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Feingold gets majority of campaign funding instate
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Also by Alexis Johnson:
- Jam purist sues Smuckers (September 16, 2003)
- Feingold gets majority of campaign funding instate (September 8, 2003)
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Despite the Wisconsin Republican Party’s criticism of Sen. Russ Feingold’s out-of-state campaign fundraising, Feingold continues to assure citizens he has kept his promise to raise at least half of all contributions from within the state.
Feingold made his “garage-door pledge to the people of the state of Wisconsin” before he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992. He promised to raise the majority of his funds from Wisconsin individuals.
According to Feingold’s campaign spokesperson, Brad Jaffe, Feingold kept that promise in his previous two elections and continues to keep it today.
As of Sept. 4, Jaffe said the senator had raised roughly 56 percent of his contributions from Wisconsin individuals, roughly 37 percent from out-of-state individuals and roughly 7 percent from political action committees. Jaffe also said that if PACs are removed from the equation, instate contributions account for 60.1 percent, while out-of-state contributions account for 39.9 percent.
Jaffe said although the Federal Election Commission does not require candidates to record contributions below $200, Feingold makes sure to disclose all of his campaign contributions.
In an interview in August, Feingold said he could raise considerably more money from out of state if he wanted to. He said his fundraiser is instructed to work on acquiring money from smaller donors.
Jaffe also said Feingold’s average campaign contribution was only $51 as of June 30, which is due in part to his substantial direct-mail program that encourages grassroots involvement.
However, some question why a U.S. politician like Feingold would want to raise money from out of state in the first place.
“As national officeholders, whose decisions often affect the entire nation, senators and congressmen often receive contributions from people outside of their districts. Sen. Feingold nonetheless has always believed that he should receive a majority of his campaign funds from Wisconsinites,” Jaffe said.
Rick Grabber, chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party, has criticized Feingold’s percentage of contributions from out-of state sources in the past.
Wisconsin Republicans have suggested that they will make an issue of Feingold’s out-of-state campaign contributions.
“Does Feingold represent the principles and beliefs of the Badger State or his liberal buddies on the East Coast?” Grabber asks in a column on the Wisconsin Republican’s website.
Jaffe said Republicans are using the issue to taint Feingold’s political record.
“It’s the job of the Wisconsin Republican Party to elect Republicans, so it’s no surprise that they will attempt to distort Sen. Feingold’s record,” he said. “What’s curious is that they’d try to criticize him for something he has been so open about.”
Feingold is known for his efforts to rid political campaigns of corrupt money-raising practices. He fought alongside Sen. John McCain on the issue for almost seven years. In March 2002, they passed a bipartisan campaign-finance-reform bill, which put an end to soft-money contributions exchanged for political access favors. The McCain-Feingold campaign-reform law is currently before the Supreme Court.
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