CUNA continued its efforts to prop up key congressional leaders in March with a total of $250,000 in campaign contributions to almost 100 different candidates.
That included donations to leadership PACs tied to key lawmakers, including Keep Our Majority PAC (House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-IL) $5,000; AMERIPAC (House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-MD) $5,000; Rely On Your Beliefs Fund (erstwhile House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-MO) $4,000; Growth and Prosperity PAC (Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-AL) $4,000; Citizens For Action(CU Champion Paul Kanjorksi, D-PA) $5,000 and The Badger Fund (Rep. Tom Petri, R-WI) $500. CUNA has contributed more than $250,000 to such leadership PACs already in the 2005-2006 elections, and at least as much to individual campaign PACs run for the benefit of the same congressional leader. For example, CUNA also gave $5,000 to Blunt's individual PAC last month.
In March CUNA also contributed: to Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA), one of the favorites, along with Bachus, to be the next chairman of the Financial Services Committee; $4,000 to Rep. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), newly named interim Senator from N.J.; $5,000 to Ex-California Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA), running to succeed Duke Cunningham, who was convicted on corruption charges; $4,000 to Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH); $5,000 to Rep. Max Burns, (R-GA) and $5,000 to Todd Akin (R-MO).
CUNA's PAC, known as CU Legislative Action Council, had $510,000 in cash on hand at the end of March.
CUNA has made more than $1.5 million in contributions to individual candidates and the two major parties so far in the 2005-2006 election cycle, marking it as one of the most active interest groups in the mid-term congressional elections.
The Journal's Ed Roberts can be contacted at eroberts
