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DCCC May Sue Rep. Parker Griffith for Return of Campaign Funds

The Hill is reporting this afternoon that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), having failed to publicly pressure Alabama Rep. Parker Griffith to return the $500,000 he received from them for his 2008 campaign, may seek legal action.  Griffith, who switched to the Republican party late last year, had originally said he would return contributions from disappointed supporters.  Later, he clarified to indicate he could not return contributions from the previous election cycle.

The campaign committee — which has been unable to publicly pressure Griffith to reimburse it for what DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) described as Griffith’s failure “to honor our commitment to him” — may seek legal action.

DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider would say only that the committee is “not ruling anything out at this point.”

The threat of a lawsuit spurred Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) to return $263,000 in Democratic campaign donations after he switched parties in 2004. While no lawsuit was filed, then-DCCC Chairman Bob Matsui (Calif.) argued for Alexander to return hundreds of thousands of party and Democratic member donations “based on the fraudulent claim he was going to run for Congress as a Democrat.”

Van Hollen has used similar rhetoric.

So, they’re going back to threatening language that has worked in the past.  Will it work with Griffith?  I strongly doubt it.

Inside Rep. Parker Griffith’s almost $1 million in Receipts for 2009

Considering all of the controversy surrounding the party switch of Alabama’s 5th Congressional District Rep. Parker Griffith, he isn’t hurting for money.  He reported receiving $965,206 in 2009 and had cash on hand of $714,835.  Now let’s go inside those numbers…

  • $399,737 was from individuals, $562,014 was from Political Action Committees (PACs)
  • One thing I see as notable in Griffith’s report, is people who have maxed themselves out for both the primary and general election…effectively “frontloading” his receipts.  I counted at least 10 donors who did this in this cycle.  Including candidate for state senate Tom Whatley (here and here).

Notable individual donors also included:

  • $2000 from political consultant Joey Ceci
  • $2000 from HealthSouth CEO Jay Grinney
  • $2000 from the Chairman of the UAH Board of Trustees Sid McDonald
  • $1000 from political consultant Joseph Perkins of Matrix LLC
  • $500 from Space and Rocket Center Executive Director Larry Capps
  • $250 from State School Board Member Mary Jane Caylor

Notable PAC donors included:

  • $10,000 (here and here) from Alabama Power Company Employees PAC
  • $7500 (here, here and here)from the International Association of Firefighters PAC
  • A number of donations for Democratic Representatives, some of which were returned by the end of the year, the rest, I’m sure, will be shown as returned on the next report

Since the party switch happened so close to the filing deadline, we have no way of knowing how many of these donations will likely be refunded, but the report is notable nonetheless for the size and number of contributions he had received prior to the switch and I’m certain all of us will be looking closely at his next filing to see where he stands post-switch.

Caption Contest – Parker Griffith Edition

Photo Courtesy of the Huntsville Times

 Provide your own captions below…

 

The Parker Griffith Fallout

As I mentioned two days ago, the fallout from Rep. Parker Griffith’s decision to switch from the Democratic party and join the GOP will send significant ripples across the Alabama political scene, and boy has it ever.  Here is just a sampling of the fallout:

Personal Impact

First, the switch guarantees him nothing in terms of maintaining his office, it simply changes the set of challenges he faces.  His press secretary resigned.  He now is part of a party who went after him with both barrels during the 2008 election, attacking not just his politics but his integrity.  Yet, the Republican party establishment has generally been welcoming, with state treasurer and candidate for governor Kay Ivey (herself a party switcher in the ’80’s) being a notable exception.

He also was accused by the state Democratic party of downloading data in the “wee hours” prior to his announcement (Politico dubbed it “Parker-gate“) that was confidential and assembled by the party.  Rep. Griffith has since offered a statement in response to the accusation saying he would delete the data in question.  He was aided in the effort by his consultants from Main Street Strategies, run by political consultant Joey Ceci, which sent additional ripples into the gubernatorial race, as noted below.

5th Congressional District race

The most obvious immediate impact here is leaving no Democratic candidate in the 5th congressional district, which has been represented by a Democrat since the late 1800’s.  There are many names being floated as potential candidates in the race, but we know the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) called current state Agricultural Commissioner, and candidate for governor, Ron Sparks to ask him to consider a run for the seat.  His decision could extend the ripples of the Griffith decision out to yet another level, causing a significant shake-up in the governor’s race, as Artur Davis will likely remain unopposed in the Democratic primary, which will allow him to conserve resources until the general election.

Griffith’s switch also had a significant ripple effect on the Republican side of the race.  Certainly, the national Republican party is not going to let it’s new shining example fail.  I fully expect an effort to get Mo Brooks to drop from the race (though he maintains he will not), but Les Phillip will likely stay in and Wayne Parker (Griffith’s Republican opponent in 2008)  is now starting to chatter about making another run at the seat as well.

Alabama Governor’s Race

When news of the activity by Main Street Strategies became public, it was closely followed by gubernatorial candidate Artur Davis asking for and receiving Ceci’s resignation as a consultant to his campaign.  That was obviously a hit to his campaign, but a hole that can be filled.  The bigger development will be if Sparks decides to abandon his run for governor to become the Democratic challenger in Griffith’s district.  That would leave Artur Davis as the lone candidate in the Democratic primary and radically change the shape of the race.  Davis would be able to hold resources and focus on targeted challenges to Republican candidates, who would then be dealing with an extremely competitive primary of their own.  It is a dream scenario for Davis and a nightmare for the eventual Republican nominee.

From my perspective Griffith made the decision he had to make to stand a chance at holding his seat, he was a dead duck as a Democrat.  It also gives the Democratic party a chance to field a candidate that has broader support from its own base and brings a new energy to the race for them as well.  If a strong candidate is fielded, it may end up being a win for both parties.  As for Sparks, I think he will flirt with the race, but will ultimately decline and remain in the governor’s race, if only to offer people an alternative to Davis.  Another part of the story that will be fun to watch is who is willing to work with Joey Ceci in the coming year, or if he becomes toxic amongst Democrats after aiding Griffith’s switch.  All-in-all, quite a Christmas surprise for Alabama politicos.