FEC Pre-General Reports Filed

Nancy Boyda:

Beginning of Period: $622,330.89
Raised: $39,250.00
Disbursements: $325,925.37
Cash-on-Hand: $335,655.52


Lynn Jenkins:

Beginning of Period: $553,287.77
Raised: $124,253.10
Disbursements: $315,247.36
Cash-on-Hand: $362,293.51

In a race this close, the distance between Jenkins and Boyda is as good as zero- particularly with all of the independent expenditures that have exploded in the last few days. But, for the first time, Lynn Jenkins has pulled into the cash-on-hand lead in her race to kick out Nancy Boyda.

Candidates are now also reporting 48 hour notices of large donations- we'll do a daily roundup for both Boyda & Jenkins.

$4.9 Million Raised to Date in KS-02 Race

In what will end up one of the most expensive congressional races in the United States of America, the three main candidates for the Kansas 2nd seat in Congress have raised a combined total of more than $4.9 million.

Overall, candidates in the race have raised a stratospheric $4.9 million, nearly three times the total spent in the 2006 election and ranking it with some of the nation's most expensive contests.

Surprisingly, it is former Congressman Jim Ryun, who lost in the August primary and isn't on the November ballot, who has raised $1.9 million so far, the most of anyone in the race.

Boyda, the freshman Democratic representative, has raised $1.5 million since the beginning of the election cycle.

Jenkins, the Republican state treasurer, brought in $1.4 million, which included $100,000 she loaned her campaign.

That's a huge, huge number from each candidate- particularly from Ryun.

Lots of ink has been spilled over the fact Lynn Jenkins managed an extraordinary take in the last quarter- it was impressive for sure. We can't, however, stress enough that she had no choice but to raise a ridiculous amount after spending nearly every cent she had to beat Jim Ryun in the primary just two months ago and- and this is very important- if it hadn't been for the fundraiser President George W. Bush was supposed to attend for her that ended up being with First Lady Laura Bush Jenkins would have raised less money than Boyda did.

'Course, none of this matters- Boyda's still got more money to spend, and Jenkins' support from the NRCC has gone up in smoke. Not a fun time to be Lynn Jenkins.

Boyda's FEC Shows Cash-on-Hand Lead

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda:

Beginning of Period: $890,452.80
Raised: $302,292.85
Disbursements: $570,414.76
Cash-on-Hand: $622,330.89

Itemized Contributions: $141,749
Unitemized Contributions: $41,711.08
PAC Contributions: $112,060.80
Other: $6,411.94

A much better number for Boyda when it comes to small dollar donations. While we aren't done with our full breakdown of both reports, it looks like both woman got the vast majority of their donations from Kansas. It also looks like that without her would-be fundraiser with President George W. Bush, Lynn Jenkins fundraising for the quarter would have been cut in about half- more on that later!

Oh, one other point- the very, very most important point going into the home stretch: Congresswoman Nancy Boyda still has more cash on hand than Lynn Jenkins, which means she's got more in the bank to use to get her message out in these last critical weeks.

Also, can we say one other thing: Jenkins raised a fabulous amount, that is undeniable, but that comes at a cost to both her campaign and the voters of Kansas. To raise this money, she scheduled a fundraiser with one of the least popular presidents in American history- and got hundreds of thousands of dollars from people who wanted to come and see him and who would, one would expect, like to see his policies continued.

The other problems is, in order to raise to much cash, Lynn Jenkins would have had to locked herself in a small, dark room with a telephone and a computer and made fundraising phone calls for hours upon hours. While that's certainly just part of the game, it prevented her from talking to voters, and from doing the job she currently has (which has been evidenced in recent days with more revelations she's ignoring her duties at the treasurer's office). It's a trade off- she did the only thing she could do to stay even kind of viable in her race, but tied herself to a deeply unpopular president and his deeply unpopular policies, and she ignored her current jobs and the voters of the 2nd District.

We'll see if it pays off in the end.

