else didn’t make the list!
Chamber gave to their opponents
Barbara Davis (3)
John Strasser (14)
Ledell Zellers (2)
Leslie Peterson (12) (note, she is a downtown business owner)
Rick Cruz (9)
Marsha Rummel (6)
Spencer White (17)
Kevin Wymore (20)
Philip Sigurslid (1) and
Zach Madden (13)
They also didn’t give money to:
Mike Verveer (4)
Hawk Sullivan (a downtown business owner) and David Ahrens (15)
Denise DeMarb (16) (unopposed)
Anita Weier (18) (unopposed)
Can you tie the money to influence? What past votes were bought? Who else donates to these people?
For the folks who are not receiving chamber money, where do they get their funding?
How much money does it take to run a good campaign? How much is too much?
It’s difficult to draw a conclusion from the information I see here.
Regular readers of the blog would know the answer to that and I don’t always take time to explain things that I have explained before so as not to bore the regular readers . . . and then sometimes leave new readers behind . .. sorry – try to cure that by adding lots of links. Edgewater, any TIF decision, any development decision, etc etc the votes fall the way the money does. For policy issues, see anything the Chamber if lobbying for, but things like changes to the development process (to make it easier for developers, harder for neighborhoods), changes to TIF policy (easier to give away the use of our tax dollars), etc. Also, it prevents the council from enacting good policies – past battles you might remember like living wages, minimum wages, paid sick leave, etc., maybe even smoking (can’t remember on that one) It probably depends upon how long you have been around and how much your remember, but these are clear patterns, over years.
Lobbying reports can be found here – but they are usually not very adequate because – oh yeah – the Chamber helped lobby to make them ineffective! Doh! How could I forget that one! http://www.cityofmadison.com/clerk/lobbyist/lobbyistRegistered.cfm
I tried to see what they are currently registered to lobby on – it says see attached documents, but I can’t see them . .. . groan.
Also, for where people get their money from, you can view the campaign finance reports here. Most effective candidates get people who are in their district who support them to give the majority of the donations. Friends and family are usually the rest of the donations. Some groups give small amounts of money, but not in the thousands or over $10,000! http://www.cityofmadison.com/election/candidateResources/campaignFinance/