Notes from the Trail: Covering Campaigns

8/20/2019 Notes from the Trail: Covering Campaigns

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COVERING CAMPAIGNS

National Press Foundation

Paul Miller FellowshipOct. 5, 2015

Herb Jackson, The Record

cell: 202.309.1900 | [email protected]

CAMPAIGN MONEY

How does money raised by incumbent match the issues he/she stresses on the floor, the votestaken, the bills introduced. Do contributions or bill intros line up with votes on big issues? Are

moneyed interests lining up with challenger because of the way the incumbent votes? PACs

don’t usually give in primaries, and if they are, it’s significant.

FEC: Electronic filing has the latest info on filing day; maps useful for geographical data; state

downloads; separate databases for independent expenditures, committee & candidate summaries,& leadership PAC sponsors http://fec.gov/pindex.shtml

Voluntary Senate electronic filing: http://docquery.fec.gov/senate/

CRP: Contributions (ID spouses, aggregates employers, interests), personal finances, lobbying,

tracks interest groups, bulk data downloads http://www.opensecrets.org/

Sunlight: Influence explorer combines CRP data and state money, but also not as current; best

for researching a donor’s influence over a long period of time. Also allows you to set alertsthrough Scout tool. Other tools also worth checking out: OpenCongress [Compare voting records

of 2 members]; Docket wrench [research regulations] http://sunlightfoundation.com/tools/

IRS: Political org filings, Dem and Repub Governors Associations, legal defense funds. [PDFs

are a bear to get into database apps, but most are text searchable]http://forms.irs.gov/app/pod/basicSearch/search

CQ: Subscription service with great cache of data and reporting, bulk data downloads

http://www.cqmoneyline.com/

National Institute for Money in State Politics: http://www.followthemoney.org/


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CONGRESSIONAL DISCLOSURES

The law requires a lot of information to be disclosed every year, sometimes every quarter. Weshould read it and ask about it if for no other reason than to make sure officials know someone is

watching.

Personal finances: Members, candidates [usually by 5/15] have to file. How much are theyworth, where do they make their money, any disclosed gifts, what kinds of property listed

[personal residence(s) do not have to be disclosed]. Records room computers also have info fortop-paid staffers [in case a former aide makes a run for office]

House: http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/financial.aspx Senate: https://efdsearch.senate.gov/search/home/

CRP: http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/

Office budgets: How much are they spending public funds: How much franked mail? Are they buying Facebook ads to get followers?

House: http://disbursements.house.gov/ Senate: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/generic/report_secsen.htm

Sunlight database: https://sunlightfoundation.com/tools/expenditures/

Other disclosures: [Lobbying data, foreign travel, etc.]Are the biggest lobbying groups on the campaign contribution list also lobbying the incumbent’s

committees? On legislation he or she is sponsoring?House: http://clerk.house.gov/public_disc/index.aspx

Senate: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/lobbyingdisc.htm#lobbyingdisc=fd

CRP lobbying: http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/ Legistorm: subscription service has a ton of stuff my paper can’t afford; staff data, travel data,etc. https://www.legistorm.com/


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BACKGROUNDING CHALLENGERS (besides Google)

Voting record: Usually elections clerk in candidate’s home county. Some may require filing public records request. Does candidate vote often? How long a member of his/her party? How

often does he/she vote in primaries?Some info also available from Lexis/Nexis, but may be out of date. http://www.nexis.com/

Lawsuit judgments, liens: http://www.nexis.com/

Social media: What have they said, done in the past. Might find past coworkers, employees

through LinkedIn, which allows sending email within service if you have a pro subscription.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ | Twitter: https://twitter.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/

Voter voices: Talk to people in the district. What they are hearing and saying about candidatesmay not be what we’re hearing in DC and could open up lots of story angles.

SEC filings: If candidate is a corporate exec, company may have made some interesting

disclosures. https://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html

ISSUE INFO

Ratings on incumbents: Project Vote Smart is a good starting point, but needs to be verified, for

how different interest groups rated incumbents, with links to the scoring organizations that can

show you when they voted for or against bills the organization was watching.http://votesmart.org/

CQ: Subscription service will give you key votes with member bios with accurate descriptions ofwhat the vote was for, along with how often they voted with party leadership and the president.

Very helpful if you get two incumbents facing each other, because you can see where theyagreed and disagreed. www.cq.com

Member web pages: See what issues they’ve put out their own press releases about, then searchtopics on the GAO web site for perspective. Searching committees of jurisdiction may also turnup experts who testified on different sides on a subject who can be contacted for stories.

GAO: http://www.gao.gov/ House comms: http://www.house.gov/committees/

Senate comms: http://www.senate.gov/committees/committees_home.htm


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Rothman had not gotten any ADA contributions through Sept. 30, and it now looks as thoughhe won't get any before June.

