ShareMI-1: Benishek's Financing Gives Opponents Fits
MI-1: Benishek's Financing Gives Opponents Fits
Dan Benishek, the Tea Party-fueled Republican nominee seeking to succeed the retiring Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak in Michigan's 1st District, has some personal wealth to contribute to his congressional campaign - but financial documents mask how much.
Benishek edged out state Senate Majority Whip Jason Allen in the August 3rd primary with a margin of victory so slim Allen could have requested a recount. However, Benishek had already outspent Allen heavily, about $317,000 to about $72,000, three weeks out from the primary, and Allen declined, urging the party to unite behind Benishek. In a manner befitting the cycle, the nominee identifies himself as a Tea Party activist, and the closing of his campaign site biography reads: “He’s an avid hunter and fisherman, and an NRA member. He’s never held political office, and he’s a career surgeon, not a career politician.”
Still, Allen's primary loss led Democratic strategists to suggest that it is less likely the GOP will have a decent shot at picking up the seat. In November Benishek will face Democratic state Rep. Gary McDowell, whose pro-gun, pro-life positioning that mimics Stupak's has some crossover appeal in the Upper Peninsula.
Republicans point out, however, that Benishek can help fund his campaign. They add that McDowell's fundraising has been lackluster - a point Democrats concede.
Benishek and McDowell both had about $131,000 in their war chests when they last filed campaign finance documents with the FEC in mid-July. Benishek had given his campaign just more than $142,000 - or the equivalent of his 2009 income from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
According to Benishek's personal financial disclosure form, he earned a salary of exactly $142,000 from the VA in 2009, and $55,988 in 2010 through his April 15 filing. His disclosure does not list the income he earned from his surgical practice in the last two years, although Benishek's wife, Judy, told RealClearPolitics that he hasn't earned anything from the practice in 2010.
A spokesman for the NRCC did not understand why the disclosure was filed the way it was and directed the inquiry back to the campaign. Campaign adviser Katie Gage explained that the candidate hasn't collected an income from his private practice for several years: He was nearing retirement, and his only earned income came from the VA.
"We are confident the disclosure is accurate and will review it," Gage said.
Nevertheless, a Democrat watching the race noticed reports that Benishek was in surgery the morning after the primary and questioned Benishek's VA job, given his status as a federal candidate. The candidate is still listed as a surgeon in the Dickinson County Healthcare System.
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