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SD Campaign Finance Reports Due Monday; Union Outspends Us Dems 24x Per Ballot Measure

Secretary of State Shantel Krebs reminds campaigners of all stripes that their year-end campaign finance reports are due in her hands by Monday, February 1. Hop to it, people!

Among ballot question committees, we have a lot of folks waiting for the last minute. My quick scan of the new campaign finance database shows that only a few of us have submitted our reports on how much we raised and how much we spent to get our various proposals on the ballot.

I was the first to submit year-end reports for ballot questions. On Referred Laws 19 and 20 combined, the state Democrats and I expended $13,171.50, 89% of that for paid circulators. Split that figure, and we got each measure on the ballot for less than $6,700.

Pierre lawyers Doug Abraham and Brett Koenecke were next to file on January 16. They haven’t raised or spent any money yet for their Committee for Regulated Lending.

William K. Thomssen, treasurer for South Dakotans for Fair Compensation, reported Tuesday that his group raised $158,500, all but $100 of that from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 49. They spent every penny of Local 49’s money on their petition drive, although the only item they list for expenses is “Consulting.” Once again, “consulting” appears to be a euphemism for spending a whole lot of money on results one could have gotten much more cheaply. They got roughly the same number of signatures for Initiated Measure 23 as we got for Referred Law 20, but they spent almost 24 times as much.

None of the other committees have submitted. Come on, Lisa Furlong, Rick Weiland, Melissa Mentele, and others—only five days to go!

21 Comments

  1. Lynn 2016-01-28 06:26

    Yeah come on Melissa! looking forward to reading who contributed financial support to getting this fake/flawed medical pot initiative passed. Who helped pay for the office space and those working to get petitions signed in those final weeks that also were witnessed getting signatures for the Payday loan 18% initiative?

  2. larry kurtz 2016-01-28 06:32

    Cannabis!

  3. Porter Lansing 2016-01-28 09:01

    I contributed a hundred grand, Lynnsky. Whatcha gonna do about it? Hmmmm?

  4. barry freed 2016-01-28 09:03

    Lynn:

    According to George Will ( the RCJ runs out of reading material before the coffee pot runs dry )

    Asset seizures by Law Enforcement have now surpassed the total dollars of goods stolen from us by criminals.

    ..

  5. leslie 2016-01-28 16:44

    Like lisa is driving that caddy….i’d say lol but it dates us:)

  6. Lynn 2016-01-28 16:50

    Sorry fellas but my concern right now is the full disclosure of who is financially backing the fake/flawed medical pot which is really a softer sell recreational marijuana initiative here in South Dakota. Once that disclosure is made and hopefully it is *fully* disclosed and nothing hidden we can go from there in terms of further discussion here.

  7. Lynn 2016-01-28 16:52

    Cory,

    Will SDAP with their predictably failed attempt at getting petitions filled to decriminalize recreational pot be required to disclose also?

  8. bearcreekbat 2016-01-28 18:00

    I would like to know who is funding Lynn’s phone calls and propagation of false stories and memes about the medical marijuana initiative? Somebody has to be paying for such a false and deceptive narrative – who can it be?

  9. grudznick 2016-01-28 18:26

    Did you all see in the RCJ that cannabis users are starting to show up with baglets of heroin at the Alex Johnson hotel? That’s right across the street from one of the best breakfast places. This fellow with the cannabis and heroin was from Colorado, too. Coincidence?

  10. larry kurtz 2016-01-28 18:29

    Budweiser is a gateway drug.

  11. jerry 2016-01-28 18:29

    Did the guy buy the baglets of heroin from the best breakfast place? Was that on the menu? Damn, I did not hear about that? Coincidence or what?

  12. jerry 2016-01-28 18:32

    Lynn did not get hired by anyone to do anything credible. Who would she call but a bunch of old guys who still have landlines. There all hard of hearing and if she said cannabis, they would answer with “bless you”.

  13. bearcreekbat 2016-01-28 18:40

    Bagels (not of heroin but of blueberries) are a gateway drug!

  14. larry kurtz 2016-01-28 18:44

    Did you all see in the RCJ that Rapid City is a hole of biblical proportions attracting white retirees from California?

  15. larry kurtz 2016-01-28 18:46

    Cory, even if your measure passes in 2016 the 2017 legislature will just throw it out, right?

  16. larry kurtz 2016-01-28 18:55

    In fact: none of the 2016 ballot measures that favor justice for the least fortunate in South Dakota will survive the 2017 legislative session, right?

  17. larry kurtz 2016-01-28 18:57

    Think about it: had the minimum wage initiative actually proposed a living wage it would be overturned this session.

  18. Porter Lansing 2016-01-28 18:57

    What a bankroll of characters for literary exploits. I once knew a woman whose only true love left her broken within because she had such a stick up her ass that none of his friends would even be around her. She reeked and seeped of bitterness until she mentally disintegrated … and no one noticed. Sad, huh? Her only solace came from a closeted gravy boat collector with baggage nearly as heavy as hers. *to be extrapolated over the cycle

  19. caheidelberger Post author | 2016-01-28 20:42

    Lynn, yes, Gaddy needs to file a report for SDAP. Every committee, successful or not in its petition drive, must submit a year-end report.

Comments are closed.