02-18-2012-SPRINGFIELD - Candidate for the U.S. Senate, Elizabeth Warren, left talks with Agnes Kearon of Springfield before the Ward 5 Caucus at the Mill Pond School in Springfield on Feb. 18, 2012 morning. (Staff Photo by Dave Roback)Latest Politics Coverage
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Six months before the election, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has raised more money for Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren than it has for any other candidate in the organization’s three-year history. A spokesman for the liberal group MoveOn.org called the amount of money MoveOn has raised for Warren “unprecedented” in a Senate campaign.
Warren is the likely Democratic opponent facing Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown in his reelection bid. Liberal advocacy groups from around the country are rallying behind Warren, using their extensive fundraising networks to fill her campaign coffers. Donors and advocacy groups say they are swayed largely by Warren’s work on consumer protection in the financial industry.
“She’s been such an important voice for reigning in Wall Street and rebuilding the middle class,” said Daniel Mintz, national director of coordinated campaigns for MoveOn. “Those are issues our members care about a ton. She’s really a hero for many of them.”
It is difficult to track exactly how much money these organizations have raised for Warren. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) solicits donors, but directs them straight to Warren’s campaign, so the PCCC is not listed on Federal Election Commission reports. The FEC only requires disclosure of donations over $200, and donations received after March 31 have not yet been reported. But based on the organizations’ records and FEC data, four organizations alone have funneled more than $1.5 million to Warren’s campaign.
The PCCC says it has directed $740,000 to Warren, making it the largest single source of funding. Emily’s List, a political action committee supporting pro-choice, female, Democratic candidates, has bundled at least $311,000 in contributions to Warren, according to FEC filings. MoveOn says it has bundled at least $400,000. The Council for a Livable World, which advocates for nuclear arms control and a progressive national security policy, has given $107,000.
ActBlue, a donation aggregation website that directs individuals to Democratic causes, claims to have raised more than $5 million for Warren, with an average donation of $46. But that figure includes all the money given through the PCCC and money raised at local events, where attendees RSVP through ActBlue.
The graphic below shows campaign finance data for the 2011-2012 election cycle.
Republican groups generally have not been using the same kind of fundraising strategies, though a non-partisan group called VoteSane has directed close to $10,000 in contributions to Brown, according to FEC filings. Brown did receive around $450,000 from “ideological” political action committees, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Bob Biersack, a senior fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics, said these groups have been building support over time and are becoming more effective in fundraising. “They’re giving those supporters around the country cues about which candidates are worthy of their support,” Biersack said. “They have a cadre of people who over the years have contributed to them over and over again.”
Carol Adler, a retiree and progressive Democrat living in Portland, Oregon said she gets multiple emails a day from political groups like the PCCC. “I’ve been sending money all over the damn place,” Adler said. She gave $1,125 to Warren – and plans to give more.
Adler has followed Warren’s advocacy for increased financial regulation. She donated after getting an email from a progressive group. “I jump when I see her name,” Adler said. “She’s smart, she understands what goes on in the money markets…The fact that she’s a woman doesn’t hurt.”
The progressive groups have contributed to the large number of out-of-state donations Warren has gotten. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 59 percent of Warren's money has come from outside Massachusetts, compared to 42 percent of Brown's.
Brown spokesman Colin Reed said, “Elizabeth Warren is very popular with out-of-state liberals and Hollywood elites, but in Massachusetts she’s simply known as the woman who falsely claimed to be a Native American minority law professor….Scott Brown is extremely proud that two-thirds of his donors come from Massachusetts.”
Warren spokesman Alethea Harney pointed to Warren’s support in Massachusetts. “The incredible enthusiasm we have seen from people across the Commonwealth who are contributing to this campaign shows the strong grassroots momentum behind Elizabeth’s fight for middle class families,” Harney said. “More than 30,000 people from across Massachusetts have contributed, and 70 percent of these donations have been $50 or less. This is the kind of strong grassroots effort we need to be able to take on the big banks and corporations that are lining up against Elizabeth.”
While the candidates have signed a “People’s Pledge,” preventing outside groups from advertising, the pledge does not prevent organizations from fundraising – which can benefit both Warren and the organizations. The PCCC, which supports a variety of progressive causes and candidates, launched a “Draft Warren for Senate” campaign in July 2011, and raised money to help Warren get into the race. The group urges Massachusetts members to volunteer for Warren. Before Brown and Warren signed the pledge, the PCCC spent $10,000 on online advertising, according to FEC filings.
PCCC spokesman Neil Sroka said members are enthusiastic about Warren’s message of holding Wall Street accountable and helping the middle class. “Tons of folks from Massachusetts and across the country are excited about someone who is giving voice and saying the things that so many of them are feeling,” Sroka said.
Warren also helps the PCCC. Warren is collaborating with the group to advocate for a law separating commercial and investment banks. A PCCC fundraising page for Warren on the ActBlue website solicited $490,000 for Warren and $134,000 for the PCCC.
Similarly, Emily's List co-hosted a fundraiser for Warren in October (along with liberal financier George Soros) and features her on its website. Warren wrote a fundraising letter and held a conference call to help Emily's List.
MoveOn, which was founded in 1998 and claims to have more than 5 million members, is the most well-known group. An opponent of the Iraq war, MoveOn was criticized for running a 2007 ad in the New York Times titled “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?,” referring to General David Petraeus, head of coalition forces in Iraq.
Mintz said MoveOn members respect Warren’s work chairing a congressional panel overseeing the use of federal bailout money. Mintz said progressives were frustrated when Obama did not nominate Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which she helped start, out of concern that Senate Republicans would block her nomination.
MoveOn urges members them to donate to and volunteer for Warren, and Mintz said the group’s fundraising for Warren has been “off the charts.”
Similarly, the Council for a Livable World has raised more money for Warren this cycle than for any other candidate. Though Warren has not made foreign policy a big part of her campaign, Executive Director John Isaacs said the group endorsed Warren after meeting with her and having her complete a survey. Isaacs said the group looks for close races, where a candidate has the potential to lead on national security. “She has inspired people across the country,” Isaacs said. “She’s a fighter on economic justice issues in way very few others aren’t.”
Warren has also been helped by alliances with other progressive candidates. Warren did two fundraisers with Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, in Seattle in December. A Cantwell-Warren joint committee raised $210,000 as of March 31, according to the FEC. In November, Peter Buttenwieser, a major Democratic donor, hosted a luncheon for Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democratic Senate candidate, and Warren in Pennsylvania, with tickets costing $250 to $10,000. A Baldwin-Warren PAC has raised $171,000, apparently mostly from that event.