BREAKING: Lynn Jenkins FEC Filing Shows Loose Spending

Lynn Jenkins:

Beginning of Period: $489,211.81
Raised: $681,815.66
Disbursements: $574,689.70
Cash-on-Hand: $553,287.77

After a brusing primary, Jenkins has to refill her coffers to even stay in the race, and she certainly did that. But let's break that down a little more:

Itemized Contributions: $215,348
Unitemized Contributions: $19,310
PAC Contributions: $169,652.85
"Other" Committees: $227,274.91

A quarter of the money Jenkins raised was from PACs, and another 33% came from "other" political committees- we'll look closer at those later. 30% of Jenkins money came from big donors- and only 3% came from small Kansas donors. Each of these numbers certainly says something about where Jenkins' support really comes from.

More on this report, and Boyda's numbers, later tonight.

Boyda & Jenkins Pre-Primary FEC

Lynn Jenkins:

Beginning of Period: $486,228.54
Raised: $134,829.90
Disbursements: $131,846.68
Cash-on-Hand: $489,211.81


Congresswoman Nancy Boyda

Beginning of Period: $814,103.78
Raised: $243,043.61
Disbursements: $165,421.82
Cash-0n-Hand: $891,725.57

Once again, Boyda finds herself far, far in the lead when it comes to the number that matters most: cash still in the bank. Jenkins, while still holding a good chunk of change, isn't figuring this puppy right- what good is $500,000 in the bank if you lose the primary? True, she's upped her spending in the last several days with new TV and some nasty, nasty mailing hitting Ryun for being, well, worthless, she's still probably going to end the primary cycle with lots of money in the bank and with nothing to spend it on.

Ryun, on the other hand, is going to end the primary cycle with almost no money left (after an equally aggressive TV buy & some nasty mailers hitting Jenkins on raising taxes)- but all indications are he's going to have a general election still to run in. With Boyda sitting on nearly a million dollars on hand, Ryun'll have a hard time closing on her.

It's crunch time, kids- start watching for negative TV ads.

Ryun's Pre-Primary FEC Filing

First of our pre-primary filings:

Jim Ryun

Beginning of Period: $459,048.51
Raised: $447,382.75
Disbursements: $683,838.64
Cash on Hand: $222,592.62

Probably, too, Ryun will have spend even more between the deadline (July 15) and today.

Anti-Boyda Group & NRCC Breaking Election Law?

A front page story on The Politico today reveals House Democrats will file a compliant with the Federal Election Commission today charging the NRCC and one of the conservative attack-dog groups helping them attack vulnerable Democrats, Freedom Watch, with "illegally coordinating campaign activities."

In a draft of its complaint, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee points to a script Freedom’s Watch submitted to Louisiana TV stations on Tuesday for an attack ad bashing Democratic House candidate Don Cazayoux.

The Democrats say the “metadata” in the Microsoft Word document contains the letters “NRCC” in the title field and shows that the document was last modified by “cforti” — apparently a reference to Carl Forti, a former NRCC official who was recently named as executive vice president for issue advocacy at Freedom’s Watch.

“It is impossible to know from the available facts the exact nature of the relationship between the NRCC and the Freedom’s Watch script,” the DCCC says in its draft complaint. “However, any number of scenarios are consistent with the presence of ‘NRCC’ in the metadata of the script. The NRCC may have created the script and sent it to Freedom’s Watch. Freedom’s Watch may have created the script using a file or computer provided by the NRCC. In any event, the metadata tend to show that the NRCC was involved in some way in preparing the ad.”

Oh dear. That seem to be quite the clear violation of federal election law.

Freedom Watch attacked Congresswoman Nancy Boyda in November 2007 with a full page ad in the Topeka Capitol-Journal. Boyda took them to task at the time for being "deeply irresponsible." Now, we learn the full level of their irresponsibility- they'll break the law to get their ridiculous message out.

Ryun Pulls 16% of Donors from the KS-02

Continuing with our breakdowns of FEC reports from the folk competing for the pleasure of getting beaten by Nancy Boyda in November, we now turn to former Congressman Jim Ryun.

Previously, we've made hay out of the fact Ryun seems to really like visiting Kwik Shops, McDonalds', and giving himself great huge fat reimbursements from the campaign.

He also spends crazy amounts of money on stamps.

This quarter, it isn't much different- though fewer trips to the Kwik Shop. Also, Ryun didn't give himself nearly as much money as he has in the past- this time only pocketing $1,494.92 in campaign dough.

He continues flying through money, though he did slow down a little bit during this quarter. Last quarter we reported he had spent 75% of his total raised, this quarter our fiscal conservative improved that number by keeping some more coin in the bank, but he has still spent 66% of his total take.

