CUNA's political action committee continued to build its cash reserves to all-time highs in December, just as the two-year congressional election cycle heads towards its climax. The PAC raised $285,305 in December and spent just $119,104, building its campaign warchest to $710,349, by far the most ever. CUNA's PAC raised almost $1.7 million last year, the most ever for a single year, and spent $1.3 million. About $900,000 of that was spent on contributions to individual candidates and the two major political parties. The remainder was spent to buy commemorative quarters that are resold to raise PAC funds.
The biggest contributions in December went to: Reps. Rob Simmons (R-CT) $10,000; Sam Graves (R-MO), $5,000; Paul Ryan (R-WI), $3,000; Paul Kanjorski, (D-PA), $3,000; Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), $2,500; Max Burns (R-GA), $2,500; Brad Sherman (D-CA), $2,500; Darlene Hooley (D-OR), $2,500; and Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD), $3,000.