More details regarding Jason's post about Steve Hildebrand's meddling in the state legislature races can be obtained by reading the "Candidate's or Committee's Report of Receipts and Expenditures" that he submitted to the South Dakota Secretary of State's office on May 24th.
The report for Common Sense South Dakota PAC lists $10,200 worth of itemized contributions for the reporting period as well as $5,009 in unitemized contributions under $100. Many of the itemized contributions came from South Dakotans, and almost all of the rest were given by people in the Washington, D.C. area. This includes $250 from Dan Pfeiffer, Daschle's 2004 campaign spokesman. Three individuals gave $1,000, the highest amount listed in the report. Hildebrand himself gave $500.
Common Sense SD gave most of this money to five candidates for state senate: Phil Seistra (District 10), Rebekah Cradduck (District 11), Sandy Jerstad (District 12), and Scott Heidepriem (District 13) each received $2,000 — John Simpson (District 26) was given $4,000.
The four candidates receiving $2,000 are all Democrats running against Republicans in districts in/near Sioux Falls.
John Simpson, however, is challenging incumbent State Sen. Julie Bartling in a West River primary battle. Bartling voted "Yes" on the abortion ban.
Common Sense SD held a fundraiser on April 18th, which was intended "to support Great New Leaders" according to an invitation on the Web site. Simpson, apparently, was not considered a "great new leader," and unlike the other four candidates, was not mentioned on the announcement.
The first news item posted on the Web site quotes Hildebrand in Roll Call:
Hildebrand noted that PACs can spend unlimited amounts of money on legislative campaigns. “You can count on me using this money judiciously — targeting the right races — spending it wisely,” he assured potential donors.
It would appear that State Sen. Gary Moore and Steve Hildebrand disagree on what "targeting the right races" means.
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