While Rep. Karen Shepherd, D-Utah, is helping lead attacks on lobbyists and political action committees, $3 of every $4 she raises comes from them.
Disclosure forms show she took $23,750 from PACs set up by special-interest groups, which was 75 percent of the $31,503 she raised during the first six months of this year.The largest chunks included $11,000 from labor unions, and $5,750 from transportation groups likely interested in her position on the House Public Works and Transportation Committee.
Meanwhile, Shepherd as co-chairwoman of the Democratic Freshman Task Force on Reform has pushed hard for campaign reform that would limit PAC donations and overall campaign spending.
Also, she has introduced a bill to ban most gifts by lobbyists and to require full disclosure of the rest.
So why is she taking money from PACs and lobbyists that she is helping lead a fight to limit?
"Current election regulations allow candidates to accept contributions from PACs, and I am now operating with the current system, as all other candidates are," she said.
"In my last campaign, I received grass-roots contributions from more than 3,000 individuals, and I will make a similar effort to obtain individual contributions in this election," she added.
PACs also donate plenty to Utah's other members of Congress.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, received $244,151 from PACs - about 56 percent of the $431,986 he raised during the first six months of this year. That included $35,500 from health-related groups likely interested in his role in the health-overseeing Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee (including $1,000 each from PACs for tobacco-selling Philip Morris Co. and RJR Inc.).
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, received $110,042 from them during the first six months this year (but returned $2,000 from tobacco-selling RJR/Nabisco). That included $37,500 from financial and housing groups likely interested in his role on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah, took $26,391 from PACs, or 94 percent of the money he raised. That included $5,500 from financial and housing groups likely interested in his role on the House Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee.
Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, collected $3,000 of the $3,200 he had in donations the first six months of this year from PACs.