PAC Fundraising Reports Highlight Early 2007 Activity

[Ron Burgundy]

CQPolitics.com - The first major campaign finance reports of the 2007-08 campaign cycle are due to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by April 15, when candidates for president, the House and the Senate will disclose receipts and expenditures for the first three months of this year.

But the national party committees and many political action committees (PACs) file fundraising reports on a monthly basis — usually on the 20th day of the month — and some campaign finance activity that has transpired early in this cycle can be gleaned from these documents.

Here is a look at how some selected PACs doled out political contributions in February, according to a review of reports recently filed with the FEC:

• Bachus’ Bucks. Growth and Prosperity PAC, which is the leadership PAC of Alabama Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus (news, bio, voting record), reported giving $5,000 last month to the presidential exploratory campaign of Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record). Bachus is the southeast co-chairman for McCain’s White House effort.

Bachus’ PAC also gave $2,000 to the campaign of former Kansas Rep. Jim Ryun, who is seeking to reclaim the 2nd District seat he lost last year to Democrat Nancy Boyda (news, bio, voting record). Ryun and Bachus are former colleagues on the Financial Services Committee, where Bachus is the top-ranking Republican.

Bachus’ PAC was very active in the 2006 cycle, when the congressman was donating liberally to Republican members and candidates in preparation for a bid for the chairmanship of Financial Services. That scenario became a moot point with the Democratic victory in November; Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record) now heads the Financial Services Committee.

• Riches from Realtors. One of the more active PACs is that of the National Association of Realtors, which donates ample money to members of Congress’ campaign committees via its Realtors PAC.

Realtors PAC last month gave $30,900 to federal candidates and committees — and the group was bipartisan in its giving. Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a liberal from Illinois, received a political contribution, as did Republican Rep. Barbara Cubin (news, bio, voting record), a conservative from Wyoming.

New York Democratic Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, received a $1,000 contribution for his campaign committee and $2,000 for his leadership organization, Build America PAC.

The Realtors PAC usually splits its political contributions nearly evenly between the two major parties. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Realtors PAC gave $3.7 million to federal candidates in the 2006 election cycle — of which 51 percent went to Republicans and 49 percent to Democrats. In the 2004 cycle, the PAC gave 52 percent to Republicans and 47 percent to Democrats.

• Bankers’ Bankroll. BankPac, the PAC of the American Bankers Association, kept busy in February, reporting donations of $127,500 to federal candidates and committees during the month.

A big chunk of this sum was given to national party committees. BankPac gave $15,000 apiece to the three major Republican committees — the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee. It also gave $15,000 apiece to the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

As one might expect, several recipients of BankPac campaign contributions sit on the Financial Services Committee. The leadership PACs of Republican Reps. Paul E. Gillmor and Deborah Pryce (news, bio, voting record) of Ohio and Bachus of Alabama each received $5,000 last month from BankPac.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20070319/pl_cq_politics/pacfundraisingreportshighlightearly2007activity [link]