Still leaves him in last place in the only important contest in this part of the game: cash-on-hand. Even by only raising $108K, Lynn Jenkins still has almost $30,000 more in the bank than he does, and, of course, Congresswoman Boyda almost doubled him.

The Ryun Campaign did spend a lot of money tapping into the fundraising list they've spent a year building- forking out $48,000 on postage alone. Mixed success...it appears the folks that gave Ryun his huge boost in the 2nd Quarter of 2007 aren't all that interesting in repeat performances.

One last tidbit: Of Ryun's 541 (yowza) itemized donors, 185 were from Kansas, and only 88 were from the 2nd District of Kansas. The man actually lies to people and tells them he has more Kansas donors than either of his opponents- when Jenkins beats him percentage-wise and Boyda beats him that way and in real numbers, too. Sorry, Jim, the facts don't lie: only 16% of your itemized contributions are from in-district, while Jenkins is at 43% and Boyda (who we'll breakdown next) is right at 51%.

So much for the people of Kansas wanting you back so desperately, huh, Jim?

Quickly: Lynn Jenkins is Disingenuous

Anyone who's been paying attention to this race for Congress knows that Republican Lynn Jenkins has said over and over again that she's running a "Kansas campaign" filled with "Kansas boys."

Yes, fine, that's true...though her campaign manager has spent most of his adult life working in Washington, DC, he is, in fact, from Kansas originally (as opposed to Ryun's CM, who probably couldn't have found Kansas on a map before the NRCC backroom-dealers sent him here. Nancy Boyda? Her CM is a life long Topekan...take that! Ha!).

But, we think, probably, when Jenkins travels the district and tells folks she's running a Kansas campaign they assume she means she's pulling her support (and staff) out of this part of Kansas- the Kansas 2nd Congressional District.

Not so much.

True, yes, Lynn's itemized donors are nearly all from Kansas (unless they're pro-choice women from New York). Only 22 of her 169 itemized contributions came from out of the state- which is really excellent- a better percent than either Ryun or Congresswoman Boyda. True, that's easier when your competitors have 5 times as many donors...

Problem is- more than half of them come from Kansas City and Wichita. Only 43% of Jenkins' support comes from within the district she wants to represent in Congress.

So, if Jenkins does manages to pull it together and win this puppy...who will it be that actually pushed her over Ryun? The voters of the 2nd District, or the money people from Kansas City and Wichita?

Where for art thou, Lynn?

Still lots and lots to pour over on the FEC reports, and we'll have detailed breakdowns up tomorrow early for both Ryun & Boyda, but the thing that strikes us first today is this: What in the world has happened to the once promising (for moderate Republicans, anyway) campaign of Lynn Jenkins?

For the second quarter in a row, Jenkins hasn't just been out raised by her opponents, she's been trounced by both Jim Ryun and Nancy Boyda. And it hasn't been just a nice, gentle trouncing, either, but a full on, hardcore, full-body trouncing where she's seen the numbers she's put up more than doubled by both of the people she's running against.

Credit where credit is due: Nearly ever penny of Jenkins' money came from Kansas...though more than half of it came from Kansas City and Wichita. Lord knows anyone would be a stronger challenger than Nick Jordan is again Congressman Dennis Moore...but we digress.

Anywho, outside of being embarrassingly small, the thing that really stands out on the Jenkins camp report is the amount of money Jenkins received from pro-choice groups- she took $2,000 this quarter from the PAC Republican Majority for Choice (who aired ads attacking Mitt Romney for flip-flopping on choice when he was running for President- see it here), took $2,810 in contributions earmarked for her from WISH List (which is a group that works to elect pro-choice Republican women), and a $885.43 in-kind donation from WISH List itself for the cost of a mailing.

All of this on the back of the announcement Jenkins will be throwing a fundraiser (in Kansas City, mind you) featuring the poster-child of pro-choice Republicans, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. Gov. Whitman should also be remembered as the disgraced former Bush Administration head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Yep, the same director of the EPA that lied to folk in New York about the safety of the air post 9/11, only to see thousands suffer horribly because of it.

Great catch, Lynn. Best you could do? Would no non-disgraced Republicans appear at an event for you?

