Funds came, went with Cheney
Vice President Dick Cheney’s visit to Spokane this spring brought Republicans to a downtown hotel ballroom, Democrats to the streets outside, and some $32,000 to the coffers of Senate candidate Mike McGavick.
Overall, Republican donors spent about $70,000 for the chance to see Cheney during his stop at the Davenport Hotel, where he delivered a speech to a rally crowd of about 100 and talked about local issues at a separate roundtable. But nearly a third of the total was eaten up in expenses, and the remainder was shared with the state Republican Party.
“We think that the vice president helped us move a little bit farther toward our goal,” McGavick spokeswoman Julie Sund said Wednesday when asked if that take was what the campaign expected. “The only goal is to have enough money to win in November.”
The McGavick campaign has other VIPs coming in August to help raise more money.
Kelly Steele, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party, said McGavick’s net proceeds from the Cheney visit “barely covers the city of Spokane’s cost of security.”
The Spokane Police Department paid out more than $17,000 in overtime for officers to control the crowd, escort the motorcade and help with security. That money was not reimbursed by the campaign or the state GOP, which collected $11,500 from the event.
Financial details of Cheney’s April 17 visit weren’t available at the time of the event, but are contained in reports recently filed with the Federal Election Commission by the McGavick campaign and the special committee set up to operate the fundraiser, the Washington U.S. Senate Victory Committee.
The Victory Committee spent more than $26,000 to put the event on. Renting the Marie Antoinette Ballroom at the Davenport, stocking it with food and beverages and decorating it for the rally cost nearly $17,000. Among the other expenses, the committee spent more than $3,000 on accountants to keep the books, and about $1,900 on photography. Some key donors received pictures of themselves with Cheney.
Tickets for the Cheney visit ranged from $500 for the rally to $2,100 for the special roundtable discussion with the vice president, McGavick and U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris.
The McGavick campaign announced Wednesday that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee will attend fundraisers in Spokane and Seattle on Aug. 14. The Spokane event is a $100-per-plate luncheon at the Doubletree Hotel, which will be followed by a meeting with local physicians involved in Project Access, a Spokane County Medical Society Foundation program that provides health care to low-income residents without insurance.
Also visiting other cities in Washington to campaign for McGavick this month will be Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.
Incumbent Sen. Maria Cantwell’s campaign had its own big-name VIP to a Seattle fundraiser on Monday. Former President Bill Clinton raised about $500,000 at the campaign dinner, a Cantwell spokeswoman said.