Donors: Big firms are generous to incumbents

Some incumbents put tens of thousands of their campaign dollars into their own pockets (repaying old campaign loans), or spent big amounts on gifts for others. Some who face challenges that came in part from their support for ill-fated private-school vouchers, defeated last November by voters, are enjoying phone banks and other help from pro-voucher groups now.

And the Utah Republican Party appears to have skirted its own neutrality rules by giving money to some GOP incumbents facing challenges on Saturday. Party leaders gave to three Utah County incumbents in January, prior to the candidate filing deadline. Two of those incumbents ended up with GOP challengers.

Sweets to incumbents

Fife got $500 from ATK Launch Systems (the old Hercules on the valley's west side); $500 from Altria, the parent company to tobacco firm Philip Morris; $350 from EnergySolutions, a Tooele County waste dump; and $500 from Reagan Outdoor Signs, the state's largest billboard company.

All of those firms routinely help fund incumbent lawmakers' campaigns, giving tens of thousands of dollars over the years. Utah County incumbent Republicans also got money from the same sources.

Fife said he didn't ask those firms for cash.

"I didn't ask anyone for donations — that will come after the convention," he said. "They just sent them. I didn't even send them thank-you notes for those contributions."

Fife said he had enough money left over from his last race, $3,000, to carry him through the convention. "I wanted to get the confidence of the delegates before I started fundraising."

Legislative action has proven critical to the interests of all of those donors — as has legislative action in the cases of dozens of other firms who have full-time lobbyists at the Utah Legislature. The Legislature is starting on a several-year study of reforming health care in Utah, and a number of incumbent lawmakers are getting significant contributions from drug firms, hospital and doctor groups and others in the health care industry. -->

The newspaper's analysis shows that the 14 Republican legislative incumbents seeking renomination at Saturday's Utah County GOP convention received an average of $4,984 in early money this year from special-interest groups. In fact, 11 of the 14 received every cent they raised from such special interests (not individuals). All the incumbents received at least 97 percent of their money from special interests.

Meanwhile, the 10 intra-party challengers in races in Utah County received an average of just $267 each from special interests, which works out to 19 times less. Eight of the 10 challengers received no special-interest money at all. In fact, three challengers reported they weren't able to raise money from any source.