FOLLOWING THE MONEY ON THE ‘INDEPENDENT’ MARGARET STOCK
Margaret Stock, the Republican who transitioned into a non-affiliated candidate in order to run in the Democratic primary, finally has filed her needed petition signatures. If they’re legal signatures, she’ll finally get her shot at U.S. Senate, but it won’t be this coming week’s election, and it won’t be on the Democrats’ ballot.
According to the Division of Elections, Stock is now listed as a “pending candidate” for the November ballot in her quest to unseat Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Earlier this year, Stock and the Democrats attempted to have Stock run as their nominee for the Aug. 16 primary election. But a judge turned that down, saying if she wanted to be a Democrat, she ought to register as one.
Stock is not the latest to try to use the resources of the Democrats without identifying as one. AFL-CIO Alaska Boss Vince Beltrami filed against State Sen. Cathy Giessel, but sanitized himself away from the Democratic Party first. He’s a non-aligned knee-breaker now.
Other hiding their party affiliation include Daniel Ortiz, a state representative out of Ketchikan who caucuses with Democrats in Juneau, but touts his conservative views in Ketchikan.
FUNNELING MONEY TO DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVES
Stock has raised $477,000 to date, although she stretched that number to Alaska Public Media by saying she had raised over half a million dollars, an amount she said makes her competitive. She has $110,000 on hand. Her target, Sen. Murkowski, has $2.4 million on hand.
More telling is that Stock raised less than $16,000 in July, and that her fundraising has slowed to a crawl. $3,600 of that amount raised was her own self-funding contribution.
Stock told public media that she collected the 5,700 signatures at events across the state, for instance at Golden Days festival in Fairbanks, as well as in Southeast Alaska, and in McCarthy. People came into her law office in Anchorage to sign the petition.
What she did not disclose is that she used paid signature gatherers, who were spotted in liberal hangouts around Anchorage routinely. One paid hand was photographed at Natural Pantry, where he worked outside the door for days to collect signatures, after the courts disallowed Stock from running in the Democratic primary.
Stock’s spending tells the story of who she aligns with politically.
- She paid $24,000 to Mark Begich’s firm Hilltop Solutions in Washington, D.C. She gave $21,000 to H&P Political Compliance, whose clients are all solid Democrats.
- Another $16,000 was drained away to Katz Watson Group, yet another go-to team for Democrats; the KW client list includes Hillary Clinton’s exploratory committee, and Joseph Lieberman.
- Other payments went to similar organizations, such as The Pivot Group, whose clients include AFL-CIO and Hillary Clinton. Pivot produced a get-out-the-vote door hanger for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Gifford, which featured none other than Sarah Palin. Giffords was shot and badly injured in 2011, and the anti-gun Left blamed their easiest target: Palin.
- Her video team, Kully Hall Struble, is proud of the work they’ve done for Sen. Harry Reid, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, and a host of liberal lawmakers such as Arizona Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat running against Republican Sen. John McCain.
- A $5,000 check went to Jones Mandel, an opposition research firm in Seattle, whose clients include the Democratic leaning Emily’s List, Barack Obama’s Organizing for America, Florida Democratic Party, and the Democratic Governor’s Association.
- Stock also paid about $40,000 to Clarify Agency, which is proud of its work for Cory Booker, Barack Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Progressives United, and the California Democratic Party. The Clarify Agency web site states: “If you’re a Democratic campaign, advocacy group, or corporate partner looking to engage some people and do some good, let us know when and where to meet you, and we’ll be there.”
- Emily’s List associate Peggy Egan also won a $10,000 check from Stock for campaign management services. Emily’s List is a group that has a definite litmus test: “We elect pro-choice Democratic women to office,” the website plainly states.
In fact, in the Must Read research of FEC reports, it appears Margaret Stock is, in fact, completed her transition from Republican to Democrat. And as she spends money on consultants, she’s not circulating it through Alaska companies — all her money is heading Outside.
We don’t expect Margaret Stock to come clean on her transition. But as the old Watergate-era phrase goes, one only needs to “follow the money.”
With the above associations, will the media continue the charade of calling Stock an independent candidate? We only ask because conservatives who would play make-believe with the press would never get away with it. It’s time for the media to decide if they’ll go along with the lie.