Candidates for City Council Position #3 Fueled by Big
Campaign Contributions
Loretta Smith has collected 84% of
her funds in contributions of over $500 per donor
Honest Elections chair Jason Kafoury said, "Our effort to take big money out of the Multnomah County races, Measure 26-184, passed with 89% of the vote in 2016. And we are actively collecting signatures to put on the November ballot a very similar City measure (PDX-03) which would limit contributions in city races to no more than $500 per contributor per election cycle. We wondered what effect such limits would have on the current race."
The analysis, performed by Seth Woolley, shows that 69.4% of the $827,315 that has been raised by the five leading candidates for Position #3 came in to their campaigns in amounts that would be prohibited by Measure 26-184 or by the new PDX-03 measure. These contributions were either by individuals in amounts over $500 per donor (or per political committee) were directly from corporations or other entities not allowed to contribute under the terms of the measures.
The candidate receiving by far the most in large contributions (over $500) is Loretta Smith (84% of her campaign funds). The candidate receiving by far the most small contributions ($100 and under) is Jo Ann Hardesty. Hardesty's percentage of campaign funds obtained from large contributions (over $500) is 39%--less than half that of any of the other candidates.
Kafoury added, "We see a strong need to limit contributions in the City of Portland to reduce the appearance and reality of corruption."
The findings include:
- The leading money raiser, Loretta
Smith raised $255,538, 84% of it from donations over $500 per donor or
prohibited by the proposed Portland measure for which Honest Elections
is collecting signatures. Smith opposed contribution limits
in the hearings at the Multnomah County Charter Review Committee in
2016 on the measure that became Measure 26-184. If her "over
$500" donors had each contributed exactly $500 each, she still would
have lost 76% of the campaign funds she actually collected.
- Stuart
Emmons raised 81% of his $168,190 in amounts over $500 per donor or
prohibited by the proposed Portland measure. If his "over $500" donors had
each contributed exactly $500 each, he still would have lost 68% of the
campaign funds he actually collected.
- Felicia Williams raised 88% of her
$93,740 in amounts over $500 per donor
or prohibited by the proposed Portland measure. If her "over $500" donors
had each contributed exactly $500 each, she still would have lost 84%
of the campaign funds she actually collected.
- Andrea
Valderamma raised 65% of her $130,391
in amounts over $500 per donor or prohibited by
the proposed Portland measure. If her "over $500" donors had each
contributed exactly $500 each, she still would have lost 53% of the
campaign funds she actually collected.
- Jo Ann Hardesty, who had by far the most small contributors, raised 39% of her $179,458 in amounts over $500 per donor or prohibited by the proposed Portland measure. If her "over $500" donors had each contributed exactly $500 each, she still would have lost 31% of the campaign funds she actually collected.
"We think large contributions cause a kind of corruption--a perceived need for the recipients to do the bidding of their large contributors, when asked," said Kafoury.
The analysis also shows:
- Jo Ann Hardesty appears to have more
individual donors of $100 or less (at least 962) than all the other
candidates combined.
- Hardesty has raised $58,375 in
donations of $100 or less per donor, compared with $7,761 raised by
Loretta Smith from donations of that size.
- Hardesty has the greatest
percentage of donors residing within Portland (90%), while 63% of
Loretta Smith's donors reside in Portland.
Here is our analysis in full:
http://swoolley.org/files/pdx3donations2018.html
Source xls files we just downloaded from the SOS:
http://swoolley.org/files/Smith.xls
http://swoolley.org/files/Hardesty.xls
http://swoolley.org/files/Valderrama.xls
http://swoolley.org/files/Emmons.xls
http://swoolley.org/files/Williams.xls
We limited the analysis to donations on or after August 4, 2017, for
the totals at the URLs above.
Visit our website at honest-elections.com for more information about campaign finance reform for Portland. Or contact us at info@honest-elections.com.
For more
information, contact:
Jason
Kafoury
jason@honest-elections.com
202-465-2764Seth Woolley
seth@swoolley.org
503-953-3943
Ron Buel
ron@honest-elections.com
503-358-8677
David Delk
delk@honest-elections.com
503-232-5495