Yesterday was another big disclosure day for the presidential campaigns and many important super PACs. HuffPost Fundrace brings you all of the best coverage:
Who really won the May fundraising race? HuffPost: "Less than two weeks ago, a release from the campaign of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney showedRomney and the Republican National Committee (RNC) had raised a combined $76.8 million to beat the $60 million reportedly raised by Obama and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in May. The Romney campaign reported Wednesday that it raised $23.4 million in May and the RNC reported raising an eye-popping $34.2 million. The Obama campaignreported raising $39.1 million in May and the DNC reported taking in $19.9 million. That leaves Obama and the DNC with a total of $59.1 million raised, and Romney and the RNC with $57.6 million -- $19.2 million less than reported earlier in June. A missing piece to the Romney equation helps to explain the disparity. As The Huffington Post reported in May, the Romney campaign is raising money through a joint fundraising committee called Romney Victory that won't disclose its full donations and transfers until July 15."
The Obama campaign spent big in May: "The Obama campaign, which raised $39 million in May, reported spending a remarkable $44 million in the same month. That spending is $2 million more than the campaign spent in the previous three months combined and amounts to a burn rate of $1.43 million per day. Romney's campaign spent far less than the president, dropping only $15.6 million in May. That is a burn rate of only $504,177 per day. The big difference between the spending by the two campaigns: advertising. The Obama camp spent $28.9 million on media buys in May compared to the $4.45 million expended by the Romney campaign. That spending disparity is also noticeable in online advertising. Romney only spent $1.28 million on online ads compared to $5.38 million from Obama in May."
HuffPost's Sam Stein reports that the Obama campaign is predicting a $100 million fundraising month for Romney in June, "Speaking on background to a gathering of Washington, D.C.-based reporters, these officials predicted a $1 billion combined anti-Obama effort from Republican super PACs, nonprofit entities and the Romney campaign itself. The presumptive Republican nominee alone, they predicted, would raise more than $100 million in June -- a sum that would be both historic and demoralizing to Democrats, who went into the 2012 election expecting the president to retain his 2008 fundraising advantages. 'Anxiously,' is the adverb one top campaign official used to describe how the re-election team will handle the wave of spending."
Bloomberg's Jonathan Salant and Greg Giroux report that donors who previously gave to Romney's primary opponents are now starting to give to his campaign.
In the battle of super PACs, the pro-Obama Priorities USA Action actually held its own with Romney's Restore Our Future. HuffPost reports on Priorities: "The super PAC supporting President Barack Obama's re-election campaign raised $4 million in May, by far its best month since forming in 2011. The huge haul came mostly from four donations: three for $1 million each and one for $500,000. The $1 million donors were Houston-based attorney Steve Mostyn, real estate magnate Franklin Haney, and Barbara Stiefel of Coral Gables, Fla. Perennial Strategy Group, a Washington, D.C.-based firm headed by Lamell McMorris that offers everything from government relations to sports agents, contributed $500,000."
And on Restore Our Future: "The super PAC providing vital support to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign continues to pull in millions of dollars as it begins an all-out advertising assault on President Barack Obama. According to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission, Restore Our Future received $4.9 million in May from a collection of corporations and wealthy individuals, although without the past roster of notable names or eyebrow-raising surprises. As is typical for super PACs, which can accept unlimited contributions from corporations, individuals and unions, the majority of the money flowing to the group last month came in six- and seven-figure chunks. These giant contributions made up $3.8 million, or 77 percent, of Restore Our Future's May haul."
That reported $10 million contribution from Sheldon Adelson and his wife to the Romney super PAC did not turn up in the report covering May. It was likely made in June and will be reported in July. The Adelsons did, however, pop up in yesterday's disclosures as the super PAC that supported Newt Gingrich in the Republican presidential primary returned a $5 million contribution from Miriam Adelson. That drops the Adelson family's total super PAC giving -- that's been disclosed -- to $21.5 million.
Other super PAC happenings included the Karl Rove-linked American Crossroads raising $4.6 million and the controversial billionaire Joe Ricketts pumping $510,000 into his own super PAC, Ending Spending Action Fund.
Speaking of Rove, he and the Obama campaign have been in a bit of back-and-forth over the legitimacy of the social welfare nonprofit Crossroads GPS and the identity of the group's donors. HuffPost reported on the first shot in the row: "The lawyer for President Barack Obama's reelection campaign has asked the Federal Election Commission to force Karl Rove's non-profit organization Crossroads GPS to register as a political committee and disclose all of its donors. The Obama campaign's complaint, first reported by The New York Times andobtained by The Huffington Post, came from campaign legal counsel Bob Bauer and stated that a recent appeals court decision requires the government to explicitly define what constitutes a political committee. The complaint was sent to both the FEC and to Crossroads GPS president Steven Law and founder Karl Rove."
