How Chris Jacobs financed his campaign
Chris Jacobs was elected to Congress in June 2020 when he defeated Democrat Nate McMurray. He had previously served as a member of the Buffalo School Board, Erie County Clerk and State Senator. Jacobs ran in three races for Congress last year, a Republican primary and special election for the NY27 seat in June, and then in the general election in November. He raised a total of $1,587,616 to fund those campaigns. As of January 31, 2021 his campaign treasury totaled $62,829. Ken Kruly, Investigative Post researcher and publisher of Politics and Other Stuff, reviewed his campaign finances for those elections.
How Jacobs financed his Congressional campaigns
| Personal Loan to Campaign | $ 561,000 | |
| Political Action Committees | Identification | Amount |
| Majority Committee PAC | Kevin McCarthy | $ 40,000 |
| Engineers Political Education Committee | Operating Engineers Union | $ 20,000 |
| The Eye of the Tiger PAC | Steve Scalise | $ 10,000 |
| National Fuel Gas Company Federal PAC | Natural gas | $ 10,000 |
| Blue Cross Blue Shield Association PAC | Health insurance | $ 7,500 |
| Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers PAC | Insurance | $ 7,500 |
| Individuals | Identification | Amount |
| Lawrence D. Jacobs Jr. | Physician | $ 11,200 |
| Duane Paddock Jr. | Paddock Chevrolet | $ 8,400 |
| David McElroy | AIG Insurance | $ 8,400 |
| Luke Jacobs | Attorney | $ 8,400 |
| Brian Lipke | Self-Employed | $ 6,300 |
| 57 Individual donors | Each contributing | $ 5,600 |
Talking Points
- Jacobs loaned his committee $561,000, or about one-third of what he spent. The debt remained unpaid as of January.
- Members of the Jacobs family contributed $89,600.
- Jacobs received a total of 1,322 donations.
- A total of 140 donations were received from political action committees (PACs). Donations from these PACs amounted to $316,600.
- Majority Committee PAC, which is affiliated with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, gave Jacobs $40,000 over the entire election cycle. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise’s Eye of the Tiger PAC donated $10,000.
- 1,137 contributions came from individuals, other campaign committees and various other organizations. 1,076 contributions came from individuals, with an average contribution of $1,221. 74 individuals gave $5,000 or more over the two-year period.
- The largest recipient of Jacobs’ campaign funds in 2019-2020 was a Virginia firm, Strategic Media Services, which was paid $1,058,149. Another Virginia firm, The Tarrance Group, was paid $66,358 for surveys.
Podcast
Ken Kruly and Geoff Kelly discuss the money Chris Jacobs raised and spent to win his seat in Congress — and how new Census numbers and redistricting might affect his political future.
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