Fiddling with the data filed with the Campaign Spending Commission, I did a quick-and-dirty listing of the top 30 individual campaign contributors to state and local candidates during the period of January 1 to June 30, 2016.
In the top spot is part-time Maui resident Jeffrey Bronfman, an investor and consulted, who contributed $2,000 each to several county council and state House candidates.
Four of the top ten contributors are associated with Capitol Consultants of Hawaii, the state’s top lobbyist firm, who combined to give nearly $60,000 to candidates during the six month period.
The rest are a cross-section of business and development interests.
The totals are probably conservative, as in most cases they don’t include contributions from spouses or dependents, and also do not include contributions from associated businesses or individuals.
But despite the shortcomings, it’s an interesting window in the world of big money contributions.
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Shouldn’t Bronfman be #2 Morris is #1
You are absolutely right.
The totals changed after I took the top names and checked whether they appeared elsewhere on the list because the names were spelled slightly differently. When I totaled the multiple entries together, Morris should have been sorted to the top. But in my rush to post, I missed that step.
Good catch!
I guess this is something “political” to talk about today, if the first day of the DNC is too depressing to discuss.
https://youtu.be/hK3DcVCGwTE
Hopefully Ian facilitated raising enough money last month for the local Bernie delegates to go to Philidelphia and boo anything related to the democratic nominee for the President of the United States.
You’re not kidding. For anybody who thinks that the reports of booing and dissension at the DNC is just media hype, take a gander at the following video.
https://youtu.be/U8hhcBMaktc
What’s funny is how the DNC thought that getting Bernie to shush the dissent would take care of everything. He only had limited success. Folks, the revolution is real and it goes beyond just partisan support for Sanders, just as the 1991 LA riots went way beyond the treatment given to Rodney King. King being trotted out in front of the cameras to say, “Why can’t we all just get along?” didn’t stop the violence and the looting, did it? Well, trotting out Bernie as a quick fix solution isn’t working here either.
Pew Research has been polling on the 2016 campaign for months, allowing it to track attitudes among voters over time. Nearly half of the Democratic electorate, 44 percent, changed their preference over the course of the three surveys Pew conducted. About 3 in 10 supported Clinton, wire-to-wire; about 20 percent Sanders.
https://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/files/2016/07/PP_16.07.24_demNomination_report_types.png
Pew asked those consistent Sanders supporters whom they support in the general election. NINETY PERCENT said they back Hillary Clinton.
That’s lower than the percentage of consistent Clinton supporters who back Clinton, which isn’t a surprise. It’s higher than the percentage of those who’d switched who now back Clinton, though only barely.
Last week, as the Republican convention was going on, Pew offered similar research about the Republicans. Of the 44 percent of the party that never supported Donald Trump, 79 percent were planning on backing him in the general election — lower than the percentage of Sanders supporters backing Clinton, but still nearly 8 in 10.
So why so much outrage in Philadelphia? Delegates to party conventions are not normal members of political parties. Part of the objection to Hillary Clinton stems from a sense that she doesn’t adhere to principles important to more-liberal Democrats.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/25/the-democratic-convention-is-chaotic-the-democratic-base-isnt/
“t” wrote:
“So why so much outrage in Philadelphia? Delegates to party conventions are not normal members of political parties. Part of the objection to Hillary Clinton stems from a sense that she doesn’t adhere to principles important to more-liberal Democrats.”
That’s part of it. But there’s a much bigger issue that fuels the discontent. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re in company with the bulk of the Democratic Party establishment.
Sanders supporters are outraged, not merely out of loyalty to Sanders or because they differ with with Clinton’s policies. They are outraged because they feel they have been *disenfranchised*. These folks would probably not have been thrilled with supporting HRC as the nominee, but they probably would have been more cooperative if they thought that their candidate lost fair and square. The leaked DNC emails put an end to any pretense that the primary process was a level playing field. C’mon, guys. You all know that the issue of disenfranchisement is not something that can be casually shrugged off. I seem to recall Ian himself devoting some columns to voters in the Puna district who felt similarly outraged when their ability to cast a ballot was hampered by extreme weather conditions. Well, guess what guys. The notion of having your voice and your vote count for something isn’t exclusive to the rich and influential. It isn’t exclusive to party insiders and centrists. Political upstarts and millennials also happen to care. And if you didn’t realize that before, well, the behavior at the DNC is providing you with a healthy dose of reality now.
As to quoting old polling stats in order to predict what members of the Revolution will do come general election time, keep in mind that the leaked DNC emails and the choice of Tim Kaine as VP has pushed many progressives into the point of no return.
For all the resources and insider connections that Hillary has, she never had the instincts to connect with voters like her husband did. Makes one wonder what Bubba will be up to at the convention. Does he have one more Sistah Soulja moment in him to win voters over to Hillary? Or will his frail condition, hoarse voice, and quivering hands make people think of him as a washed up has-been? It will be fascinating to see how this unfolds.