County Party Finances: net growth for 2015

Closing out this update to my County Party Finances series, today we're examining net changes for 2015.

Statewide, Republican county parties netted a gain of $44,437.26. Ten counties had positive gains ($47,836.98), six reported no money raised or spent, and nine show losses (-$3,399.72). In 2013, the GOP had a net gain of just over $24,000.

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Top five counties: Tulsa ($22,943.70), Oklahoma ($14,237.86), Muskogee ($8,174.03), Grady ($620.05), and Osage ($502.45).

Bottom five counties: Creek (-$220.37), Stephens (-$356.54), Wagoner (-$435.72), Carter (-$739.07), and Washington (-$1,273.52).

Together, Tulsa, Oklahoma and Muskogee counties have a net gain of $45,355.59 -- without that, the statewide total would be in the red about nine hundred dollars.

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Statewide, Democratic county parties showed a net loss of $447.11. Eleven counties had a gain ($8,158.92), four raised and spent nothing, and eight show losses (-$8,606.03). In 2013, the Democrats had a net loss of just over $10,000.

Top five counties: Creek ($4,482.24), Comanche ($1,320.17), Lincoln ($407.00), Pottawatomie ($353.50), and Muskogee ($338.06).

Bottom five counties: Canadian and Kingfisher (-$250), Payne (-$490.27), Cleveland (-$988.05), Tulsa (-$2,084.43), and Oklahoma (-$4,395.06).

Note: as mentioned previously, the figures for Garvin County on the Democratic side are for the 1st Quarter only - the Ethics Commission site shows them as being "past due".

County Party Finances: raised and spent

The other day, I posted an update to my County Party Finances series, in which we looked at cash-on-hand totals for local party organizations. Today, we're looking at what those county parties have raised and spent in 2015.

The 25 "current" Republican counties have raised a grand total of $96,408.76. That's a $16,000 increase from 2013, although more counties now file with the Ethics Commission.

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The top five for the GOP are Tulsa ($32,608.99), Oklahoma ($19,444), Muskogee ($17,100), Stephens ($11,481.72), and Carter ($3,818). Eight counties raised nothing, while Washington County "raised" 35¢ in interest. Ten counties brought in more than $1,000. Tulsa, Oklahoma and Muskogee counties raised 72% of the grand total.

Now for the Democratic side. Their 23 "current" counties raised a grand total of $41,651.15, a significant drop from their $68,732 in 2013.

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The Democrats top five counties are Tulsa ($9,578.23), Cleveland ($9,186.22), Payne ($8,042), Creek ($5,229.58), and Comanche ($3,835.19). Oklahoma County was the only other one to raise more than $1,000 (they brought in $1,040). Five counties raised nothing, and Washington County took in only $4 (add the Washington County GOP's 35¢ and you've either got a stingy county or lackadaisical local parties). The top three counties raised 64.5% of the statewide total. Garvin County's figure is 1st Quarter only.

Now let's look at the spending side of things.

On the Republican side, the statewide total of spending was $51,971.50 (in 2013 it was about $56,500). 

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Top five counties: Stephens ($11,838.26), Tulsa ($9,665.29), Muskogee ($8,925.97), Oklahoma ($5,206.14), and Carter ($4,557.07). Nine counties spent nothing. The top three counties spent about 58.5% of the grand total.

On the Democratic side, their statewide total was $42,098.26 (in 2013 it was about $79,000)

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Top five counties: Tulsa ($11,662.66), Cleveland ($10,174.27), Payne ($8,532.27), Oklahoma ($5,435.06), and Comanche ($2,515.02). Seven counties spent nothing. Tulsa and Cleveland counties spend about 52% of the grand total.

On Wednesday, we'll look at the net change totals for 2015.

County Party Finances: Cash-on-hand

In 2013, I did a series on County Party Finances, illustrating the financial health of local party organizations. Over the next few days, we'll update that series with the 2015 figures.

