2014 ballot measure campaign expenditure recipients

Elections are boons in revenue for some businesses. In 2014, 37 companies and organizations made over $1 million by working for statewide ballot measure campaigns. While some of the biggest recipients of campaign expenditures were advertising agencies, like Greenstripe Media, GCW Media Services and Target Enterprises, LLC in California, consulting and petition drive companies were also amongst the top earners.

Expenditure recipients were reported for ballot measures in the following 20 states:

• Arizona
• Alaska
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Florida
• Hawaii
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New York
• North Dakota
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee
• Washington
• Wisconsin

Note: Campaign expenditure reports in several states are still not finalized. Additional expenditures will be added when final reports are released for California, Maine, Montana and Nevada.

While South Dakota ballot measure campaigns expended money, they were not required to report to whom the money was expended.

All data was compiled from expenditures data made available through each state's respective campaign finance website.

By amount

Table 1 shows the 37 companies and organizations received over $1 million through statewide ballot measure campaign expenditures.

Purpose of expenditures

Campaign expenditures received by the top recipients were made for roughly five different purposes, including for "advertising," "consulting," "signatures," "research" and as "contributions."

• Firms specializing in advertising develop and produce advertisements, provide media placement for advertisements or both.
• Firms specializing in consulting provide legal services or aid in developing campaign strategies and communication.
• Firms specializing in signatures means they are petition drive companies.
• Firms specializing in research produce data for campaigns, including in the form of polls and interviews.
• One organization, the California Republican Party, received contributions over $1 million from ballot measure campaigns.

Overview

• Greenstripe Media made a total of $38,950,000, which was the most money of any company receiving ballot measure campaign expenditures. All of the firm's ballot measure revenue came from the opposition to California Proposition 46.
• GCW Media Services, which also played a role in California in 2014, received $30,530,296 from the opposition to CA Proposition 45.
• Target Enterprises, LLC received significant contributions from ballot measure campaigns in Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon. In all, the company received $27,444,723 in 2014 from ballot measure campaigns.
• Compared to the highest contribution to a ballot measure campaign of 2014 -- Mile High USA's $19,316,254 in support of Colorado Amendment 68 -- three companies made more money than that off of ballot measure campaigns.

Table 1: Recipients earning $1 million or more
Rank	Firm or organization	Type	Amount	State(s) of operation	Measure(s)
1	Greenstripe Media	Advertising	$38,950,000	California	CA Proposition 46
2	GCW Media Services	Advertising	$30,530,296	California	CA Proposition 45
3	Target Enterprises, LLC	Advertising	$27,444,723	Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon	AR Issue 3, CO Amendment 68, CO Proposition 105, NV Question 3 and OR Measure 92
4	Colorado Media & Mail	Advertising	$13,571,554	Colorado	CO Amendment 68
5	Porcaro Communications	Advertising	$11,107,891	Alaska	AK Measure 1
6	SDKnickerbocker, LLC	Advertising and Consulting	$9,705,710	Oregon and Washington	OR Measure 92 and WA Initiative 594
7	JPM&M, Inc.	Advertising and Consulting	$9,548,739	California	CA Proposition 41, CA Proposition 45 and CA Proposition 46
8	Goddard Gunster, Inc.	Advertising	$9,015,262	Massachusetts	MA Question 2
9	PCI Consultants, Inc.	Consulting and Signatures	$8,625,466	California, Florida, Michigan and Washington	CA Proposition 47, FL Amendment 1, FL Amendment 2, MI Nov. Proposal 1, MI Proposal 2 and WA Initiative 1351
10	Screen Strategies Media	Advertising	$8,310,177	Colorado, North Dakota, Tennessee and Washington	CO Amendment 67, ND Nov. Measure 1, ND Measure 5, ND Measure 7, TN Amendment 1 and WA Initiative 1351
11	Sadler Strategic Media, Inc.	Advertising	$8,197,185	California	CA Proposition 1, CA Proposition 2 and CA Proposition 47
12	GMMB Inc.	Advertising	$8,065,461	Massachusetts	MA Question 3
13	Joe Slade White Communications	Advertising	$5,738,218	Michigan	MI Aug. Proposal 1
14	Shallman Communications	Advertising and Consulting	$5,475,838	California	CA Proposition 48
15	Jamestown Associates, LLC	Advertising	$5,346,717	Florida	FL Amendment 2
16	Talbot Digital	Advertising	$3,960,957	California	CA Proposition 46
17	Amplified Strategies	Consulting and Signatures	$3,960,297	North Dakota and Oregon	ND Measure 7 and OR Measure 92
18	Buying Time, LLC	Advertising	$3,864,020	Alaska and California	AK Measure 2, CA Proposition 46 and CA Proposition 48
19	California Republican Party	Contribution	$2,897,000	California	CA Proposition 45 and CA Proposition 46
20	Arno Petition Consultants	Signatures	$2,488,138	California	CA Proposition 48
21	Media Analysis, Inc.	Advertising	$2,348,082	Oregon	OR Measure 88, OR Measure 90 and OR Measure 91
22	DCI Group, LLC	Consulting	$2,313,098	Massachusetts	MA Question 3
23	FieldWorks	Signatures	$2,246,321	Nebraska, Oregon and Washington	NE Initiative 425, OR Measure 90, OR Measure 92 and WA Initiative 594
24	Petta Ryan Consulting	Consulting	$2,120,938	Massachusetts	MA Question 1
25	Joe Trippi & Associates	Advertising	$1,835,709	Maine, Michigan and Missouri	ME Question 1, MI Nov. Proposal 1, MI Proposal 2 and MO Amendment 1
26	Kimball Petition Management	Signatures	$1,692,673	California	CA Proposition 46
27	Odney Advertising	Advertising	$1,617,016	North Dakota	ND Measure 2, ND Measure 5 and ND Measure 7
28	Mundy Katowitz Media, Inc.	Advertising	$1,538,586	Florida	FL Amendment 1
29	Pathfinder Communications	Advertising	$1,525,000	Oregon	OR Measure 90
30	NCC Media	Advertising	$1,356,896	Michigan and Maine	MI Aug. Proposal 1 and ME Question 1
31	Winner & Mandabach Campaigns	Consulting	$1,242,485	Nevada and Oregon	NV Question 3 and OR Measure 92
32	National Petition Management	Signatures	$1,188,729	Missouri and North Dakota	MO Amendment 3 and ND Measure 7
33	Public Opinion Strategies	Consulting and Research	$1,162,960	Arizona, California, Oregon and Tennessee	AZ Proposition 122, CA Proposition 45, OR Measure 92, TN Amendment 1 and TN Amendment 2
34	Heathcott Associates	Advertising	$1,139,281	Arkansas	AR Issue 4
35	Adelstein Liston	Advertising and Consulting	$1,116,908	Missouri	MO Amendment 7
36	Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Gross & Leoni, LLP	Consulting	$1,022,368	California	CA Proposition 1, CA Proposition 2 and CA Proposition 46
37	Arena Communications	Advertising and Fundraising	$1,002,928	Michigan	MI Aug. Proposal 1

