Monday, October 20, 2003
Why Developers Love Money in Politics
This column from a current and former elected official in Maryland reveals why some private interests find campaign contributions so useful. The candidates who got elected to the Maryland Senate spent on average twice as much as their opponents. Big housing developers dumped $1.7 million bucks into the coffers of their favored candidates, which accounted for about 60% of all funds raised by those candidates. Guess what? Every developer-backed candidate won. Part of the problem may be Maryland's sky high limits on political contributions. At $4000, its pretty easy for private interests to get a bunch of employees, family members, and what not together to fund big portions of a campaign.
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This column from a current and former elected official in Maryland reveals why some private interests find campaign contributions so useful. The candidates who got elected to the Maryland Senate spent on average twice as much as their opponents. Big housing developers dumped $1.7 million bucks into the coffers of their favored candidates, which accounted for about 60% of all funds raised by those candidates. Guess what? Every developer-backed candidate won. Part of the problem may be Maryland's sky high limits on political contributions. At $4000, its pretty easy for private interests to get a bunch of employees, family members, and what not together to fund big portions of a campaign.
