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Fundraising from HHS secretary draws scrutiny

UPDATED 7:08 AM EDT, May 13, 2013 |

WASHINGTON (AP) — A fundraising push by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is drawing criticism from a key Senate Republican who questions whether she has a conflict of interest.

HHS spokesman Jason Young confirms that Sebelius in recent weeks has asked various charitable foundations, businesses executives, churches and doctors to donate money to nonprofit organizations, such as Enroll America, that are helping to implement President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

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UPDATED 18:31 PM EDT, March 18, 2013

RNC to spend $10 million to reach minorities

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reeling from back-to-back presidential losses and struggling to cope with the country's changing racial and ethnic makeup, the Republican National Committee plans to spend $10 million this year to send hundreds of party workers into Hispanic, black and Asian communities to promote its brand among voters who overwhelmingly supported Democrats in 2012.

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UPDATED 10:04 AM EST, February 20, 2013

Jesse Jackson Jr., wife charged in federal cases

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. was charged Friday with scheming to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses. His wife was charged with filing false income tax forms.

Federal prosecutors filed a charge of conspiracy against the former congressman and charged his wife, Sandra, with one count of filing false joint federal income tax returns for the years 2006 through 2011. Both agreed to plead guilty in plea deals with federal prosecutors.

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UPDATED 6:34 AM EST, February 5, 2013

Dems are Gaga for Big Donors

Democrats worked hard to portray themselves as the party of the middle class during the recent fiscal cliff standoff, but they're good at courting Americans with big checkbooks, too.

In fact, congressional Democrats are offering VIP access to lawmakers at a Valentine's Day lunch for the doting donor, a Lady Gaga or Pink concert for the music lover or two tickets to the Super Bowl for the sports enthusiast, according to a list of 56 fund-raisers scheduled for early 2013 that was obtained by the Washington Guardian.

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UPDATED 22:45 PM EST, January 7, 2013

Obama '08 campaign fined $375,000 by FEC

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign has been fined $375,000 by the Federal Election Commission for reporting violations related to a set of donations received during the final days of the campaign.

The fines are among the largest ever levied on a presidential campaign by the FEC and stem from a series of missing filings for nearly 1,200 contributions totaling nearly $1.9 million. Campaigns are required to file the reports during the final weeks of the campaign.

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UPDATED 7:57 AM EST, November 20, 2012

Unions flexed muscles in state campaigns

WASHINGTON (AP) — From California to Maine, unions used their political muscle in the recent elections to help install Democratic governors, build labor-friendly majorities in state legislatures and defeat ballot initiatives against them.

The combination of union money and member mobilization helped Democrats take control of state legislatures in Maine and Minnesota.

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UPDATED 15:15 PM EST, November 12, 2012

GOP groups taking stock after $380 million loss

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican-leaning independent groups were supposed to be a key to victory for Mitt Romney. But they ended up being among the big losers of the presidential race, spending an eye-popping $380 million on ads to oust President Barack Obama only to come up woefully short.

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UPDATED 7:58 AM EDT, November 2, 2012

Presidential election hits $2B fundraising mark

WASHINGTON (AP) — The 2012 presidential campaign passed the $2 billion mark in fundraising Thursday, fueled by an outpouring of cash from both ordinary citizens and the wealthiest Americans hoping to influence the selection of the country's next leader.

The eye-popping figure puts the election on track to be the costliest in modern U.S. history. It comes amid a campaign finance system vastly altered by the proliferation of outside groups and "super" political committees that are bankrolling a barrage of TV ads in battleground states.

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UPDATED 23:48 PM EDT, October 22, 2012

Report: Super PAC, party ad spending nearly on par

WASHINGTON (AP) — Outside groups have spent nearly the same as political parties in about two dozen competitive elections this year, a new report found.

Super PACs and other independent groups dropped about $24.8 million on ads affecting the 25 most-competitive House races, according to a study by New York University's Brennan Center for Justice. That's compared with about $24.9 million that the political party congressional campaign committees spent on the airwaves.

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