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PITTSBURG —
UPDATE: Information has been added about Jake LaTurner's campaign expenditures.
The filing deadline for political candidates’ campaign finance numbers was Monday. Tuesday, the Kansas Secretary of State’s office was busy putting those numbers online.
For the purposes of this campaign finance breakdown, like in the primary elections, we will analyze overall expenses, as well as PAC donations and major contributors. Numbers for State House District 3 (Bob Grant and Jeff Locke) were unavailable by Tuesday evening.
All numbers for this period are from July 27 to October 30.
State House District 3
Perhaps it is no surprise that Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, has a lead in campaign funds. After all, she was the former representative of this same district.
What may be surprising is the amount of campaign funds raised by her opponent, Michelle Hucke, R-Pittsburg.
Menghini started the race with roughly $10,000 in her war chest after the primary elections. Through campaign contributions, she added another roughly $25,000, to end with close to $35,000 in cash on hand.
About $4,100 of the $25,000 raised is listed as contributions from political action committees on her filings. That includes the KNEA PAC, Uniserv Southeast PAC, the Kansas Sierra Club PAC, the Kansas State Council PAC, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC, the Heavy Constructors PAC, the KTLA/Civil Justice PAC, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen PAC, the AT&T PAC and the Kansas Auto Dealers PAC. She has also received about $1,100 in in-kind contributions.
Campaign finance also shows where and how the money is spent, and Menghini’s strategy is clear. Of the $30,815.91 spent in her campaign, $11,000 has been donated to the Kansas Democratic Party while close to $8,500 has been spent on radio ads.
Meanwhile, her opponent, Michelle Hucke, had about $5,100 left after the primaries and has received about $20,300 in campaign contributions.
Of those contributions, about $2,400 are listed as political action committees, including LynnPAC (supporting U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan.), the Kansas Cable PAC, the Kansas Medical Society PAC, the Kansas Beverage Association PAC, the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality PAC, the Heart PAC, the PMCA Gas PAC, and the American Family Insurance PAC. Interestingly, Hucke also received a $100 Internet donation from someone who listed themselves as “TOT0-Tinman-And-Me” from Pittsburg.
The Kansas Health Care Association PAC gave $200 to each candidate, while the Kansas State Farm Insurance PAC gave $200 to Hucke and $100 to Menghini, according to filings.
UPDATE: Information has been added about Jake LaTurner's campaign expenditures.
The filing deadline for political candidates’ campaign finance numbers was Monday. Tuesday, the Kansas Secretary of State’s office was busy putting those numbers online.
For the purposes of this campaign finance breakdown, like in the primary elections, we will analyze overall expenses, as well as PAC donations and major contributors. Numbers for State House District 3 (Bob Grant and Jeff Locke) were unavailable by Tuesday evening.
All numbers for this period are from July 27 to October 30.
State House District 3
Perhaps it is no surprise that Julie Menghini, D-Pittsburg, has a lead in campaign funds. After all, she was the former representative of this same district.
What may be surprising is the amount of campaign funds raised by her opponent, Michelle Hucke, R-Pittsburg.
Menghini started the race with roughly $10,000 in her war chest after the primary elections. Through campaign contributions, she added another roughly $25,000, to end with close to $35,000 in cash on hand.
About $4,100 of the $25,000 raised is listed as contributions from political action committees on her filings. That includes the KNEA PAC, Uniserv Southeast PAC, the Kansas Sierra Club PAC, the Kansas State Council PAC, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC, the Heavy Constructors PAC, the KTLA/Civil Justice PAC, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen PAC, the AT&T PAC and the Kansas Auto Dealers PAC. She has also received about $1,100 in in-kind contributions.
Campaign finance also shows where and how the money is spent, and Menghini’s strategy is clear. Of the $30,815.91 spent in her campaign, $11,000 has been donated to the Kansas Democratic Party while close to $8,500 has been spent on radio ads.
Meanwhile, her opponent, Michelle Hucke, had about $5,100 left after the primaries and has received about $20,300 in campaign contributions.
Of those contributions, about $2,400 are listed as political action committees, including LynnPAC (supporting U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan.), the Kansas Cable PAC, the Kansas Medical Society PAC, the Kansas Beverage Association PAC, the Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality PAC, the Heart PAC, the PMCA Gas PAC, and the American Family Insurance PAC. Interestingly, Hucke also received a $100 Internet donation from someone who listed themselves as “TOT0-Tinman-And-Me” from Pittsburg.
