What campaign finance reports show from OtterPAC, Integrity in Govt PAC, Idaho Chooses Life…
Here’s what’s shown in campaign finance reports filed this week by several PACs of interest: OtterPAC, Integrity in Government PAC; and Idaho Chooses Life PAC:
OtterPAC’s campaign finance report shows that Gov. Butch Otter’s new PAC raised $62,776 in contributions since Jan. 1 and carried over $41,920 from the previous year, for a total of $104,696. It spent $37,392 between Jan. 1 and May 1, and closed the filing period with $67,304 on hand and no debt.
The biggest contributors during this reporting period: Jessie Hopkins of Boise, $10,000; Stimson Lumber Co., $10,000; Idaho Dairymen’s Association, $6,500; Albertson’s LLC, $5,000; and Otter for Idaho, which was Otter’s re-election campaign committee for his past races, $3,470.
The PAC gave to these candidates or causes: Idaho Republican Party, $5,000; Shawn Keough for Senate, $1,000; and $100 each to these five candidates from Mountain Home: Ray Liercke; Mark Bryant; Geoff Schroeder; Dan Page; and Bud Corbus, an Elmore County commissioner. The biggest expenditure by the PAC was $24,936 for an event at Ruth’s Chris Steak House.
Integrity in Government PAC, which saw more than $100,000 appear suddenly before the 2014 primary and now has two donors, Doyle Beck and M.C. “Chick” Heileson, facing criminal charges for concealing the source of a campaign donation in connection with that, reported raising just $3,150 from Jan. 1 to May 1, and carrying over $1,561 from last year, for a total of $4,711.
The PAC, headed by Lee Ann Callear of Ahsahka, reported just two contributions: $750 from Idaho Falls attorney and former congressional candidate Bryan Smith; and $2,400 from John McCallan of Glenns Ferry. The PAC’s only expenditures during the period were for bank fees, paying off a $150 loan to treasurer Marge Arnzen, and $2,400 for advertising in the Idaho Statesman newspaper, in which the group ran crudely drawn cartoon ads critical of Gov. Butch Otter and the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry.
Idaho Chooses Life, headed by David Ripley of Boise, reported $14,714 in contributions during the filing period, plus $15,945 carried over from last year, for a total of $30,659. It spent $25,941, leaving a $4,178 balance as of May 1. The PAC’s biggest donation during the period was $5,000 from Justin Wilkerson of Boise; it also received 28 donations of between $60 and $500 from individuals in Idaho.
The group reported paying Ripley $4,800 for management; paying Lou Esposito’s Spartac LLC $10,000 for broadcast advertising; and donating $250 each to 16 legislative candidates, all but two of them incumbents. In addition, after the filing period, the group reported paying an additional $6,000 to Spartac LLC for an independent expenditure on broadcast advertising in support of Curt McKenzie for the Idaho Supreme Court.