On the Republican side, 25 county parties are up-to-date (2nd quarter) in their campaign finance filings. That's up from 17 counties in 2013. On the Democratic side, 22 counties are up-to-date, and 1 county (Garvin) filed a 1st quarter report. That's also up from 17 counties in 2013.

First up, cash-on-hand totals.

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The top five counties on the GOP side are Tulsa ($25,903.34), Comanche ($20,912.88), Stephens ($20,179.41), Oklahoma ($18,282.18), and my home county Muskogee ($16,675.86). The lowest county is Carter, with $8.92 on hand.

Last time we looked at this topic, Tulsa County had not filed an ethics report since 2007. They recently began filing reports (new leadership in charge), and jumped to the top of the pack in fundraising. Comanche, Stephens and Muskogee counties have consistently been in the top five (or less) for years.

All told, the 25 GOP county parties have just over $144,000 in the bank.

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The top five counties on the Democratic side are Cleveland ($11,232.86), Tulsa  ($10,084.46), Comanche ($7,948.06), Creek ($4,773.98), and Payne ($4,358.33). The lowest county is Kingfisher, with $56.76 on hand.

All told, the 23 Democrat county parties have just over $55,000 in the bank, almost $75,000 less than their Republican counterparts.

Next time, we'll look at the totals for receipts and expenditures.

Lankford to keynote Muskogee GOP dinner on April 9th

From the Muskogee County Republican Party:

Lincoln-Reagan Dinner to feature Sen. James Lankford

Event on Thursday, April 9th will also honor former Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D.

The 2015 Muskogee County Republican Party Lincoln-Reagan Dinner is scheduled for Thursday, April 9th, and will be featuring U.S. Senator James Lankford as our guest speaker. During the event, we will also pay tribute to Dr. Tom Coburn for his years of dedicated service in Washington, and we will hand out several $500 college scholarships to local students.

The event will begin at 6:00pm, at the Muskogee Civic Center (rooms C&D, 2nd floor). Dinner tickets will be $30 if prepaid, or $40 at the door. To pre-pay for your tickets, print this form and mail it (along with your check) to the address listed.

Individuals who would like to be Sponsors may do so for $250. Included with the sponsorship are two dinner tickets, a private reception and photo with Sen. Lankford (5:30pm-6:00pm), and a name listing in the program. Sponsorships must be reserved and paid by April 2nd. To sponsor, contact Andy Ewing at 918-869-6012 for more details.

We sincerely hope that you will choose to be a part of our 2015 Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. This event is our main fundraiser of the year, and proceeds are used to help local candidates, grow the Republican Party, and to give college scholarships to local students.

Fallin to keynote Muskogee County GOP dinner in April

The Muskogee County Republican Party has announced that Gov. Mary Fallin will be speaking at their main fundraising event of the year, on April 24th:

Gov. Fallin to keynote 2014 Lincoln-Reagan Dinner

Muskogee, OK --  Governor Mary Fallin will be the keynote speaker at this year's Lincoln Reagan Dinner on the evening of April 24th, 2014.  Tickets are $30 per person if prepaid or $40 at the door.  Sponsorships are available for $250 which entitles you and one guest to a pre-dinner private reception and picture with the Governor, tickets and preferred seating for the dinner, as well as a listing in the program as a sponsor.

Candidate tables just outside the dinner venue will be available for $25.  Since this is such an important election year, we expect to see many of the candidates at this event.

To register as a sponsor or to purchase dinner tickets and candidate tables, please call Jerry Huffer at 918-360-7228 or Melanie Grayson at 918-441-6250.

Candidate forms are available for download on our Downloads page.

County Party Finances: Net Growth for 2013

In a (delayed) continuation of my County Party Finances series, let's take a look at the net growth through mid-year 2013.

REPUBLICANS

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Republican county parties statewide netted a total of $24,336.22 through June 30th. 10 counties made financial gains (combining for +$34,447.30), and 7 counties posted net losses (combining for -$10,111.08), with Oklahoma County dropping over $7,500 after what appears to have been a rather expensive Lincoln-Reagan Dinner with guest speaker Kansas Governor Sam Brownback.

