Politics

Palin's PAC supported political consultants more than GOP candidates in 2015

WASHINGTON -- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's political action committee -- dedicated to electing GOP candidates -- is upside-down in its budget and spent very little on Republican candidates last year.

SARAH PAC spent nearly than $1.4 million and took in just over $950,000 in 2015, according to recently released data from the Federal Election Commission, to which the committee must report its contributions and spending. At the start of 2016, the political action committee had $380,963 left in its coffers.

The committee, launched in 2009, is ostensibly designed "to help elect principled, conservative leaders," according to its website. Officials from SARAH PAC did not respond to a request for comment.

Judging by the FEC filings, that includes appearing on "Saturday Night Live," speaking at a private corporate event and guest-hosting a television show, three Palin trips that align with times the PAC paid for posh hotels for the advocate of fiscal responsibility.

But SARAH PAC isn't big on donating to political candidates.

Less than 2 percent of the PAC's expenditures went to political candidates in 2015 -- just $23,500 split between 45 campaigns (though two of them never cashed their checks). All of those checks were written in just one week, from June 24 to June 30 -- the close of books for the mid-year FEC filing deadline.

None of them were Alaskan politicians.

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And SARAH PAC reported to the FEC that it spent none of its substantial funds on advertising to support candidates, to be filed as "independent expenditures."

So where did the rest of that $1.3 million go? Mostly to raising more money.

SARAH PAC spent more than half a million dollars in 2015 on a variety of consultants -- marked with qualifiers such as "research," "logistics" and "fundraising." Separately, the committee spent $66,000 on speech-writing services.

And a nearly-as-large chunk of funds, more than $470,000, went to direct mail -- likely the PAC's top fundraising method.

Who’s giving?

More than 70 percent of those who contributed to SARAH PAC in 2015 gave less than $200, putting them below the threshold for "itemized" contributions -- meaning they cannot be tracked.

What's left -- $283,408 -- came from more than 2,000 separate donations ranging from $1 to $5,000. (Donations are detailed for any person who gives more than $200 a year, not just in a single donation.) The PAC often urges supporters to give as little as $25.

Those who gave to SARAH PAC included CEOs and CPAs, farmers, factory workers and homemakers, and a Texas woman who identified her occupation as "cancer patient."

But for the most part, they were retired: More than 60 percent of the itemized donations were from people who described themselves as retired.

And they were from the Lower 48: Only two Alaskans gave more than $200 to SARAH PAC in 2015, one in her hometown of Wasilla and one in Bethel.

What about the rest?

With more than a million dollars come and gone, the rest of SARAH PAC's outpouring of cash in 2015 went to Palin's travel: more than $100,000 for a year's worth of hotels, airfare and a smattering of SUV rentals across the country.

A few late inclusions from November 2014 show a busy month. She went to Monroe, Louisiana, where she attended a rally with the stars of "Duck Dynasty" for Bill Cassidy, the state's now-junior senator, who was at the time facing a runoff election. And then SARAH PAC spent thousands on lodging at the Ritz Coconut Grove in Miami, where Palin spoke at a corporate event in November 2014.

Palin didn't do much endorsing in 2015, an off-cycle year for elections.

But she did spend $4,562 at the Waldorf Astoria in February, when she was in New York City to appear on the "Saturday Night Live" 40th anniversary special.

In August, SARAH PAC supporters paid for Palin's stay at the Fairmont Del Mar in San Diego, when she was there to guest host a One America News Network show.

A taste for fancy hotels was evident again in Washington, D.C., when Palin spent $4,720 at the luxury-boutique Hotel George while in town for a rally that included Republican front-runners Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas). The rally was organized by the Tea Party Patriots and the Zionist Organization of America in opposition to the Obama administration's proposed nuclear disarmament deal with Iran.

In addition to the tens of thousands that the PAC gave to political candidates, SARAH PAC also donated $10,000 to a charity that helps families of Navy SEALs, given when Palin attended a fundraiser for families of Navy SEALs in April.

Erica Martinson

Erica Martinson is Alaska Dispatch News' Washington, DC reporter, and she covers the legislation, regulation and litigation that impact the Last Frontier.  Erica came to ADN after years as a reporter covering energy at POLITICO. Before that, she covered environmental policy at a DC trade publication and worked at several New York dailies.

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