Middle Class Utahns Fail to Support Romney

Big donors find ways around Mass. campaign laws

By David M. Bresnahan
September 2002 Print Edition

Despite a personal visit to the state to raise funds, and a direct mail campaign sent to a large mailing list of Republican leaders and activists, Romney has only managed to collect about $6,000 in grass roots donations from Utah.

However, business leaders and Olympic contacts have found ways to donate far more than the $500 limit imposed by Mass. law.

Romney developed many relationships while in Utah as head of the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics, but many of those supporters were surprised when they learned they could not give him more than $500 - a limit imposed by Mass. campaign laws.

"Mitt is an incredible man, and the people of Mass. will benefit greatly with Mitt as governor. I see no reason why individuals and families from Utah shouldn't find every legal way to help that happen," said a Romney supporter and campaigner from Utah who asked not to be identified.

Romney's influential and well-to-do friends in Utah were not stopped by the laws of Mass., which do not permit corporate contributions to candidates. Utah does not have a similar restriction. Individual donations to candidates and to political action committees (PACs) are limited to $500 by Mass. law, but Utah has no such limitation.

"Supporters who want to give more than $500 ask how to give more, and they always want to know the way to do it legally. No one wants to do anything wrong," said the campaign worker, who was concerned because he is not an official spokesman for the campaign.

Although Mass. permits PACs to donate to candidates, Romney pledged not to accept any PAC money for his campaign - a pledge he has kept.

Politicians often have favorite PACs lined up to enable individuals and companies to donate first to the PAC, then the PACs give to the candidates - known as "soft money" donations. The arrangement enables larger donations from a single source, and it helps to make the source of donations less public and harder to track.

The abuse of PACs for soft money donations by other politicians in the past caused Romney and his advisors to eliminate that funding source completely, leaving him with the need for greater creativity. His self-imposed campaign finance restrictions combined with Mass. laws leave Romney with what at first appears to be only one source of funds individual donations of $500 or less.

A closer look at his fund-raising efforts in Utah reveals another way to bring in larger contributions.

High-rollers who want to donate to Romney can actually make two donations. They can
contribute a maximum of $500 directly to Romney's campaign fund, and then they can send up to $5,000 to the Mass. Republican Party.

In fact, if they really want to give even more, it is quite easy to do. The money is simply given by each adult family member to magnify the total. Companies who want to help a candidate can simply have employees and their families donate in their own personal names rather than in the company name, and it is obvious from a study of campaign finance disclosures that this technique is in use by Romney supporters.

Utah is known for large families, something that is certainly helping Romney in his quest to magnify $500 donations into something larger. Some families give both to Romney's campaign fund and then also give to the state Republican fund.

Money received by the Mass. state GOP can easily be used to benefit Romney without actually giving the money directly to him. The state party can use such donations to fund get-out-the-vote telephone campaigns, as well as campaign ads. It is also used for political polling to help Romney develop and revise campaign strategy and tactics.

So, what has Romney accomplished so far?

The most current campaign donation reports filed by candidates with the Mass. Office of
Campaign and Political Finance only show contributions received as of the end of July.
Romney held campaign fund-raising events in Utah during May, and has either met personally or phoned his contacts with the deepest pockets in the early part of his campaign.

Between July and August, at least two different letters have been sent to grass roots Republicans throughout Utah. The results of the first letter, sent in July, cannot be considered impressive with only about $6,000 collected. A second letter with the exact same wording went out recently, the results of which will show up on future financial reports.

"We turned a $379 million debt into a $55 million surplus. We inspired our country and uplifted the world," said Romney in both letters.

"Massachusetts has big problems," said Romney, "problems similar to the ones we faced in Salt Lake City. The state is in debt and not everyone is working together to fix the problems. Yet they instinctively raise taxes at the drop of a hat," he added, trying to appeal to conservative Utahns' hatred of taxes and big government.

As of July, Romney has received more than $41,000 for his campaign fund from influential Utahns, and over $130,000 has gone to the Mass. Republican Party, according to the Mass. Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Those numbers are expected to be much larger, but the totals from Utah will not be known until final reports are filed. The amounts and proportions do indicate how Romney is getting large donations for his campaign, and the trend is expected to continue.