By state

Table 2 illustrates the expenditure recipients who received the most money in each state where ballot measure campaigns spent money.

Overview

• Target Enterprises, LLC was the largest recipient of ballot measure campaign expenditures in three states -- Colorado, Nevada and Oregon.
• California had the largest campaign expenditure to a single company. Greenstripe Media, Inc. received $38,950,000 from the opposition to Proposition 46.
• Wisconsin had the lowest earning top recipient of expenditures out of all ballot measure campaigns reporting expenditures. Madison-based Putnam Roby Williamson Communication was employed by supporters of Question 1 for $172,138.

Table 2: Recipients ranked by state
State	Recipient	Amount	Measure(s)
Arizona	Spectrum Printing	$280,992	Prop. 122
Alaska	Porcaro Communications	$11,107,891	Measure 1
Arkansas	Heathcott Associates	$1,139,281	Issue 4
California	Greenstripe Media, Inc.	$38,950,000	Prop. 46
Colorado	Target Enterprises, LLC	$25,277,887	Amend. 68 and Prop. 105
Florida	Jamestown Associates, LLC	$5,346,717	Amend. 2
Hawaii	Anthology Marketing Group, Inc.	$442,324	Amend. 2
Maine	Joe Trippi & Associates	$903,041	Question 1
Massachusetts	Goddard Gunster, Inc.	$9,015,262	Question 2
Michigan	Joe Slade White Communications	$5,738,218	Prop. 1
Missouri	Adelstein Liston	$1,116,908	Amend. 7
Nebraska	FieldWorks	$515,375	Initiative 425
Nevada	Target Enterprises, LLC	$3,228,356	Question 3
New York	Shorr Johnson Magnus	$200,000	Prop. 3
North Dakota	Odney Advertising	$1,617,016	Measures 2, 5 and 7
Oregon	Target Enterprises, LLC	$12,453,172	Measure 92
Rhode Island	Advocacy Solutions	$399,089	Question 4
Tennessee	Screen Strategies Media	$2,901,606	Amend. 1
Washington	SKDKnickerbocker LLC	$5,468,499	Initiative 594
Wisconsin	Putnam Roby Williamson Communication	$172,138	Question 1

See also

• 2014 ballot measures
• 2014 ballot measure petition signature costs
• 2014 post-election ballot measure campaign contributions