"We're going to wait and see what happens in the primary," said Jim Schulz, the ADA'slobbyist in Trenton. "They both have been friends to organized dentistry for many years.Congressman Pascrell has certainly demonstrated a bit more support through some of the

sponsorship of legislation that we've been interested in."The primary is happening because Rothman decided to move and take on Pascrell after thestate Congressional Redistricting Commission moved his hometown of Fair Lawn into aRepublican-leaning district represented by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage. Pascrell's home inPaterson was added to much of what had been Rothman's old 9th District.

Since Rothman announced his challenge shortly after Christmas, he and Pascrell have beencourting labor endorsements heavily. Unions have been among their biggest financial backersover the years, and some can also provide street operations to get voters to the polls.

Unions dividedFor some organizations, it's a split decision.The National Association of Letter Carriers PAC gave $12,000 to Pascrell and $11,500 to

Rothman since 2007. Both congressmen also joined in rallies and co-sponsored bills last year against cutbacks to the Postal Service.

"Bill Pascrell's a great congressman. I can't say a bad word about him," said Jeffry Fox, thepresident of Bergen County Branch 425 of the NALC.

Nevertheless, Fox said his branch voted unanimously this month to endorse Rothman.

"When it comes down to it, all politics is local and Steve has been our congressman in our area for 16 years now," he said. "When we talked about it at a local meeting, it was a no-brainer. We support Steve."

The association's Paterson branch, however, endorsed Pascrell for the same reasons."I understand that," Fox said. "This has been a horrible situation we've all been thrown into.

It's like choosing between your parents in a divorce."Pascrell's contributions from the Service Employees International Union over the past five

years exceeded Rothman's, $15,000 to $4,500. But when the SEIU's New Jersey State

Council endorsed Rothman, the explanation had a familiar ring to it."It was a very difficult decision for us because they both have excellent labor records," said

Lizette Delgado-Polanco, the executive director. The union's leadership decided Rothman hadbeen "more personable when we approached him whenever we had an issue. That's not takinganything from Congressman Pascrell. Because he's an excellent congressman."

Email: [email protected] Blog: northjersey.com/herbjackson

Sidebar:

Two candidates, similar contributorsOver the past five years, more than 120 political action committees, unions, lobbyists and

businesses have contributed to Bill Pascrell Jr. and Steve Rothman, the Democraticcongressmen facing each other in a June primary. Here are totals contributed by differentcategories of donors and the top contributors in each category.

Category, contributor Pascrell Rothman

* Transportation $180,600 $180,800Keep New Jersey Moving Inc. 10,500 30,500Joseph M. Sanzari Inc. 12,600 27,300National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. 19,500 18,000

Air Line Pilots Assn. 19,500 17,500* Defense contractors 107,000 170,500


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Honeywell International 15,500 21,000Lockheed Martin 8,000 27,000* Building trade/industrial unions 150,700 118,000Intl. Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 37,500 30,000Operating Engineers union 20,000 20,000

Laborers union 18,500 16,500Plumbers/pipefitters union 20,200 10,500* Other 136,025 125,100Inserra Supermarkets 4,500 61,600Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America 19,500 1,000National Beer Wholesalers Assn. 17,500 2,500Service Employees International Union 15,000 4,500* Pharmaceuticals/health products 113,456 112,200

Hoffmann-La Roche 42,156 15,000Johnson & Johnson 9,000 20,000Merck & Co 10,500 11,000Regen Biologics 2,300 15,900Category, contributor Pascrell Rothman* Finance/insurance/real estate 151,170 73,950National Assn. of Realtors 29,070 18,000National Assn. of Home Builders 17,500 16,500

Prudential Financial 24,500 5,000Natl. Assn./Insurance & Financial Advisors 20,500 1,000* Hospitals/health professionals 114,800 65,250

American Dental Assn. 25,000 10,000 American Optometric Assn. 21,500 6,500 American Hospital Assn. 17,000 7,500 American Society of Anesthesiologists 10,000 9,000* Public-sector unions 85,000 73,500

International Assn. of Fire Fighters 17,000 9,000National Assn. of Letter Carriers 12,000 11,500

American Federation of State/County/municipal employees 12,500 11,000National Education Assn. 11,000 8,000* Lawyers/law firms 67,250 72,900

American Assn. for Justice 12,500 19,000Lowenstein Sandler 28,050 1,800

Gibbons PC 2,000 10,000Scarinci & Hollenbeck 5,000 5,300* Lobbyists 90,950 48,450PMA Group 50,100 4,000Winning Strategies Washington 18,050 27,900Hutton Strategies 1,700 20,400Washington Strategic Consulting 5,600 5,300* Grand total $1,196,951 $1,040,650

Source: Record analysis of data compiled by Center for Responsive PoliticsKeywords: NATIONAL: Washington, D.C., POLITICS: Politics, STATE: New Jersey,TOWN1: Fair Lawn, TOWN2: Paterson

Credit: 2 PHOTOS - NO CREDITSCaption: PASCRELL


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Notes from the Trail: Covering Campaigns

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