We don't have any problem with Jenkins being pro-choice- we think that makes her significantly more reasoned than her Republican opponent. However, in a district, and a state, that went for Mike Huckabee in the Presidential Caucus, we can't imagine her very, very public pro-choice positions will help her much in her Primary Election.

Oh, and Lynn? About that $7,767.13 you gave the Dublin Group for "fundraising expenditures?"

They're obviously not worth it.

UPDATE- And (Finally) Jenkins Numbers In

We've got everyone now- Jenkins trails badly in the fundraising category, while Congresswoman Nancy Boyda is way way way out in the lead in money in the bank.

More analysis tonight!

State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins
Beginning CoH: $416,241.73
Receipts: $108,200.13
Disbursements: $38,213.32
CoH: $486,228.54

Frm. Congressman Jim Ryun
Beginning CoH: $364,970.71
Receipts: $251,581.53
Disbursements: $157,503.46
CoH: $459,048.78

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda
Beginning CoH: $654,420.83
Receipts: $226,617.82
Disbursements: $69,813.07
CoH: $811,225.58

Republicans begging for money while Boyda thanks supporters

Today's the last day of the first quarter FEC fundraing period for the good people running for federal office, and in about the last hour we've received e-mails from candidates all over the country begging for money- including Jim Ryun, who says he's only at 55% of his goal of raising $20,000 on the Internet!

Our heart goes out to him in this desperate time.

We've got nothin' new from Lynn Jenkins yet, but she did send out an e-mail last week sometime asking for little contributions ($10, $25, or $50), while Jim's e-mail pushes ya to give $2,300.

No real point, just thought it was interesting. Someone might be able to say something 'bout "small fries vs. big potatoes," but we certainly aren't sayin' it. Also, did anyone else notice in the CQ Politics article we posted earlier that when you call the Jenkins for Congress campaign the number on their web site takes you straight to her campaign manager's cell phone?

Nothing's quite as sad as running a congressional campaign out of your basement.

Nancy Boyda? She sent out an e-mail, too...but instead of begging on her knees for money, she thanked her supporters for helping her already reach her fundraising goal for the quarter.

Today is the final day of the first quarter of 2008, and you know what that means. Our campaign must soon file our quarterly FEC report, disclosing all of the contributions we've received in the last three months.

By long tradition, that means we should send you a high-pitched e-mail this morning, begging for last-minute contributions. Our opponents have already sent their panicked calls for support. One admitted to being $20,000 behind his fundraising goals; the other was $5,000 in the red.

But I have good news. Our campaign has already met our fundraising goal for the first quarter of 2008 -- and that's an enormous credit to your efforts.

You've hosted fundraisers, contributed what you can afford, and served as tireless advocates for our campaign. Thanks to your support, we're entering the second quarter of 2008 on very strong financial footing. Thank you very much!

Of course, our work is not done. A new quarter begins tomorrow, and we'll need your continuing support through Election Day. We'll need your help to share our message with voters and to stem the tide of attack ads. We've done extraordinary work so far, but we must not let up now!

So instead of seeing this e-mail as a final call for first-quarter contributions, consider it an opportunity to leap toward our second-quarter goals. Let's take this chance to show Kansans that our campaign has earned their faith and support.

If you can, please contribute $100, $50, or $25 to start the second quarter off right. Together we can repeat our tremendous success of the first quarter and carry our momentum through Election Day!

With warm thanks,

Nancy Boyda
Member of Congress

After these last ditch efforts (and thank yous for, you know, meeting goals), where will they all end up? Keep on making predictions.

FEC deadline fast approaches...who will come out on top?

The weekend is always a slow time here at Boyda Bloc, but it's a perfect time to post ya'll with a question: With the FEC filing deadline coming on Monday, March 31, what do you think we should expect to see in terms of money raised and on-hand from Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins?

Just as a refresher, this is where they all started this quarter (listed in "Cash on Hand order):

Congresswoman Nancy Boyda
4th Quarter raised: $218,054.81
Cycle-to-Date: $771,305.76
Cash on Hand: $654,229.18

Lynn Jenkins
4Q raised: $90,376.52
Cycle to Date: $406,377.37
Cash on hand: $416,241.73 (it's higher than contributions because of some pesky "other receipts."

