Accountability | Maine
Susan Collins’ Campaign Bankrolled by Bankers, Alt-Right Boosters and Special-Interest PACs
Sen. Susan Collins’ campaign motto is “Our Senator.” But after her latest fundraising disclosure, it’s hard to say whose senator she is. Significant chunks of the more than $1.5 million Collins raised this year came from far-right figures like the Mercer family, an inventor who has funded white-supremacist online trolls, bankers and hedge-fund managers, and special interests.
Accountability | Louisiana
Ralph Abraham Touts Endorsements from Controversial Local Officials Accused of Peddling Racist Rhetoric
Rep. Ralph Abraham’s campaign for governor of Louisiana is boasting about the endorsements of a local official who caused a stir with a campaign sign evoking the state’s lynching past and a mayor who last week downplayed a racist meme shared by his town's police chief.
Accountability | Virginia
State Senator Attended Fundraiser in Genie Costume That Said ‘Rub Me’ on Lamp Protruding from Crotch
Before he was elected to the Virginia state Senate, William R. DeSteph Jr., who is running for re-election in November, attended a Halloween fundraiser for a youth charity dressed as a genie in a lamp, with a large, protruding spout from his crotch like an erect penis. The lamp read, “Rub Me!”
Accountability | New Hampshire
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu Went to Dubai but Didn’t Disclose Everything He Did There
At least two of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s activities in February at the World Government Summit in Dubai were not disclosed to the New Hampshire Department of State, as required by law.
Accountability | Kentucky
Medical Board Chastised Bevin’s Running Mate for Lambasting Patient, Prescribing Drugs Over Phone
On four separate occasions early in his medical career, Kentucky state Sen. Ralph Alvarado — who has proudly branded himself as a “Doctor Who Wants to Stand Up for Kentucky Families” — came under scrutiny by the state Board of Medical Licensure for various infractions, including verbally abusing a patient and her family and not keeping up with requirements for his license.
Education
Betsy DeVos Brags About Giving to the Special Olympics, but Her Charity Has Only Donated 0.006% of the $17.6M She Wants to Cut
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos this week defended the Trump administration’s effort to wipe out the $17.6 million in federal funding for the Special Olympics, telling congressional panels the nonprofit should depend on the private sector and contributions from wealthy patrons like herself. But the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, which doles out tens of millions of dollars to her and her husband’s favorite causes, has given just $1,000 (or 0.006 percent of the funding she wants to cut) to the Special Olympics of Michigan since 2001, according to its filings with the IRS.
Health Care | Louisiana
Steve Scalise Stays Quiet on Ralph Abraham’s Remark That Medicaid Recipients ‘Vote for a Living’
House Minority Whip Steve Scalise took a fellow Republican to task last week for saying his constituents sat idly waiting for the government’s help after Hurricane Katrina, but he’s been mum on a fellow Louisianan’s characterization of Medicaid recipients as lazy people who vote in order to stay on the dole. Rep. Ralph Abraham, a third-term Republican now running for governor, was recorded last week telling donors at a fundraiser that Medicaid recipients were “voting for a living instead of working.”