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Report: Specter refunds total $850K
The final refund tally is in.
Since defecting to the Democrats, Senator Arlen Specter has returned about $850,000-worth of campaign contributions to disaffected donors, The New York Times reports. When he switched parties last year, Specter said he’d refund donations to anyone upset by the move. His campaign closed the window on those refund requests last Fall, at which point about 900 people had requested refunds. The conservative Club for Growth is taking credit for spurring about $600,000-worth of returned money.
The total represents a significant, but hardly catastrophic, dent in his campaign coffers. Specter finished 2009 with about $8.65 million in the bank, $3.5 million more than primary rival Joe Sestak and almost $6 million more than Republican Pat Toomey.
Still, nine-and-a-half million has a nicer ring than eight-and-a-half.
February 2, 2010 at 8:00 am
Tags: Arlen Specter, Club for Growth, Joe Sestak, Pat Toomey














David Diano
Feb 2nd, 2010
Dan-
If only Sestak would offer to refund the money he took for his congressional reelection to anyone who didn’t want it p1ssed away on a damaging Senate race.
HateSestak
Feb 2nd, 2010
Specter’s commitment to ethics is evident. Representative Sestak, on the other hand, attaches little importance to either ethics or the rule of law. As long as it advances his interests, it is deemed acceptable.
David Diano
Feb 2nd, 2010
Hater-
I have to say that returning “$850,000-worth of campaign contributions to disaffected donors” is putting your money where your mouth is on a promise.
For any Joe fan who thinks “Joe would do the same”, nothing’s preventing him from doing so.
BTW, Sestak hasn’t transferred any money from his “Sestak for Congress” account to his “Sestak for Senate” account.
He’s still got $4.2 million there. Was he planning on holding it there in case he dropped out and need to write checks out of it for congressional race for his seat?
Or is it being frozen pending the outcome of the investigation?
LooserSestak
Feb 2nd, 2010
Dave-
I noticed that the Sestak for Senate account didn’t file a 4th quarter report. Only the Sestak for Congress account was filed.
Any ideas?
David Diano
Feb 2nd, 2010
Looser-
The Senate campaigns DID file. For some bizarre reason, the Senate FEC reports aren’t electronic, like for congress. Instead they send physical printouts which have to be scanned at the FEC and put online as PDF files.
So, it takes another week or two before we can see the reports.
David Diano
Feb 2nd, 2010
BTW, do you really mean “looser” as in “not tight”, or “loser” as “not going to win”?
Anonymous
Feb 2nd, 2010
Plenty – but I dare not voice them. I will pose the question once again: is Representative Sestak bent on self-destruction? Why is he continuing to wage a campaign that is doomed (in every respect)? He frequently expresses concern for his daughter’s health and well-being. If he truly cares for his offspring, he would not want to subject them to the media frenzy and speculation that lies ahead.
David Diano
Feb 2nd, 2010
Anon-
There are plenty of parents that care for their kids, but aren’t above using them as a prop. Look at Palin and baby Trig. Sestak’s wife and daughter are so far removed from Pennsylvania that I would worry about them caught up in any media frenzy.
If Sestak wasn’t constantly diving in front of the cameras, we would hardly see him.
There are some that think running and losing could still be a stepping stone for Sestak, like if Arlen needs to be replaced. I disagree. I think once Sestak loses, the curtain on him will be pulled away, like in the Wizard of Oz.
Sestak came to PA a blank slate, and got the benefit of the doubt. But, now, we know who and what he is. We know we can do better.
Sestak will win
Feb 3rd, 2010
Look what happened in the IL primary in the final weeks
http://www.pollster.com/polls/il/10-il-gov-dempr.php
And Sestak is much better positioned now than Hynes was 3 months ago.
This is not a good time to be an incumbent. The writing is on the wall for specter
David Diano
Feb 3rd, 2010
Sestak will lose-
Sestak’s graph has already peaked and is diverging down and away from Specters.
It’s not a good time to be a challenger with no infrastructure, no local offices, no professional campaign staff, no campaign manager, no support, no original ideas and no gravitas.