Our Philadelphia

Representative, District 186

Johnson's Top Donors, 2008

1	Brighter Day PAC	$7,500
2	International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers	$7,500
3	AFSCME District Council 13	$1,000
4	Walter Lomax	$1,000
5	Wolf PAC	$1,000

About Johnson's Top Donors

Brighter Day PAC

A donor can hide the extent of their contributions to a candidate by funneling them through a political action committee. For example, before she won the April 22, 2008 Democratic Primary for the 186th legislative district, Kenyatta Johnson’s biggest donor by far was the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which gave her $5,000 on April 9. On April 20 IBEW gave another $5,000 to the Brighter Day PAC, which proceeded to give Johnson $3,500 on April 22, $1,000 on April 23, and another $3,000 over the next two months. According to PA Department of State Records, Johnson was the sole recipient of contributions from this PAC in 2008, which strongly suggests that IBEW used it to conceal the extent of its support. Added together, these contributions from IBEW, and contributions which IBEW appears to have made through Brighter Day, comprise 22% of the $66,820 Johnson raised for her campaign.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Gov. Ed Rendell called IBEW “the most politically influential union around,” in an April 30, 2008 article in the Philadelphia City Paper. As long-time leader of the IBEW and former treasurer of the city Democratic Party, John Dougherty has been a kingmaker in city politics, and an endorsement from Dougherty is often followed by an infusion of campaign cash from other sources, and volunteers to help with getting out the vote. The extent to which Dougherty and IBEW depend upon campaign contributions to wield influence was dramatized in 2007 when Dougherty joined U.S. Rep. Chakah Fattah in filing a lawsuit alleging that Philadelphia did not have the power to limit campaign contributions to candidates in city elections. As part of their lawyers’ arguments in Nutter v. Dougherty, et al, it was alleged that the Pennsylvania General Assembly had intended to preempt any municipality in the state from making its own campaign finance laws. Dougherty and IBEW have also been strong supporters of expanding legalized gambling and building casinos in Philadelphia, in part because of the potential contracts for IBEW members.

AFSCME District Council 13

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 13 represents roughly half of all state workers in Pennsylvania, and claims a total membership of 65,000 at all levels of government. As Pennsylvania struggled to close a projected $3 billion budget deficit in 2009, District Council 13 lobbied to limit layoffs and furloughs for its members, and David Fillman, its Executive Director, lamented in an 11/19/09 Inquirer article that the state was "balancing the budget on the backs of its workers," especially when the legislature had not cut its own staff in the process. Fillman has a point. Pennsylvania’s legislature has more staff than almost any other, and its 106% rate of growth from 1979 to 2003 outpaced almost every other state, according to the National Conference for State Legislatures. Backing up Fillman’s point is the fact that District Council 13 has contributed more than $2.8 million to Pennsylvania candidates since 2001.

Walter Lomax

Walter Lomax

Wolf PAC

Wolf PAC