The 2000 election is setting records for the amount of money raised and spent in a Utah election, with Gov. Mike Leavitt spending the most followed by the out-of-state backers of an initiative to rewrite Utah's asset forfeiture law.
Meantime, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Orton released on Wednesday the results of a review of Leavitt's campaign finance reports that he says raises serious questions about the governor's compliance with Utah campaign finance laws. Orton called for an independent audit last month after the Deseret News revealed $58,000 in charitable contributions earmarked for a lieutenant governor's art show ended up in the governor's campaign account. The money was ultimately returned.
The state reports clearly show money flowing into Utah races and ballot issues like never before.
The reports of the Utah state Republican and Democratic parties tell the tale alone. The Democrats have raised $1.6 million this year and spent $1.3 million. The Republicans have raised nearly $2 million and spent most of that, as well.
The big money comes from the national parties. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has pumped $864,000 through the state party to help 2nd Congressional District candidate Jim Matheson. The National Republican Congressional Committee, meanwhile, has given the state GOP around $1 million to help Derek Smith.
"It is the most money we've seen" from national parties in a local federal race, said GOP state executive director Scott Simpson.
New York billionaire George Soros and two corporate executives have poured a record-setting $717,770 into Utahns for Property Protection, including $156,510 in the last 45 days, according to new financial disclosure statements filed Tuesday. They favor the Initiative B ballot issue. Since the last reporting date, Sept. 15, much of the money has gone to Dan Jones & Associates for public opinion polls and Colorado-based Media Strategies and Research.
No ballot initiative in state history has been so flush with cash. In 1988, supporters of Proposition 5, which made it more difficult to change Utah hunting and fishing laws, raised about $600,000. Initiative B proposes to rewrite the laws that allow police agencies to seize property from suspected criminals.
A group opposed to the measure called the Utah Coalition to Stop Drug Dealer Profits has raised just $16,707, all of it locally and a fair share of it from police officers and police organizations. The group has spent $5,417 on printed literature the past month.
Leavitt continues to be the biggest spender in a state race this year by far. The Republican has spent nearly $1.8 million to date on his bid for a third term, more than 10 times what Orton, who didn't face a primary, has spent. He continues to thrive on hefty donations from corporations, PACs and wealthy Utahns.
Leavitt transferred $246,000 from his Governors Special Projects fund and $150,000 from his Western Republican PAC to his campaign account in the past month. Money in the Western Republican PAC comes mostly from large out-of-state companies that pay $10,000 a pop for a weekend at the governor's Loa ranch.
Dorothy Littrell, a certified public accountant who volunteered to review Leavitt's financial reports for Orton, says she found "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in expenses not accounted for, mathematical errors, several filings that don't balance and political accounts for which no reports were filed.
"This certainly exemplifies the need for campaign finance reform and an independent election commission to enforce the law," Orton said. "Every year, corporations, PACs and special interests hand out millions of dollars to Utah politicians, and no one is watching,"
Orton said his audit shows that over the last eight years, various Leavitt PAC accounts show: $912,367 was spent on "non-political expenditures that weren't itemized"; $80,000 in contributions came from companies that had state contracts; $117,000 came from non-profit entities; $17,000 came from firms owned by the LDS Church; $58,000 came from alcohol or tobacco firms; and $440,000 in contributions came from publicly-regulated utilities.
Orton's low-budget campaign has spent $140,120 to date. He refuses contributions exceeding $1,000 as well as corporate and special-interest donations. But he has managed to nearly triple the amount of money he had at the Sept. 15 reporting date. The Utah State Democratic Party has put nearly $58,000 in kind into his bid for governor.
Other money, mostly coming from special interest groups, is going into the state parties as well. And that money is then being passed along to state and local candidates.
For example, the Republican National Elections Committee has given $380,000 to the state GOP. "We're passing that along to state candidates, conducting turn-out-the-vote efforts and pay the light bill" for state party headquarters, Simpson said.
Tobacco giant Phillip Morris has given the state Republican Party $29,000 this year. That money could be filtered down to GOP legislative candidates who, on their own, may be turning down big tobacco contributions.
Democrats have received $76,500 from labor unions, $27,500 from Ian and Annette Cumming, $20,000 from Bruce Bastian, $2,700 from teacher unions and $3,500 from credit unions.
The attorney general's race also has turned into a big-money affair.
Republican Mark Shurtleff, a Salt Lake County commissioner, has spent $548,707, more than double that of Democrat Reed Richards. The Utah Republican Party is Shurtleff's main source of income, having dropped $133,000 into his campaign since Sept. 19.
Richards, Attorney General Jan Graham's chief deputy, has spent $244,248 and recently injected $20,000 of his own money into his war chest. All told, Graham has given Richards around $30,000 herself.
U.S. English, the Washington, D.C., lobbying group behind the official English movement, put another $19,423 into Initiative A in the last six weeks. The organization has spent more than $137,000 in Utah this year. A $10,300 contribution to Utahns for Official English, the local proponent of the ballot measure, went to advertising.
The opposition groups, Utahns United and the Democracy Project, actually outspent their counterparts during the last reporting period. Utahns United put out $34,031, more than a third of which went to radio ads. The Democracy Project spent $5,443 this period.
E-MAIL: bbjr@desnews.com ; romboy@desnews.com