Another letter was sent today in response to Rove's allegation that the complaint amounted to intimidation. HuffPost's Sam Stein, "The Obama campaign's top lawyer fired off a letter to Karl Rove Thursday, demanding a retraction of a "mystifying" comment Rove made and raising questions about his upcoming appearance at a Mitt Romney campaign event. The letter is the second that Bob Bauer has sent to Rove this week. The first argued that Rove could no longer insist that his advocacy group, Crossroads GPS, was policy oriented -- a distinction that allowed it to shield the names of its donors. The follow-up letter, obtained by The Huffington Post, makes that same point, arguing that there is no "social welfare" component to the group's operations."
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Rep. Chris Van Hollen rebutted a recent speech by Sen. Mitch McConnell to argue in favor of campaign finance disclosure. In the speech, Van Hollen stated that groups like Rove's Crossroads GPS are twisting themselves in knots to maintain donor secrecy. HuffPost's Dan Froomkin, "Measures that secretive political groups keep coming up with to avoid disclosing donors may eventually backfire, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Wednesday. 'These organizations are doing all sorts of gymnastics to try to prevent voters from knowing the sources of their funding,' Van Hollen said at a conference on 'Shadow Money' hosted by the Center for Responsive Politics. 'I think they're already becoming too clever for their own good.'"
According to a new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the vast majority of advertisements run by secret money groups are dishonest and provide misinformation.
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Committee: Barack Obama for President
Candidate Opposed: Mitt Romney
Spot: "Come And Go"
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Barack Obama for President
Candidate Opposed: Mitt Romney
Spot: "Mosaic"
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Barack Obama for President
Spot: "First Law"
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Republican National Committee
Candidate Opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: "Our Family, Our Economy"
Spot (Spanish Language): "Nuestra Familia, Nuestra Economia"
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Americans for Prosperity
Candidate Opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: "Doing Fine"
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: American Bridge 21st Century
Candidate Opposed: Mitt Romney
Spot: "Romney on Immigration"
Market: YouTube.
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Tammy Baldwin for Senate
Spot: "Paper"
Market: Wisconsin.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: George Allen for Senate
Spot: "Dorothy"
Market: Virginia.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: George Allen for Senate
Spot: "Betsy"
Market: Virginia.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Pete Hoekstra for Senate
Spot: "Harm's Way"
Market: Michigan.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: League of Conservation Voters
Candidate Opposed: Heather Wilson
Spot: "We're All Paying For It"
Market: New Mexico.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: League of Conservation Voters
Candidate Opposed: Heather Wilson
Spot: "Who's Wilson With?"
Market: New Mexico.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Dan Liljenquist for Senate
Spot: "The Truth: Dan Liljenquist Ended Double Dipping in Utah"
Market: Utah.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Dan Liljenquist for Senate'
Candidate Opposed: Orrin Hatch
Spot: "Definition of Insanity"
Market: Utah.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Tulsi Gabbard for Congress
Spot: "Fresh Leadership"
Market: Hawaii's 2nd District.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Patriot Majority USA
Candidate Targeted: David McKinley
Spot: "Critical"
Market: West Virginia's 1st District.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Patriot Majority USA
Candidate Targeted: Ben Chandler
Spot: "Affordable"
Market: Kentucky's 6th District.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: Patriot Majority USA
Candidate Targeted: John Barrow
Spot: "Lifeline"
Market: Georgia's 12th District.
Buy: Undisclosed.
TRACKING INDEPENDENT SPENDING:
These numbers represent spending by independent groups, like super PACs and non-profits, to support or oppose a particular candidate in 2012. Fundrace will update this spending daily to help show which candidates are gaining from the proliferation of independent groups in this coming election.
Presidential Race:
Mitt Romney (R), $7,327,516 to support, $16,613,884 to oppose. (Oppose: +$110,004)
Barack Obama (D), $594,568 to support, $1,811,611 to oppose. (Support: +$41,087; Oppose: +$33,178)
Most Outside Spending for Congressional Candidates:
TX-Senate: Ted Cruz (R), $838,270 to support, $2,325,821 to oppose.
TX-Senate: David Dewhurst (R), $536,126 to support, $2,481,715 to oppose.
IN-Senate: Richard Mourdock (R), $1,442,961 to support, $1,280,052 to oppose.
OH-SEN: Josh Mandel (R), $157,924 to support, $1,739,326 to oppose.
IN-Senate: Dick Lugar (R), $208,628 to support, $1,671,841 to oppose.
