Candidate Sanford Calls on Givhan and Hall to Disclose Money Sources
03/20/2009

Paul Sanford, a Republican candidate for the Alabama Senate in the April 21st special election runoff, today issued a challenge to Republican candidate Sam Givhan and Democratic nominee Laura Hall to disclose the sources of money they both received from special interest political action committees (PACs) during the course of their campaigns.

Paperwork filed with the Alabama Secretary of State’s elections division indicates Mr. Givhan received $46,523.69 from PACs. According to Mr. Givhan’s campaign disclosure forms, TOC PAC, Children’s PAC and STA PAC, registered as political action committees in Birmingham, gave Mr. Givhan a total of $25,000 in mid-February. None of the three PACs has filed a report detailing where those monies originated. Karen Davidson of Birmingham is listed as Chairperson of the three PACs. In addition, Mr. Givhan reported receiving another $8,100 from TAG PAC and Deserve Victory PAC, both registered in Montgomery with Claire Austin listed as the Chairperson. Senate Majority PAC, chaired by Democratic political operative Steve Raby of Huntsville, gave $5,000 to Deserve Victory PAC on January 12, 2009, and on January 13, 2009, Deserve Victory PAC contributed $3,000 directly to Mr. Givhan’s campaign and gave $2,000 to TAG PAC. On January 15, 2009, TAG PAC contributed $2,000 to Mr. Givhan’s campaign. FARM PAC, chaired by Alabama Farmers Federation Executive Director Mike Kilgore, gave Mr. Givhan $13,423.69.

In the case of Rep. Laura Hall (D-Huntsville), she received $28,000 from PACs. According to Rep. Hall’s campaign disclosure forms, FGAPAC, BIPAC, and EDPAC, registered to lobbyists Joe Fine and Bob Geddie, gave Rep. Hall $7,500 while the Alabama Education Association (A-VOTE) gave Rep. Hall $10,000. STA PAC, who also gave to Mr. Givhan, gave Rep. Hall $2,000. Other PACs donating to Rep. Hall include JPAC ($2,500), SEA PAC ($2,500), TRIAL ($2,500) and SIXPAC ($1,000).

Paul Sanford, a member of the Alabama Retail Association since 2002, discloses that he received a check in the amount of $1,000 from the Association’s political action committee, which is his sole PAC contribution to date.

Mr. Sanford has made ethics reform and transparency the cornerstones of his campaign for the Senate. "When Governor Riley spoke to the Rotary Club here Tuesday, he asked people to call their legislators to demand ethics reform, including transparency in political contributions," said Mr. Sanford. "I ask Sam Givhan and Laura Hall to be forthcoming in letting the voters know who is funding these PACs that are heavily funding their campaigns," he added.

"If we are going to achieve ethical reform and transparency in State government, our Senate campaigns should exemplify transparent and ethical behavior. It is time to end the maze of paperwork involved in tracing PAC to PAC transfers of money and lift the fog of special interest influence covering the District 7 race," Sanford said.