Brown Collects Three Times the PAC Money of Warren

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Janine Hanrahan, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Second quarter fundraising data reveals Senator Scott Brown is receiving more support from political action committees than challenger Elizabeth Warren. Brown collected $410,801 from PACs, nearly three times more than Warren, who has collected $133,074 from political action committees.

Much Brown's PAC contributions have come big businesses, including pharmaceutical companies, banks, and oil companies were among the many that contributed $410,801 to the Brown campaign, while nearly 70 percent of Warren’s donations came from different union groups.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Brown campaign press secretary Alleigh Marré sought to play down the difference between the two camps. “Scott Brown's donations from PACs are no different than Elizabeth Warren or the other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation,” she said.

But the Warren campaign seized on Brown’s support from the unpopular oil and financial industries. Press secretary Alethea Harney said in a statement, “While Elizabeth has been standing with working families, Scott Brown has been standing with Wall Street and big oil, working to weaken regulations and continue their subsidies and special deals.”

More than 160 different PACs contributed to the Brown campaign, with leadership committees connected to Congressional Republicans contributing $67,500, or 16.4 percent, of donations. But Brown also received $47,000 in donations from the financial sector, including contributions from PACs representing Goldman Sachs, Capital One, and Wells Fargo.

Union Support

The vast majority of Warren’s PAC donations came from unions, which contributed $90,500 to her campaign. In all, 21 different union PACs supported Warren in the second quarter; unions ranged from postal workers to nurses to painters to longshoremen. The largest donations came from the Service Employees International Union and the Utility Workers of America PACs, each of which contributed $10,000.

Local Republican activist Christopher Pinto said that he was unsurprised by Warren’s union support. “It’s unfortunate that the Democratic Party is the lap-dog of the unions,” he said.

But David Coyne, a member of the Worcester Democratic City Committee, characterized Warren’s union support as representing working and middle class interests. “These folks are lining up with Elizabeth Warren and I think that speaks volumes about who the constituents are.

One previous PAC donor of Warren's that made no contributions to her campaign this quarter was Emily's List, which has already funneled more than $311,000 to the Warren campaign.

Varied Interests

While the PAC contributions represent a mere fraction of approximately $13.67 million raised between the two campaigns they indicate which interest groups ranging from investment banks to snowmobile enthusiasts focused on the race.

Brown garnered $28,5000 from PACs representing oil companies including Chevron, Halliburton, and ConocoPhillips, $25,000 from the food and beverage industry, $21,500 from telecommunications corporations, and $21,000 from pharmaceutical companies. The largest donation to the Brown campaign came from the non-partisan VoteSane PAC, which kicked in just over $40,000.

In addition to union donations, the Warren campaign also received support from local and national Democratic leadership committees along with $1,000 donations from Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club. The League of Conservation Voters and the Human Rights Campaign were also contributors.