Spending reports: Pence, Young and Braun report what they raised, and how they spent it

Mike Wolanin | The Republic U.S. Rep Greg Pence, R-Ind., speaks at a press conference at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind., Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.

The congressional delegation representing Bartholomew County reported raising around $435,970 during the first half of the year and had a combined $4.16 million in cash on hand as of the end of June, federal campaign finance filings show.

Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana, reported raising the most among the delegation, with $222,363 in receipts during the first six months of the year, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Sen. Todd Young, R-Indiana, who is not up for re-election until 2028, reported $213,373 in receipts over the same period, while Sen. Mike Braun, R-Indiana, who is currently running for Indiana governor in 2024, reported raising just $234 in receipts to his U.S. Senate campaign committee.

Braun’s gubernatorial campaign, however, has reported raising $2.2 million during the first half of this year, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Pence report

The Pence campaign received $10,000 contributions from both Direct Supply Inc. Partners PAC and the Energy Marketers of America Small Business Committee PAC, as well as $6,000 in contributions from the Comcast Corp. and NBCUniversal PAC.

Several political action committees also contributed $5,000 to Pence’s campaign during the first six months of the year, including the Abbot Laboratories Employee PAC, Allison Transmission Inc. PAC, American Crystal Sugar Company PAC, AT&T Inc. Employee Federal PAC, CMR PAC, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association PAC, National Turkey Federal PAC and UnitedHealth Group Inc. PAC.

Pence’s campaign campaign also reported $257,286 in disbursements over the half of the year and had $350,646 in cash on hand as of the end of June.

In terms of disbursements, Pence’s campaign paid $58,657 to Grand Valley Consulting LLC for fundraising consulting and expenses over the first half of the year, $43,481 to Centra Credit union to pay for his campaign van and a $35,000 contribution to Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s campaign for Indiana governor.

Pence also reported reimbursing himself around $16,452, including $12,009 for travel expenses. He also reported spending an additional $11,209 with Jet Access Aviation, a Greenfield-based company that offers private jet charters.

In addition, the third-term congressman reported paying $4,375 in campaign funds to a company his wife operates, Pence Group LLC, during the first five months of the year, or $875 per month.

Young report

Young’s largest donor so far this year has been MassMutual, an insurance company based in Massachusetts that has made $33,305 in contributions to his campaign committee, federal records show. The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. PAC contributed an additional $2,500 to Young’s campaign.

First Bankcard, a division of First National Bank of Ohama, made $9,644 in contributions over the same period. Young’s campaign also does business with First Bankcard, reporting $24,540 in payments this year on a credit card issued by the company.

Young’s campaign also received a $9,644 contribution from FrontApp Inc., a customer communication software maker that says it has offices in San Francisco, Chicago, Paris and Dublin.

Young’s campaign also reported about $413,598 in disbursements over the same period and had around $3.73 million in cash on hand as of June 30.

Some of the biggest recipients of those disbursements were consultants, including $69,543 for finance consulting to several different companies, $24,000 to Indianapolis-based consulting firm Limestone Strategies for political strategy consulting and $22,862 for compliance consulting to Kentucky-based Broghamer Consulting LLC.

Young’s campaign also reported spending $38,472 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis for facility rental and catering expenses, as well as $37,455 in printing and postage expenses to The Voyageur Company LLC, a Minnesota-based company that specializes in fundraising mail for Republican candidates.

Braun report

None of Braun’s $234 in receipts during the first half of the year were itemized, according to federal records. However, the senator reported $72,893 in disbursements over that period.

Braun reported spending a combined $40,744 on digital marketing, compliance consulting and fundraising consulting this year, federal records show. He also issued $9,750 in contribution refunds, compared to $4,782 for Young and $500 for Pence.

Braun’s campaign also reported spending $4,200 of his federal campaign funds to Aristotle International Inc., a company that specializes in data mining voter data for political campaigns this year.

He also reported using federal campaign funds to pay $38.99 per month this year for a Wall Street Journal subscription and a membership with CLEAR, a company that offers expedited entry to more than 50 airports nationwide without waiting in line to show your I.D. at security.