Jim Ryun
4Q raised: 198,454.18
Cycle-to-Date: $960,127.85
Cash on Hand: $364,789.19

So, who's gonna raise what? Will Congresswoman Boyda continue to win the cash-on-hand battle? Will Jim continue to blow his wad on stamps? And will Lynn even manage to break $100K? Give us your guess as to amount raised and CoH.

StayRedKansas lies...shocking, we know

What is quickly becoming a nearly impossible to read mess of spelling and grammatical errors, the right-wing radical blog StayRedKansas reminded us all this afternoon of another of their significantly more upsetting traits- LYING.

They post today that 1). Nancy Boyda has received $94,000 from unions this election cycle, 2) that this is very, very bad, and 3) that "Jim Ryun and Lynn Jenkins have largely turned to donors within the State of Kansas for financial help."

All of those things, particularly the first and third things are out-and-out lies. Blatant lies, so clearly lies we can show you they are with three mouse clicks.

First, please notice that Nancy Boyda hasn't even received $94,000 from PACs this election cycle, let alone specifically pro-labor PACs. Second, reflect back to our post from yesterday that showed Jim Ryun only raised 32% of his total campaign haul in the 4th quarter from Kansas- and only 14% from the 2nd Congressional District. Here, see his FEC report for yourself!

Come on, seriously? Seriously? Lies to easy to verify as lies it only took a few minutes to do it?

The bit we can quibble on is whether or not taking money from pro-labor organizations is good or not. Wait...no, no we can't- it is of course a good thing to have a pro-labor member of Congress. They all should be.

And someday you labor-hating anti-union right-wing hacks will realize HB 800 was a pro-workers bill. We don't expect that anytime soon, but hopefully, someday, the light will come on over your little pea heads.

This should serve as an example, readers, of what we all should expect this Fall. When Republicans know they're losing, they do the one thing that comes naturally to them- they lie.

My name's Jim Ryun, and I'm running full-time to represent Texas in Congress

We need to squeeze in another report on a campaign stop for Jim Ryun even before he finds himself in California in April, because the former Member of Congress was in Texas on Wednesday campaigning hard for the right to represent all of us back here in Kansas.

It's unfortunate for Ryun that the article we found smashes the silly charade he's been carrying on for months- that his little trips around the country have just been nothing more than displays of a washed-up celebrity trying to get some ego stroking.

No, Jim wasn't at the track meet in Midland just to be at the track meet, he was in there for a fundraiser and just couldn't resist a little self-aggrandizing.

In Texas.

In Midland for a fundraiser at the home of Congressman Mike Conaway and his wife Suzanne, [Ryun] faces Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins in the Aug. 5 primary and hopes to take on Democratic incumbent Nancy Boyda, who beat him two years ago, in the Nov. 4 general election.

So, there you go. Jim's little flits around the country have been probably just what we expected: Fundraising visits camouflaged as desperate attempts to relive the glory days of his athletic career. While that makes us feel better for Jim's mental health (the alternative was just so sad...), it does make us wonder: After Jim travels the country raising money, who is it he's going to feel beholden to if he were to win? Kansas? Or California and Texas?

On that subject, the Conaways aren't the first Texans to go to the mat for Jim. In July of 2007, Gov. Perry promised Jim he'd do whatever he would to put him back in Congress.

That leg-up from Gov. Perry shows. Ryun's last FEC filing shows the almost exactly the same number of donations from Texas as it does from the Kansas 2nd Congressional District. Texas doesn't win, though- Jim did have 6 more people he would actually be representing give him money than he did Texans.

Perry wrote in an invitation letter that Ryun will support “our views in Congress.”

[...]

“His vote is a national vote."

So national, in fact, only 14% of this itemized contributions listed in his 4th Quarter FEC filing are from the 2nd District of Kansas- and only 32% are from Kansas at all.

Yes, Governor Perry, Jim Ryun's a national candidate- and might represent Texas values very well. He has support from everywhere.

Everywhere except Kansas.

BREAKING: Boyda raises $218K for 4Q, $654K COH

More to come, but Congresswoman Boyda's FEC report has been filled:

4th Quarter raised: $218,054.81
Cycle-to-Date: $771,305.76

And, the important one:
Cash on Hand: $654,420.83

Excellent numbers- more analysis tonight.