Russell Coleman walks to the stage in Louisville to give his acceptance speech after wining the office of attorney general on Nov 7, 2023. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Matthew Mueller)

Follow the money

An occasional series of campaign finance notebooks by Tom Loftus

The largest donor to the various political committees supporting Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman last year is a newcomer to Kentucky’s world of political giving and lobbying: FFF Enterprises Inc., of Temecula, California.

FFF Enterprises describes itself on its website as a “leading supplier of critical-care biopharmaceuticals, plasma products and vaccines.” It first registered to lobby the legislative and executive branches of Kentucky state government last Sept. 1.

Reports filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance show that FFF’s chief executive Patrick Schmidt gave $2,000 to Coleman’s 2023 primary election committee and $2,100 to his general election committee. Other reports filed with KREF show that Schmidt gave $20,000 last year to Safer Kentucky, a super PAC supporting Coleman, and $25,000 after the election to the committee that paid for Coleman’s inauguration festivities.

The $25,000 was by far the largest contribution made to Coleman’s inaugural committee, which raised a total of $59,100.

In addition, FFF Enterprises Inc. made a corporate donation of $75,000 last Nov. 8 to the Republican Attorneys General Association, according to a report that the association filed with the IRS. That contribution came a day after the election in which the Republican Attorneys General Association spent $530,435 supporting Coleman’s candidacy.

Coleman won 58 percent of the vote in the election over Democrat Pamela Stevenson, a state House member from Louisville.

Coleman’s office referred questions about the FFF contributions to his campaign committee, which did not respond to an email from Kentucky Lantern.

FFF Enterprises reports on forms filed with the Legislative Ethics Commission that it is lobbying on “issues impacting addiction.” Its chief lobbyist in Kentucky is Karen Kelly, who is also the secretary of the Republican Party of Kentucky and a former district director for U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers. Kelly referred questions to Schmidt who did not return a phone message left at his office.?

FFF’s website says that it “purchases directly from biopharmaceutical manufacturers and ships only to healthcare providers. … FFF’s unprecedented programs unite manufacturers, Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) and hospital partners, while bringing streamlined cost-saving solutions to the biopharmaceutical and vaccine marketplace.”

Rand Paul/Jeff Yass PAC gives big to winner?in Ohio GOP primary

Protect Freedom PAC — a super PAC that has supported Sen. Rand Paul and is mainly funded by mega-donor Jeff Yass — made a big contribution to support the Donald Trump-backed candidate who won a hotly-contested GOP primary for U.S. Senate in Ohio on Tuesday.

Protect Freedom recently reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that it gave $500,000 on Feb. 13 to Buckeye Values PAC, which backed? Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer who has never held elective office. On Saturday former President Trump spoke at a raucous rally for Moreno near Dayton. The Associated Press reported that the rally was hosted by Buckeye Values PAC.

Reports filed by Buckeye Values PAC with the FEC show that Protect Freedom PAC was by far its largest donor this year, giving more than one-third of its $1.4 million received in contributions.

Moreno faced two opponents Tuesday: Matt Dolan, a state senator who had the support of establishment Republican leaders in Ohio like Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and former Ohio Sen. Rob Portman; and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

Moreno won just over 50% of the vote with 33% going to Dolan and 17% to LaRose, according to the Ohio secretary of state’s website.

Moreno will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.

Protect Freedom PAC is a super PAC created in 2017 by close associates of Rand Paul to support candidates across the country who share Paul’s conservative political views. Last year Protect Freedom PAC spent more than $2.4 million in an unsuccessful effort to help elect Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron as governor of Kentucky.

Super PACs like Protect Freedom PAC can accept contributions in unlimited amounts. Last year it was almost exclusively funded by $6 million in contributions from Jeff Yass, a billionaire options trader from the Philadelphia area. Yass has contributed about $21 million to Protect Freedom PAC since it was founded. That’s more than 75 percent of all the money that has ever been given to Protect Freedom PAC.

Robert Stivers: All monied up, and no race to run

Amid the frantic fundraising by candidates for governor and other statewide offices last fall, Senate President Robert Stivers was doing some serious fundraising of his own.

The Manchester Republican, who has represented the Senate’s 25th District since 1997, raised more than $360,000 in September and October in preparation for a campaign for reelection in 2024, according to a report he filed in December with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

Donors to Stivers included numerous officials of Churchill Downs, executives of other race track/sports betting parlors, highway contractors and more than 40 political action committees. Coal company executive and billionaire Joe Craft of Alliance Resource Partners gave $2,100 as did his wife, Kelly Craft, unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for governor last year.

This allowed the Stivers campaign to report a cash balance of $361,408 in early December.

That’s huge for a state legislator, even a top leader. It is about triple the size of the next largest balance held by any of the other 15 leaders in the General Assembly, according to Kentucky Lantern’s look at those records. ?Senate President Pro Tem David Givens’ campaign fund balance is second highest at $121,057, registry records show. Stivers’ balance even exceeds the $340,000 balance of the Kentucky Senate Republican Caucus Committee.?

If Stivers’ intention was to scare off potential challengers, it worked. No one — Democrat or Republican — filed to oppose Stivers by the Jan. 5 filing deadline.

Stivers, through his office’s spokeswoman, declined to comment on the matter.

Stivers can save the money for a possible reelection campaign in 2028, but also can use it to spread good will and make friends by giving some to other political campaigns or civic causes, as well as cover various political expenses including meals.

Last year, Stivers’ campaign committee’s expenses included a $5,000 donation to the Republican Party of Kentucky, $5,000 to the Senate Republican Caucus Campaign Committee, donations of $200 to the campaigns of 13 Republicans running for the General Assembly, $200 to the Clay County Republican Women, $500 to a nonprofit called Shaping Clay, $250 to Oneida Tourism, $500 to the Burning Springs Elementary basketball team, $1,080 for “meals and advertising at Mcquary Co. Gala,” $201.65 for “Christmas hams for workers and supporters,” and $576.64 for “dinner at Jeff Ruby’s” for supporters.