By Melissa Davlin and Seth Ogilvie
Remember all the commotion over OTTERPAC? The committee’s first campaign finance report is online.
Some highlights: The committee raised $44,490.43 from 19 donors in 2015, and spent $2,478.99. Of that, about half went to a graphic designer for the OTTERPAC logo (which Gov. Otter has said looks nothing like a rat) and half to printing literature.
Donations ranged from $100 to $5,000, with most contributions coming in at more than $2,000. The majority of donors, both businesses and individuals, are based in Treasure Valley, and almost everyone gave in December. One notable donor: Treasure Valley Racing LLC, which gave $2,500.
Many of the donors contributed to Otter’s 2014 campaign.
As for concerns the governor’s political action committee would draw away donors from other committees? The Idaho Republican Party reported $181,237.24 in 2015. Fourteen donations came in December — the same month OTTERPAC raised the bulk of its money — totaling $32,844.05.
Compare that to 2014, when the Idaho Republican Party raised just $5,700 from seven donors in December, and 2013, when the party raised $21,269 in December. In 2011, the last year leading into a presidential election year, the party raised just $12,316.10 in December.
Conclusion? We’ll need a little bit more of a sample size to see whether OTTERPAC will lure donors away from established GOP committees.
