GOP Candidate for Governor Dennis Richardson Picks Up Out-of-State Checks

Unusual $15,000 contribution from Ohio political consultancy

Rep. Dennis Richardson
By NIGEL JAQUISS

State Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point), the Republican candidate for Oregon governor, has struggled to raise money in his campaign to unseat incumbent Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat.

Despite Kitzhaber's Cover Oregon-related woes—the state's insurance exchange crashed after the expenditure of $248 million—Richardson has less than $100,000 on hand, even though he's been campaigning for a year. (Kitzhaber has $886,000 on hand).

But this week, Richardson disclosed three sizable checks totaling $25,000, all from out of state: $5,000 from Montaire Corp., an Arkansas chicken producer; $5,000 from Blankenbecler Advisors an Ohio accounting firm; and $15,000 from The Strategy Group for Media, a Columbus, Ohio-based political consultancy that has helped dozens of GOP candidates around the country win election.

The Strategy Group for Media is a high-profile operation, profiled in Buzzfeed last year, after a nasty internal split saw founder Rex Elsass fire and sue his protege, Nick Everhart. The firm's website says it has helped elect more new Republican members of Congress than any other political consulting firm in the past decade. Well-known clients including Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.)

Elsass built a colorful reputation in Ohio, Buzzfeed says, before moving on the national stage. Here's in part what Buzzfeed (emphasis added):


“As Cover Oregon continues to become more and more of a national story, we’ve been seeing a lot more interest from groups like this who know that Kitzhaber is both responsible and vulnerable," she says. "It’s a pattern that will likely continue as we head into the fall."

WWeek 2015

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