DEMOCRATS

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Only three Democrat county parties showed positive gains in their financial reports. Osage County raised and spent nothing, leaving 13 counties that reported net losses. The combined total for the Democrats statewide is -$10,290.39. 11 counties dropped less than $700, but Payne County and Tulsa County showed net losses of -$5,167.69 and -$6,486.49, respectively. Tulsa County's activities correspond to the mayoral race underway in the city of Tulsa.

County Party Finances: Raised and Spent

Continuing my series on County Party Finances, let's examine receipts and expenditures a little more closely.

CASH RAISED

As we saw last time, both the Republicans and the Democrats have 17 county committees each that are "current" with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. So far in 2013, Republican county parties have raised $80,585.70, while Democrat county parties have raised $68,732.01.

On the GOP side, Oklahoma and Stephens counties far and away led the pack, both with over $20,000 raised. Four other counties brought in between $5,000 and $9,000. Muskogee County comes in 5th, with $7,781 raised.

For the Democrats, an even greater disparity is shown. Tulsa County has raised over $30,000 through June 30th (remember, very competitive mayoral race), Cleveland County took in half that figure, and Oklahoma County came in at just over $9,000. Only two other counties raised more than $1,000.

MONEY SPENT

"It takes money to make money", the saying goes.

Republicans held true to their financial conservatism, and have spent significantly less than county Democrats so far in 2013. The biggest spenders for the GOP also posted the most money raised, although Oklahoma County alone ($30,163.81) accounts for over half of the money spent statewide among county GOP groups. The counties where higher amounts of cash were spent held major fundraising events (Lincoln-Reagan dinners, fish fries, barbecues, etc), hence the greater expenses. My county (Muskogee) was 3rd, at $3,801.05

Democrats spent over $22,000 more than Republicans. In fact, as another post will show, only three counties post net gains in their accounts through the mid-year report (on the other hand, ten GOP counties show positive balances). Tulsa, Cleveland and Payne counties spent $65,000 of the Democrats' statewide spending total of nearly $80,000.

Details by county after the fold.

New Map Series: Finances of County Parties in Oklahoma

As my faithful readers know well, I have a certain fascination with maps and random data. I have previously created a map series on Voter Registration, and every election season post county-by-county Election Results maps. My newest series will be an examination of county political party finances.

For the purposes of this series, I only used party committees who have filed with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission in 2013. You may search the list of non-candidate committees for yourself at this link. Some county parties have filed in the past, but have not submitted their quarterly reports in 2013, or have not filed in many years. Still more counties have not properly filed with the Ethics Commission at all.

First up, current cash-on-hand for both Oklahoma Republican and Oklahoma Democratic county parties. Ironically enough, only 17 counties for both Republicans and Democrats have what I'm calling "current" filings with the Ethics Commission (meaning they have filed either their March 31st quarterly, or the June 30th quarterly report).

Ten of these counties have both Republican and Democrat parties that are "current" (Canadian, Cleveland, Creek, Garvin, Kingfisher, Oklahoma, Osage, Payne, Pottawatamie, and Washington counties).

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All 17 county Republican parties post positive balances, with the top three slots belonging to Comanche County ($24,503.51), Stephens County ($14,852.71), and Muskogee County ($10,610.56). The total cash-on-hand among the 17 counties is $86,422.24, for an average of $5,084.

Conspicuously absent from the GOP list is Tulsa County, which has not filed a quarterly reports since 2007. I find this interesting, as the city of Tulsa is in the throes of a competitive mayoral race, and has had tough races within the county in the time since 2007.

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As with many other things, Oklahoma's Democrats trail the Republicans. Their top three come in at lower amounts: Cleveland County ($12,505.27), Payne County ($10,093.48), and Tulsa County (9,903.84). Total cash-on-hand for their active 17 counties is $53,540.16, an average of $3,150. Kingfisher County posts a negative balance of -$337.32.

Next time, we will dig further into the receipts, expenditures, and 2013 net growth.