Say Anything Blog

Sigh...

Conrad’s committee, called DakPAC, has donated $7,000 to Democrat Tracy Potter, who is running against Republican Margaret Sitte in a bid to pick up a GOP-held state Senate seat in District 35 in central Bismarck. The district’s incumbent, Ed Kringstad, is not seeking re-election.

In Dickinson’s District 37, Conrad’s PAC has donated another $7,000 to Connie Kooren, a House candidate who Democrats hope can unseat longtime Republican incumbent Frank Wald. Wald won re-election by only 93 votes during his last campaign in 2002. . . .

The donations pale in comparison to what Conrad is spending on his own re-election campaign against Republican Dwight Grotberg.

Through mid-October, Conrad reported raising $4.56 million for his campaign fund, and $2.79 million in expenditures. Grotberg has reported raising $132,647.

However, donations of $250 and $500 are considered large for state legislative campaigns. State House and Senate candidates must disclose only contributions of more than $200, and reports rarely show individual donations of more than $1,000. Candidates for the Legislature are not required to disclose their fundraising totals.

State filings show DakPAC has divided $30,000 in donations among the Democratic candidates for tax commissioner, public service commissioner, agriculture commissioner, secretary of state and attorney general.

Conrad’s PAC also has contributed $54,500 to Democratic candidates for the state House and Senate, disclosure filings say. When donations to the state Democratic Party and eight district organizations are included, Conrad’s PAC has contributed more than $102,000 to Democratic candidates and organizations this year, records show.

And just think, nearly 94% of all that money comes from big-money, out-of-state liberal interests.

Of course, Conrad is the only big-time North Dakota Democrat dumping truckloads of out-of-state liberal money into ND’s local elections:

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., also have their own political action committees, but they have played a much smaller financial role in this year’s elections.

Dorgan’s PAC, called the Great Plains Leadership Fund, has donated $24,000 to Democratic statewide candidates. Kristin Hedger, a former Dorgan aide who is running for secretary of state, got the biggest share, $6,500.

Pomeroy’s Nodak PAC has donated $10,500 to statewide candidates and another $5,000 to state Democratic Party, disclosure filings show. Pomeroy’s PAC also contributed $500 to Democratic House candidate Jasper Schneider, who is running his first race in Fargo’s District 21.

Dorgan and Pomeroy get 92.9% and 72.5% of their money from out of state, respectively.

Even the ND Democrat party itself is almost literally swimming in out-of-state money, as I indicated back in October.  While the ND Democrats fan themselves with hundred dollar bills donated by big-time liberals like Peter Angelos (owner of the Baltimore Orioles) the North Dakota Republicans rely on small donations (a few hundred dollars at a time) from lots and lots of North Dakotans.

Now I’m no fool.  I know that all ND political parties and candidates take money from big-money, out-of-state interests.  But the fact of the matter is that ND Democrats get nearly all of their money from said out-of-state interests.  That’s noteworthy, and the fact that you pretty much never hear about it from the state’s media is disappointing, because it is something North Dakotans should be aware of.

Update: The Dakota Beacon website has more details about out-of-state contributions to North Dakota Democrats.  Give it a read.