The Kansas Health Care Association PAC gave $200 to each candidate, while the Kansas State Farm Insurance PAC gave $200 to Hucke and $100 to Menghini, according to filings.
Hucke also spent her money largely in one field, which represents her strategy. She spent more than $14,000 of the roughly $18,000 she has spent on signs or material for signs (Included in that is a $7,500 expense listed as “signs, brochures and mailings,” which may skew the results).
Hucke has received $145 in in-kind contributions, and has $7,330 left in her war chest.
House District 2
Republican challenger Jeff Locke, Arma, has an uphill battle to climb against incumbent Bob Grant, and that includes the campaign contributions.
He started the campaign with $209 and raised $6,885, giving him close to $7,100. Included in those funds are about $850 in PAC donations, including the Kansas Chamber of Commerce PAC, the Kansas Society of CPAs PAC and the PMCA Gas PAC.
He has also received about $1,250 in in-kind donations and has spent $6,387 largely on print ads and gas reimbursement.
Democrat Bob Grant, Frontenac, has both the advantage of incumbency and the advantage in the campaign coffers. Grant started with about $26,100 in campaign funds and more than doubled that, getting $27,677 in campaign contributions (He also received about $800 in in-kind contributions.
Of that $27,677, Grant received $7,750 from those labeled as political action committees, including the KNEA PAC (two donations), Allied Insurance Company PAC, Kansas Farm Bureau and Vote FBF PAC, Kansas Bankers Association PAC, Uniserv Southeast PAC, Kansas Optometric PAC, Kansas Realtors PAC, Sunflower Dairy PAC, Kansas Livestock Association PAC, Kansas Medical Society PAC, Kansas State Farm Agent and Employee PAC, Kansas Dental PAC, Kansas Cable PAC, Kansas Health Care Association PAC, Heavy Constructors Association PAC, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen PAC, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC, the Kansas Auto Dealers PAC, AT&T PAC, Kansas Land Title Association PAC, ONEOK Employees PAC, American Insurance Association PAC, and SITA-RTMC Independent Telephone Company PAC.
Grant’s money has been fairly evenly split amongst print and radio ads, billboards, and 4-H auctions
State Senate District 13
The easiest local race to write up campaign contributions is in the State Senate District 13 race.
Democratic candidate Gene Garman has signed a pledge not to receive or spend more than $500 on the race, exempting him from campaign finance filings.
Republican candidate Jake LaTurner, who defeated incumbent Republican Bob Marshall in the August primaries, has not stopped raising or spending funds.
LaTurner started the period with about $11,500 left over, and has received almost $58,500 and ended with about $70,000 in available funds.
That includes about $21,900 (plus $400 in in-kind contributions) from groups identified as political action committees. Those PACs include the Kansas Society of CPAs PAC (two donations), LynnPAC, Kansas Cable PAC, Security Benefit Life Insurance PAC, Kansas Automobile Dealers PAC, Kansas Farm Bureau Vote FBF PAC, Kansas Bankers Association PAC, Kansas Health Care Association PAC, Cerner Corporation PAC, Kansas Contractors Association PAC, Kansas Optometric PAC (two separate donations), Kansas Committee for Rural Electric PAC, Kansas Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Independent Pharmacy Service PAC, OneOK Employees PAC, Road Map PAC (affiliated with Gov. Brownback), Kansas Star Casino Employees PAC, Free State PAC, Kansas Dental PAC, Kansas Association for Responsible Liquor PAC, KS WSW PAC, Kansas Realtors PAC, Atmos Energy PAC, Heavy Constructors Association PAC, Kansas Medical Society PAC, Builder’s Association PAC (Kansas City Chapter), Kansas Hospital Association PAC, Kansas Beverage Association PAC, Kansas Restaurant and Hospitality PAC, Kansas State Farm Insurance PAC, KSPE PAC, PMCA Gas PAC, Kansans for Quality MHS PAC, Wal-PAC (Walmart), ACEC of Kansas PAC, NRA-Political Victory Fund, NFIB-Kansas Safe Trust PAC, and the Kansas Credit Union Legislative Action Committee.
He has since spent about $51,500 of that money. The expenditures show LaTurner spent much of his funds on postage, as well as mailers and a few radio advertisements.
