An interim update:
heraldnet.com
Published: Tuesday,
March 13, 2001
Cantwell starts term in the red
By Susanna Ray
Herald Writer
Washington's newly elected U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell might be a
multimillionaire, but she's had problems just paying her $126.48
Roto-Rooter bill.
The Edmonds Democrat is $4.2
million in debt and is hoping
fund-raisers will help settle her bank
loans, pay her campaign staff
members and cover other election
bills.
During the campaign, Cantwell was
reportedly worth up to $40 million.
She gave her campaign $5 million of
her own money. She also took out
loans and still owes $3.8 million to
U.S. Bank and about $386,000 to
various vendors, staff members and
consultants.
But at this point, she can't pay.
"If Maria had the ability to pay this off, she would," spokesman Michael
Meehan said.
According to FECInfo, a campaign finance Web site run by former
Federal Elections Commission employees, Cantwell rates sixth among
444 Senate candidates nationwide for the amount of outstanding debt.
She ranks seventh in how much she spent.
Political watchers agree Cantwell's debt is significant, but they disagree
on how unusual it is.
"She seems to be somewhat of an exception in how much she owes,
when you consider how populous the state is," said Jim Thurber, a
political science professor at American University and the author of two
books about campaigns that came out last year and one that's due out
this week.
Losing candidates are more likely to be in debt, but winners find it easier
to pay off loans, Thurber said. Cantwell's opponent, Republican Sen.
Slade Gorton, carried no campaign debt.
Steven Weiss with the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington,
D.C., said post-Election Day debt is becoming more common as the
number of self-financed candidates who loan their campaigns money
increases.
Holding fund-raisers while in office is perfectly legal, although it does
have an "appearance problem," Weiss said.
"(Self-financed) candidates are often encouraged to simply write the loan
off," Weiss said, "and are told 'how's it going to look for you to hold
these lavish fund-raisers to pay yourself back?' "
Weiss said multimillionaire Sen. Jon Corzine, D-New Jersey, who's at
the top of that list of debts owed, recently told him he planned to write
off the entire $60 million he loaned his campaign.
Cantwell held office in the Legislature and Congress before losing a
re-election bid in 1994 and beginning a career at Seattle's
RealNetworks, where she became a multimillionaire.
Some reports pegged her net worth at $40 million during the election,
but Meehan said she just doesn't have the money now to clear up what
she owes for the campaign. Her stock holdings have plummeted at least
90 percent since she first jumped into the Senate race a little more than a
year ago, he said, adding that she won't disclose just how much she's
worth until it's required by law in May.
"She made a heck of a personal investment from her own life savings for
this race," Meehan said.
Nineteen pages of debts are listed in Cantwell's year-end report,
including:
$126.48 to Roto-Rooter of Lynnwood for maintenance done at her
Mountlake Terrace campaign headquarters;
$843.04 to the Snohomish County PUD;
$13,000 to Verizon Northwest for telephone service;
$117.31 to Total Rental of Everett for equipment rental;
$394.20 to Northwest Business Communications of Lynnwood for
equipment installation.
Some of those debts have been paid since the report, Meehan said, and
Cantwell is issuing checks as quickly as she can raise money.
She won't take money from political action committees -- one of her
campaign promises -- so she is relying on individual contributions, which
is slow-going given the $2,000 per person limit. Campaign finance rules
require that those funds come from new contributors, as well, so anyone
who gave $2,000 during the campaign is not allowed to give more
money now.
"She's raising money through phone calls and events," Meehan said.
He wouldn't be more specific, saying that "there's no mechanism to keep
a running total," but the figures will be reported this summer as required
by law.
Part of Cantwell's $3.8 million bank loan comes due this week. Meehan
said Cantwell is considering partially repaying it and also renegotiating
the terms. A U.S. Bank official declined to comment, citing privacy
concerns.
Cantwell's debt is a hot topic in local political circles, and many
Democrats -- most of whom didn't want to be quoted --- and
Republicans say they're especially surprised she took so long to pay her
staff members.
"That's not very typical. Usually you want your term to start on a good
foot. You don't want to be known as a deadbeat," said Brett Bader, a
Republican political consultant in Bellevue who has worked in
Washington state politics for 20 years.
Cantwell's year-end report showed that she owed money to as many as
21 campaign workers. Meehan said the money owed was for
post-Election Day wages or expenses, which occurred because of an
extended recount that wasn't in the budget. The race was so close,
Cantwell was not declared a winner until Dec. 1, more than three weeks
after the Nov. 7 election.
One of those waiting for a final $902.49 paycheck was Peter Jackson of
Everett, who was Cantwell's senior policy adviser and is the son of the
late Sen. Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson.
"Given the delays, we should at least expect some complimentary stock
tips," Jackson joked.
Cantwell literally sits at Jackson's father's old desk in Washington, D.C.,
-- it was given to her in a January ceremony -- but Jackson said her staff
ignored his "hectoring" e-mails and phone calls for several months.
After The Herald began looking into several staff members' allegations,
Jackson received a call Wednesday from Cantwell's deputy chief of staff
to tell him the check had been written and was in the mail. It arrived
Saturday.
Mike Seely, Cantwell's deputy press secretary who now works for the
Salvation Army, said he also had to aggressively pursue his final check.
"On brainpower and experience alone, Cantwell has the potential to be a
marvelously effective senator, and I sincerely hope she achieves that,"
Seely said. "But, is it just me, or does sitting in the actual desk once
occupied by Scoop Jackson while purportedly sticking it to his son not
take moral and intellectual turpitude to dangerously cantankerous
depths?
"Boy, oh boy, I hope she had absolutely no knowledge of that decision."
Meehan said Cantwell is the one who made all the decisions about who
to pay when.
Weiss, with the Center for Responsive Politics, said he knew of no
statistics on how many candidates hold out paying their staff members,
but he didn't think it was that unusual.
"When it's a close race, as this one was, when it comes to spending your
last dollars writing payroll checks or airing television ads, a lot of
candidates will opt for the TV," Weiss said. "As a candidate, you've got
to spend more where it will help you best."
In the meantime, Meehan said Cantwell will continue plugging away at
what she owes.
"Peter Jackson was paid on the same day Roto-Rooter was paid," he
said, "because there was a bunch of money that came in at the end of
February, and that's when the checks could be cut."
You can call Herald Writer Susanna Ray at 360-586-3803
or send e-mail to ray@heraldnet.com . |