RECENT INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES
Humane Society Legislative Fund, $4,506 to support Grace Meng for Congress in New York's 6th District.
MoveOn.org Political Action, $22,776 to oppose Mitt Romney for President.
SEIU COPE, $24,175 to support Barack Obama for President.
SEIU COPE, $78,712 to oppose Mitt Romney for President.
SEIU COPE, $4,082 to support Sherrod Brown for Senate in Ohio.
SEIU COPE, $204,067 to oppose Josh Mandel for Senate in Ohio.
SEIU COPE, $2,350 to support Shelley Berkley for Senate in Nevada.
SEIU COPE, $2,693 to support Tammy Baldwin for Senate in Wisconsin.
Citizens United Political Victory Fund, $20,000 to support Jesse Kelly for Congress in Arizona's 2nd District.
Defenders of Wildlife Action Committee, $37,659 to oppose Heather Wilson for Senate in New Mexico.
NARAL Pro-Choice America, $16,912 to support Barack Obama for President.
NARAL Pro-Choice America, $17,292 to oppose Mitt Romney for President.
FreedomWorks for America, $1,275 to oppose Orrin Hatch for Senate in Utah.
Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, $21,000 to oppose Barack Obama for President.
American Society of Anesthesiologists PAC, $24,838 to support John Sullivan for Congress in Oklahoma's 1st District.
Florida Freedom PAC, $23,550 to oppose Barack Obama for President.
American Crossroads, $166,846 to oppose Shelley Berkley for Senate in Nevada.
American Crossroads, $358,202 to oppose Tim Kaine for Senate in Virginia.
American Crossroads, $127,065 to oppose Bob Kerrey for Senate in Nebraska.
Sierra Club Independent Action, $12,000 to support Eric Griego for Congress in New Mexico's 1st District.
National Right to Life Victory Fund, $10,168 to oppose Barack Obama for President.
Majority PAC, $505,717 to support Tim Kaine for Senate in Virginia.
Crossroads Generation, $44,000 to oppose Barack Obama for President.
MoveOn.org Political Action, $14,000 to oppose Mitt Romney for President.
Conservative Renewal PAC, $35,000 to support David Dewhurst for Senate in Texas.
Campaign for Primary Accountability, $360 to oppose Charles Rangel for Congress in New York's 13th District.
Campaign for Our Future, $21,771 to support Clyde Williams for Congress in New York's 15th District.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, $95,140 to support Orrin Hatch for Senate in Utah.
National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund, $33,481 to support Gary Aubuchon for Congress in Florida's 19th District.
New York League of Conservation Voters, $21,368 to support Charles Rangel for Congress in New York's 13th District.
UTE PAC, $2,789 to oppose Chris Stewart for Congress in Utah's 2nd District.
RECENT POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE REGISTRATIONS
Arizonans for Jobs, Phoenix, Ariz., Treasurer: Gordon James. (Super PAC)
Courage Campaign Super PAC, Los Angeles, Calif., Treasurer: Richard Jacobs. (Super PAC)
Georgia Freedom PAC, Atlanta, Ga., Treasurer: Bryan P. Tyson. (Super PAC)
Soy Americano, Coral Gables, Fla., Treasurer: Jeffrey Garcia. (Super PAC)
My Cat Xavier For A Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Arlington, Va. Treasurer: Anna Paulina Hornberger. (Super PAC)
Texas Wins PAC, Austin, Texas, Treasurer: Pete Havel. (Super PAC)
Texas For All, Houston, Texas, Treasurer: Alex Jones. (Super PAC)
Equality in Marriage Committee, Fort Myers, Fla., Treasurer: Steven John Kolberg.
Protect Arizona's Freedom, Alexandria, Va., Treasurer: Chris Marston.
Write In Rosemary PAC, Sinoqualmie, Wash., Treasurer: Donald B. Davis.
Defenders of Freedom, Franklin, Tenn., Treasurer: Matthew Marchiori.
Hoosiers and Boilers For A Tomorrow, Tomorrow, West Lafayette, Ind., Treasurer: Seth P. Kresovsky. (Super PAC)
HeartDocPAC, Evansville, Ind., Treasurer: John L. Wright. (Leadership PAC: Rep. Larry Buschon.)
Progress For Washington, Kirkland, Wash., Treasurer: Jeremy Pemble. (Super PAC)
Energy Jobs Alliance, Washington, D.C., Treasurer: Jason Van Buren. (Super PAC)
Royal Ten Cate USA Inc PAC, Washington, D.C., Treasurer: Tara Glover.
American Unity PAC, Washington D.C., Treasurer: Margaret Hoover. (Super PAC)
Send tips, hints, submissions, rumors to HuffPost Fundrace at paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com.