Alaska News

SarahPAC spent $418,000 in first quarter -- nada to GOP candidates so far

Sarah Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC, on Wednesday filed a report with the Federal Election Commission on its income and spending for the first three months of 2012.

The report says SarahPAC took in slightly more than $388,000 and spent just more than $418,000 during the reporting period. It also shows the leadership PAC has not given money to any candidate yet this year.

All of the money Palin's committee reported taking in between January and March came from individuals and persons other than political committees in increments ranging from $17 to $5,000. Other party or political PACs did not contribute.

One of the more unusual entries in the list of itemized receipts is just more than $1,800 from a Topeka, Ks., publishing and mailing company for a "postage refund."

The filing shows the bulk of SarahPAC's first-quarter spending went to operating expenses, including postage, domain name renewal, and a small stable of legal, political and logistical consultants.

Itemized disbursements show SarahPAC spent about $19,000 to produce the video rejoinder to the HBO movie "Game Change."

SarahPAC ended the reporting period with nearly $983,000 cash on hand and no outstanding debts.

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SarahPAC treasurer Tim Crawford told Politico that the PAC does plan to begin giving out political donations once campaign season starts to heat up.

Politico also learned that one expenditure for $4,500 indicates that Palin intends to have an independent presence near the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Learn more from the FEC, here, and from Politico, here.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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