November 5th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in State Data
As the election nears, it’s nice to see a collection of state-level campaign finance stories, since most of the attention is on the federal races. Among the recent examples is a St. Louis Post-Dispatch piece on electric utility donations to state lawmakers and a story on gubernatorial donors related to the Trans-Texas Corridor in the [...]
October 13th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in State Data
Hank Shaw of the Stockton Record used voting results data since 2000 to find that “no city in the San Joaquin Valley has the pulse of California like Lathrop … Of the 56 state ballot questions or top-ticket elections that have appeared over the past six years, Lathropians have voted with the rest of California [...]
October 12th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in State Data
Richard Read, Janie Har and Bill Graves of the Oregonian used state data to show that “since 2002, [beer and wine] distributors have showered $1.2 million on lawmakers through lobbying and campaign giving … with much of the latter going to legislative leaders and committee chairmen who have the power to pass or kill bills.” [...]
October 11th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in DIY, State Data
Herb Jackson of the Bergen Record used state data to show that while New Jersey Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr. touts his independence, “Kean’s record as a legislator shows he may not be the independent fighter he says he is. Not only does he serve in the Republican leadership in Trenton, a database analysis by [...]
October 9th, 2006 | by Derek Willis | published in State Data
Brett J. Blackledge of the Birmingham News used state records to find that “Alabama’s two-year college system has paid more than three dozen state lawmakers or their relatives in recent years, including several legislators who received paychecks from two different colleges.” Most of the contracts with elected representatives began after they won their races for [...]