Tom Corbett may be struggling but he hasn’t been abandoned by his friends.
The Republican Governors Association (RGA) donated $3.5 million today to incumbent Tom Corbett’s campaign for reelection. This contribution joins the previous $1.8 million the RGA has already given Corbett in his fight against Democratic nominee Tom Wolf.
The $3.5 million comes at a time when three separate polls in the last few days have shown Corbett trailing by double digits.
However, Republican Governor Chris Christie, who heads the RGA, is still supporting Tom Corbett.
The two Mid-Atlantic leaders have a close relationship and they even campaigned together last June in Pittsburgh. The New Jersey Governor (who may run for President in 2016) seems determined to prove Republicans can hold their own in the Northeast. As a result, despite likely protests from other vulnerable state GOP Governors, the RGA is standing behind Corbett.
The $3.5 million, though, is more than just a symbolic gesture. According to the Pennsylvania State Department’s 2014 campaign finance report, Corbett’s in-kind contributions top $300,000, while totals from his monetary contributions and receipts as well as rollover funds from the last campaign finance cycle exceed $11 million.
The Governor should have the funds and establishment support to last through these next few months as he fights for his political life.
Loading ...
10 Responses
I found it interesting to learn exactly how such “donations” work. It’s pretty clear that Corbett has a tradition of benefitting from questionable, and significant donations, from non-Pennsylvanians. If you’re interested in seeing how money laundering is performed in political campaigns, I’d encourage you to take a look at the following website. http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/10/18/11498/pennsylvania-governor-benefited-untraceable-15-million-donation
i jest herd that kris Kristie gonna go to penna next wk to indorse guevnore corbitt for anuther term as guv and corbit probly gonna indorse Kristie for presadint.
Chris Christie takes $5 million dollars and literally flushes it down the drain on a fruitless effort that was long ago deemed a lost cause with no positive return, and now he wants to be put in charge of the 3 trillion dollar federal budget as President?
Before anybody gets too excited, it is likely the RGA is simply passing along money Corbett raised channeling corporate contributions through the RGA.
While Pennsylvania law prohibits corporate contributions, the RGA, by virtue of its tax status, can accept money directly from corporations, not just their PACs.
The Governor’s finance team has likely solicited corporate donations directing them to filter the money through the RGA. The RGA then periodically passes the money along to the Corbett campaign.
In other words, all the RGA is doing is giving Corbett back the money he gave them to hold for him.
It is all legal but does have a funny smell to it.
Asher is a top RGA money guy and RNC committeeman. Christie needs him for 2016. You won’t see the RGA pulling the plug on Corbett no matter how bold the writing on the wall is.
NJ Open Government Notes
Notes, observations and suggestions on transparency and accountability in New Jersey local government.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Lawsuit: Gloucester Township allegedly used threat of arrest to coerce employee to resign.
On August 5, 2014, West Berlin attorney Donald M. Doherty, Jr. filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) lawsuit on my behalf against Gloucester Township (Camden County). The lawsuit, John Paff v. Township and Gloucester and Rosemary DiJosie, Township Clerk, Docket No. CAM-L-3147-14 is on-line here.
The lawsuit’s basis is a tip from an informant that those in power in Gloucester Township government sought to remove a high-ranking employee from his position so that they could give the job to another person who was politically connected and favored. In order to prod the employee into leaving his position, those holding political sway allegedly arranged for the employee to be caught doing something illegal and then used a threat of arrest and prosecution to coerce him into resigning.
I sought disclosure of several records, including police reports, regarding this alleged incident under OPRA and the common law right of access. In her response, Gloucester Township Clerk Rosemary DiJosie admitted that there was an “on-going investigation” into the employee but that public disclosure of the police reports “would be inimical to the public interest.” DiJosie did, however, disclose a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) screen shot on “Police Case # 14-019933” showing that police were dispatched to a Township address on May 13, 2014 at about 3:30 p.m. The “Call for Service” description on the CAD report was “Theft – All other.”
Further documents received indicated that the Township entered into a “Severance Agreement and General Release” with the employee. The agreement, which was signed on June 4, 2014, allowed for the employee to retain his paid medical benefits through July 31, 2014 and contained a covenant under which the employee gave up all rights to sue the Township.
Interestingly, the Agreement provided that the employee’s date of severance from Township employment was May 12, 2014–the day before he was allegedly caught in committing an illegal act. According to the lawsuit, the timing of his severance lent “substantial credence to several elements of the ‘tipped’ facts – i.e., that while ‘the powers’ wanted [the employee] out, they did not want to “hurt” him by jeopardizing his pension etc.”
John Paff at 3:48 PM
That’s just political malpractice. Republicans who might win upsets in places like Connecticut and Illinois should be outraged, especially since Christie is supposed to be the adult in a room otherwise dominated by would-be Birch Society hangers-on.
I guess the RGA hasn’t realized that Tommie has as big a scandal as all the other R gov candidates, to wit:
“The Pennsylvania attorney general’s office paid a $15,000 settlement to a female agent who accused executives of sharing pornographic emails and making derogatory comments to women while Tom Corbett, who is now the state’s Republican governor, was in charge.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that the agent, Dianne Buckwash, alleged in a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that the men in the attorney general’s office held all the power, women were rarely promoted and executives in the Criminal Law Division were known to email around photos of nude women and “adults engaged in sex acts.” Buckwash said the events occurred during the administrations of then-Attorney General Corbett, who served from 1995 to 1997 and 2005 to 2010, and Linda Kelly, who served as attorney general in 2011 and 2012.”
Where’e Frank Fina, to categorically deny this screw-up, too? Or was he the guy sending the emails?
Wow! This kind of money wasting is on the order of the Kochs’ spending to zero effect in 2012. Breathtaking! I guess they have no productive contests to spend it on – the list of losers is so long this year…
Keep pouring those millions into PA. The GOTP has so much cash they are just burning it.