A number of Utah husbands joined with their wives to donate a combined $1,000 to Romney's campaign fund, but even more teamed up to donate to the state party, official records reveal.

Kem Gardner of The Boyer Co. is a good example of the way large donations are being funneled to benefit the Romney campaign. Gardner developed The Gateway shopping center, which was the beneficiary of having a major Olympic plaza located there. Gardner and his wife each donated $500 to the Romney for Governor campaign fund ($1,000 total), and the Mass. state GOP received a total of $15,000 from Gardner family members. Other Boyer officials donated a total of $7,500 to the party coffers so far.

Romney's second in command at SLOC was Fraser Bullock who combined efforts with his wife to give $10,000 to the Mass. GOP.

Officials from Olympic sponsor, multi-level marketing giant Nu Skin, gave $15,000 to the GOP, according to records filed with the state.

Billionaire Jon Huntsman and his family members donated $17,000 to the state party so far. Huntsman was once a major critic of hosting the Olympics in Utah, but turned supporter after Romney came to town. Huntsman is perhaps more well known as a philanthropist than as the international industrialist who built Huntsman Chemical.

Long-time Olympic supporter, and one of the key people instrumental in getting Romney to take on his Olympic role, Spencer Eccles and family have paid $20,000 to the Mass. GOP so far. Eccles was once the chairman of First Security Bank chairman.

The gold, silver, and bronze Olympic medals were designed and minted by the O.C. Tanner Co. Don Ostler, a now-retired executive from that company, did not have his family join in donating. He gave $2,500 to the state party fund, leaving room for an added donation near the end of the campaign.

Although money from Utah is only a small portion of the approximately $2 million collected by Romney so far, it is a good indicator of the strategy of the Romney campaign.

Romney's campaign workers are following "GOP campaign 101." Find supporters, stay in contact with them, strengthen that support, and get those voters to the polls on election day. It's not a new strategy. In effect the campaign that accomplishes this task wins.

It takes money to win, and Romney is expected to spend $6 to $8 million before the campaign ends.

Efforts to raise funds through Utah Republican grass roots sources were not as successful as the appeal that tapped into deeper pockets. A fund-raising letter sent to a general Utah Republican party mailing list brought in small donations that were mostly in the $2 to $50 range with only a few that were $100 or more for a total of only about $6,000 coming from average Utah Republicans, according to donation reports.

"You and I share many of the same values," said Romney in his letter to Utah Republicans. Apparently the low results show that recipients of the letter disagree.

Utah is not the only state giving to Romney's campaign war chest. More than 1,200 individuals with residential addresses in states other than Mass. gave small amounts to the campaign.

Despite his Utah and LDS contacts, Romney's greatest financial support has come directly from individuals who live in Mass., records show. Romney has lived in Mass. for three decades.

Early in the campaign Mass. Democrats unsuccessfully challenged Romney's residence and eligibility to run for governor.

In addition to looking at the names of individuals who donated to Romney and the GOP state party, it is interesting to note the names of employers listed by individual donors. Mass. Law requires that donors who give $200 or more must disclose their employer.

When Romney began his campaign in March he said he would not accept donations from PACs, and would not ask Olympic sponsors to donate to his campaign. His campaign officials have told the media that lists of Olympic sponsors do not exist in the campaign offices.

Many executives from past Olympic sponsors are apparently deciding to send individual donations to the campaign anyway, financial reports filed recently show.

Hundreds of top officials from Olympic sponsors and large firms such as John Hancock, General Mills, Staples, Marriott International, KSL, Fidelity Investments, and EMC teamed up to make donations of $500 each.

David M. Bresnahan is an award-winning investigative journalist and author who lives in Utah and was formerly with WorldNetDaily.

An archive of his work can be found at http://InvestigativeJournal.com. He can be
contacted at David@InvestigativeJournal.com. His current book on the 9-11 attack can be obtained at http://911TerrorInAmerica.com.