PAC Funds Undercut Claims in Senate Race

Md. Candidates Try To Run as Outsiders

His campaign, however, has accepted checks from committees representing six large pharmaceuticalcompanies, 22 oil and energy outfits, 27 insurance firms and industry associations, and eight HMOs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which compiles such figures on its Web site.

Republican Michael S. Steele's sunny Senate campaign ad tells voters that he will "talk straight about what's wrong in both parties. You know, to get a different kind of government, you're gonna need a different kind of senator."

Yet his candidacy is financed by some of the nation's best-known Washington Republicans -- White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove was the host of Steele's first fundraiser -- with help from "Team Steele," a group of lobbyists assigned to bundle hefty PAC contributions.

How campaigns are financed is a perennial topic among Washington insiders. But in a year when almost every Maryland Senate candidate is trying to be viewed as an anti-Washington outsider who will battle cronies and special interests, the fine print of fundraising reports can raise some doubts about those claims.

The candidates might present themselves as outsiders, said Bobbie Walton of Common Cause Maryland, but based on their campaign donors, that could be a hard sell. "If they really were outsiders, these people would not be supporting their campaigns," said Walton, the group's executive director.

Cardin's accounts are swelling with more than $874,826 from political action committees, many of them pushing the interests of large corporations. Steele's contributions include $613,578 from PACs, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Both candidates say the donations would not inhibit their ability to bring an independent voice to the Senate. Cardin, a congressman, said PAC contributions represent a fraction -- about 18 percent -- of the money he has raised. Steele's spokesman said most of the lieutenant governor's backing, 76 percent, comes from ordinary people "signing onto his agenda for change."

Although they campaign as outsiders, Cardin and Steele have collected amounts through PACs that roughly mirror those of incumbent campaigns. In Virginia, for instance, Sen. George Allen (R) has taken about 20 percent of his $2.5 million in donations from PACs. His Democratic challenger, James Webb, had a little more than $100,000 in special interest support as of his last report.

In explaining their decision to take money from lobbyists and corporate interests, Cardin and Steele said they are responding to a sort of campaign finance arms race, with each citing the other's totals for turning to those donors. Neither Steele nor Cardin would sign a Common Cause pledge to disarm, Walton said, unlike Democratic primary challengers who have agreed not to take PAC money.

"We're running against a candidate that raised more money from special interests as a member of the House than either of Maryland's two senators," said Doug Heye, Steele's spokesman. "That has forced us to be aggressive in our fundraising."

Likewise, Cardin spokesman Oren Shur said the Democrat needs to keep up with lobbyists who serve as the GOP front-runner's fundraising backbone. "Unlike Michael Steele, we do not have a team of coordinated lobbyists assigned to funnel money our way."

Cardin was confronted directly on the issue last week, when he appeared in one of the primary's few televised debates against his party's other leading contender, former congressman Kweisi Mfume.

"I just think it's difficult when you take the kind of money [Cardin has] taken from insurance companies to effectively fight those companies," Mfume said. "I think particularly in this case, where he sits on a committee that oversees health [policy], that you don't need to take money from the pharmaceuticals. It's hard for me to fathom why you would. And then if you do it, how can you find a way to fight them at the same time?"

Cardin said his record proves he has been able to do that. During the debate, he noted his sponsorship of legislation that forces insurance companies to pay for emergency room care based on patient symptoms, not their diagnosis. Carriers had refused to pay for such visits if the patient turned out not to be seriously ill.

"I changed that," Cardin said. "I took on the insurance industry and got the change done."

After the debate, Cardin staffers distributed documents showing that although Mfume has pledged to reject all PAC contributions, he has reported receiving three checks totaling $7,000 from PACs. Mfume's aides said the money was being returned. Mfume has also taken money from about a dozen lobbyists, although in far smaller quantities than either Steele or Cardin has.

In subsequent interviews, Cardin's campaign staff has defended the candidate, saying he has shown no fealty to the insurance, drug and energy industry companies who back him financially. He voted to prohibit drug companies from receiving exclusive market rights for medication developed with taxpayer money, for example, and to prevent the companies from gaining legal liability exemptions for federally approved drugs and medical devices.

Cardin's critics, though, note that he was the only Maryland congressman who voted against the Pharmaceutical Market Access Act in 2003, which would have legalized the re-importation of cheaper drugs from Canada.

"That was ground zero for the industry," said American University professor Allan J. Lichtman, a Democratic Senate candidate who has frequently raised questions about Cardin's financial backing. "He gave them his vote when they needed it most."

Cardin has also received widespread support from lobbyists and their clients. Individual lobbyists alone have contributed more than $250,000 to his House and Senate campaign accounts for this election, according to reports filed online. One of the lobbyists who has donated and helped organize Cardin events is David Koshgarian, whose clients include six large pharmaceutical businesses.

Koshgarian spent 15 years as Cardin's chief of staff before hitting the revolving door four years ago. He laughed when asked whether Cardin would be influenced by donations from him or any interest group.

"I don't know how well you know Cardin," Koshgarian said. "I worked for him for 15 years. The idea that he would feel indebted to anybody's client over campaign contributions is just a joke."

Lobbyists and special interest groups are also major components of Steele's fundraising effort. In March, Roll Call reported that Steele would be backed by a K Street lobbying team that would help streamline fundraising efforts and could provide tactical help as Election Day neared.

The team concept was devised to help in bundling donations from business interests so candidates could take in vastly more money at each fundraiser. Steele's team leader, Matt Keelan, a Republican lobbyist and political strategist, told Roll Call that he aimed to funnel every PAC contribution he could find to Steele through his team. Keelan told The Washington Post that he was advised by Steele's campaign not to grant any more interviews.

Heye confirmed that is the campaign's policy.

Steele has accepted $44,718 from the oil and gas industry but said yesterday that won't stop him from pursuing an aggressive environmental agenda. It isn't an "either-or," he said. "I'm talking about a different kind of leadership, where I'm not pitting one side against the other but pulling both sides to the table."

Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R-Md.), who pledged to work with Steele on environmental issues, said it might be tough, "if you are getting a lot of money from a specific group, when it came time for a tough vote, not to find it affecting which way you end up leaning."

Steele's lobbying team was well established when Steele added a video to his campaign Web site early this year. It shows him stepping onto the front porch of a house and picking up the morning paper.

"Every day, the same thing. Another day's news, another scandal in Washington," he says, shaking his head. "We've got congressmen on the take and lobbyists eager to make a deal. The whole system's broken, and they've lost all respect for things important to us.

"I'm Michael Steele," he tells the camera, "and I am running for the United States Senate to shake things up."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.