Georgia Campaign Disclosures – March 2010
Decatur Metro | April 9, 2010Peach Pundit’s Buzz Brockway has done the dirty work and compiled all Georgia campaign disclosure financial info for March into three easy-to-read Excel-type Google documents.
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A quick glance at this summary of compaign disclosures makes me really wonder about Tom Stubbs’ fundraising practices. I know it’s springtime and the trees are leafing out, but something seems a little shady.
$65,000 of his $78,000 is from “in kind” donations? That is certainly curious. Of the other $13,000 or so raised, I have heard that he has not disclosed the names of one single donor.
I, for one, want to know who is donating money to his campaign! Do most of these people live in Disrict 42? Are they from Georgia or are people from outside the state (or out of the country) donating to him to try to take down Jimmy Carter’s grandson? Have any prominent Republicans donated to Mr. Stubbs? Who in Decatur has donated to Mr. Stubbs? Have any of my neighbors?
What does Stubbs have to hide? In his prior report at least, Carter had released the names of every donor – even those that gave less than $101.
What is Stubbs trying to pull here? What’s the deal with the $65,000 in kind donations? When I have a chance I’ll have to take a deeper look.
I found other things interesting:
1. Who is Steve Patrick running for the 42nd District too? Hadn’t heard his name.
2. Mr. Stubbs first name is evidently Alexander, not Tom. He’s really A. Thomas Stubbs? Why do parents do this to kids? Why don’t they name their kids what they plan to call them?
3. What is the “burn rate” and why does it vary so much? How can one “burn” more than 100% of what one has “earned”?
4. How good are the data in this spreadsheet given that it lists some folks, including two 42nd District candidates, as raising $0 and some as raising $500,000 – $800,000, and the “burn” rates are all over the place.
Yes, my name is Alexander Thomas Stubbs. I was named after my great-grandfather who went by Tom. (He died at a young age in the early 1900s of a burst appendix, by the way. My great-grandmother then ran the farm, raised all of the kids, sending several to college, and took care of invalid in-laws.) Going by your middle name is a pain when it comes to all of the forms we have to complete that always ask for “first name, middle initial.” To get around this, about 20 years ago I started stuffing “A. Thomas” in the space on forms that asks for my “first name.” It works pretty well.
While there have been no formal debates, Jason and I have appeared at many meetings together. I have enjoyed those “joint” meetings, as I think Jason has. There will be plenty of chances for folks to hear us and make their decision.
If you have followed this election, then you know that I decided that the ethics problems with our legislature far too often revolve around money — big contributions. (See: Georgia Power plant vote last year.) This is nothing new. I remember talking with Senator Paul Simon for whom I worked in 1988 and 1989 when he ran for president. He was as honest and decent and progressive as the day is long, but big money donors affected him. As we sat on a flight from Atlanta to Houston during his presidential campaign, he told me that, when he gets home at night, he always has far more messages than they can return. So, who did he call? He always looked through the list and made sure he returned the call to big donors. He said he kept his policy positions independent of donors, but that level of uneven access changed things even for someone as good as Simon.
It certainly rules the roost far too often at the State legislature and should be of concern to all of us. So, while folks are allowed to donate up to $2,400, I decided to accept no donations over $100. It’s a slower process to raise money when it’s $100 at a time, but we are working at it and are confident we will raise all of our funds over time.
As to donation disclosures, we will post the list on the website without a problem. (I have to go out of town for a few days to take one of my children to look at a college he is considering, so I may be a little delayed getting the list up, but we’ll get it posted for you.) The state campaign disclosure forms ask for donations of $101 and higher to be itemized, and to aggregate the donations below that amount. Since all of my donations are below that amount, the only “donations” listed are my personal expenditures, which the good folks at the state instructed us to list as the in-kind donations you see.
The key is that my policies on education or transportation or domestic violence or public safety or energy will not be driven by any donors. They will be driven by what is in the best interest of our district and our state. It’s not easy going to 24 people to raise $2,400 when other candidates can get that amount from just one person, but I am much more at peace with that process.
Thank you Tom, for your thoughtful comments. From what I know about you from Decatur life and what I have learned about Jason Carter, it is going to be a tough vote for me. I sure hope there is some public debate.
In terms of websites and brochures, I’m noting a lot of similarities between Tom Stubbs and Jason Carter. Why are they running against one another?