Fact check: Fundraising in the Arizona Senate election
Mystery Valley, Arizona
Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock chided the Arizona Democratic Party for tarring Republican Martha McSally as the “establishment candidate” when their own candidate, Kyrsten Sinema, “couldn’t be more D.C. ‘establishment’ if she were made of marble.” According to Morlock, Sinema has raised twice as much PAC money as McSally, and her leading contributors are banks. On the other hand, McSally has drawn three times the small dollar donations as Sinema, primarily from retirees, Morlock said.
Is Morlock correct?
Morlock attributes his claims to the website OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign financing using data from the Federal Election Commission.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Morlock is correct in claiming that Sinema raised twice as much money from PACs as McSally between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017. The records also show that McSally has raised three times as much money from small-dollar donations as Sinema has during the same time period. However, Morlock’s claims about Sinema’s and McSally’s leading contributors, based on calculations by OpenSecrets, cannot be verified because the FEC does not categorize donations by industry and employment.
Background
Sinema and McSally are among 14 candidates vying to replace Republican Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), who declined to run for re-election. The primaries will occur on August 28. No Democratic candidate has been elected to represent the state in the U.S. Senate since 1988.
Rep. Sinema has represented Arizona’s 9th Congressional District since 2013. She previously served in the state House and the state Senate, and has worked as an attorney and social worker.
Rep. McSally has represented Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District since 2015. She previously served for 26 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring with the rank of colonel.
OpenSecrets, identified by Morlock as the source of his claims, is a campaign finance tracking website managed by the Center for Responsive Politics, which aggregates fundraising data from the Federal Election Commission. The Center for Responsive Politics is a nonprofit organization which describes its mission as “to produce and disseminate peerless data and analysis on money in politics to inform and engage Americans, champion transparency, and expose disproportionate or undue influence on public policy.”[1]
Contribution sources
According to FEC data, Sinema’s contributions from political action committees between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2017, are twice those of McSally’s. The Federal Election Commission data also shows that contributions to McSally from small-dollar donors during the 2017-2018 reporting period was more than three times that of Sinema’s.[2]
| Arizona Senate campaign finance: 1/1/2017 through 12/31/2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | PAC contributions[3] | Small-dollar donations |
 Kyrsten Sinema |
$1,581,153.50[4][5] | $495,331.70[6][7] |
 Martha McSally |
$785,960.96[8][9] | $1,562,162.93[10][11] |
Top contributors
The Federal Election Commission requires that donors report their place of employment and occupation, although it does not sort donors into industries or jobs based on this information.
OpenSecrets aggregates the employment and occupation data from candidates’ reports filed with the FEC.[12] The OpenSecrets analysis identifies the securities and investment industry as Sinema’s top donors, accounting for about 10.3 percent ($400,211) of her donations as of March 26, 2018.[13][14] It identifies retirees as McSally’s top donor group, accounting for 13.7 percent ($517,212) of her fundraising as of March 26, 2018.[15]
However, the OpenSecrets data is incomplete because donors contributing $200 or less are not required to disclose their employer. Additionally, OpenSecrets states that “[t]hese totals are conservative, as not all of the individual contributions have yet been classified by the Center.”[16] Therefore, Ballotpedia cannot determine the accuracy of Morlock’s claims about Sinema’s and McSally’s largest donor bases.
Conclusion
Tucson Sentinel columnist Blake Morlock claims that Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema is a consummate “establishment” candidate, having received twice as much money from political action committees as her GOP rival Rep. Martha McSally. Morlock also claimed that McSally has raised three times as much money from small-dollar donations as Sinema, and that Sinema’s leading contributors are banks while McSally’s are retirees.
According to FEC data, Sinema has raised more than twice as much money from political action committees as McSally, who has raised more than three times as much from small-dollar donors. Morlock’s claims that Sinema’s leading contributors are banks while McSally’s are retirees cannot be verified because the FEC does not categorize donors by industry or employment.
See also
Sources and Notes
- ↑ Center for Responsive Politics, "Our Vision and Mission: Inform, Empower & Advocate," accessed March 28, 2018
- ↑ At the time of publication, the most recent available campaign finance reports covered all contributions and expenditures made prior to January 1, 2018.
- ↑ The figures provided by the FEC exclude committees associated with a political party, but include PACs, political convention committees, hosting committees, and inaugural committees.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Sinema, Kyrsten - Financial Summary," accessed March 28, 2018
- ↑ As of April 9, 2018, OpenSecrets reported this figure as $1,581,154.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Sinema, Kyrsten," accessed March 28, 2018 To access this information, click on the "Size" button under the "Individual Contributions" header.
- ↑ As of April 9, 2018, OpenSecrets reported this figure as $434,650.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "McSally, Martha - Financial Summary," accessed March 28, 2018
- ↑ As of April 9, 2018, OpenSecrets reported this figure as $789,530.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "McSally, Martha," accessed March 28, 2018 To access this information, click on the "Size" button under the "Individual Contributions" header.
- ↑ As of April 9, 2018, OpenSecrets reported this figure as $1,235,966.
- ↑ This analysis includes both contributions from individuals and PACs.
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Rep. Kyrsten Sinema - Arizona District 09," accessed April 3, 2018
- ↑ The OpenSecrets analysis found that Sinema’s top donors were from the securities and investment industry as a whole rather than banks in particular.
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Rep. Martha McSally - Arizona District 02," accessed April 3, 2018
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Rep. Martha McSally," accessed March 30, 2018 To access this information, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Methodology."
Launched in October 2015 and active through October 2018, Fact Check by Ballotpedia examined claims made by elected officials, political appointees, and political candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. We evaluated claims made by politicians of all backgrounds and affiliations, subjecting them to the same objective and neutral examination process. As of 2025, Ballotpedia staff periodically review these articles to revaluate and reaffirm our conclusions. Please email us with questions, comments, or concerns about these articles. To learn more about fact-checking, click here.
Contact
More Fact Checks
October 30, 2018
August 24, 2018
|
|
