Posted on 08/10/2009 9:21:13 AM PDT by Maelstorm
LEWISTON - Maine's Democratic Party rode several large donations to a healthy fundraising advantage over Republicans early in this election year.
In financial disclosure forms filed Wednesday, Democrats reported raising more than $199,000, compared to $105,000 by Republicans for the period between April 1 and June 1.
Reports from candidates, political action committees and parties were all due Wednesday.
Large donations - several from out-of-state interests - accounted for the vast majority of the Democrats' fundraising. Of the $199,000 total, $179,000 came from contributions of $5,000 or more.
The Republican Party reported just seven contributions of more than $2,000, accounting for about $26,000 of the total. The largest chunk of Republican fundraising, about $57,000, was listed as aggregated contributions that were not itemized.
The largest single gift to the Maine Democrats was $50,000 on May 31 from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which is in Washington, D.C. The DLCC was created in response to the 1994 elections, a Republican tidal-wave year that saw Democrats falter around the country. Its goal is to support Democratic candidates for the state Legislature.
The most curious donation came from another Washington organization.
The Democratic Governors Association - Maine made a contribution of $25,000 to the state party on May 24.
The political action committee, which is registered in Maine, shares an address with its parent organization, the Democratic Governors Association in Washington. The DGA - Maine was formed to comply with state law, said Jon Summers, DGA's communications director.
The Maine-registered group filed a disclosure report Wednesday showing that it had received a single contribution, for $25,000, on the same day it donated to Maine Democrats.
The contribution was listed as coming from Mylan Laboratories in Canonsburg, Pa.
It did, but it didn't.
Mylan made a contribution to the Democratic Governors Association, not to Maine specifically, according to Summers. Because of Maine's disclosure laws, the DGA's Maine affiliate has to show the original source of the money, otherwise it would look like DGA had given money to itself when disclosed.
Contributions to DGA are distributed on a first-in, first-out basis, Summers said.
A coincidence, in other words.
Mylan makes generic pharmaceuticals and has sponsored at least one drug trial authored by Dr. Robert Weiss, chief of cardiology, at St. Mary's Medical Center in Lewiston. The trial was for the drug Nebivolol and involved hypertensive patients.
Weiss, reached at his home Thursday, said he didn't deal with the political side of the company, only with the scientific side. He also said he couldn't imagine why the company would make a donation to the Democratic Party, given the trouble it has caused for pharmaceutical companies in general.
Patrick Fitzgerald, vice president for public relations at Mylan, wouldn't discuss any other trials in Maine or further comment on Nebivolol because he said it is still being evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. He also wouldn't discuss any other activities by the company in Maine.
Mylan actively participates in politics on the state and national level in an attempt to increase access to generic drugs, which lowers drug costs for individuals and governments, Fitzgerald said.
He said that his company has supported the Democratic Governors Association as well as the Republican Governors Association, but he said he was confused about the contribution that has made its way to Maine.
According to Fitzgerald, the company paid a $35,000 membership fee to the Democratic Governors Association for this year, but had not directed it to be used in Maine. Other large contributions
• The Philadelphia law firm of Barrack, Rodos and Bacine donated $10,000 on May 31. The firm specializes in local, state and union pension funds and was part of the class action lawsuit against WorldCom.
It is one of 24 national law firms being considered for a contract by the Maine State Retirement System. In December 2005, the system sent out a request for proposals seeking law firms to monitor the action of publicly traded companies that could result in a loss of value of the system's holdings and to conduct securities litigation, according to John Milazzo, the chief deputy executive director and general counsel for the retirement system. Barrack has cleared the initial screening, which judged whether the firm met the minimum requirements for the work.
Proposals were due Jan. 20 and a decision will be made within the next month. A three-person committee, which includes Milazzo, will ultimately award the contract.
The Maine State Retirement System is an independent agency that was moved out of the executive branch several years ago. Milazzo said the first he heard of the contribution was during a phone call from the Sun Journal on Thursday.
The contract could prove extremely lucrative. While the retirement system pays nothing for the services, the law firm, if it wins a suit, could be in line for fees between 12 and 30 percent - paid by the defendant, not the state - of any damages awarded, Milazzo said.
