Pat McCrory, the Republican Governor's Assoc. and Other People's Money

Will Pat McCrory benefit from corporate money spent on his behalf by the Republican Governor's Association? Chances are, if they can get away with spending it, McCrory isn't going to turn it down.

Yes, it's illegal in North Carolina, but that doesn't mean the RGA won't give it a go. In 2004 the RGA received the largest fine in state history for violating campaign finance laws in this state. Their violation? They spent corporate money advocating for Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantyne. From VoteLaw blog:

AP reports: The State Board of Elections on Thursday fined the Republican Governors Association nearly $200,000 for an illegal television ad it ran on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine.

By a 3-2 vote -- the board's three Democrats voting in the majority -- the elections panel assessed a penalty of $196,260 for the ad, which began running Aug. 20. The association also must pay $1,000 to the board for investigation expenses, the panel ruled.

The board unanimously determined last week that the advertisement advocated for Ballantine, a former state senator from Wilmington running against Democratic incumbent Mike Easley. As such, the board decided, the RGA broke state election law because it used corporate contributions to pay for the ad.

Scott Falmlen, executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party, filed the complaint with the board. He said the penalty, based on how much the RGA said it cost to produce and air the ad, apparently is the largest fine of its kind in state history.

The RGA is apparently excited about the gubernatorial race in North Carolina. So excited that they have established a PAC to help funnel huge donations from business people all over the country - some donations topping out at $100,000. From a Charlotte Observer/N & O article:

A Republican group has moved quickly to exploit a change in election laws that lets it raise money from contributors across the country to help elect Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory as North Carolina's governor.

The Republican Governors Association has established an N.C. political action committee and raised nearly $390,000 in less than three months.

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The PAC's biggest contributor is James Barksdale of Ridgeland, Miss., the former chief executive officer of Netscape. He gave $100,000.

McCrory's real problem comes in the form of Pat McCrory. You see, he's been campaigning on bringing change to how things are done in Raleigh. From that same article:

McCrory is running on the issue of changing the culture of state government, which he says is controlled by big-money special interests. But his campaign is welcoming the association's help.

“We certainly aren't concerned if business people from around the country are interested in this race,” said Richard Hudson, McCrory's campaign manager.

Ahhh. I get it. McCrory wants to change how things are done, but only after he has exploited the hell out of how things are done. Different party, different corporations, different special interests - same old, same old.

There is still a question of whether the contribution funneling is legal in North Carolina.

On May 1, the 4th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out North Carolina's limits on campaign contributions to these committees, which had been $4,000 per election cycle. Individuals can now give as much as they want.

“This is a new animal we have in North Carolina for the 2008 election,” said Kim Westbrook Strach, the State Board of Elections' deputy director for campaign finance.

:::snip:::

State campaign finance reports show little involvement in North Carolina politics by the major contributors to the Republican governors' PAC. One contributor, Dan Crippen, a consultant from Bethesda, Md., for Schaller Anderson, a health care company, said he did not know his $25,000 contribution was going toward the North Carolina governor's race.

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Schrimpf said contributors are not told where their money will go beyond the association's general mission of helping Republicans get elected in gubernatorial contests. He said no efforts are made to promote contributors' business interests.

Strach said the PAC is legal, but she is concerned if contributions originally went to the association, and it then placed them into a political action committee. North Carolina election law promotes transparency in political giving by prohibiting contributions from being given in the name of another.

So, the PAC is legal, but the way they are funneling donations may not be. If these donors are writing checks to The Republican Governor's Association and the RGA is then turning around and making that donation to the PAC, it is potentially illegal in North Carolina. Technically, they are making a donation in someone else's name. Technically, that's against North Carolina election law.

Pat McCrory has no control over whether the RGA spends money on his behalf. However, given the RGA's penchant for violating campaign finance laws in North Carolina doesn't it make sense that his campaign would avoid that whole open-arms attitude they are taking toward the potential involvement of the RGA and all that outside special interest money?