43
Ryan gives Uncle Sam $63,750
Photo
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-17
Congressman from Valley received illegal donations
YOUNGSTOWN
With the redrawing of congressional districts for the 2012 election posing a challenge to some incumbents, members of Congress representing the Mahoning and Shenango valleys increased their campaign war chests in the first three months of this year.
Everyone, that is, except U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th.
That wouldn’t have been the case had Ryan not paid $63,750 on March 25 to the U.S. Treasury.
The amount is how much Ryan’s campaign received primarily in the 2006 and 2008 campaigns from Paul Magliocchetti, members of his family, friends and employees.
Magliocchetti is a once-powerful lobbyist sentenced in January to 27 months in federal prison after admitting he made hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign donations to members of Congress, including Ryan.
Magliocchetti steered hundreds of millions of federal earmark dollars to military contractors who were clients of his firm, the PMA Group.
Lawyers who advised Ryan and other members of Congress who received “questionable contributions” from and through Magliocchetti to either refund the money or give it to the U.S. Treasury, said Hanna Kassis, Ryan’s campaign manager.
The decision was made to give it to the Treasury “to assure that no one who may have participated in making an illegal contribution would benefit from the committee’s disbursement of the fund,” Kassis said.
“Congressman Ryan and his campaign committee were unaware at the time that the contributions made were possibly illegal.”
Ryan raised $111,660 with $92,900 coming from political action committees during the first three months of the year, according to his campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission for the period from Jan. 1 to March 31.
His campaign spent $130,951.22 during that same time frame with $63,750 going to the U.S. Treasury.
Because of the money his campaign carried over from previous years, Ryan had $98,595.41 in his account as of March 31.
Ohio must eliminate two of its 18 congressional seats for next year’s election because census figures show the state’s population grew less over the past decade than most other states. The 435 seats in the U.S. House are changed every decade, based on census data. As the Sun Belt outpaces the Rust Belt in population, states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan will lose congressional seats.
With Republicans in control of redistricting, one and possibly two of the House seats to be eliminated will come from the northeastern part of Ohio, which saw large population declines.
That will likely pit incumbent against incumbent with money playing an important factor in the 2012 congressional races.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson of Poland, R-6th, raised $156,262.67 with $53,600 from PACs and he spent $81,187.16 during the first three months of the year.
His two biggest payments were $25,000 to PRH Consulting Group LLC of Columbus for an “election victory bonus,” and $14,000 to himself to pay off a portion of the $70,050 he lent to his campaign.
Including money carried over from 2010, Johnson had $107,080.80 in his campaign fund as of March 31.
Even though he’s a Republican, Johnson could also find himself in a face-off with another Republican because the state must cut two House seats.
U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette of Bainbridge, R-14th, raised $122,308.97, all but $1,700 from PACs, and he spent $80,726.69 during the first three months of the year. With carryover from previous years, LaTourette had $306,094.56 in his account as of March 31.
In Pennsylvania, freshman U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly of Butler, R-3rd, raised $51,672.37 with $34,134.38 from PACs and spent $36,829.89 between January and March. Including carryover from last year, Kelly’s fund had only $43,312.17 as of March 31.
U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire of McCandless, Pa., D-4th, raised the most of any Mahoning and Shenango valley representative during the first three months of the year.
Altmire raised $193,000.36 with $148,500 from PACs, and spent $69,799.38 during the year’s first quarter.
As of March 31, Altmire’s campaign had $133,160.94, including carryover from previous years.