When asked why he robbed banks, the infamous “Slick Willie” Sutton replied, “"because that’s where the money is.” Here in California , the Republican National Committee has put Sutton’s law into full effect. It is clear, based on our analysis, that over the past decade the RNC has engaged in Highway Robbery of the Pacific Coast .
It’s no secret that political candidates and parties routinely rob the Golden State ’s vast resources for political contributions. California acts as an ATM machine where money is taken from here to use elsewhere — campaigns come to California to raise money, but then spend Golden State dollars in other states.
However, the FlashReport’s in-depth analysis of FEC campaign reports reveals a perpetual plundering of California Republicans’ resources for national causes. In 2006, California Republicans returned less than 2¢ for every dollar sent to the Republican National Committee – and that is very unfortunate, and over a period of time, has had a devistating effect here..
We set out to dig into this issue because of a lot of numbers being thrown about in our very "colorful" election taking place for Republican National Committeeman, and I wanted to inject some facts into the debate.
According to the Federal Election Commission’s data, California , which had every statewide office up for reelection, hotly contested Congressional races, a US Senate seat up, and numerous seats to defend in both houses of the State Legislature, received only $204,000 in financial support from the RNC in 2006. Check out the FEC data for yourself–
There is no way to spin this number. It’s even uglier when you compare what California donors sent in financial support to the RNC. In 2006, California gave more money to the RNC than any other state; our donors sent $12.9 million directly to RNC coffers. That means for every dollar California sent to the RNC, our state got back just under 2¢. California ’s donors returned just 1.5% of their initial investment.
I have had it explained to me by those "in the know" that McCain-Feingold’s draconian campaign finance restrictions make it harder for the RNC to give money directly to state parties. But the facts do not bear this out, because there is still a lot of money flowing from the RNC to state and local GOP committees…
In 2006, the RNC gave $37.5 million to state parties, including almost $4 million to Ohio ; over $3 million each to Pennsylvania and Missouri ; and over $1 million each to Tennessee, Virginia, New York, New Mexico, New Jersey, Montana, Nevada, Indiana, Iowa, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Arizona, and Colorado .
Some of these states had close races, but so did California . Just ask former Congressman Richard Pombo. And there is no way to explain why the RNC gave small, liberal states that lacked competitive races double- EVEN TRIPLE- the amount it gave California . Vermont , a state without any serious Republican candidates, received 2.5x California ’s support. The RNC gave Rhode Island , whose population is just 3% of California ’s, 3x what it gave our state.
California has always received a disproportionate share of RNC support. However, the past decade has seen a precipitous decline in the RNC’s support to California . Political contributions fluctuate from year-to-year; donors give more in Presidential election years than midterm elections. To account for these adjustments, we have put the RNC’s support to California over the last decade into a percentage of its total state party support. In 1998, California received nearly 10% of the RNC state party transfers. Last cycle, California received just .5%. There is no typographical error- that is one-half of one percent.
This election, California Republicans must defend crucial seats in the both houses of the State Legislature as well as attempt to regain former Congressman Richard Pombo’s seat. We have a tough challenge ahead of us, and the last thing we need is the RNC robbing our donors. Which begs the question: how do California Republicans stop this highway robbery?
Clearly, every year, consistently, those who are the decision makers at the RNC have decided that California is not a spending priority, undoubtedly figuring that the "return on investment" would be better elsewhere. And, they maybe right. But to a certain extent, repeated lack of funding in California makes the problem worse, creating a viscious cycle that results in habitual non-giving to the Golden State GOP.
I will close with an invitation to any current or past members of the Republican National Committee from California, as well as to those running for seats at next weekend’s convention, to send me their thoughts on this startling status quo. We’ll post them up on the blog.
If you want to comment on this post, you can do so here at the FR Blog.