Sessoms – benefits of campaign finance deadlines
Virginia Beach Will Sessoms has had a good fundraising year, outraising every candidate on the November City Council ballot. The odd thing is he isn’t even on it.
His supposed re-election effort isn’t until 2012, where rumors are former Mayor Meyera Oberndorff is mulling a rematch. Sessoms isn’t doing much to dampen the speculation, raising over $200,000 and currying favor with anti-business groups that were Meyera’s base. If he’s hoping to deter a rematch, kissing up to her base and raising a ton of cash are perfect ways to do that.
But at least he admits it’s also about the other races this fall, and he’ll spread more than a little bit of that to help his friends and hurt his foes. There have been a few too many close votes and drama at Council this year, two things the consensus-loving Sessoms doesn’t like.
How much could he spend? We’ll not know for a long time. Sessoms doesn’t have to file another report until January 18, 2011. He could raise a million dollars and we won’t know until well after the elections.
Political Action Committees have some of the same freedoms. Any contributions under $10,000 received by a PAC after October 1st aren’t reported until next January. No PAC expenditures after October 1st are reported until January either.
This makes the role of kingmaker relatively easy for PACs or non-election candidates like Sessoms. Of course, candidates would have to report any contributions in the normal reporting cycles, but that’s where it gets interesting.
Sessoms has noted great support for Barbara Henley, who lacks any business community support and has raised a scant $300. With Will’s checkbook racking in money for the rest of the year reportable only in January, will Henley need to raise a dime herself? And will voters know from where the support came in time for it to matter? Sessoms could write Henley a giant check on October 1st, not have to report it until January, and Henley wouldn’t have to report it either until October 25th, presumably well after the ads would be airing.
Of course, you don’t have to contribute to a friend to help him. You can pay for attack ads against an opponent. In races with several candidates running at-large, it would be difficult to ascertain any direct in-kind benefit from a heavy television buy attacking one of them.
A PAC can be dormant all year, start raising buckets of cash on October 1st and only contributions of $10,000 or more are reported this year.
I’ve long been a supporter of Virginia’s system of no-limit campaign finance, but these reporting deadlines are a joke, especially in the electronic age. Learning about contributions and expenditures two months after Election Day doesn’t help any voter. I have no problem at all with Mayor Sessoms engaging in the political process, or anyone else for that matter.
But these reporting deadlines are gaping loopholes that are a disservice to transparency that is crucial to Virginia’s campaign finance freedoms.
Category: Campaigns and Elections
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Actually Brian, Barbara Henley does have business community support, and with Will’s help, can prevail against a candidate too close to DeSteph and the “DON’T DEW IT TEAM” redux. Afterall, with DeSteph gone (he who can’t get a second on his motions), the Council will be able to deliberate and decide in the absence of rancor and set a positive direction to spur quality economic growth. The benefits of leadership and consensus have certainly proven by Sesson’s election and his performance as Mayor, and I think most Beach residents feel the pride of knowing we have a leader in charge.
Good post, Brian. I agree the reporting deadlines limit transparency. What do you think is the alternative? What reporting schedule would you adopt?
As for attack ads: there is a requirement for reporting independent expenditures, at least for PACs. Is there a similar requirement for candidates/campaigns? If Sessoms paid for attack ads, would he have to report it? If not, the law should be changed there to require the same reporting as now required for PACs.
I was thinking about that, Vivian. I think any campaign with over say $10,000 in funds should follow the same campaign deadlines whether they are up this year or not, and at least weekly reporting within 30 days of elections.
Transparency is fine, but from a campaign standpoint, why would a candidate want to telegraph their strategies to opponents on a near real-time basis? Media and Blog speculation about large expenditures or donations reported weekly by a campaign prior to an election could be used as a political football to distract or otherwise confuse us common folk who aren’t privy to the give and take between political insiders. And as if there isn’t enough hyperbole about the issues, how a campaign is spending it’s money doesn’t really need to be thrown into the mix as another dodge for not answering fundamental issue-based questions, unless an issue is connected directly in some way with a campaign.
Again, I’m all for transparency, but when real-time reporting has the possibility of being turned into smoke screen that clouds our ability to judge candidates, then it could get in the way of the truth.
Brian,
“anti-business groups that were Meyera’s base”?
Personally, I’d have everyone required to report at least quarterly.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bearing Drift, Old Virginia. Old Virginia said: New Blog Post: Sessoms – benefits of campaign finance deadlines http://bit.ly/9dGXqp [...]
[...] on hand – and intends to use some of it to help other council candidates. Brian Kirwin raises some good questions about the supposed transparency of Virginia’s campaign financing [...]
Hurray for transparency! How about that campaign disclosure bill that was blocked by Republicans? Crazy times, huh?