Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!
State of Democracy's coverage of campaign finance and the role money is playing in the 2016 New Hampshire primary and beyond.0000017a-15d9-d736-a57f-17ff8ee60000

Guinta's Fundraising Takes Dive Since Legal Troubles

Zach Nugent for NHPR
Rep. Frank Guinta's troubles with federal election officials have had an impact on his fundraising abilities.

Rep. Frank Guinta's recent troubles with the Federal Election Commission have put a serious dent in his fundraising efforts over the past few months. 

His total contributions last quarter, reported yesterday in a filing with the FEC, came to less than half his contributions in the previous quarter: $114,000 this quarter vs. $330,000 last quarter.

The biggest reason for the drop was a steep decline in contributions from individual donors. Guinta received checks from just 16 individuals from April through June -- and only 3 contributions since the FEC released a series of reports June 2 detailing its case against him, alleging he improperly relied on loans from his parents to finance earlier campaigns. Compare that to the 106 individual contributions Guinta received in the previous quarter, January through March.

However, Guinta had relative success raking in big-dollar contributions from a handful of Political Action Committees, mostly large corporate PACs. These include $1,000-plus donations from PACs associated with Deloitte and Touche, Ernst & Young, Alticor, AT&T, Lockheed Martin, Citigroup, BAE System, Aflac, Bank of America, and others. 

Still, Guinta's $102,000 in PAC contributions last quarter fell well shy of the $182,000 he raised from PACs in the previous quarter.

On the expenditure side, Guinta racked up hefty legal fees ($15,000), presumably related to his FEC case. He also shelled out $27,000 to fundraising consultants. In addition, Guinta's report includes refunds totaling $7,000 to two PACs tied to House Speaker John Boehner. Those refunds were issued in late April, before news broke on Guinta's FEC settlement.

Guinta, who says he will run for re-election next year despite callsfrom many prominent New Hampshire Republicans for him to step aside, ended the quarter with slightly less cash than he began: around $307,000. His fundraising report also notes the $355,000 refund he is obliged to make to his parents as part of his FEC settlement.

Dan is NHPR's news director.
Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.