Street roots
Jan. 6, 2012
MONEYMAKERS, from page 10
donors who gave $100 or less. This
category of small dollar contributions
from an estimated 868 donors comprises
10 percent of Brady’s total fundraising.
Contributions of $100 or less from an
estimated 330 donors comprise 7 percent
of total contributions to Hales’ campaign.
(See Table 2.)
The domination in 2012 of total
fundraising by big contributions indicates
a return to a pattern seen prior to the
Voter-Owned Elections era from 2006
through 2010. .During the 2004 election
cycle, 69 percent of the money city
candidates raised came from only 602
contributors who wrote checks of $1,000
or more. This small number of
contributors represented just 7 percent of
total donors.
This pattern has returned to the 2012
mayoral contest with 67 percent of
fundraising by Brady, Hales, and Smith
through January 2nd coming from just
226 contributors writing checks of $1,000
or more. This small pool of donors thus
far represents just 9 percent of total
contributors.
Hales’ fundraising campaign is
particularly dominated by contributors
giving $1,000 or more. Those 45 donors
comprise 80 percent of Hales’ total
contributions. In Brady’s campaign,
contributions of $1,000 or more from 122
donors add up to 65% of her total
fundraising coffer Thus far, the Smith
campaign is less dominated by large
donors with money from 59 donors who
gave $1,000 or more, comprising 52
percent of his total contributions. (See
Table 2.)
The top 20 contributors to Brady
comprise 36 percent of her total
fundraising. Brady’s largest contribution
is $35,508 from the estate of Brian
Rohter’s mother. (Rohter is Brady’s
husband.) Brady has also received seven
contributions of $10,000 including a
check from Brady’s own pocketbook.
The top 20 contributors to Hales
comprise 69 percent of his total
fundraising. Hales has received two
contributions of $25,000, one from
investment fund manager David
Nierenberg and the other from
construction company Stacy & Witbeck.
James Kelley, founder of Rejuvenation
House Parts, gave $20,000, while real
estate investor Albert Solheim gave
$10,100. Hales has received four
contributions of $10,000 each.
Smith’s campaign has 11 contributors
whose donations ranged from $1,020 to
$10,000 followed by 48 donors who each
wrote checks of $1,000. The financial
support of Smith’s top 11 donors
comprise just 6 percent of his total
fundraising.
Candidates have friends and
connections that often cross city and
state lines, so contributions from outside
of Portland and Oregon shouldn’t be a big
surprise. Hales has the largest percentage
of contributions thus far coming from
outside of Oregon at 31 percent from
donors in five other states; most of that
support has come from Washington.
Twenty-nine percent of Smith’s
fundraising to date comes from fourteen
other states. Brady’s fundraising
campaign includes 12 percent from
donors in twelve other states.
Campaigns are not required to list the
name or address of contributors who give
$100 or less, therefore this geographical
analysis includes a location unknown
category. Given that Smith’s fundraising
in this category is higher than his
counterparts’ more of his donors cannot
be identified by location. If all the small
donors, however, are Oregonians, his
percentage of fundraising from within the
state increases to 71 percent. Not all
Oregon donors, however, are from
Portland. Reflecting Smith’s service on
the state legislature, a lower percentage
of his itemized Oregon donors could be
from within the city compared to Brady
and Hales. (See Table 3.)
Double giving is when one donor gives
financial support to two or more
candidates in a race.
Thus far in 2012 mayoral fundraising,
20 contributors have hedged their bets
and made contributions to more than one
candidate. Some of the “double-giving” to
Smith’s could be attributed to his later
entry in the race. Nevertheless this trend
is troubling given that the contributions
seem to be more about ensuring future
access to the winner than dedicated
support for one candidate. Two donors
gave contributions to all three candidates
that totaled $4,750. Ten donors gave
$28,100 to Brady and Hales while another
8 contributors gave $9,205 to Brady and
Smith. (See Table 4.)
Some double givers donate the same
amount to each candidate. For example,
William Dickey who owns a printing
company used by many political
campaigns has given $500 each to Brady,
Hales, and Smith. The other triple giver,
James Winkler of Winkler Development
has, thus far, given $2,500 to Brady, $500
to Hales, and $250 to Smith. The most
lopsided double giver is railroad car
manufacturer Greenbrier Company, which
gave $10,000 to Hales and $1,250 to
Brady.
The $42,055 in contributions to
multiple candidates from double givers
comprises 4.2 percent of Brady’s
fundraising as reported through January
2, 7.2 percent of fundraising by Hales, and
3.4 percent of Smith’s fundraising thus
far. These are lower percentages of the
double giving seen in the 2004 contest
between Sam Adams and Nick Fish,
where the percentage of fundraising from
donors who gave to both Adams and Fish
ranged from 8.6 percent of primary
fundraising by Adams to 12.8 percent of
general fundraising by Fish. Regardless of
the level of double giving, this
contribution pattern seems designed to
ensure access no matter who wins and is
a trend that merits continued analysis as
2012 mayoral fundraising continues.
The emphasis on support from small
dollar donors seen in fundraising by
Brady and Smith is laudable. Overall,
though, this analysis of 2012 mayoral
fundraising looks like an unfortunate
return to Portland campaigns dominated
by a small number of major donors.
Though this may not be the intent of the
mayoral candidates, this is the current
reality of fundraising in political
campaigns.
Portland money in Politics
City Council elections have typically
fallen into two categories depending
on the presence of an incumbent.
When an incumbent runs again the
race there are frequently no viable
challengers. The occasional open seat
contests are typically fundraising
contests between two or three major
candidates.
The last three open seat mayoral
races were in 2008 between Sam
Adams and Sho Dozono, in 2004
between Tom Potter and dim
Francesconi and in 1992 between
Vera Katz and Earl Blumenauer.
Spending was reduced in 2008
compared to previous open seat
mayoral primaries due to Voter-Owned
Elections. Though Dozono and Adams
did not opt into the public funding
reform program, they both voluntarily
agreed to limit the size of contributions
and spending. It is too early to tell how
2012 mayoral primary spending will
compare to these previous open seat
contests since campaign spending will
pick up its pace closer to the May 15,
2012 primary.
Voter-Owned Elections, officially
called the Campaign Finance Fund
program, was in place for the 2006
through 2010 elections. Its retention
was narrowly defeated by Portland
voters in November 2010. The major
opponent last November was the
Portland Business Alliance, which had
also tried to qualify a repeal initiative to
the May 2006 ballot. The Portland
Business Alliance and its allies in
opposing reform gave $595,578 to city
candidates in 2004 either directly or
through affiliated businesses. These
contributions came from only 100
entities but represented 20 percent of
total political fundraising in the 2004
election season.
Table 3
Table 4
Contribution Percentages by Location
Double Giving to Mayoral Candidates by 20 Contributors
Candidate
Eileen Brady
Charlie Hales
Jefferson Smith
Outside of Oregon
Location Unknown*
Oregon
Portland
12% -1 3 states
3 1 % -5 states
29% -1 4 states
9%
6%
20%
88%
69%
71%
67%
47%
40%
*Unitemized contributions of $100 or less does not include a donor’s name and address so not all
contributions can be identified by location. Due to rounding percentages may not add up to 100 percent.
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Contributions to
Brady, Hales, Smith
Contributions to
Brady and Hales
Contributions to
Brady and Smith
Double Givers as %
of Total Fundraising
2 contributors
. $4,750
10 contributors
$28,100
8 contributors
$9,205
Brady - 4.2%
Hales - 7.2%
Smith - 3.4%
O*' -