PAC's All Around...

According to Paul Herrnson in Congressional Elections a PAC (political action committee can best be understood as, “…the electoral arm of an organized interest.”  In the race in the 24^th District of New York Rep. Michael Arcuri (D) and Richard Hanna are both being supported by different PAC’s who are proving there’s plenty of outside interest.

A great article from auburnpub.com explains the extent to which outside organizations are providing support for the two candidates.

Richard Hanna is receiving support from Americans for Job Security (AJS) in the form of a $375,000 television smear campaign, as I mentioned in my last blog entry.  This independent expenditure by the AJS is a significant contribution, considering the cap if they would have directly donated to Hanna is $5,000.  Not to mention Hanna currently has $500,070 on hand and has raised $778,694 thus far.  Hanna’s campaign spokeswoman, Renee Gamela said the Hanna campaign was unaware of the ad campaign until it was released, which is most likely not the entire truth of the matter.

           

Hanna is not the only one receiving support however.  According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Arcuri has received over two-thirds of his campaign earnings from political action committees, most of which are based out of Washington.  He has received contributions from PAC;’s ranging from the politically based Blue Dog PAC to businesses such as Nucor Steel, who has a plant in Auburn,that donated $1,000 to his campaign.  As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Arcuri has also received contributions from some industries that can be linked to this committee. 

Arcuri’s spokesman Jeb Fain defended the contributions saying they were different from the ones Hanna was receiving.  Fain had this to say:

“The difference is transparency. Contributions to our campaign are available for the public to see as a matter of law and principle.  In typical Wall Street fashion, Mr. Hanna’s friends at AJS are using loopholes to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on his behalf, while keeping their donors a secret from upstate New Yorkers.” 

With tensions running high as November approaches, not even Arcuri who is leading in the latest polls, is willing to promise victory as it is still premature.