• Daniel and Sheryl Tishman, both with Tishman Construction Corp. in New York, donated $15,000 each to Democrats on May 31. Robert Tishman, listed as a consultant with Lehman Brothers, donated $5,000 on the same day.
Daniel Tishman is a huge name in commercial real estate and, according to a 1994 article in the New York Times, owns a 256-acre llama farm in Jefferson, Maine, southeast of Augusta. He's also had major contracts with Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. Also, according to the New York Times, a big chunk of the company's business involves state and local agencies.
In a project of national significance, Tishman's company rebuilt 7 World Trade Center in New York, the first WTC tower to be reconstructed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The original tower was built by Tishman's father and was completed in 1986. The new tower, which is five stories larger than the original, was also the first office building in New York to receive the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
Tishman is a noted environmentalist and a supporter of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Maine's CasinosNo! organization.
• Goldberg, Lindsay & Co. LLC of New York gave Democrats $10,000 on April 26. The investment company is connected to several large businesses in Maine.
Co-Managing Partner Alan E. Goldberg is a director on the board for the Maine Beverage Co., which has the state-issued monopoly for liquor sales in Maine. Other associates with Goldberg are also directors for the Maine Beverage Co. and Pride Manufacturing, which owns wood product manufacturing facilities in Burnham, Guilford and Houlton.
• Robert F. Greenhill of Greenwich, Conn., contributed $15,000. Greenhill is the former president of Morgan Stanley and chairman of Smith Barney. His investment banking firm, Greenhill and Co. LLC advised MeadWestvaco on the sale of its paper mill in Rumford and other properties around the country.
• Hawkins Delafield and Wood LLP law firm of New York also donated $5,000 to the Democratic Party. According to the company's Web site, it is the only national law firm in the U.S. "whose practice is devoted primarily to public finance and public projects" and "the firm is consistently ranked among the top law firms in the nation in terms of volume as bond counsel and underwriters' counsel."
Also according to the company's Web site, it has served as bond counsel to health care is issuing authorities in Maine and since 1986 as bond counsel to MaineHealth, a four-hospital system, including Maine Medical Center, based in Portland.
In 1991, Hawkins helped implement a new state law that created a "moral obligation" reserve fund for the Maine Health and Higher Educational Facilities Authority. According to Hawkins, the law firm "drafted the appropriate resolutions, indentures and loan agreements" to put the law into effect. Since 1991, Hawkins has served as the bond counsel on more than 30 bond issues for more than 100 nonprofit and for-profit educational and health care institutions.
• The political action committee started by former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, Forward Together PAC, gave the party $5,000. Warner is considered to be a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.
• The Maine law firm McTeague, Higbee, Case, Cohen, Whitney and Toker P.A. donated $5,000. The firm is in Topsham and concentrates on personal injury, workers' compensation, labor law and workplace discrimination.
A partner in the firm, Ralph Tucker of Brunswick, was appointed as a Maine District Court judge last year.
• The NEA Fund for Children and Public Education, the political action committee for the National Education Association, gave Democrats $10,000. The fund makes contributions to "friends of public education."
• The House Democratic Campaign Committee, an Augusta PAC, donated $9,000. The committee received contributions mostly from Democratic state representatives and its donation to the party goes largely to pay for the salaries of campaign staff, said Stephen Von Vogt, the PAC's treasurer.
If ANYONE thinks there`s gonna be a GOP landslide in 2010 they`d better wake up and smell the coffee.
It`s gonna be a totalitarian super majority from man many years.
Don’t you bet on it.
sure...these guys are the “heavies” for Congress..out in the communities..making sure the will of Congress prevails...We the People be da&*ed...
Oh I`ll bet on it, big time.
Ask the average GOP candidate if he thinks Medicare is
un-Constitutional, which it is.
Vote GOP get “ hey us too, bigger government. Except not as big as those guys.”
Yes some of them that is true. Part of me would not mind Obama giving America a reason for revolution the other part wants to have faith in the American people to set things right without going to war with each other.
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