Voucher Week, pt. III: Gunning for Bill Cotty

Okay, so a legislative candidate named Dan Harvell up in Anderson County was almost entirely (86%) funded from out-of-state voucher ideologues. But is 86% really that bad? After all, almost thirty actual South Carolinians, including the “SC” Club for Growth PAC, also contributed to the campaign.

I’m being tongue in cheek. Of course it’s bad. It’s a mockery of the system, and to the extent that many of the "maximum" allowed contributions came from the same individual, of our law. But it could be even worse.

To wit, check out last year’s race(s) for House District 79 in Kershaw and Richland Counties (mentioned by Earl in yesterday's comments). As you may recall, Republican Bill Cotty faced competition in the GOP primary. His opponent was Sheri Few, who had the backing of voucher group SCRG. I don’t have Few’s disclosures, but according to the National Institute for Money in State Politics, over 56% of her contributions were from out-of-state.

Whose deep, lint-filled pockets did this dirty voucher cash come from? Here’s the breakdown:

Howard Rich of NY
123 LaSalle Associates: $1,000
123 LaSalle Inc.: $1,000
Bayrich LLC: $1,000
Dayrich LLC: $1,000
Ashborough Investors: $1,000
Spinksville LLC: $1,000
Spooner LLC: $1000
405 49 Associates: $1000
Bradford Management of NY: $1,000
Silver & Silver Properties LLC: $1,000
West 14 & 18 LLC: $1,000
538-14 Realty, LLC: $1,000

Alex Cranberg of CO
Long Canyon, LLC: $1,000
Walnut Software, LLC: $1,000
Azimuth Energy, LLC: $1,000
Aspect Energy, LLC: $1,000

Other Voucher Enthusiasts
Eric Brooks (PA): $1,000
Donna Brooks (PA): $1,000
Paul Farago (OR): $1,000
Jeff Yass (PA): $1,000
Kermit Waters (NV): $1,000
Joe Stilwell (NY): $1,000
Arthur Dantchik (PA): $1,000
Joseph Rich (NY): $1,000

If all those names sound familiar, it’s pretty much the same handful of out-of-staters who bankrolled 86% of Dan Harvell’s campaign in House District 7. (Few also got $1000 checks from Joshua Gross’s "SC Club for Growth" and from Chad Walldorf, chair of "Reform SC").

But that’s not the real story. Hell, 44% funding from in-state is downright “grass roots” as far as these voucher groups go. And besides, Cotty dispensed with Ms. Few by almost 300 votes, so no big deal.

The general election is when the real fun began in District 79.

SCRG again targeted Cotty, who evidently supports public schools, for defeat in November. The group petitioned a third-party candidate onto the ballot to try to siphon away enough votes to give the election to Democrat challenger Anton Gunn.

Sleazy? Yes. Despicable? Sure. Funded almost entirely from out-of-state? You bet.

Petition candidate Michael Letts’ disclosure, seen here, is nothing short of a voucher lobby masterpiece.

Of the $21,850 reported on this filing, $850 was from within South Carolina. The other 96%? Cash from the out-of-state voucher lobby:

Howard Rich of NY
Howard Rich: $1000
123 LaSalle Associates: $1,000
Ashborough Investors: $1,000
Spinksville LLC: $1,000
405 49 Associates: $1000
Bradford Management of NY: $1,000
Silver & Silver Properties LLC: $1,000
West 14 & 18 LLC: $1,000

Other Voucher Enthusiasts
Eric Brooks (PA): $1,000
Donna Brooks (PA): $1,000
Paul Farago (OR): $1,000
Jeff Yass (PA): $1,000
Joe Stilwell (NY): $1,000
Arthur Dantchik (PA): $1,000

And a couple others. Same handful of out-of-state contributors, same House district, different candidate.

But votes in District 79 don’t come as cheap as some folks think: Letts earned a thousand fewer votes than he did petition signatures, and Cotty edged out his Democratic opposition just under 300 votes.

96% of an SC legislative campaign funded by the out-of-state voucher lobby... For a little perspective, there is more actual fruit juice in a box of Hi-C fruit drink than there was actual SC funding for Mr. Letts.

Can it possibly get any worse than that?

Come back tomorrow and find out. And since Gervais is on his soap box, do me a favor and check out your own "soap box." We're going to see if the "South Carolina" voucher lobby can field a candidate whose out-of-state funding is purer than the coveted yardstick of purity: Ivory Soap. (Go to Part Four)