Tennessee Republican Scandal- Study finds Ramsey’s PAC avoided contribution limits

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Study finds Ramsey’s PAC avoided contribution limits

By ERIK SCHELZIG
Associated Press

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey’s political action committee avoided campaign contribution limits by giving money to another PAC, which then directed money to key Republican candidates, an Associated Press analysis of campaign finance records has found.

Ramsey’s committee, known as RAAMPAC, gave the maximum of $15,000 to each of three Republican candidates during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles. His PAC then gave money to a separate committee, SALT PAC, which in turn gave more money to the same candidates, the AP analysis showed.

Officials with both PACs said they followed state laws because there was no explicit coordination between the two committees.

Ramsey’s PAC “has not and will never make a contribution that is allocated, earmarked or otherwise directed for use,” Thomas Smith, RAAMPAC’s treasurer, said in a statement Wednesday. “All PAC activity complies with Tennessee campaign finance rules and is publicly disclosed.”

John “Chip” Saltsman, a former state Republican Party chairman from Nashville who runs SALT PAC, said his committee did not have discussions about the RAAMPAC contributions. But he acknowledged the intent of his committee is clear.

“I think anybody that gives money to me, whether it’s Ron Ramsey or any of my other donors, understands that I’m going to spend it in the most important Republican races in the state of Tennessee,” Saltsman said.

About three-fourths of the money SALT PAC contributed to GOP candidates in the past two elections came from Ramsey and his committee, records show. RAAMPAC stands for Republicans Achieving a Majority PAC.

Ramsey, a real estate broker and auctioneer from Blountville who became the first Republican Senate speaker since Reconstruction last week, is known for his fundraising prowess. His PAC gave $149,500 to Republican candidates and causes in 2006, and $106,000 in 2004. He personally gave $34,878 over the same period.

Republicans hold a 17-16 edge in the Senate, losing one seat in 2006. Democrats maintained a 53-46 majority in the House.

Ramsey’s chief of staff, Matt King, referred questions about the PAC contributions to Smith. The speaker, who also holds the title of lieutenant governor, was not available for comment on Wednesday.

State law regards contributions made through an intermediary committee the same as having come from the original source.

It’s only illegal if the money that moved through the second committee was specifically earmarked for particular candidates, said Drew Rawlins, director of the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance.

Rawlins could not say whether Ramsey’s committee violated state laws. The registry investigates only after a complaint is filed, he said.

“We don’t usually go on fishing expeditions, saying, ‘Hey, this looks fishy,”‘ Rawlins said.
Last year Ramsey’s committee helped Republican Sens. Mae Beavers of Mt. Juliet, Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro and Don McLeary of Jackson — giving the maximum of $15,000 to each candidate as of the end of September.

On Oct. 13, Ramsey’s committee gave $25,000 to SALT PAC, the committee controlled by Saltsman. Within two weeks of receiving the money, Saltsman’s committee gave another $7,500 each to Beavers, Ketron and McLeary.

Beavers and Ketron won, while McLeary lost by fewer than 500 votes.

In 2004, Ramsey’s PAC gave $15,000 each to the campaigns of Republicans Diane Black, Jim Tracy and Jerry Sharp. After reaching the contributions limit, Ramsey’s committee sent $15,000 to SALT PAC, which then split up that same amount among the three candidates.

Black, of Gallatin, and Tracy, of Shelbyville, were elected to the Senate, while Sharp ended up losing to incumbent Sen. Tommy Kilby, D-Wartburg.

Registry rules define a committee as a conduit if it receives money from a source that has already reached its contributions limit to a candidate, and then makes its own contributions to the same person within 90 days.

Other criteria are the percentage of contributions received from a single source — though the guidelines don’t specify what percentage would be considered excessive.

RAAMPAC’s $25,000 contribution to Saltsman’s committee last year was 78 percent of the total that SALT PAC spent, records showed.

In 2004, Ramsey personally gave SALT PAC $10,000, while his PAC gave another $15,000. Ramsey’s combined contributions accounted for 73 percent of what SALT PAC spent in 2004.

SALT PAC made smaller contributions, mostly of $500, to other Republican House and Senate candidates in 2006. It also gave $4,000 to Jack Johnson, of Franklin, who won election to the Senate in November. RAAMPAC gave Johnson $10,000.

“A donor is a donor, the way I look at it,” Saltsman said. “I was excited to get the money from RAAMPAC, as I was to be able to spend as much money as I could on Republican races across the state of Tennessee.”

State Democratic Party spokesman Mark Brown called the contributions from Ramsey’s PAC a clear-cut example of using a conduit to avoid campaign finance laws.

“We definitely feel this is something the Registry of Election Finance needs to look at,” Brown said. “Tennesseans want their campaigns run above board, and they want the finances of those campaigns to be transparent.”

The registry has declined to investigate earlier allegations that Ramsey’s PAC circumvented state campaign finance laws in 2003.

Watchdog group Tennessee Citizen Action had filed a complaint after Bristol businessman John Gregory gave $25,000 to Ramsey’s PAC, which then gave $15,000 to Republican Mark Goins’ unsuccessful campaign against Kilby.

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