Campaign cash flow posted online

Whitefish Pilot

Nov. 24 was the deadline for candidates to file final campaign-finance reports with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practice. This year, reports were available online.

Republican Jim Dupont, who won the county commissioner race, out raised and outspent Democrat Steve Qunell about two-to-one.

Dupont reported 446 individual contributors and raised more than $45,000. He also received a $2,000 loan from Lakeside resident Hale Ashcraft and money from two pro-business political action committees (PACs) — Montana Realtors and Flathead Business and Industry Association.

Qunell reported 357 individual contributors and raised more than $21,000. He also received money from Homeowners For Public Safety, a PAC created with $1,000 from former state Supreme Court justice Terry Trieweiler and $3,000 from former Sen. Dan Weinberg, both Whitefish residents.

Weinberg also donated $10,000 to the Flathead County Democratic Central Committee, which contributed to a number of Democratic candidates in the valley.

Republican Ryan Zinke and Democrat Brittany MacLean raised and spent about the same amount of money in the Senate District 2 campaign, roughly $35,000.

Zinke, who won, recorded 198 individual contributors, compared to 267 for MacLean. Zinke kicked in $12,700 of his own money. MacLean spent $2,720 on campaign assistants.

Zinke also received contributions from a number of pro-business PACs, including Plum Creek, Montana Contractors, Montana-Dakota Utilities, Pennsylvania Power & Light, Exxon-Mobil, Montana Coal Council, Conoco-Phillips, BNSF Railroad, Motor Transportation, Montana Realtors, Montana Farm Bureau and Property Casualty Insurance.

MacLean received money from a variety of PACs, including the Montana Women’s Pipeline Project, NARAL Pro-choice, Butte Teachers Union, Emily’s List, AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Union, the Iron workers District Council, Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

She also received money from Glacier PAC, created by Sen. Max Baucus, and Treasure State PAC, created by Sen. Jon Tester. In May, Glacier PAC reported more than $1 million in receipts for nationwide campaigning, including $907,000 from political committees.

 In the House District 4 race, Democrat Mike Jopek out raised and outspent Republican John Fuller nearly two-to-one. Jopek raised $23,410 from 569 individuals and was one of the few legislative candidates who took no PAC money.

Fuller raised $12,906, including $2,500 of his own money and contributions from 50 individuals. He also accepted PAC money from Conoco-Phillips, Mine PAC and the Petroleum Association.

Democrat Scott Wheeler out raised Republican Bill Beck about two-to-one but lost the House District 6 race. Wheeler raised $13,448 and recorded 108 contributors. He also received money from Glacier PAC.

Beck raised $6,930, including a $1,600 loan from himself and contributions from 19 individuals. He also received money from a dozen pro-business PACs, including Montana Wood Products, Montana Realtors, Montana Contractors, Montana Hospital Association, Montana Agri cultural, BNSF Railway, Plum Creek, Montana-Dakota Utilities, Gas & Oil, Exxon-Mobil, Pfizer and Wells Fargo.

Republican Bruce Tutvedt out raised and outspent Democrat Mark Holston about two-to-one in the Senate District 3 race.

Tutvedt, who won, reported 221 individual contributors and raised more than $30,000. He also received PAC money from the Plum Creek, Montana Coal Council, Montana Wood Products, Montana Contractors and BNSF Railroad. At the end of the campaign, Tutvedt reimbursed himself for his $2,000 personal loan and put $2,233 in his constituency account for use as a state senator.

Holston reported 147 individual contributors and raised more than $16,000, including PAC money from Glacier PAC, the Iron Workers, Homeowners For Public Safety, the Service Employees International Union and Montana Conservation Voters. He also got about $2,280 through ActBlue, a nationwide Democratic fundraising organization based in Cambridge, Mass.

Semitool owner and founder Raymond Thompson continued to be active with both individual contributions and through his Excellence in Voting PAC. Thompson put $70,000 in the PAC prior to the primary and then transferred $60,000 to the Legislative Victory Fund, which promoted Republican candidates.

Jobs For Montana, a PAC funded by Montana Con tractors, Montana Realtors, Montana Agri cultural, Mon tana Wood Products, Montana Gas & Oil, Montana Transport and other pro-business PACS, spent about $150,000 statewide supporting Republican candidates, including making and distributing direct-mail postcards promoting Zinke and Fuller.

Most of the negative campaigning locally was done by postcards paid for by the Democratic and Republican state parties and a few PACS. Postcards paid for by Zinke, MacLean, Fuller and Jopek were not negative.

A postcard paid for by the Democrats, for example, claimed Zinke had been out of Montana so long that he “doesn’t share our values anymore.” Another paid for by the Republicans claimed Jopek was supported by “slick trial lawyers” and “environmental extremists.”

Whitefish resident Rick Blake’s one-man PAC, Common Sense In Whitefish Government, paid for a postcard that claimed Jopek was opposed by homeowners, parents, small businesses and gun owners.

Quality Whitefish, another local PAC, was not active in this election, according to posted reports.