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| For immediate release
June 15, 2001 |
For more information contact Janice Thompson 503-283-1922 miprap@oregonfollowthemoney.org |
Senator Gene Derfler - Money Makes the Man
Who is Giving and Getting in the Oregon Legislature
"In terms of campaign contributions, Senator Gene Derfler is the winning legislator giving almost $360,000 to fellow Republican candidates during the last two elections," says Janice Thompson, executive director of the Money in Politics Research Action Project. "Democratic legislators, by comparison, haven't given as much money to their colleagues."
| Election Year |
Top Two Republican Legislator Contributors |
Top Two Democrat Legislator Contributors |
| 1998 |
Senator Gene Derfler - $100,200 |
Senator Lee Beyer - $20,550 |
| Senator Brady Adams - $45,000 |
Representative Dan Gardner - $15,513 |
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| 2000 |
Senator Gene Derfler - $257,746 |
Representative Dan Gardner - $95420 |
| Representative Mark Simmons - $100,371 |
Senator Kate Brown - $25,025 |
Senator Derfler was the 12th highest contributor to 2000 candidates, an increase over his 25th place ranking in 1998. The groups who gave more than Senator Derfler in 2000 were 5 party committees, 4 business PACs, and the committees of two major public employees unions.
"Campaign contributions to each member of the Oregon legislature are itemized at www.oregonfollowthemoney.org," says Janice Thompson. "Current legislators, including the 15 Senators elected in 1998, received over 12 million dollars in campaign contributions in their last election."
Total contributions to Senators ranged from a low of $7,150 to Joan Dukes 1998 election fund to a high of $563,509 to Ryan Deckert's 2000 Senate campaign. House contributions in 2000 ranged from $7,930 that went to Rep. Bill Morrisette to $291,690 in contributions to Rep. Bill Witt's campaign. Senator Dukes faced a minor party candidate and Rep. Morrisette was unopposed, while Senator Deckert and Rep.Witt were in very competitive races.
| 2001 Legislature |
Total contributions |
Average amount of contributions per legislator |
Median amount of contributions per legislators |
| House Members |
$7,097,387 |
$118,290 |
$103,077 |
| Senate Members (elected in 1998 and 2000) |
$5,262,307 |
$175,410 |
$142,423 |
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Top 5 Fundraisers in 2001 Legislature - Contributions Received (*elected in 1998) (**contributions received after November '98 election up to September 2000) |
House |
Senate |
| Bill Witt - $291,690 |
Ryan Deckert - $536,509 |
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| Mark Simmons - $288,618 |
Gary George, $552,769 |
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| Janet Carlson - $261,577 |
John Minnis - $393,225 |
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| Alan Brown - $246,276 |
Ken Messerle - $362,846 |
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| Charlie Ringo - $241,746 |
*Gene Derfler - $323,325 **Gene Derfler - $170,203 |
The fundraising clout of Senator Gene Derfler is particularly striking since it continued beyond his 1998 reelection campaign. A September supplemental report filed in 2000 indicates that Senator Derfler received $170,203 after the 1998 general election.
The role of parties and giving from one candidate to others has grown in the last decade as indicated below in an analysis of the distribution of contributions from key sectors. Five of the top contributors in the 2000 elections are party committees. Those contributions, in addition to Senator Derfler's significant giving, is reflected in 29% of 2000 legislative contributions coming from parties, candidate committees, and candidates. (See June 7th press release at www.oregonfollowthemoney.org for more information on top contributors to all candidates.)
| Contributions & Sector Analysis |
1990 |
1992 |
1994 |
1996 |
1998 |
2000 |
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| Total Contributions to Legislative Candidates |
$5750,980 |
$8,218,219 |
$11,038,705 |
$3,411,561 $2.6 million* |
$12,440,848 |
$16,335,038 |
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Sector** Analysis in %s |
Business |
53% |
54% |
56% |
45% |
55% |
48% |
| Ideology |
3% |
3% |
3% |
1% |
2% |
2% |
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| Labor |
13% |
12% |
15% |
3% |
12% |
11% |
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| Other/ Unknown |
14% |
19% |
11% |
31% |
11% |
10% |
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| Party |
17% |
12% |
15% |
20% |
20% |
29% |
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| *The 1996 elections occurred with contribution limits that reduced direct contributions to candidates and increased the role of small contributions for which an economic or social interest could not be determined. Independent expenditures and other avoidance techniques skyrocketed in 1996 and added $2.6 million dollars to overall campaign spending during the 1996 elections. |
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Who is not giving money to Oregon legislative candidates? "Little guy" contributions or donations of $50 or less make up only 4% of total contributions to 2000 legislative contributions.