Area Reps get no contributions

By David Skolnick | July 18, 2009 at 12:02a.m.

Photo

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles

Charlie Wilson

Kathy Dahlkemper

Jason Altmire

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan’s campaign spent more than it raised again.

YOUNGSTOWN — Not a single Mahoning Valley resident, organization or committee contributed money between April and June to the congressional campaigns of the congressmen who represent the area.

Instead, political action committees — most of them based in or near Washington, D.C. — provided a large majority of the campaign money raised by U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan and Charlie Wilson during the year’s second quarter, according to financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Ryan’s district includes portions of Mahoning, Trumbull, Portage and Summit counties. None of the $111,109.97 he raised in the year’s second quarter came from the Mahoning Valley. Nearly all of it, $100,300, came from political action committees.

Ryan hasn’t been actively raising money during the first half of the year, instead focusing his attention on legislation with a new presidential administration and constituent services in a troubled economy, said Ron Grimes, his chief of staff, in explaining why no one from the Valley contributed to the congressional campaign fund.

That should pick up shortly, Grimes said, with Ryan holding an Aug. 5 campaign fundraiser at McMenamy’s Restaurant and Banquet Center in Niles.

Wilson’s 12-county district includes all of Columbiana County and a portion of Mahoning County.

Only $1,550 of the $123,500 he raised in the year’s second quarter came from constituents who live in the district and none from the Valley. Wilson received $102,000 from PACs.

Like Ryan, Wilson “been really busy in D.C. and we just haven’t had unofficial time with him back in Ohio” to raise money locally, said Kristina Busack-Paolina, a Wilson campaign official.

But the next quarter, July to September, will be different, she said. Wilson held a fund-raising event Monday in Boardman that Busack-Paolina called “very successful.”

Among the five U.S. House members who represent the Mahoning and Shenango valleys, Ryan of Niles, D-17th, is the only one to spend more than he raised during the year’s second quarter. Ryan also had the least amount of money in his campaign fund among the five as of June 30.

The money to Ryan’s campaign apparently can’t come in fast enough.

Just as he did during the year’s first quarter, Ryan spent more money in the second quarter — April, May and June — than he raised.

Ryan spent $132,986.54, almost $22,000 more than he raised, between April and June.

Because his campaign had $235,070.77 going into April, Ryan had $213,194.20 in his fund as of June 30.

Ryan’s biggest expense was a $30,000 contribution to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the campaigning and fund-raising group for Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives, on May 26. His campaign also gave $7,000 to Gov. Ted Strickland’s campaign committee.

Just as Ryan did during the first three months, he spent $21,750 for fund-raising consulting fees: $12,000 to Sarah Willhelm Greathouse, co-owner of In It To Win It in Dayton, and $9,750 to Fraioli & Associates of Washington, D.C.

Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th, spent $46,989.39, about $75,000 less than he received in contributions, between April and June.

Including the money Wilson had in his campaign fund heading into the second quarter, the congressman had $366,123.97 as of June 30.

Wilson’s largest expenses were $6,000 to Schaeffer Strategies, a Washington, D.C., fundraising consulting firm, and $5,000 each to the DCCC, the Ohio Democratic Party and the Ohio Senate Democrats. Wilson’s son, Jason, is a state senator.

Wilson gave $500 to Strickland’s campaign committee.

Donald Allen, who plans to run as a Republican against Wilson in the 2010 election, raised $3,908 for his campaign between April and June. Of that amount, Allen, of Boardman, contributed $2,928.

U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Bainbridge, R-14th, raised $314,567.75 and spent $127,423.95 in the year’s second quarter.

Of the money LaTourette raised in the second quarter, $187,595.75 came from individuals, and $125,400 came from PACs. No one from the Mahoning Valley contributed to LaTourette’s campaign between April and June.

Including money he had coming into the quarter, he had $455,195.63 in his fund as of June 30.

His district includes seven northern townships in Trumbull County.

In Pennsylvania, U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire of McCandless, D-4th, raised $431,612.07 and spent $118,301.19 in the second quarter. As of June 30, Altmire’s campaign account had a $535,753.28 fund balance. His district includes all of Lawrence County and a portion of Mercer County.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper of Erie, D-3rd, raised $265,416.43 and spent $49,748.74 between April and June. Dahlkemper, whose district includes a portion of Mercer County, had $456,953.98 in her campaign fund as of June 30.

skolnick@vindy.com