Who funded Michael Steele's RNC chair bid, & how he spent the money

By GottaLaff

Michael Aluminuminuminum got lots of money from lots of the usual sources, and spent lots of it after he got lots of it:

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele spent nearly $370,000 to win a contentious election in January, aided in part by consultants who rely on the RNC for business.

In filings made late Friday with the Internal Revenue Service, Steele reported spending $369,023 since kicking off his bid for chairman in the fall of 2008, more than any of the other five candidates who sought the chairmanship. [...]

[H]e beat then-South Carolina Republican Party chairman Katon Dawson with 91 out of 168 votes -- a cost of $2,196 per vote.

The former Maryland lieutenant governor and GOPAC chairman relied heavily on close friends, including executives at an oil services company in Nebraska. Everston International Venezuela and Everston Operating Company, which share a P.O. Box in Kimball, Neb., each gave Steele's campaign $25,000. Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer gave Steele $15,000 after endorsing the Marylander's campaign in early January.

Raising money from consultants and friends is not atypical in these races but the amount of money raised caused eyebrows to raise.

A number of contributors included major Washington consulting and lobbying firms, along with political action committees. At least four Republican consulting firms contributed to Steele's campaigns. Jeff Larson, a partner at FLS Connect, gave $2,500 to Steele; his firm handles telemarketing for the RNC and has done hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of dollars of business in the last several years.

And Larson, like many contributors, gave his contribution in February, after the chairman's race was over. In fact, the report filed Friday shows Steele raised $43,250 after the race was over, including from Republican bigwigs like Fred Malek. [...]

A source close to Steele said all payments to consultants were to cover expenses, and that no consultant made money off the campaign.

Steele spent much of the money on travel; candidates for RNC chairman made a point to visit voters, made up of a committeeman and a committeewoman as well as each state's chairman, in their respective home states.

Steele spent $83,593 at Moby Dick Airways, a charter plane service that the Republican National Committee used extensively in the years before he became chairman. He also flew on a private plane of Florida businessman Tom Talbot, founder of a lumber company. Steele's campaign committee estimated it spent $22,924 on flights using Talbot's plane.

He also spent heavily on staff and consultants. Three companies owned by Republican strategist Blaise Hazelwood, one of his main advisors and the person who signed the IRS reports, made a total of $68,743 off Steele's campaign.

OnMessage Inc., a firm run by Steele advisor Curt Anderson, made an additional $7,603; South Carolina GOP strategist Jim Dyke pulled in $4,096; and New Hampshire web strategist Patrick Hynes made $14,209.

Hazelwood contributed to Steele's campaign, as did Parish Braden, the chairman's personal assistant who is now employed with the RNC. Hazelwood's, Anderson's and Dyke's firms have all done business with the RNC since Steele became chairman; the three companies have made more than $100,000 combined in Steele's first six months on the job.

Several other staffers, operating as independent consultants, were paid a total of $22,983, according to the reports.

It must be nice to have wealthy friends with private planes.